[lotsofpulp]

> Would it even be highly desirable without any of the restaurants, retail and other services that don't provide a high enough wage to live there?

My guess is yes. Temperate weather, world class scenery, cheap electricity, clean water, a convenient deep and protected harbor, and a productive workforce.

All are subject to change of course, but that combination precludes the existence of businesses with low elasticity of demand (and hence higher value). The luxuries like restaurants and retail follow after those other businesses.

Of course, they do enhance the desirability, and it very well could be that rents are too high in the short term, and that landlords are making Seattle less desirable in the near future, but that is always a dynamic relationship.