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by Chris Daniels,KOMONewsSeniorReporter
SEATTLE — Former Washington Governor Christine Gregoire has joined a chorus of criticism of the business climate in the city and the state, which now includes prominent newspapers across the country.
Over the past week, The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal have all published stories highlighting Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson’s comments about wealthy interests and major corporations, including Starbucks.
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“I think the tone and tenor and words matter if you’re leading a city,” said Downtown Seattle Association President Jon Scholes. “I’d hate to have a few comments undercut and erode some of what I think have been sound actions on her part.” Scholes served on Wilson’s transition committee.
Wilson has recently praised both Amazon and Starbucks for their involvement in affordable housing efforts in Seattle, though those comments have generated far less national attention than her viral exchange criticizing wealthy business interests.
The economic discussion is also happening at the state level. Former Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire recently warned at a forum sponsored by the Association of Washington Business that the state may have a “spending problem,” noting the state budget has grown from $33 billion when she left office to roughly $80 billion today.
“I would suggest to you, we don’t really have an income problem, we have a spending problem,” Gregoire said.
The narrative is already taking up up airspace and columns with negative news about Seattle’s economy.
The return of a bookstore, in the heart of what was once a thriving retail and dining district, should be a cause for celebration.
But the Barnes & Noble, in downtown Seattle near Pike Street, comes at a moment when the city is trying to define what recovery really looks like. As customers browse shelves celebrating Seattle history, politics, and culture, outside downtown still reflects many of the struggles that have fueled years of debate over public safety, homelessness, office vacancies, and the city’s economic future. For-lease signs surround the building, and a man is sleeping on the sidewalk.
That tension between visible momentum and lingering concern is now backed up by new data from the Downtown Seattle Association and the announcement that Starbucks is laying off additional corporate positions.
“Seattle is, in some ways, at a bit of a tipping point, and we should take nothing for granted,” said Jon Scholes, president and CEO of the Downtown Seattle Association.
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The organization’s newly released 2026 State of Downtown report and tracking data paint a complicated picture of the city center — one showing major gains in residents, tourism and public safety alongside continued economic headwinds tied to jobs and office vacancies.
According to DSA’s topline report, downtown Seattle’s residential population has grown 80% since 2010, reaching nearly 110,000 residents. More than 15 million unique visitors came downtown in 2025 for the second straight year above pre-pandemic levels, while daily foot traffic climbed to nearly 145,000 people a day.
Transit use is also rebounding. Downtown light rail boardings jumped 23% last year, and 63 new street-level businesses opened in 2025, with nearly half of them restaurants. Violent crime in the downtown core also dropped 14% year over year, while fentanyl overdose deaths downtown declined 27%, according to DSA.
Barnes & Noble’s return is being viewed as one symbolic sign of that progress. The national bookseller reopened downtown this month in an 18,000-square-foot space on Pike Street after previously closing its Pacific Place location before the pandemic.
“It’s great to have a national retailer that was here for many years, but hasn’t been here, come back,” Scholes said.
Tourists continue flowing through Seattle’s urban core as well.
“We just went to the Needle — that was pretty cool,” said Sheila Campbell of Colorado while visiting downtown before a cruise Monday.
But beneath those improving metrics, DSA’s report also outlines substantial concerns.
Downtown lost an estimated 13,000 jobs in 2025, the steepest decline since the pandemic outside of 2021. Office vacancy rates remain stubbornly high at more than 30% overall, with Seattle’s central business district exceeding 32%. Some of downtown’s most valuable office towers have lost more than half their assessed value since 2021.
“One of the areas where we’re not going in the right direction is when it comes to job growth,” Scholes said. “We’re losing jobs, not growing jobs, downtown.”
Scholes argues Seattle’s tax structure has become part of the challenge. Over the last several years, the city has enacted multiple business taxes, including the JumpStart payroll tax aimed largely at high-paying employers. Scholes contends those policies have made Seattle more expensive than neighboring cities competing for the same jobs and investment.
“Seattle is an outlier when it comes to the cost of doing business,” he said.
Scholes says he also agrees with Gregoire.
“The state budget is bigger than it’s ever been, and the city budget is bigger than it’s ever been,” he said. “I don’t know if voters and businesses are getting the returns that we all deserve.”
Still, Seattle’s recovery remains fiercely debated both politically and publicly.
In many ways, Scholes said, Seattle is experiencing “a tale of multiple truths.”
And perhaps nowhere is that duality more visible than inside a newly reopened bookstore, where stories about Seattle’s past now sit beside growing questions about what comes next for the city’s future.
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