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Seattle proper sucks for waterfront access honestly. It's actually better in the suburbs than the city --- Bellevue, Kirkland, Edmonds, Des Moines etc. all have public waterfronts in their downtowns. In the city, outside of the industrial areas you mentioned like Ballard and Fremont by the ship canal, and a few stretches like Alki Beach and Lincoln Park, the vast majority of coastline is taken up by houses. My theory is that when the region was built up mostly in the early 20th century, the city didn't value public works as much because "undesirables" of various types would be able to partake, whereas the suburbs didn't even have those people.
Seattle has WAY more public waterfront than that. It's often continuous but at minimum you'll find parks and access points. Some of it's seawall and sometimes you can physically touch it. That doesn't count the views from the streets in most places.
I've ridden a bike along most of these waterfronts. Sometimes that's helpful for finding the less-publicized stuff.
Elephant in the room is that Denver is largely identified by its pot culture (now mushrooms too). What's that scene like in Boston? I know it's legal there, but it strikes me as a more white-collar-oriented city where people might shy away from that stuff for job reasons.
Seattle proper sucks for waterfront access honestly. It's actually better in the suburbs than the city --- Bellevue, Kirkland, Edmonds, Des Moines etc. all have public waterfronts in their downtowns. In the city, outside of the industrial areas you mentioned like Ballard and Fremont by the ship canal, and a few stretches like Alki Beach and Lincoln Park, the vast majority of coastline is taken up by houses. My theory is that when the region was built up mostly in the early 20th century, the city didn't value public works as much because "undesirables" of various types would be able to partake, whereas the suburbs didn't even have those people.
I've been to a couple of dispensaries in Boston. The ads are everywhere even in CT and RI you can see ads for dispensaries in MA. It's not Denver but it was talked about pretty heavily on the radio. In addition to this, some of the dispensaries sponsor social events. When i was in Boston I went to a Celtics watch party at a restaurant in Hyde Park that was sponsored by a Local dispensary about to open. They were giving away edibles and all that.
Still very few stores compared to Denver there are only about 220 stores in MA as opposed to like 1000+ in CO. Where you can get an Oz for $40 at the cheapest in CO. You'd lucky to find an OZ of shake for $150 in MA. I have heard of a half-ounce of shake for $40 in MA though. Prices are still coming down for weed in MA.
In general, is the most prevalent weed culture on the east coast and has been for a while. Or at least the most significant. Depending on where you are in Boston the smell of weed is pretty prevalent. Ive seen people smoking on the bus and train or directly in front of the South Bay Applebees. And there are dealers still unlike CO- you can find them in Downtown Crossing and in the Boston Common. Its much less of a secret than in Maryland...
I would put Maine up there on the weed culture list as well. They seem to have always been a half-step ahead of MA in terms of widespread access and open use. I think they fully legalized on the same day but Maine had been quasi-legal for longer.
Compassionate Caregivers of Maine has been around for a long time and other coops with seedbanks, free informational resources, meetups, forums that have been around for many years. The business there is more on a family/co-op level. MA has more of a big business/professional model. I'm sure it will ultimately surpass Maine if it hasn't already but it it's taken longer to fully deploy.
I would put Maine up there on the weed culture list as well. They seem to have always been a half-step ahead of MA in terms of widespread access and open use. I think they fully legalized on the same day but Maine had been quasi-legal for longer.
Compassionate Caregivers of Maine has been around for a long time and other coops with seedbanks, free informational resources, meetups, and forums have been around for many years. The business there is more on a family/co-op level. MA has more of a big business/professional model. I'm sure it will ultimately surpass Maine if it hasn't already but it it's taken longer to fully deploy.
Maine is very organic. Has a lot fewer stores and hasn't been legal as long. MA is a larger, more professional, market-lotta 'McWeed'. Maine is like a craft/artisanal offshoot- they've always had good strains/growers though (I used to like Gentle Giant).
In inner-city MA there's more open weed use than anywhere in Maine, as you could imagine. It also simply isn't as heavily trafficked as Maine. Suburban MA habits and urban MA habits are pretty different. If you're in a place like Springfield or Roxbury... it's out there. And has been for a while. Lots of 'Puff and Paints' and a few DC-style popups. Then you have a place like Sumit Lounge in Worcester, and more social consumption sites to come.
Not sure what quasi-legal means to you, Maine had a medical program longer (since 1999) but Maine decriminalized it a year later (2008 vs 2009). MA legalized in 2016 and stores first opened in November 2018, Maine legalized in 2016 stores first opened in September 2020.
Maine decrimialized in the 70s the 2009 one was an expansion to cover larger amounts. Portland legalized a few years before the rest of the state and MA did as well. MA still had a strong weed cultur and very strong in pockets. Possibly it's more concentrated with a dual personality where it was less accepted in certain suburban areas. Maines rural areas have been pretty open with it as well as the cities. I beleive there was major conflicts of interest between some of the coop organiza5ions and the legalization initiative which might be part of the reason stores have been so slow to take off in the state. They had their own informal stores with no competition and a hungry market hard to give that up even when it's unethical to fight against the thing you were supposedly leading the fight FOR. MA obviously has a much more robust market and investment capital
Maines rural areas have been pretty open with it as well as the cities.
