SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES

Seattle is winning the crane race

Oct 21, 2016, 10:57 AM | Updated: 10:58 am

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Even in Ballard the beautiful West Coast sunsets can be disrupted by looming cranes. (MyNorthwest)

(MyNorthwest)

If there was a race between cities to build the most cranes, Seattle would be way ahead.

The Seattle Times reports that the city had 58 cranes operating in the city this summer. That’s 18 more than Los Angeles, the city with the second most cranes.

The number of cranes grew 38 percent over the past year, according to the Times.

A majority of the cranes can be found in downtown Seattle and South Lake Union. However, they can also be found scattered throughout many of the city’s neighborhoods — although usually there are just a few at most.

There are 16 more cranes in the city compared to last year. The Times reports the average city lost two.

The cities with the most cranes include:

Seattle: 58
Los Angeles: 40
Washington, D.C.: 29
New York: 28Chicago: 26
San Francisco: 24
Portland: 22
Denver: 21
Boston: 14
Honolulu:13
Phoenix: 10

Construction projects in general in the city continue to grow at a rapid pace. In downtown alone over the summer, there were at least 65 buildings under construction, according to the Downtown Seattle Association. That’s the most in more than a decade.

In June, the Association reported that, on average, at least one construction project was breaking ground each week in Downtown Seattle.

Aside from downtown, Curbed Seattle points out five neighborhoods that are continuing to grow at a somewhat exceptional rate. Denny Triangle, for starters, is being transformed thanks to Amazon, multiple apartment buildings and high-rise projects.

First Hill is seeing a lot of development as well, including, according to Curbed, two double-tower mixed-use projects, and a Whole Foods.

Pioneer Square, the Roosevelt neighborhood, and SODO made the list as well.

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Seattle is winning the crane race