Much of Snohomish County has long been a string of bedroom communities for people who work in Seattle.
Another big chunk has a rural economy, with most of the jobs based on resources such as timber or agriculture.
And then there’s Everett, with a strong manufacturing identity based on the Boeing Co.
Slowly, and it’s gathering speed, the county is starting to morph into a more diverse economy, one still dependent on Seattle and Boeing, but with its own twist.
A lot of the changes are related to the big burst of retail shops throughout the county that are changing the line between the county’s urban and rural areas.
I see it as I drive to work every day from my home south of Stanwood to the newspaper office in Everett.
Marysville used to be the northern line between the county’s population centers and the more rural areas to the north and east. That got blurred by all the development on the Tulalip Tribes Reservation, with Wal-Mart and Home Depot, the casino and a 100-plus store outlet mall. Already, they’re talking about building another 50 stores at the mall.
But the growth isn’t ending there.
Retail’s northern march has already pushed to my exit at Smokey Point, an area named after a former barbecue operation that used to shroud the area with smoke. The east side of the exit has had a Safeway and a few other businesses for quite some time. Now the west side is suddenly getting a new Costco, and a new Target to anchor a shopping area with five or six other businesses.
All of a sudden, my rural area is getting a lot of new stores and the people to support them.
In Lynnwood, one of Seattle’s bedroom communities, there has always been a lot of retail, including Alderwood mall. Next year, they’ll be adding a $70 million prescription drug manufacturing plant. This year, a lot of the upscale office buildings are changing hands and there could be more new ones in the city’s future.
The same thing is happening in Everett, where plans are already in the works for a 19-story high-rise building downtown. Major commercial centers and housing developments are planned on the city’s riverfront and on the edge of Puget Sound.
All the new activity bumped the county’s unemployment rate down to 4.2 percent in July. Boeing has helped. There were 2,000 aerospace jobs added during the past year.
But there have been job increases throughout the sectors and all over the county map.
During the past 12 months, construction jobs have bumped by 1,000, restaurants and taverns have added another 1,000, retail jobs have increased by nearly 1,500 and professional services have climbed by 1,300.
All told, the county has added 9,300 jobs during the past year, helping to strengthen the economy.
Bedroom communities are getting manufacturing centers and major office buildings. The once-rural areas are getting big-time retail. And Everett is also getting some office towers and some higher-end developments alongside its working class neighborhoods.
The economy is changing, but for the better. It’s becoming more diverse and less dependent on Boeing. As Martha Stewart would say, that’s a good thing.
Mike Benbow: 425-339-3459; benbow@heraldnet.com
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