If that's the case why are sales banned in 90% of Maine's towns? compared to just 30.1% of MA towns? Is it due to the co-ops? Maine had 9 counties vote against legalization and 7 vote in favor. So the rural communities don't seem to be that supportive at least not in 2016. Most of the support was concentrated in Southern Maine and Portland which we know is culturally influenced by MA to some degree.
Maine also had the vote to legalize pass barely 50.26% in favor 49.74% against. In MA it was approved with 53.59% of the vote.
Last edited by BostonBornMassMade; 05-05-2022 at 11:29 AM..
If that's the case why are sales banned in 90% of Maine's towns? Is it due to the co-ops?
I would have to look into it more but I wouldn't be surprised if it was a major factor or something akin to that where local farmers or caregivers have a good thing going and no incentive to see it change. I have heard things like that before but not sure how widespread it is to impact 90% of towns I didn't think it was that extreme
I would have to look into it more but I wouldn't be surprised if it was a major factor or something akin to that where local farmers or caregivers have a good thing going and no incentive to see it change. I have heard things like that before but not sure how widespread it is to impact 90% of towns I didn't think it was that extreme
It look like in MA the vast majority of towns supported legalization, in ME the opposite was true, so far as I can tell every county in MA supported legalization. This attitude may still be true in Maine. But Maine could still have a more potent subculture/culture. Whereas in MA it’s more business/bleh/mundane.
Online I get the sense that there are growers trying to make a living in Maine- an economically weak state. And you have the Portland area that very much like the Berkshires/Happy Valley in MA is happy to receive the taxable dollars of people from the Boston Area and out of state. And then you have the rest of the state…
It look like in MA the vast majority of towns supported legalization, in ME the opposite was true, so far as I can tell every county in MA supported legalization. This attitude may still be true in Maine. But Maine could still have a more potent subculture/culture. Whereas in MA it’s more business/bleh/mundane.
Online I get the sense that there are growers trying to make a living in Maine- an economically weak state. And you have the Portland area that very much like the Berkshires/Happy Valley in MA is happy to receive the taxable dollars of people from the Boston Area and out of state. And then you have the rest of the state…
It does seem like a complicated issue. Apparently the tax revenues go to the state and not towns. Only 29% of Maine residents live in the towns that allow shops, but a large percent lives close-enough to utilize them. Probably many people out in the boonies see no benefit of them and just plain don't want them.
If the two sides of MA politics are progressives and NIMBYs then the two sides of Maine is libertarians and NIMBYs. Maine is fine with people smoking pot and opening shops, just not in their 300 person town where they know everyone and don't really care to have pot-tourists when they themselves get nothing out of it. If they want to smoke some weed they will get some from their cousin or their neighbor they've known for 30 years they don't need a shop and they don't want a shop in their town. Next town over? sure, not my problem. VERY few people in Maine are suffernig from lack of access to pot, despite fewer shops and no delivery. I know people who had weed delivered to them in like 2014 through an app in Maine that was seemingly legal though this was in the Portland Area. I wonde rhow many places could actually support a delivery service besides Portland and a few college towns that probably already have something very slightly under the table.
MA has a younger population and it's in another galaxy in terms of cosmopolitian/transplant population although the NIMBY coalition is still quite strong.
Just some speculation on the differences in voting patterns and stores. None of its known for sure to me
It's not Denver but it was talked about pretty heavily on the radio.
The funny thing about this is that if Denver was on the West Coast it would just be another typical city in terms of its pot culture.
In cities like San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, Vancouver, etc. for decades marijuana has been extremely prominent and virtually decriminalized. SF and the Bay Area arguably has the strongest weed culture of any major city in the world. Seattle has been hosting the country's (maybe the world's?) largest Hempfest for 30 years, and Washington State legalized recreational marijuana on the same day that Colorado did. Marijuana culture has been extremely ingrained in places Portland and LA for decades.
The only thing that makes Denver unique in this regard is that it's in the middle of the country. I've always said that Denver feels (in many ways) like someone took a West Coast city and plunked it down about 1,500 miles to the East. Despite being geographically much closer to the Midwest, culturally it is much closer to the West Coast. Denver's weed culture gets a lot of attention because it's such an anomaly compared to the rest of Middle America. But it doesn't stand out compared to West Coast cities.
I only say this because I notice people from East of the Mississippi tend to hold up Denver as this shining example of marijuana culture. But that's only because it's much closer to the Eastern half of the country and because it seems like this oasis compared to its immediate surroundings. In reality, the West Coast and its major cities are the true hub of marijuana culture in the country (and arguably the world).
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