Washington

Eastern Washington

Eastern Washington is made up in large part of strongly knit agricultural communities; many of its farms were homesteaded in the 19th or early 20th century. The state ranks first in the nation in the production of many specialty crops, including cherries, apples, pears, grapes (Concord and Niagara), spearmint and peppermint oil, and hops, and also raises significant amounts of potatoes, corn, onions, and wheat. Lumber and mining are also significant industries.

Western Washington, in contrast, is the destination for most of the immigration and domestic migration in the state and the center of its industry and tech sector, with major employers such as Boeing, Microsoft, Amazon, Nintendo, Costco, Nordstrom, and Starbucks. The Cascade mountains are also viewed as a traditional political divider, with those in the east leaning toward conservatism and those in the west toward liberalism. Since 1988, as the western population has swelled, Washington has voted for the Democratic presidential nominee in every election, and both current Washington senators are Democrats. Spokane, the largest city in eastern Washington and the second largest in the state, has become progressively more liberal in the 21st century. Social networks vary in the two halves of the state as well: while the west is very youth-centric, friendly to (even a lightning rod for) the counterculture, in the east, social networks tend to form around family ties or professional relations, such as among farmers or in the lumber industry.

Educational networks are strong in the state, which is home to many esteemed public and private institutions, including the various schools in the state university system (including the University of Washington and experimental Evergreen State) and, in the private sector, Gonzaga University.

Western Washington

In the west, Tacoma, south of Seattle, has a long history of strong political networks favoring labor concerns, beginning with 19th-century railroad workers and longshoremen. The vibrant music scene is not as famous as Seattle's, but was important to the garage rock scene in the 1960s, as well as to the surf rock made more popular in California. After declining for years due to suburbanization, Tacoma's revival began with the establishment of a University of Washington campus in the city in 1990. Since then, the city's art community has grown significantly, with the Tacoma Art Museum opening in 2003 and the Museum of Glass in 2002. The Theater District is the center not only for Tacoma's historic theater culture but also for the city's LGBT community. Tacoma is considered one of the “most walkable cities in America” and, like most cities in the Pacific Northwest, is very amenable to foot traffic and bicyclists, forms of transportation that are more heavily relied upon than in the country as a whole. Public transportation, however, is not as developed as in Seattle or in Portland, Oregon.

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