Posted February 14, 200916 yr I was in Seattle last weekend -- my first time in 23 years -- and was awed by the incredible density and vitality. New, six-story mixed-use apartment blocks all over the place. Packed articulated buses. Beautiful neighborhoods bustling with pedestrians day and night. It's not all yuppies and tech geeks -- it's a working city, with a busy port, character-filled local burger chain (Dick's), strip joints, a skid row. But also fancy downtown hotels and department stores that are busy on a Saturday night. The Space Needle and Pike Place Market may tilt more toward the tourists, but they're still real. It's the way American cities should be. If only it could remain a two-newspaper town. It's struggling to be a one-paper town. Housing on the other side of the track Donut shop and tower on 5th Ave. New housing Modern mixed-use Funky square (triangle) at 6th & Denny Way Fat City Needle Old Housing Pink elephant density Pink Elephant Needle Up Capitol Hill on Denny Olive Way Broadway on Capitol Hill 34th and Union in, I think, the Madison neighborhood Skyline from the south Wall of buildings Needle 7-Eleven Needle Obligatory skyline/Space Needle/Mt. Ranier (faintly on the right) shot from Kerry Park on Queen Ann Hill Skyline and park Vertical skyline Needle, still Skyline and son Kerry Park environs More. Queen Ann neighborhood Down steep Queen Ann St. Downtown density Capitol Hill density Monorail Needle Downtown 1st Ave near the market Obligatory market-sign shot Bustling 1st Ave The unsanitary market is around the corner Playing guitar and harmonica, while balancing a second guitar on his chin, spinning two hula hoops and dancing in circles on a steep hill Puget Sound at dusk Highway and port Port of Seattle Market district near sundown Market area Market crowds Downspout critter? Steep Still steep Yep: Steep again Market music (I saw my first steel guitar here in 1978; now I see my first steel bass) Veggies Fish Neon News Pine Street Saturday night Smith Tower Steep Cherry Street Smith again Smitty and moon Pioneer Square crowd Pioneer Square Looking up 1st Avenue Cheap rooms Lower 1st Ave. nightlife Merchants -- bills itself as Seattle's oldest restaurant; sign claiming Seattle oldest bar is on previous streetscape Obligatory Lusty Lady shot (seems to show up in a lot of Seattle threads) More neon Market at night Max! Mother ship Days Inn Needle. Good night.
February 14, 200916 yr Thanks!!! "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
February 14, 200916 yr Love Seattle. Beautiful setting, dynamic setting, and very eclectic population. I have friends there who long to escape, but I sure like visiting. Thanks for the great photos!
February 14, 200916 yr Seattle's great! I lived there for 3 years, and wouldn't mind returning someday. It's interesting that you mentioned that it has a "skid row". Seattle actually has the original skid road, which was where the term came from. The road, specifically is Yesler Way, which runs along the south side of Downtown, between Downtown and Pioneer Square. It was a mud logging road, on which they skidded the cut logs down to the shoreline for transportation. This was for obvious reasons not prime real estate, to say the least, and it became a sign of being really poor and down and out to say that one lived on the "skid road".
February 14, 200916 yr Thanks for that bit of history. I vaguely recalled having read something of that sort as I made my post; I guess I was too lazy to Google it and add that fact. You did it for me.
February 14, 200916 yr These are really great. We don't see too much of Seattle and th west coast around here too often. Thanks.
February 15, 200916 yr Pretty good in most of Downtown, actually. Pike Place, the main shopping district along Pike and Vine, Pioneer Square, and Belltown are all busy most of the day, most days. The office district in the middle of all of these is busier than most outside of 9-5, but still not really busy. Outside of Downtown the University District, Fremont, Wallingford, Ballard, Queen Anne Hill and Capital Hill are all vibrant neighborhood centers with fairly active streetlife during the day and evenings. Capital Hill, along Broadway, is probably the most typical "Seattle" streetlife experience- lots of bohemians (not all yuppy pretenders, either) and other folks going about their business.
February 15, 200916 yr wow, excellent views around town. i love the busy 1st ave view. my sis in law lives in seattle so we have been going out every year or so for 15yrs and i've seen it change a lot. no question visually speaking it's a well placed setting for city. there are stunning views all around it and it has plenty of neighborhoods that have their own feel. great coffee and craft beers too of course. however, i could never live there. while i admit i like exploring and running around green lake as much as the next guy, the weird/caucasian/upper middle class "ick" to seattle is too much for me to stomach for longer than a visit. still, i think it's a must see kind of place and i highly recommend it for a vacation visit -- you can even do it along with portland & vancouver too if you have the time (although those are also more than worthy of visits of their own).
