Population boom in the Northwest: What can be done to lessen the impacts?

SEATTLE -- We call it The Squeeze: How the skyrocketing housing costs and growing gridlock are squeezing many of us out of the place we call home.

We're focusing here on the booming population in the Pacific Northwest -- how it’s impacting all of us and what can be done, if anything, to lessen the effects on the region we love.

Our picturesque waterways…

And majestic mountains...

We have unrivaled natural beauty, which has brought people to the Northwest for generations.

But relatively recently, there’s been another allure: Opportunity.

Amazon, Microsoft, Starbucks, Costco and more -- companies that are changing the world and our region, bringing about a population explosion. Seattle went from a sleepy West Coast city to what seems like a mega-metropolis, creating some of the worst gridlock in the country and sky-high housing prices.

See the video above for more on this issue.