The Seattle area has been inhabited for at least 4,000 years, but European settlement began only in the mid-19th century. The first permanent white settlers—Arthur A. Denny and those subsequently known as the Denny Party—arrived November 13, 1851. Early settlements in the area were called "New York-Alki" ("Alki" meaning "by and by" in the local Chinook Jargon) and "Duwamps". In 1853, Doc Maynard suggested that the main settlement be renamed "Seattle", an anglicized rendition of the name of Sealth, the chief of the two local tribes. From 1869 until 1982, Seattle was known as the "Queen City". Seattle's current official nickname is the "Emerald City", the result of a contest held in the early 1980s; the reference is to the lush evergreen trees in the surrounding area. Seattle is also referred to informally as the "Gateway to Alaska", "Rain City", and "Jet City", the latter from the local influence of Boeing. Seattle residents are known as Seattleites.
Seattle is the birthplace of rock legend Jimi Hendrix and grunge music, including Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam and Nirvana. Seattle has a reputation for heavy coffee consumption; coffee companies founded or based in Seattle include Starbucks, Seattle's Best Coffee, and Tully's. There are also many successful independent artisanal espresso roasters and cafes. Researchers at Central Connecticut State University ranked Seattle the most literate city of America's sixty-nine largest cities in 2005 and 2006, second most literate in 2007 (after Minneapolis), and tied with Minneapolis in 2008. Additionally, survey data by the United States Census Bureau indicated that Seattle was the most educated city in the U.S., with 52.4 percent of residents aged 25 and older having a bachelor's degree. In terms of per capita income, a study by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis ranked the Seattle metropolitan area 17th out of 363 metropolitan areas in 2006.
The railways and streetcars that once dominated its transportation system have largely been replaced with an extensive bus route for those living near the city center. Seattle's outward growth has caused automobiles to become the main mode of transportation for much of the population. As a result, Seattle is ranked as one of the most congested cities in the United States. In addition to its bus routes, Seattle is also serviced by two commuter rail routes connecting it to many of its more distant suburbs, and a light rail line will be opening this summer.
According to the Washington State Office of Financial Management, Seattle had a population of 592,800 as of April 1, 2008. In the 2000 census interim measurements of 2006, there were 258,499 households and 113,400 families residing in the city.
According to the 2005–2007 American Community Survey, the city's population was 74.1 percent White (67.9 percent non-Hispanic-White alone), 16.6 percent Asian, 10.0 percent Black or African American, 2.2 percent American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9 percent Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, 3.1 percent from some other race and 4.2 percent from two or more races. 6.2 percent were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
In the 2000 census, 11.3 percent of respondents claimed German descent, 9.1 percent claimed Irish descent, 8.1 percent claimed English descent and 5.0 percent claimed Norwegian descent. As their first language, 80.1 percent spoke English, 4.2 percent Spanish, 2.3 percent Chinese or Mandarin, 2.0 percent Tagalog and 1.9 percent Vietnamese. Seattle has seen a major increase in immigration in recent decades: the foreign-born population increased 40 percent between the 1990 and 2000 censuses. At nearly 4 percent, Greater Seattle has the highest concentration of mixed-race persons of any major metropolitan area in the United States.
As of 1999, the median income of a city household was $45,736, and the median income for a family was $62,195. Males had a median income of $40,929 versus $35,134 for females. The per capita income for the city was $30,306 11.8 percent of the population and 6.9 percent of families are below the poverty line. Of people living in poverty, 13.8 percent are under the age of 18 and 10.2 percent are 65 or older.
It is estimated that King County has 8,000 homeless on any given night, and many of those live in Seattle. In September 2005, King County adopted a "Ten-Year Plan to End Homelessness", one of the near-term results of which is a shift of funding from homeless shelter beds to permanent housing.
In 2006, after growing by 4,000 citizens per annum for the previous 16 years, regional planners expected the population of Seattle to grow by 200,000 people by 2040. However, Mayor Nickels supported plans that would increase the population by 60 percent, or 350,000 people, by 2040 and is working on ways to accommodate this growth while keeping Seattle's single-family housing zoning laws. The Seattle City Council later voted to relax height limits on buildings in the greater part of Downtown, partly with the aim of increasing residential density in the city center.
A 2006 study by UCLA indicates that Seattle has one of the highest LGBT populations per capita. With 12.9 percent of citizens polled identifying as gay, lesbian, or bisexual, the city ranks second of all major US cities, behind San Francisco and slightly ahead of Atlanta. Greater Seattle also ranks second among major US metropolitan areas, with 6.5 percent being LGBT.
According to the 2000 US census, revised 2004, Seattle has the fifth highest proportion of single-person households nationwide among cities of 100,000 or more residents, at 40.8 percent.
The first streetcars appeared in 1889 and were instrumental in the creation of a relatively well-defined downtown and strong neighborhoods at the end of their lines. The advent of the automobile sounded the death knell for rail in Seattle. Tacoma–Seattle railway service ended in 1929 and the Everett–Seattle service came to an end in 1939, replaced by inexpensive automobiles running on the recently developed highway system. Rails on city streets were paved over or removed, and the arrival of trolleybuses brought the end of streetcars in Seattle in 1941. This left an extensive network of privately owned buses (later public) as the only mass transit within the city and throughout the region.
In 2005, 17 percent of Seattle's workforce used one of the three public transit systems that service the city according to a study by the U.S. Census Bureau. King County Metro provides a frequent stop bus service within the city and surrounding county and a streetcar line between South Lake Union and Westlake Center, the South Lake Union Streetcar. Seattle is one of the few cities in North America whose bus fleet includes electric trolleybuses. Sound Transit currently operates an express bus service; the Sounder commuter rail service between the suburbs and downtown; and, beginning in the summer of 2009, the Central Link light rail line between downtown and Sea-Tac Airport, giving the city its first rapid transit line that has intermediate stops within the city limits. Washington State Ferries, which manages the largest network of ferries in the United States and third largest in the world, connects Seattle to Bainbridge and Vashon Islands in Puget Sound and to Bremerton and Southworth on the Kitsap Peninsula.
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, locally known as Sea-Tac Airport and located just south in the neighboring city of SeaTac, is operated by the Port of Seattle and provides commercial air service to destinations throughout the world. Closer to downtown, Boeing Field is used for general aviation, cargo flights, and testing/delivery of Boeing airliners.
The main mode of transportation, however, relies on Seattle's streets, which are laid out in a cardinal directions grid pattern, except in the central business district where early city leaders Arthur Denny and Carson Boren insisted on orienting their plats relative to the shoreline rather than to true North. Only two roads, Interstate 5 and State Route 99 (both limited-access highways), run uninterrupted through the city from north to south.
Water and electric power are municipal services, provided by Seattle Public Utilities and Seattle City Light respectively. Other utility companies serving Seattle include Puget Sound Energy (natural gas); Seattle Steam Company (steam); Waste Management, Inc and Allied Waste (curbside recycling and solid waste removal); and Verizon, Qwest and Comcast (telephone, Internet, and cable television).