Seattle three-peats as the construction crane capital of the US
Jul 19, 2018, 5:59 AM
For the the straight year, Seattle leads the nation in cranes with 65. (File, Associated Press)
(File, Associated Press)
It isn’t a contest any city is necessarily looking to win, but Seattle has three-peated as the construction crane capital of America. We now have 65 cranes in the city. Chicago placed second with a paltry 40.
Last year, Seattle scored only 45 cranes dotting the horizon and it seemed like our dynasty was coming to an end. But in a last-minute comeback, construction growth rebounded to the triumphant sound of jack-hammering and we gained another 20 cranes, The Seattle Times reports.
Who’s counting the metal behemoths? That’d be the Rider Levett Bucknall company, which counts cranes in cities across the world twice a year.
RELATED: Where Seattle’s population boom has come from
What’s isn’t surprising is that the neighborhood with the most cranes is South Lake Union, whose 17 cranes are busy building offices for companies such as Amazon and Google, as well as apartments for new employees looking for a great view of the cranes.
Where the construction cranes roam
Other construction crane-heavy neighborhoods include downtown with 14 and Capitol Hill with 10. For a crane-free experience, you have to travel to Fremont, Magnolia, and Madison Park, though one may show up by the time you get there.
Before we get ahead of ourselves with some sort of crane victory dance, Seattle lags far behind Dubai, whose stunning 1,182 cranes fill the skies and blot out the sun. Sydney houses 346, and Toronto leads the continent with 97.
Perhaps if we start using our cranes to build other cranes instead of buildings we could catch up.
