Mayor Mike McGinn delivered his third State of the City Address in City Council Chambers on February 21 as is mandated by the City Charter. The 2012 State of the City Address focused on Seattle's economic recovery from the longest, deepest recession since the Great Depression, implementation of the overwhelmingly approved and enhanced Families and Education Levy, and recent city efforts to protect public safety in our neighborhoods.

Text of the speech, as written, is available on the mayor's blog. And a video of the speech, archived by Seattle Channel, is available at seattle.gov/media.

"When I think about the state of the city, I think about where we have been, and what we have faced," McGinn said in his opening. "Seattle was knocked down pretty hard during the recession. We lost 35,000 jobs. Unemployment peaked at 8.2 percent. Some of our city’s leading companies went under, along with many small businesses, promising startups, and beloved neighborhood shops. We watched our family, friends and neighbors struggle, while our home values and retirement savings dropped. It was, and remains, the worst hard time since the Great Depression.

"In moments like that, you can learn something about yourself and the people you share a community with. We learned we are resilient, we are determined, we are innovative, and we are passionate about the place we live.

"The hard times aren’t over. But we have been making progress."

McGinn stated that since the bottom of the recession, approximately 18,000 new jobs were created in Seattle, and the unemployment rate decreased to 6.6 percent.

"Construction activity is picking up. When I took office there weren’t any cranes on the skyline. On my way to City Hall this morning I counted at least a dozen. It’s good to see hardhats," McGinn said. "But recovery isn’t happening as fast as we would like. We still haven’t put everyone back to work. We haven’t solved the persistent inequalities in our economy. We know that unemployment is higher among young people, especially in communities of color. We know that not everybody has the same opportunities."

McGinn said other challenges the city is facing include budget challenges, high school graduation rates, public safety, transit, and global warming.

"We’re going to have to strong, and resilient and innovative – because the challenges we face – from inequality, to education, to economic competitiveness, to environmental sustainability – are real, and they’re big," he said. " But I can’t think of any other city better prepared to face the challenges we face. If there is any place in the world that can show the way to deal with those challenges – it’s Seattle, and I look forward to working with you to face those challenges."

In regards to Ballard, McGinn briefly spoke about the Ballard to Downtown transit option saying,

"Seattle supports rail. Done right, it can provide a more affordable way to get around than driving – and if you haven’t noticed lately, gas prices are going back up. Our Transit Master Plan shows that rail is one of the most effective ways to connect our neighborhoods. Our Transit Master Plan concluded rail was the only form of high capacity transit that would drive significant ridership gains between Ballard and Downtown – as many as 25,000 riders a day.

"We are about to begin construction on the First Hill Streetcar, connecting Pioneer Square, First Hill and Capitol Hill. We’re working on finding funding for the Broadway north extension.

"We have been working with our partners to begin planning rail to connect more of our neighborhoods. Sound Transit has agreed to advance its timeline to plan rail on the West corridor, from Ballard to downtown. Their board has authorized spending $2 million this year and in the coming years to work with us at the City of Seattle to get planning under way.

Along with a $900,000 federal grant and City matching funds, this will allow the City and Sound Transit to conduct a detailed analysis of alignments and technologies that will enable us to meet the longer-term demand for transit between some of our the fastest growing neighborhoods and downtown."

Read the full-length speech, here.