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187 BECOME ONE WITH NATURE AT HIGHLINE SEATAC BOTANICAL GARDEN. explore in seattle’s backyard The fun never stops here. There are plenty of places to stay—and play— in Seattle’s Backyard, Seattle Southside. With so much to see and do, it’s the perfect home base to get the most out of your Seattle vacation. Plan your itinerary at ExploreInSeattleSouthside.com cially and economically is tied, in some fashion, to the airport,” says CityManager, Joe Scorcio.“Not just the hotels, but all of the corollary businesses that support the airport.We’ve got about $465 million worth of construction going on outside of the air- port and a comparable amount of activity going on inside the airport–nearly a billion dollars of active construction.” So, SeaTac capitalizes on its intercon- nectedness with the airport, developing around its transportation channels to support its businesses and residents. Indeed, the city slogan is: “every- where’s possible.” Jeff Robinson, SeaTac’s Community and Economic Development Director, talks about the city’s current and future connectivity: “We are already at the hub of interstate and state highways, the international airport, and three light rail stations that feed to the north, downtown Seattle, and the University of Washington,”he notes.And these connections will soon reach the east side of Lake Washington, the suburbs of Bellevue and Kirkland and south to Taco- ma- regions that are experiencing development as well. “One of the biggest infrastructure projects that we just completed was the 28th/24th Avenue Exten- sion,which connected us to the neighboring city of Des Moines and opened up quite a bit of real estate in both cities for economic development activity,” Robinson says.This endeavor will not only bolster employment within the area, but also enhance the existing transportation routes, providing direct access to the airport from the south,which will help with traffic problems and congestion issues on International Boulevard,which serves as the major north / south thoroughfare in the city. One of SeaTac’s newest private developments, THE CITY OF SEATAC BECO ME O NE WITH NATURE AT HIGHLINE SEATAC BOTANICAL GARDEN. explore in sea tle’s backyard The fu n neve r stops here. There are plenty of places to stay—and play— in Sea ttle’s Backyard, Seattle Southside. With so much to see and do, it’s the perfe ct home base to get the most out of your Seattle vacation. Plan y our iti nerary at ExploreInSeattleSouthside.com At Seattle Southside Regional Tourism Authority, we believe we are stronger together. That is why the cit- ies of SeaTac, Tukwila, and Des Moines came together over a decade ago and began promoting the region to prospective travelers as Seattle Southside. For many years, the destination was successfully promoted as an idyllic home base for visitors to the Greater Seattle Area; but the driving force behind the united brand, City of Tukwila’s former Tourism and Marketing Direc- tor, Katherine Kertzman, always believed there was more to be done. It wasn’t until 2014 that Seattle Southside hoteliers petitioned the cities to create a self-assessed tourism promotion area fund to increase funding for tourism marketing and promotion. In 2015, Seattle Southside Regional Tourism Authority was established as a sep- arate legal entity, and the official destination market- ing organization for the three cities. The RTA staff works tirelessly to promote Seattle Southside as a premier destination for domestic and international leisure and business travelers. The combined efforts of the RTA staff, board of directors, hoteliers, advisory committee members, and com- munity at large have created a powerful, economic machine that will continue to promote and support the region for years to come. www.exploreinseattlesouthside.com Seattle Southside Regional Tourism Authority Strengthens Our Community