Do you love Seattle? I do! Why? (no negatives) (Renton: apartments, unemployment)

[pw72]

Originally Posted by DJKirkland

I love Seattle too.

An ex-Portlander that used to look down on the city as a corporate sell-out and my perspective has totally changed.

I love the weather. Always temperate. AWESOME summers, and the winters are so tolerable compared to what I'm used to growing up in Idaho.

The economy is strong when the rest of the country struggles, and pay is high.

The natural surroundings are unsurpassed in this country. Like others have said, heading into Bellevue you have the Cascades looming over you, and on the way home to Seattle the Olympics are even more impressive. You're surrounded by sparkling water from Puget Sound to Lake Washington and Lake Samammish.

We're close to two of the most awesome and progressive cities on the continent - Vancouver and Portland...not that I would give up Seattle for either hahah

Our music scene is impressive...from the list of local bands (Nirvana, Jimi Hendrix, Heart, Alice in Chains, Modest Mouse, Postal Service, among many others) but hosting one of the ONLY dance music stations in the country with C89.5...we're eclectic but progressive! Living in a city that plays hard trance and dance music at night is something I love- we support it too as it's non profit.

Education- UW is the 'ivy league' of public education. A very impressive institution.

We have finally taken a step in the right direction with transportation. We have Sounder heavy rail and LINK light rail.

I'm a skyscraper geek too, and Seattle has one of the most stunning skylines in the country without a doubt. Bellevue, just across the water, is more impressive than cities many times its size.

This place is fantastic. What ended up as a temporary move here has ended up with me being in a place that I honestly never want to leave. I will be in Seattle for a long time.

Hey, nice post, as few Portlanders ever have that many nice things to say about their sister to north.

Also, kudos to the OP, MidasAg, who wanted to keep this all positive. What a concept!!!

[Midas AG]

Haha, who would think to have a positive thread. I just got sick of all the negative.

But back to being positive. All great things so far. The picture of the Market Park on the first page is awesome. I remember one of the first weeks here, I had dropped my wife off at a job interview thing, so I headed down to Pike Place Market. I parked in a parking garage, and walked up the stairs to the street, and BAM, there's the park there. It blew my mind. I stayed there a good 5-10 minutes just looking out at the sound before moving on. Took a picture on my phone and sent to my mom, sitting at her desk in MI, and said "look where I am". Called me up and cussed me out, nicely though. I stop by that park every time I'm down that way. It is a great view.

It truly is amazing, and I find new things to love every time I go out and about. Today, walking down 5th ave from Yesler to Cherry, I look to the sound, and See it, but all fogginess. Great view.

Oh, and the Fritatta (sp?) and Bacon Bagel Sandwhich at Frontier Cafe, corner of 3rd and Cherry, Delicious. Oh so Delicious. Never get anything like that back in MI.

[Whereto?]

I love the fact that I don't live there anymore. That's a positive for me

[pw72]

Thankyou so much for ruining the thread. Dude, get with the concept here, please...sounds like you need to unload some anger. Perhaps somewhere else.

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by pw72

Thankyou so much for ruining the thread. Dude, get with the concept here, please...sounds like you need to unload some anger. Perhaps somewhere else.

Like I've said before, you absolutely have to stop responding to these types. that's their goal. Everytime any of us respond we give them reason to keep this crap up.

[SonicsFan93]

Originally Posted by Whereto?

I love the fact that I don't live there anymore. That's a positive for me

I love the fact that you don't live here anymore too.

Anyway, what I love about Seattle. Heck, where do I start! You know what, I'll do a top 10!

10. The naysayers. I get a little extra joy loving this city knowing that it pisses other people off that I do.

9. The architecture. The skyline is absolutely stunning coming in to town, and, call me crazy, but I like Gehry's Experience Music Project and Koolhaas' Public Library.

8. The quirks that come with this city. The marquee on the Lusty Lady, Jesse Jones' extremely quick sign off on KING 5, the Lenin statue in Fremont, seeing Tom Skerritt at the Kingfish Cafe. These are the little things that let you know that you're in Seattle, and there's nowhere else quite like it.

7. All of the festivals and major events. SIFF, Bumbershoot, Sakura-Con, The Bite of Seattle, Seafair, Hempfest, and Folklife all make for fun weekends.

6. Tim Eyman. Just kidding. Vote No on 1033.

5. Our sports franchises. We have two beautiful sports stadiums in Qwest Field and Safeco Field, both ranked within the top 10 in their respective sports. The Seahawks, the Mariners, the Sounders and the Storm all usually put a decent product out every year, and the players are active in the community.

4. Our major local companies. Despite what the naysayers say, this area seems to be pretty dang good for business. Nordstrom, Expeditors International, Starbucks, Amazon, Costco, Microsoft, REI, Expedia, Alaska Air, Jones Soda, Mike's Hard Lemonade, Fisher Communications, Holland America Line, Ambassadors International, Real Networks, Isilon Systems, Car Toys, Money Tree, Sur La Table, Plum Creek Timber, Dendreon, etc.

3. Local theatre and the arts. This city is a haven for these things! The 5th Avenue Theatre brings in Broadway quality shows, with stars like Jenifer Lewis, Taylor Hicks, Harvey Fierstein, Randy Quaid and Lucy Lawless. The Paramount also brings in some good shows. Then there's the Seattle Symphony at Benaroya Hall, and the Seattle Opera and PNB at McCaw Hall.