February 15, 200916 yr however, i could never live there. while i admit i like exploring and running around green lake as much as the next guy, the weird/caucasian/upper middle class "ick" to seattle is too much for me to stomach for longer than a visit. I have the same reaction to Seattle: I like to visit, but I would wager that every domicile documented here would be WAY beyond my price. It's too overpriced, white and content with itself for my taste...but great food and beautiful scenery...
February 15, 200916 yr however, i could never live there. while i admit i like exploring and running around green lake as much as the next guy, the weird/caucasian/upper middle class "ick" to seattle is too much for me to stomach for longer than a visit. I have the same reaction to Seattle: I like to visit, but I would wager that every domicile documented here would be WAY beyond my price. It's too overpriced, white and content with itself for my taste...but great food and beautiful scenery... Wow. Just wow. I don't think anyone would say that about any other groups of people in polite conversation.
February 15, 200916 yr I love Seattle. The pics are great. The city is definitely in my top 5 favorites. While not sure what the other posters intended about mentioning the "whiteness", I do think it lacks the level of cultural diversity that gives many other great American cities their zing. The food, the weather, the enviroment and urban life style are great though.
February 15, 200916 yr however, i could never live there. while i admit i like exploring and running around green lake as much as the next guy, the weird/caucasian/upper middle class "ick" to seattle is too much for me to stomach for longer than a visit. I have the same reaction to Seattle: I like to visit, but I would wager that every domicile documented here would be WAY beyond my price. It's too overpriced, white and content with itself for my taste...but great food and beautiful scenery... Yah, I would never live in Detroit, Memphis, or Birmingham because it is too black. Houston? Hell no. Too many Mexicans. :roll: :roll:
February 16, 200916 yr Actually, I was struck by the diversity in Seattle. A wide range of Asians from different countries, a growing Latino population, and I got together with my friend who is black and who writes about immigration and diversity for the Seattle Times.
February 16, 200916 yr Thank you. It all depends on where you live in the city, any city. Where I lived in Seattle was much more diverse than any part of Cleveland.
February 16, 200916 yr well yeah it has diversity. where did i say it didn't? hey lets don't forget the inuits too. yay for diversity in seattle! :roll: it also has a predominant and unavoidable "weird/caucasian/upper middle class ick." that's ok, some people prefer pike place market, some the westside market. :wink:
February 16, 200916 yr Well, I didn't feel any "ick" factor when I lived there, and don't know why any normal human being would. Perhaps you should have spent some of your time in White Center, which is poor, even a little burnt out. Definitely not caucasion, definitely not upper middle class. Apparently that is what makes for a good city. :roll:
February 16, 200916 yr perhaps you shouldn't jump to conclusions? my sis-in-law & her husband live in white center. so i'm well aware of the reputation it has in seattle, but in reality it's hardly poor. for example, i'm not sure exactly, but i know they paid over $500k for their tiny ranch house. nice try tho pulling out the local seattle mythology, but seattle poor is not normal poor.
February 16, 200916 yr I'm sorry White Center isn't impoverished enough for your tastes. You're obviously right in this discussion. Since we can't find a neighborhood crappy enough for you, Seattle must be icky.
February 17, 200916 yr Seattle is a beautiful and vibrant city, but I have to echo MrNYC's sentiments. Certainly Seattle has diversity, but it has a vibe that is just very...NPR. This is my main complaint about Portland as well, the people are nice, and the city is interesting, but it doesn't have enough grit for my tastes. It's not about having neighborhoods that are "poor enough", it's about having a heterogeneous community, that I think Seattle lacks.
February 17, 200916 yr Hopefully you slept alright while you were there, we wouldn't want you to be.. Sleepless in Seattle.. :laugh:
February 17, 200916 yr I'm sorry White Center isn't impoverished enough for your tastes. You're obviously right in this discussion. Since we can't find a neighborhood crappy enough for you, Seattle must be icky. oh please! can the flailing meltdown x. i didn't say it wasn't a poorer place by seattle standards. just that it goes to show you those are pretty high standards. :roll:
February 17, 200916 yr Not any higher than NYC, LA, Boston, DC, or any other expensive housing markets. How expensive houses are to buy has little to do with how impoverished the poor people in a city are. But I'm still trying to figure out what your point in all this is.
February 17, 200916 yr obviously that you'll find a wider range of neighborhoods in those other cities that you just cited than what are desperately trying to find in seattle. overall seattle skews yuppie. sorry if you don't see it that way.
February 17, 200916 yr Alright then. Seattle skews yuppie, and you have some sort of issue with it. Now that we've managed to dumb down this thread, let's drop it and get back on topic.
