Over the course of the past few decades, the central Puget Sound region has grown to become a large metropolitan area.  The consequences and side effects of progress and development have not all been positive.  The quality of life in some neighborhoods has declined; housing in the city of Seattle is not affordable for many families; the lack of a coordinated regional transit system means long commutes and high costs for many businesses; almost 10% of children in King County live in poverty; and the health of the magnificent Puget Sound ecosystem is in serious trouble.

We believe a comprehensive set of indicators that tracks the sustainability trends of the region continues to be needed. By identifying issues that need attention, indicators provide a gauge that alerts us about problems.  As the saying goes, what gets measured gets done.

The classic definition of sustainability is "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs".  Sustainability indicators not only look at the inter-connectivity among ecological, social and economic factors, but also address the inter-generational nature of those factors.  They add the elements of time and threshold to the measures. Collectively, they assess whether a region is succeeding or failing at sustainable development.  A sustainable region is a prosperous region that offers a desirable quality of life today and for future generations and preserves the natural resource base (e.g., forests, agriculture, fisheries) so that its productivity and diversity is not diminished.  Sustainability indicators look for trends and leverage points. They help decision-makers understand and affect linkages  - the way in which different parts of our social, economic, and environmental systems affect each other and ourselves.

Learn more about our Indicators

A brief description of a sustainable society