Wandering Washington

I just returned from spending 5 days wandering around the state of WA with my family. We drove over 1000 miles, which brings my total for the year to over 2,000 miles in the state. I’ve been to three of the four corners of the state, having visited Neah Bay (NW) and Ilwaco (SW) on this trip. An earlier trip took me to Colville (NE). I was less than 100 miles away from the SE corner of the state when I gave a talk in Kennewick on this trip.

It is a BIG state! It is over 500 miles from corner to corner and there is a lot to see. I’ve become enchanted with the natural beauty of the state, which is very diverse. We particularly loved the area around Mt. Rainier as well as the coastal region.

As I’ve driven around the state I’ve been struck by how many people live in a relatively small area around Seattle compared to the vastness of the state. It is not unlike other states like NY, IL, CA and others that are dominated by one very large city. Usually this one city dominates the politics in the state and is viewed by the rest of the state with a big of fear. Washington wasn’t any different.

There are 5.9 million people who live in WA, with 3.1 million (or 53%) in the Seattle/Tacoma MSAs. These city dwellers have a different live style, socio-economic status and approach to life that is different from the rest of the state. Balancing a huge MSA like Seattle with the rest of the state is an ongoing challenge.

One example of this battle was a petition that fell out of the local newspaper and that I saw displayed several times on my travels. A group called NoNewGasTax.com was complaining about a recent legislative initiative that raised the gas tax by 9 ½ cents/gallon over the next 3 years, raising WA from the 5th highest state gas tax state to the highest in the nation. The group wants to put the issue to the voters in the state as a ballot initiative.

If I had to guess, this tax is probably supported in a city like Seattle but is strongly opposed in most of the rest of the state, where it will have a much more detrimental economic impact. It’s a typical big city vs. small town issue that I’ve found in many other states. It will be interesting to see how it plays out in WA.