Visitors are filling downtown Seattle streets near pre-pandemic levels

Sunshine in Seattle means more people out and about. Data from the Downtown Seattle Association (DSA) confirmed visitors are coming back to downtown, filling the streets at levels close to 2019.

According to DSA data, nearly 2.9 million unique visitors came to downtown in June 2024, 91% of the visitors seen in 2019.

More visitors means they need somewhere to stay. The DSA reported downtown hotels were packed in June, citing Visit Seattle data that showed hotel demand was at 105% of June 2019 levels with nearly 400,000 hotel rooms sold.

“According to Visit Seattle, during the final week in June, Seattle ranked third nationally for hotel occupancy, trailing only New York City and Oahu,” stated the DSA’s website.

Downtown Seattle: Revitalization continues but crime stands in the way

Workers slowly retuning to downtown Seattle

Workers are also coming back to downtown but at a little over half of the number seen in 2019. As reported by the DSA, In June 2024 downtown averaged more than 90,000 daily workers — the highest daily average since 2019.

To break it down further, the number of workers is a 14% increase from June 2023 and is 58% of the daily worker foot traffic seen in June 2019.

However, the number of occupied apartment units has steadily gone up since 2015, with only a slight dip in 2020. In 2015, 35,788 apartments were filled and now, that number is up to 58,307.

The June 2024 data comes as Washington’s population surpassed 8 million, as recorded in July.

More coverage: Washington’s population surpasses 8 million milestone

According to the DSA, there are currently more than 18,000 residential units planned, proposed or under construction in downtown Seattle.

There is also more trash being collected in downtown Seattle. DSA crews collected 1.4 million gallons of trash from downtown sidewalks and alleys over the last 12 months. It is 200,000 more gallons than in the previous 12 months.

However, there are some fun things planned for the area. On July 27 the Seafair Torchlight Parade starts at 3 p.m. and will feature more than 100 entries. Also on July 27, the Seattle Center is hosting an all-day celebration of music and culture with BLASTFEST, an Afrobeats music festival. The festival goes from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. and is all ages with a 21-plus beer garden.

Julia Dallas is a content editor at MyNorthwest. You can read her stories here. Follow Julia on X here and email her here.

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