Renton is perhaps the best example of development moving to the edge cities. Since the mid-1990s, Renton has invested some $20 million in downtown, including for new water and sewer lines, sidewalks, parks and transit systems. That public investment has lured about $60 million in private investment. The city's property tax revenue has increased 88 percent to $22.6 million; its sales tax revenue has increased 96 percent to $20.6 million; and its building permit revenue has skyrocketed 212 percent to $2.5 million. Dave Magee, who specializes in south Puget Sound office properties for Cushman & Wakefield, says the city's image, a soft but extremely important factor in whether office developers come to town, has been rising since The Landing, with more than 800,000 square feet of retail, 900 residential units and a movie theater, broke ground in 2006.

Magee says few people may have noticed it, but over the past 10 years 90 percent of the commercial property in Renton has flipped from being locally owned to being nationally and institutionally owned. These new owners include BlackRock Inc., a global investor, and Irvine, Calif.-based LBA Realty. "They see Renton as an opportunity," Magee says, as pricing and traffic pressures mount.