Eric Johnson reflects on blowback from ‘Seattle Is Dying’

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• Truth is-- You can put a fork into Seattle tourism. The downtown area is dangerous and business is moving away due to crime and taxes. Seattle has a communist mayor and left-wing voters who believe mainstream media talking points/lies. Seattle is toast!

  • Seattle has had real challenges, no argument there. But saying you can “put a fork in tourism” just doesn’t line up with reality. The region saw roughly 40 million visitors in 2024, about 95% of pre-pandemic levels, with visitor spending actually exceeding 2019 at around $8.8 billion. Downtown itself has seen visitor activity and hotel demand return to or near pre-pandemic levels in recent periods. That’s not a collapse, it’s a recovery.

    I live downtown. It went through a rough stretch, but conditions have improved, and I’ve never felt unsafe walking here at any time of day. The situation is more nuanced than the version you’re presenting.

    On taxes, the framing is also off. Washington has one of the most regressive tax systems in the country, where lower-income residents pay a significantly higher share of their income in state and local taxes than the wealthiest. Estimates put that at roughly 13–14% for the lowest-income households versus around 4% for the top 1%. So when people at the very top push back on relatively small increases, it’s fair to question whether the issue is actual burden or just resistance.

    Calling the mayor a “communist” doesn’t strengthen the argument either, it just signals bias and makes the rest harder to take seriously.

    And the “liberal mainstream media” point doesn’t hold up much better. Most major outlets are owned by corporations and billionaires, not exactly a structure built to push left-wing ideology. At that point, it reads more like a talking point than an analysis.

    There are legitimate issues worth discussing, but exaggeration and labels like this tend to obscure more than they clarify.

    • And the “liberal mainstream media” point doesn’t hold up much better. Most major outlets are owned by corporations and billionaires, not exactly a structure built to push left-wing ideology.

      Pay attention to the mainstream media message -- the talking points they push.
      You can't be for real. Your comments do not jibe with the truth.

      • Life (Homelessness, Crime, Population, Cost of Living) Homelessness (King County, which includes Seattle):
        Rose sharply and hit record highs. 2020: 11,751 total (5,578 unsheltered).
        2022: 13,368 total.
        2024: 16,868 total (26% higher than 2022; 9,810 unsheltered).
        Seattle proper accounts for ~56% of King County’s homeless population. Washington state ranked 3rd highest in the U.S. in 2024 (31,554 people, up 12.5% year-over-year). This represents clear deterioration, driven by housing costs and post-pandemic factors.

        Housing Affordability & Cost of Living:
        Worsened significantly. Seattle’s median house price-to-income multiple reached 7.1 in 2024 (severely unaffordable per Demographia International Housing Affordability report), up from pre-pandemic levels. Washington ranks among the 10 most expensive U.S. states to live in, with high consumer prices (e.g., +29% statewide since 2021 in some baskets).

        Industry (Major Employers: Boeing, Tech) Boeing (Washington operations, heavily Seattle-area):
        Employment fell nearly 4% in 2025 amid companywide cuts and financial issues.
        Tech (Amazon, Microsoft, others):
        Significant layoffs. Amazon cut ~18,000 in 2023 wave + additional thousands in 2025 (e.g., 2,300+ in Washington from one round); Microsoft cut 10,000+ in 2023 and thousands more in 2025. Meta, Expedia, and others also shed hundreds/thousands. These represent major industry contraction in Seattle’s core sectors.

        Business (Downtown/Office/Retail Climate)Clear deterioration, especially downtown. Office Vacancy: Record highs. Downtown reached 35.6% in Q4 2025 (Cushman & Wakefield; CBRE ~34.7%), up from ~22–25% in 2022 and pre-pandemic levels. Driven by tech layoffs, remote work, and high costs/taxes. This is among the highest in the U.S.
        Job Losses: Downtown lost ~13,000 jobs in 2025 (largest annual drop since the early pandemic).
        Property Values: Top downtown office buildings down 50–58% in assessed value since 2021.
        Retail: ~13.5% vacancy in some reports; many closures (e.g., major brands exiting), though 2025 saw slight net positive (53 openings vs. 48 closures in one tracking period).
        Broader climate: Washington dropped sharply in business/job-growth rankings (from #1 to #41 in some national indices over recent years), with high taxes and operating costs cited.

        Bottom line: Seattle shows deterioration in homelessness (up ~43% in King County since 2020), downtown business/office market (record vacancy and job/property value losses), major industries (Boeing + tech layoffs), and housing affordability.

    • The truth is bias. I love that logic.
      lower-income residents pay a significantly higher share of their income in state and local taxes than the wealthiest — you see this as a positive?

      Downtown Seattle is unsafe. You are putting your life at risk by doing business or riding public transportation in downtown Seattle.

      Your objections to my post are not supported by facts. Seattle was dying in 2019 and the situation has only worsened. Business is leaving Seattle. Taxes in general in Washington are in many cases higher than California, gas taxes for example.

      Nice try at pushing a narrative. Seattle is toast!