Random Questions on Seattle (Spokane, Yakima: transfer, incomes, taxes)

[allforcats]

Originally Posted by martina26

1. Many people stay in Seattle on the weekends, and a lot of them head out to Eastern Washington for recreation and amazing hot, dry weather with sunshine. Its where people go to get tans and be out with their boats on the lakes. For those that stay in Seattle they go boating on Lake Washington or they might head to the ocean shores.

2. I can guarantee when you walk the downtown Seattle streets you will feel very much like you are on an open prairie...its empty!

3. Manhattan you must understand is nothing like any other city on earth. Seattle does not even begin to compare. Seattle has a horrible public transit system, most people drive in their own cars which is why traffic is so bad here.

4. There are certain cities that have more racially concentrated areas than most.

1. I don't know where this poster lives, but it's not in western Washington. This is largely inaccurate, especially about western Washington folks ever wanting to be in eastern Washington.

2. I don't know where this poster lives, but for sure it's not in Seattle.

3. "Comparing" NYC and Seattle is like comparing apples and sidewalks. Entirely different worlds.
As for Seattle's transit system, I don't know where this poster lives but it's not in Seattle.
As for the cars, since gas went over $3.50 a gallon many of those drivers have switched to taking public transportation, so logic says public transport works.

4. Item #4 has no point.

[Ambassador]

Originally Posted by allforcats

1. I don't know where this poster lives, but it's not in western Washington. This is largely inaccurate, especially about western Washington folks ever wanting to be in eastern Washington.

2. I don't know where this poster lives, but for sure it's not in Seattle.

3. "Comparing" NYC and Seattle is like comparing apples and sidewalks. Entirely different worlds.
As for Seattle's transit system, I don't know where this poster lives but it's not in Seattle.
As for the cars, since gas went over $3.50 a gallon many of those drivers have switched to taking public transportation, so logic says public transport works.

4. Item #4 has no point.

Again, Martina26 never ceases to amaze me with her posts. There are many places in this world she may live but it is NOT in Seattle. I remember her once saying Seattle was the most dangerous big city in America when in fact Seattle is known for being the safest.

Strange person.

[509]

ALLFORCATS wrote: 1. I don't know where this poster lives, but it's not in western Washington. This is largely inaccurate, especially about western Washington folks ever wanting to be in eastern Washington.

TOUGHGUY wrote: 1. 1. Most people I know despise eastern Washington and rightfully look down upon the region. The closest thing to a destination is Lake Chelan, which is more central than east.

Prior to my retirement I had to keep track of tourism in eastern Washington and its impact on the local social and economic fabric. You two are the exceptional in never visiting eastern Washington (which by the way includes what is commonly known as central Washington).

Here are some random references from past years.

1992. Wenatchee World and Chelan-Douglas Regional Jail. If your visiting eastern Washington and are the victim of a crime it is a likely that the criminal will be from western Washington. 25% of the inmates are residents of western Washington that committed crimes in Chelan-Douglas County primarily in the tourist areas.

2004. Okanogan County Public Utility District. Half the homes in Okanogan County are owned by western Washington residents.

2005. Okanogan and Wenatchee National Forest. 67% of the visitors to the National Forest are from western Washington. Most years that run around 3 million visits. Try booking a campsite at Dry Falls or Moses Lake State Park during the summer. Try booking a room in Yakima of all places during a summer weekend!!!

You get the drift. This forum exists to provide information for folks looking to relocate. Somewhere there is a poor soul that will think they move to Seattle and escape to eastern Washington for sunshine and quality of life on the weekends.

Then they will be sitting in traffic at Snoqualmie Pass or Sultan on a Friday afternoon or Sunday evening wondering what went wrong!!

[JDTD]

Originally Posted by 509

ALLFORCATS wrote: 1. I don't know where this poster lives, but it's not in western Washington. This is largely inaccurate, especially about western Washington folks ever wanting to be in eastern Washington.

TOUGHGUY wrote: 1. 1. Most people I know despise eastern Washington and rightfully look down upon the region. The closest thing to a destination is Lake Chelan, which is more central than east.

Prior to my retirement I had to keep track of tourism in eastern Washington and its impact on the local social and economic fabric. You two are the exceptional in never visiting eastern Washington (which by the way includes what is commonly known as central Washington).

Here are some random references from past years.

1992. Wenatchee World and Chelan-Douglas Regional Jail. If your visiting eastern Washington and are the victim of a crime it is a likely that the criminal will be from western Washington. 25% of the inmates are residents of western Washington that committed crimes in Chelan-Douglas County primarily in the tourist areas.

