Sustainable Seattle issued its third set of regional sustainability indicators in 1998.

In 1998, when Sustainable Seattle released its third set of Indictors of Sustainable Community, 12 out of 40 indicators had shifted in a positive direction since the previous 1995 report. King County Executive Ron Sims stated, of the 1998 Indicators: “This is my textbook. I think I will have been successful if at the end of the year, we’ve moved all these indicators up”

Download the Sustainable Seattle's 1998 Regional Sustainability Indicators Report

Summary from the 1998 Indicators of Sustainable Community Report

The Indicators of Sustainable Community are the product of a creative community dialogue about our common future. Hundreds of Seattle-area volunteers have invested thousands of hours to design and research this integrated "report card" on long-term trends in our region. The initiative started over seven years ago [1991], when community leaders from all facets of city life came together to discuss definitions of sustainability and how citizens might develop their own ways to measure Seattle's long-term health.

Criteria for Indicators
Indicators are as varied as the types of systems they monitor. However, there are certain characteristics that effective indicators have in common. Relevant; Reflect community values; Attractive to local media; Statistically measurable; Logically or scientifically defensible; Reliable; Leading; and Policy-relevant.

A Work In Progress
This report provides a timely review of sustainability trends in the Seattle/King County region. The 40 indicators represented were selected from a list of 99 recommended by a "Civic Panel" of 150 citizens convened in 1992. Of the original set, several indicators have been added or deleted in response to new information or valuable criticism.

The indicators, taken together, provide us with a snapshot of our community, but there is no abstract set of data or comprehensive theory that can take the place of people's direct experiences. This collection is not intended to be a comprehensive list; indeed, no scientifically-tested or refined model of sustainability exists. In fact, since the world is always changing, so will the picture of a sustainable society.

"Small actions and choices can have major, although unpredictable effects in determining what comes next. Among the possibilities is that the thousands of experiments and millions of choices to live more consciously will coalesce into a new civilization that fosters community, provides possibilities for meaning, and sustains life for the planet." 
-  Sarah Van Gelder, Editor, YES! A Journal of Positive Futures