Seattle, Washington, is the largest city in the Pacific Northwest overlooking Elliott Bay, Seattle is nicknamed The Emerald City after the perpetually green scenery from the abundance of evergreen trees, and spectacular views of the Cascade mountains to the east and the Olympic mountains to the west. The cultural and business center of the Pacific Northwest with a vibrant arts scene and an excellent park system it is equidistant (2.5-3 hrs by road) between Vancouver, Canada to the North and Portland, Oregon to the South. The city has large suburbs of Kirkland, Bellevue (recently rated by CNN as a Top 10 city) and Redmond (together called the Eastside) on the east side of Lake Washington, not technically part of Seattle, but considered part of the Seattle Metro area. Seattle is home to large tech companies like Microsoft and Amazon.com and the talent has led other large companies like Google, Facebook, to open satellite offices here. There is also a lot of start-up activity which leverages the abundant tech talent around. Other large companies with their base in the area are Boeing, Starbucks, Costco, Nintendo, Nordstrom.