The City Itself is a Collaborator

You can describe Seattle by what it is—hilly, cloudy, young (at least to white settlers), Pacific-leaning, breathtakingly beautiful, politically progressive, a touch remote, a “Goldilocks City” (not too big, not too small)...

But Seattle’s better described by what it does—writes, records, paints, sculpts, develops software and medicines and business models, cooks, plants, forages, sails, skis, hikes, researches, reads, innovates, patents, exports, advocates, deliberates... All of this work is lensed through an understanding that we have chosen this place, and therefore each other—and that brings a mutual obligation to our common good. Oh, and a slightly utopian (or narcissistic?) streak, a belief that we have good and important things to offer the rest of the world.