Who — and what — Seattle and Washington lost in 2025

Seattle and Washington state endured their share of losses in 2025, from the Mariners falling just short of their first World Series appearance to devastating December floods that left many without homes and thousands without power.

As we get ready for 2026, it's worth taking stock of what we left behind in 2025.

WFH culture

Although it might feel like a distant memory, 2025 began with thousands of white-collar workers losing the ability to work from home full time. Amazon implemented a full-time return-to-office policy just after the New Year. Google started enforcing its three-day-a-week in-office requirement in the spring, and Starbucks started requiring its corporate employees to come back to the office most days starting in October.

Planning ahead, Microsoft workers? You might start looking through your closet for pants that fit. Microsoft’s three-day-a-week return-to-office requirement takes effect in February.

Beloved bars and restaurants

Seattle lost some good places to eat, drink, and dance in 2025. Among a slew of restaurant closures was Stateside, a Vietnamese fusion restaurant in Capitol Hill. The owners of Stateside also closed the adjacent bar, Foreign National, which was acclaimed for its cocktails.

The Shanty Tavern, known as Seattle’s last roadhouse, held its final live show Dec. 19. Owner John Spaccarotelli is retiring at age 94. He is the oldest working bartender in Seattle. The Shanty Tavern has existed in various locations for almost 100 years.

RELATED: At age 94, Seattle's oldest bartender announces 'last call'

In Georgetown, Slim’s Last Chance, a live music venue, chili parlor, and neighborhood hangout, is shutting its doors, although it won’t officially close until February. The owners announced this month that they are relocating to California (which should offset the rest of California moving to Washington state).

Infrastructure damaged by flooding

In December, major flooding forced the evacuation of more than 100,000 people across the state and led Gov. Bob Ferguson to declare a state of emergency.

In the northwest corner of the state in Sumas, families who were finally recovering from devastating floods in 2021 found themselves back to cleaning up mud and removing wet sheetrock. A couple in nearby Deming watched as their home dislodged and floated down the Nooksack River. Farther south, evacuations and flooding impacted communities along the Skagit River, the Snohomish, the Snoqualmie, and along the Puyallup River southeast of Tacoma.

RELATED: How much water flooded parts of Western Washington? At least 3 Lake Washingtons' worth

From that devastation, Washington also lost a good portion of Highway 2. That means a lot of Seattleites who ski at Stevens Pass are wondering whether they lost the money they spent on season passes.

The ski resort opened Monday, but access is limited to US 2 from the east, which means a four-hour bypass for Seattleites. Seasons pass holders are still waiting to see whether Vail Resorts, which runs Stevens Pass, will offer full or partial refunds. Meanwhile, the Highway 2 closure also prevented access from the west to Leavenworth during what is typically its period of peak Christmas tourism.

RELATED: With highway access limited, will Washingtonians still find their way to Christmas town?

State revenue

In addition to Leavenworth, Washington state also lost a lot of money in 2025. Initial estimates showed a potential shortfall of between $10 billion and $12 billion for the next four years. Those estimates have since been adjusted to $4.3 billion for the 2025-27 biennium. The lack of cash led the governor to propose a “millionaire tax” on state residents who earn more than $1 million a year. If the proposal goes through, millionaires could lose just under 10% of their annual haul.

Sports icons and historical opportunities

For those still mourning the loss of the Seattle Supersonics, who moved to Oklahoma City and became the Thunder in 2008 (because we have Reign in Seattle, but no Thunder), former All-Star Sonics point guard Gus Williams died in 2025 at the age of 71. Williams helped lead the Sonics to their sole NBA Championship in 1979.

The coach of that team, Sonics legend Lenny Wilkens, also died in 2025. Wilkens was a player-coach for the Sonics from 1969-72 and returned to Seattle as a coach from 1977-85. He is in the basketball Hall of Fame in three capacities — as a player, coach, and as an assistant coach for the U.S. Olympic “Dream Team” that won the gold medal in 1992.

Wilkens also was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006. His statue is outside Climate Pledge Arena.

In other Seattle sports news, it was close but no Fall Classic for the Seattle Mariners, who took the Toronto Bluejays to seven games in the American League Championship Series, but were thwarted by outfielder George Springer, who in the minds of many Seattleites will always be associated with the call-stealing Houston Astros team of 2017.

The Mariners remain the only Major League team that has never made it to the World Series, but hey, they came close and at least they don’t cheat.

RELATED: Seattle Mariners' historic season ends in a dramatic Game 7 loss

Public servants

Washington lost several notable lawmakers in 2025.

Issaquah Democrat Bill Ramos died unexpectedly during a trail run at the age of 69. Ramos was a state senator and a former member of the Issaquah City Council.

State Rep. Frank Chopp, the longest-serving speaker of the house in Washington history, died in March at the age of 71.

Ralph Munro, who served for five terms as Washington’s secretary of state, also died in March at the age of 82.