2004. Okanogan County Public Utility District. Half the homes in Okanogan County are owned by western Washington residents.

2005. Okanogan and Wenatchee National Forest. 67% of the visitors to the National Forest are from western Washington. Most years that run around 3 million visits. Try booking a campsite at Dry Falls or Moses Lake State Park during the summer. Try booking a room in Yakima of all places during a summer weekend!!!

You get the drift. This forum exists to provide information for folks looking to relocate. Somewhere there is a poor soul that will think they move to Seattle and escape to eastern Washington for sunshine and quality of life on the weekends.

Then they will be sitting in traffic at Snoqualmie Pass or Sultan on a Friday afternoon or Sunday evening wondering what went wrong!!

I agree. I spent the first half of my life in eastern wa (Chelan Co. And yes...we considered ourselves to be from eastern wa and not "central wa"). The second half of my life has been spent in western wa. If people from western wa truly despised "the region" (eastern wa), I cannot for the life of me figure out why the population of the town I grew up in quadrupled on the weekends. I also can't figure out why many of my friends from western wa. go to eastern wa. often (currently) and have bought property over there because they want to move when they retire. Apparently...it was either people checking out to see how bad it sucked for themselves or they didn't get the Toughguy weekly eastern wa. sucking memo. I don't know????

[Jennibc]

What cracks me up is the same people that are so contemptuous of Eastern Washington have in other threads self-identified as being "laid back" Seattleites. I don't know, but when I think of laid back, I think of having a live and let live attitude. Contempt and snobbery don't jibe with being laid-back.

[toughguy]

clearly I ruffled some feathers, I was being kinda tongue in cheek about it....I don't really hate Eastern WA, just the politics. We have to listen to all these whiners complaining that the urban elites in King County are running the state, while at the same time they are receiving vast amounts of state funds from the tax revenues of the city dwellers they so openly despise.

I like Lake Chelan and have friends from east of the mountains that are awesome people.

[JDTD]

Originally Posted by toughguy

clearly I ruffled some feathers, I was being kinda tongue in cheek about it....I don't really hate Eastern WA, just the politics. We have to listen to all these whiners complaining that the urban elites in King County are running the state, while at the same time they are receiving vast amounts of state funds from the tax revenues of the city dwellers they so openly despise.

I like Lake Chelan and have friends from east of the mountains that are awesome people.

Oh thank goodness! The people over there were probably worried that you didn't like anything about them and were losing sleep. What exactly makes you think that they wouldn't do just fine without the saviors from western wa? And...what about the politics? Explain eastern wa politics to me. I want to know. Call it...an inquiring mind. Enlighten me please. Thanks!

p.s. Please respond in simple terms. I grew up in eastern wa. Thanks again for this consideration as I am easily confused.

[tada]

Eastern WA is conservative. Western WA is liberal. Western WA outnumbers them, so that's probably why they complain we run the state.

[Jennibc]

Originally Posted by tada

Eastern WA is conservative. Western WA is liberal. Western WA outnumbers them, so that's probably why they complain we run the state.

I think there is also some concern because of the King County elections debacle of a couple of years ago.

Then voters on the other side of the state hear about stories like this
Local News | Seven charged in vote-fraud scheme | Seattle Times Newspaper
and it undermines confidence in the system. That in turn, leads them to feel like Seattle steals elections.

[509]

Originally Posted by toughguy

clearly I ruffled some feathers, I was being kinda tongue in cheek about it....I don't really hate Eastern WA, just the politics. We have to listen to all these whiners complaining that the urban elites in King County are running the state, while at the same time they are receiving vast amounts of state funds from the tax revenues of the city dwellers they so openly despise.

I like Lake Chelan and have friends from east of the mountains that are awesome people.

What tax revenues from the state??

Currently, eastern Washington ships more gas tax money to western Washington. See DOT site on expenditures planned until 2014.

The reason most people in eastern Washington don't care for the state government is that it is mostly missing in action. Local and Federal government is important east of the Cascades.

We're still trying to figure out what the state government provides in benefits to eastern Washington....oh, it collects taxes for stadiums in Seattle, sticks up windmills to ruin the view, and generally gets in the way.

Can you name one issue in the past 30 years that Washington state government made a state priority to positively help eastern Washington?? Right...didn't think so.

Now list all the priorities over the past thirty years for state projects west of the Cascades. Pretty long list.