I can confirm that Seattle is an awesome city. My girlfriend is in grad school at UW so I visit frequently (I'm currently based in Los Angeles). The food is great, the people are fun, and the public transport is amazing. One of my biggest regrets is not getting into the UW MSTP program. I definitely look forward to applying for postdoc/residency in Seattle.

Speaking of technology, there is a lot of super-cool global health innovation. Seattle is home to the Gates Foundation and PATH. Plus, there is a lot of cool work coming out of UW on the application of cellulose based devices for cheap, rapid, point of care diagnostics (the lab of Paul Yager).