The news hit the front page of the Seattle Times proclaiming that Google was going to open an office in Bothell. Bothell has a department titled Economic Development. Burien has a department titled Economic Development. For some reason new companies are moving into the areas north and east of Seattle. Are their Economic Development departments doing something that is not being done in Burien? Burien must have some advantage that could be exploited to bring in small companies. Proximity to the airport should mean something.

At one time Burien had the Puget Sound Educational Service District office right in the center of town. It had a staff in excess of 300 administrators, educators, and support personnel. A large number of them worked in Burien and contributed to the financial well being of Burien. The city council "encouraged" the PSESD to relocate elsewhere so the city could build the new library and city hall. Since then there has been no influx of any sort of industry into Burien.

Someone must have told the city council to "Think Big". The Burien city council has interpreted thinking big to mean add more acreage to the city and bring in big box stores. How does adding more acreage to Burien make the city better? Opening of big box stores probably would mean the demise of small existing stores. A better approach would be to keep the size of Burien as it is and bring in more niche stores such as Ross (which has already opened) and T J Max and other such small stores that have general appeal. But the council seems to think that annexation and big box stores are the answer.

James Sharkey
Burien, WA