Bordered by the Puget Sound to the west, the Ninth District covers most
of southwest King County's suburbs. The District contains portions of
Renton, Kent, Auburn and
Algona, as well as Burien, Federal Way, Normandy Park, Pacific, SeaTac
and Tukwila.
Once primarily farmlands, the Kent Valley has become a growth center
for the United States Of all of the many businesses that call southwest
King County home, the Boeing Company has perhaps most shaped the region.
Boeing's commercial airplane division is based in Renton, where it
produces the 737. Other major employers, however, have helped to diversify
the regional economy. Federal Way, for example, serves as Weyerhaeuser's
global headquarters as well as the international development organization
World Vision. The gateway to the Pacific Northwest, the Seattle-Tacoma
International Airport is also located in the district and serves as
the headquarters of Alaska Airlines, whose corporate headquarters are
just a half-mile away.
Running through the valley are the Interurban and Green River Trails,
forty-six miles of biking, jogging and rollerblading paths traversing
the industrial heart of the valley from south Seattle through Auburn,
connecting to a number of neighborhoods and community trails. The Ninth
District is also home to Emerald Downs, the premier horse racing track
in the Pacific Northwest that boasts a spectacular view of nearby Mount
Rainier.