For those with enough cash, the yearly calendar is a litany of big name sporting events and occasions to meet and greet the exceedingly few humans who share the tax bracket. (Not that any taxes are actually paid by these people.) For the rest of us, here’s a look at the annual circuit of events and sites where the richest rub elbows.
Divided from the rest of humanity by their immense riches, the members of this class appear to draw further away by privatizing everything. Luxury first class becomes private jet becomes private airfield. And don’t even get started on 6-star and 7-star hotels when there’s a private cruise ship pre-positioned at your next destination. (Seattle tops out at the paltry 5-star Four Seasons. That we know of.)
The question is what superyachts and private jets actually mean for a community. It’s interesting to watch a month of air transit for Jeff Bezos and consider that Seattle is in search of a new location for an airport. The ultrawealthy’s boats have also become a barrier to transit options. As always, we end up asking who the city is built for.
Ray Dubicki is a stay-at-home dad and parent-on-call for taking care of general school and neighborhood tasks around Ballard. This lets him see how urbanism works (or doesn’t) during the hours most people are locked in their office. He is an attorney and urbanist by training, with soup-to-nuts planning experience from code enforcement to university development to writing zoning ordinances. He enjoys using PowerPoint, but only because it’s no longer a weekly obligation.