Is it true that Seattle doesn't feel very "typically American"? (Vancouver: taxes, living in)

[Seacove]

The United States are pretty regional. The feel of the Southwest is very different than the feel of New England and the feel of the Pacific Northwest is very different from the South. I do think there is some similarity between the Seattle area and Vancouver BC. Maybe it's because we're only a couple of hours away and our parking lots are filled with Canadians. Add to that our similarities in weather, geography and industry and sure, it probably feels similar. But you could say the same thing about El Paso, TX feeling more like Mexico than the U.S.

[JBVirtuoso]

I wouldn't say that Seattle feels more Canadian than American, but I do often make the tongue-in-cheek claim that Seattle is the most Canadian city in America. This is more of a cultural argument than an aesthetic one - Seattleites are generally polite and non-confrontational, and Seattle's politics are generally scandal-free and functional compared to American cities of a similar size.

If we're talking about aesthetics, there's not really an argument to be made. Seattle looks and feels like an American city. If it feels Canadian, that's only because Canadian cities don't look that different from American cities on the whole. As previous posters have mentioned, aesthetic differences are regional. Seattle feels more like Vancouver, Portland, and Eugene, and less like San Diego, Austin, or Atlanta.

[skidamarink]

Yeah, hate to reiterate everyone else's point but what is American? Not to be smart aleck, but I think the most American you can get is to live, dress, and eat like an indigenous native American/First Nation tribal member. So if you want American, go visit a reservation. Or I guess African-American communities are arguably very American, since they have been so far removed from Africa and were forced to develop their own subculture and cuisines here in the US. European-Americans have actually retained more European characteristics and lifestyles than people think.

To me, feeling American means having cuisine, fashion, and I guess a lifestyle that can only be found here on American soil. Specific to the Pacific Northwest, I guess you can say there are a lot of exclusively Pac NW American restaurants that serve salmon. If you like to go mushroom hunting, that's a very Pac NW American activity. But generally speaking, most people here still retain many characteristics from their ethnic background. Many Asian-Americans here still eat Asian cuisine and speak their ethnic language. And a lot of people remark that the whites here are very in touch with their European heritage and mentality, which would make them un-American.

A lot of foreigners, and some Americans, like to associate inland states like Texas and parts of the Midwest as being American because the cultures and dialects that developed there are so distinct. Whereas on the coastal areas, you will notice heavier influence from other countries, either due to recent immigration or because the residents did a better job of retaining their ethnic heritage (which, in most cases, is European). I'm not saying that all white Americans should live like Europeans. I am European-American but not very European in my fashion, my food, or my mentality and I have no interest in becoming a European.

[GraceKrispy]

I agree that there is no stereotypical American city- I've lived in the Pacific, the PNW, the Midwest and the Southwest, and there are a lot of differences in how the cities look and feel, and what people are like. There is a lot more water here, everywhere, than in most cities I'm used to, so it feels different in that way. The culture here is very different than in Chicago or Honolulu or Albuquerque- other cities I'm very used to. But it's different in CHicago versus Albuquerque and Honolulu, too, and so on.

[bloom]

false
the tea party folks are treasonous un-americans

[Mini-apple-less]

Seattle doesn't feel Canadian at all to me, actually. There's a very different vibe up in Vancouver compared to Seattle. I think Canadian cities feel more planned and orderly while American cities have more of an anarchy to them. Seattle also feels more desolate than Vancouver at least to me.

I'd say if anything it might have some slight similarities to Toronto if I were going to compare it to a Canadian city. The Space Needle is like a much smaller CN tower, the horrible Seattle waterfront is reminiscent of Toronto's crappy Lake Ontario waterfront, some parts of downtown sort of remind me a bit of Toronto too.

Oddly Bellevue does feel kind of Canadian, reminded me very much of Burnaby. I wonder if Canadian architects had a hand in designing a lot of the buildings there.

[Mini-apple-less]

Originally Posted by RotseCherut

It feels quite American or maybe quite Swedish or Norwegian. But then people say Sweden and Norway seems quite American..

Seattle is a place full of white, liberal Scandinavian/Anglo people who tend to be very reserved and be very attached to their electronic gadgets.

North America is a large continent and its hard to really pin what being an "American" is.. IMO, all of Western Europe and North America, Canada are pretty much the same these days, except for some different languages being spoken.

I'm not sure I'd go that far. Maybe in the sense that kids listen to the same music in all those countries but there's still some pretty huge differences between Europe and North America and some pretty significant moderate (albeit admittedly waning with NAFTA trade, Harper and Alberta oil/conservatism) differences between the US and Canada. The US itself does feel awfully generic these days though, Ohio doesn't feel that much different from Idaho aside from the landscape.

[Bimmerfanboy]

I wouldn't say that Seattle feels Canadian. Canada "feels" different. I've been to a number of Canadian cities/suburbs including Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, and some others. Those places all feel pretty similar. Seattle definitely doesn't "feel" like Canada.

With that being said, Seattle does feel a bit less traditional "American." The metro area is pretty congested and a bit isolated from the rest of the nation. This is also not a very old metro area because its biggest industries (outside of aerospace) have only been around for the past 25 or so years. Finally, metro Seattle is full of transients.

Places that feel more "American" to me are the midwest and east-coast. Those are older cities that feel more traditionally "American."

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by hppyhllwn

My friends who have visited Seattle say it feels more like a Canadian city than American and that aside from New Orleans is the most "un-American". How true is this?

Why don't you ask your friends? I think that would be very interesting. You could post their responses here.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by Seatown1

I wouldn't say that Seattle feels Canadian. Canada "feels" different. I've been to a number of Canadian cities/suburbs including Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, and some others. Those places all feel pretty similar. Seattle definitely doesn't "feel" like Canada.

Seattle and Vancouver feel about the same. Whether that means they feel Canadian or they both feel American, or they're part of their own thing--NW Coast culture, idk. But Van is different from other Canadian cities.