2. The people. pw72 is right, the people here are authentic. A very large majority of my encounter with people here are positive, whether it's a friendly smile walking down the street, or holding the door open for someone.

1. The Natural Beauty. Looking out from my deck and seeing Mt. Rainier. Absolutely breathtaking.

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by SonicsFan93

I love the fact that you don't live here anymore too.

Anyway, what I love about Seattle. Heck, where do I start! You know what, I'll do a top 10!

10. The naysayers. I get a little extra joy loving this city knowing that it pisses other people off that I do.

9. The architecture. The skyline is absolutely stunning coming in to town, and, call me crazy, but I like Gehry's Experience Music Project and Koolhaas' Public Library.

8. The quirks that come with this city. The marquee on the Lusty Lady, Jesse Jones' extremely quick sign off on KING 5, the Lenin statue in Fremont, seeing Tom Skerritt at the Kingfish Cafe. These are the little things that let you know that you're in Seattle, and there's nowhere else quite like it.

7. All of the festivals and major events. SIFF, Bumbershoot, Sakura-Con, The Bite of Seattle, Seafair, Hempfest, and Folklife all make for fun weekends.

6. Tim Eyman. Just kidding. Vote No on 1033.

5. Our sports franchises. We have two beautiful sports stadiums in Qwest Field and Safeco Field, both ranked within the top 10 in their respective sports. The Seahawks, the Mariners, the Sounders and the Storm all usually put a decent product out every year, and the players are active in the community.

4. Our major local companies. Despite what the naysayers say, this area seems to be pretty dang good for business. Nordstrom, Expeditors International, Starbucks, Amazon, Costco, Microsoft, REI, Expedia, Alaska Air, Jones Soda, Mike's Hard Lemonade, Fisher Communications, Holland America Line, Ambassadors International, Real Networks, Isilon Systems, Car Toys, Money Tree, Sur La Table, Plum Creek Timber, Dendreon, etc.

3. Local theatre and the arts. This city is a haven for these things! The 5th Avenue Theatre brings in Broadway quality shows, with stars like Jenifer Lewis, Taylor Hicks, Harvey Fierstein, Randy Quaid and Lucy Lawless. The Paramount also brings in some good shows. Then there's the Seattle Symphony at Benaroya Hall, and the Seattle Opera and PNB at McCaw Hall.

2. The people. pw72 is right, the people here are authentic. A very large majority of my encounter with people here are positive, whether it's a friendly smile walking down the street, or holding the door open for someone.

1. The Natural Beauty. Looking out from my deck and seeing Mt. Rainier. Absolutely breathtaking.

*sigh* I really really want to go back now.

[Midas AG]

All good reasons so far. I really like 1,2,8,9,10 the best. Jesse Jones thing annoyed me at first, but it grows on ya. I think we all love Seattle for different reasons, but they ring true with each other.

Its great.

[seattlenextyear]

I just figured this one out: Restaurants here serve brunch on Saturdays AND Sundays. Where I moved from, it was only on Sundays, and only at a few places in town.

This has expanded my pancake and french toast eating opportunities to exciting new levels.

[jenlion]

I love being here. It was love-at-first-sight for me, and that was in December, and I'm not generally a romantic.

I love the mountains. I can pick up and be on a trail in the woods in the mountains with clean-smelling, clean-feeling air anytime I want. And it's THICK air, with passes at 2 and 4000' -- I can still breathe, unlike in Colorado.

I love the sound. I love Deception Pass, I've never seen anything else like it. I love ferry trips. I love the Olympic Peninsula with its beautiful, cold lakes, rainforests, and mountains. I love that I can take my 2-year-old to a park any weekend of the year and throw rocks into a lake (his favorite activity at this point), play on some park equipment, and then be home in no time.

I love the warm-but-not-hot(mostly)-summers. After 19 years in TX, OK, and AR, it's amazing to be able to enjoy the outdoors for more than a week-in-spring and a week-in-fall. I love the mild winters, chilly and wet enough that you appreciate coming into your warm home and having a warm drink, but not so cold you worry about frostbite on your kids or shoveling snow. But if I WANT snow, it's a quick drive into the mountains, where it's supposed to be.

I love the hammock in my backyard, strung between actual trees, and lying in it with my husband or son, looking seventy-some feet up at the branches, the sky, airplanes. (Until the bees come for me... sigh).

I love the more-liberal atmosphere. Even on the east side, I know people of every political persuasion, none of them afraid to express their beliefs. I love the laid-back atmosphere, where I can get dressed up if I want to, or dress down if I want to, and very few people are going to care.

I love the waterfront, I love Pike Place, I love finding little nooks and crannies that are for "us". This is where we stop for croissants, THIS is where I get my coffee, this is where the balloon-guy is usually, this is the chocolate I stop to sample, this is where I get the cashews, this is the little random hallway where the kiddo can run up and down under the market because nobody else is here, and they're storing random painted pigs in the next room. I love hollering at the tourists on the duck tours.

I love knowing just where to look for Mt Rainier and Mt Baker to see if they're "out" today.

I love that it turns out that there IS a home for me. I thought I would never feel like I had a home, after years of moving around. Thought I would always feel out-of-place, out-of-step, and that the best I could hope for was to find a place I could tolerate being and learn to like the good things about it. Then I got here. Now, I understand the connection people can feel to a place. Took me thirty years to get here, but I'm home!