Seattle

Seattle is squeezed onto a narrow, hilly isthmus between the saltwater of Puget Sound and the fresh water of Lake Washington, in the Pacific Northwest. Founded in the 1850s and built on timber, the deep, sheltered waters of the Sound made it a major port — the closest large U.S. port to Asia — and the gateway to Alaska during the Klondike gold rush. Water nearly surrounds it on two sides.

The setting is dramatic: the Olympic Mountains rise across the Sound to the west, the Cascade Range with the great volcano Mount Rainier looms to the east and southeast, and the city's hills offer views of both. The marine climate brings famously cloudy, drizzly winters. A ship canal links the Sound and the lake through the heart of the city.

That position — deep harbor, Asia-facing, framed by mountains — made Seattle a center of aerospace, software, and global trade, anchoring a metro of about four million in the northwest corner of the country.