February 17, 200916 yr What we have here is a failure to communicate. Too many misinterpreted comments and too many overreactions to somebody else's comment. Certainly, Seattle has a lot of white yuppies. Perhaps that's the dominant demographic; I don't know; I was only there about 21 hours, during which I tried to see a lot of the city. And maybe that makes it unsuitable to some peoples' tastes, which is fine. But it also makes it very suitable to other peoples' tastes, which is also fine. It's a fantastic city, as are many cities with more-obvious diversity and grit. It takes all kinds of urban areas to make a great country. My impression, in just under one day there, is that it was pretty diverse, and I found more grit than I expected. And though it's heavily yuppified, it can't be ALL yuppified. Yuppies don't work the docks. Yuppies don't build all those many many many new buildings that are making the city so delightfully dense. And the only extended conversation I had with a local other than a friend was with an out-of-work tile contractor who was complaining in a bar about illegal immigrants undercutting him construction jobs.
February 17, 200916 yr Alright then. Seattle skews yuppie, and you have some sort of issue with it. Now that we've managed to dumb down this thread, let's drop it and get back on topic. nah, i go regularly and i like visiting seattle a lot, yuppies and all. i have an issue with your borderline appropriate replies to my posts and putting words in my mouth. ok, dropped.
February 19, 200916 yr wow, excellent views around town. i love the busy 1st ave view. my sis in law lives in seattle so we have been going out every year or so for 15yrs and i've seen it change a lot. no question visually speaking it's a well placed setting for city. there are stunning views all around it and it has plenty of neighborhoods that have their own feel. great coffee and craft beers too of course. however, i could never live there. while i admit i like exploring and running around green lake as much as the next guy, the weird/caucasian/upper middle class "ick" to seattle is too much for me to stomach for longer than a visit. still, i think it's a must see kind of place and i highly recommend it for a vacation visit -- you can even do it along with portland & vancouver too if you have the time (although those are also more than worthy of visits of their own). Agreed
February 21, 200916 yr If a poster was going around in different threads stating that they couldn't live in Texas cities because of a Mexican ick factor, or live in Detroit because of a black ick factor, or in Miami because of a Cuban ick factor, I suspect the reaction to that poster wouldn't be particularly positive. Yet it's no biggie to come into a thread and state a city has a white ick factor that turns them off. Interesting...
February 21, 200916 yr But in this case, it's white on white beef ;). Now had I said "eww...Seattle's too white!" then I can see the outrage. But really, it shouldn't matter as race is irrelevant (and is used a tool used by white media with their little lily white blonds and their glamour shots poses. Damn you white women! DAMN YOU ALL!!! *I mean..uh...God bless America! Buy American!?!?" YES!!! BUY AMERICANS!!! "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
February 21, 200916 yr From an urban potential pointof view, Seattle and Cleveland are like twins separated at birth. The similarities are numerous. Cleveland is only a good economy and Ten years behind Seattle. Ultimately, Cleveland has more potential for a better quality of life for an average person/ family. I have lived in both places for over 20 yrs.
February 26, 200916 yr Does yuppie really have a to have a racial connotation? I always considered it upper middle class corporate white collar types who drink expensive coffee, try to dress nice, have no morals, and think they're cool. The yuppie is kind of the ultimate in American shallowness, like Patrick Bateman in "American Psycho." Does Seattle really have the Patrick Bateman vibe? I always pictured it as being more "hipster" than yuppie. If it wasn't so wealthy, I think people would probably label it hipster. I mean, just look at the music... I'd say Yuppie implies White; there are also Buppies (Black Urban Professionals). I have immigrant friends who live in White Center (irony?), so I know that neighborhood well. There are many immigrants in Seattle, but I still find it too content with its fabulousness, and terribly overpriced. White or not, that ain't right. :-P
February 27, 200916 yr If Clevelanders only knew how close the city was to turning a big corner (like Seattle did in 1980-1985) the city would have a lot more confidence. Bring the Towpath Trail and CVSR downtown, put an REI or L.L. Bean at Tower City, complete the Emerald Necklace, fix the combined sewer overflows so people can swim at the beaches, bring in some light semiskilled industry for the cronically unemployed undereducated underclass, have Muny Light put some windmills on the breakwall and there you have it -world class city. None of this is particularly expensive. It just takes political leadership which Cleveland does not have, particularly in the Mayor's office.
February 27, 200916 yr I like Seattle, but sometimes it does come across as Yuppier than thou. It is a beautiful city in a gorgeous setting. It is quite similar to SF in many ways, but even more disfunctional in terms of city government (if that is possible!) and actually getting things done. Have lots of friends there and all they talk about is getting the f out of there. Kind of sad, really. Love visiting there, but would not live there on a bet! Too expensive and it snows sometimes...no thanks.
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