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None of the SEA/TAC street views are holding a candle to LA or Vegas imo. They don't really look gritty. Just Like normal older urban squares or run down single family homes. Lots of physical space, amenities, and transit or just generic commericial stripsthat whle not sexy arent at all gritty.
None of the SEA/TAC street views are holding a candle to LA or Vegas imo. They don't really look gritty. Just Like normal older urban squares or run down single family homes. Lots of physical space, amenities, and transit or just generic commericial stripsthat whle not sexy arent at all gritty.
I just dont see it..not compared to North/West Vegas or South/East LA County
Tacoma's nickname is literally grit city. I see your point, and Tacoma has come a long way in rehabbing itself. There are still some serious elements of grit though imo.
None of the SEA/TAC street views are holding a candle to LA or Vegas imo. They don't really look gritty. Just Like normal older urban squares or run down single family homes. Lots of physical space, amenities, and transit or just generic commericial stripsthat whle not sexy arent at all gritty.
I just dont see it..not compared to North/West Vegas or South/East LA County
Aurora Avenue in Seattle between 85th and 105th is gritty by any standard, even if the neighborhoods that border it aren't necessarily. The businesses are largely run down, there are a bunch of flophouses, infrastructure is dilapidated, and the majority of people you see walking around (aside from those waiting for transit) are prostitutes, pimps, and drug dealers/addicts. It's hard to see on streetview because the street is so wide.
This is a national news story about prostitution that focuses on Aurora:
Just to clarify, I voted for LA, and I think the Bay Area (really just the inner East Bay) would be second. But the Seattle metro has plenty of gritty sections, especially by Western metro standards.
I don't think Vegas is up there in terms of grittiness. It has some serious ghettos and crime issues but it just doesn't look that gritty. Most of those streetviews you posted just look desolate above all else, or in some cases they actually look nice. How is this (one of the views you posted) gritty? https://www.google.com/maps/@36.1750...7i13312!8i6656
Last edited by Vincent_Adultman; 04-06-2020 at 03:57 PM..
Aurora Avenue in Seattle between 85th and 105th is gritty by any standard, even if the neighborhoods that border it aren't necessarily. The businesses are largely run down, there are a bunch of flophouses, infrastructure is dilapidated, and the majority of people you see walking around (aside from those waiting for transit) are prostitutes, pimps, and drug dealers/addicts. It's hard to see on streetview because the street is so wide.
This is a national news story about prostitution that focuses on Aurora:
Just to clarify, I voted for LA, and I think the Bay Area (really just the inner East Bay) would be second. But the Seattle metro has plenty of gritty sections, especially by Western metro standards.
I don't think Vegas is up there in terms of grittiness. It has some serious ghettos and crime issues but it just doesn't look that gritty. Most of those streetviews you posted just look desolate above all else, or in some cases they actually look nice. How is this (one of the views you posted) gritty? https://www.google.com/maps/@36.1750...7i13312!8i6656
40 feet up a dude has a huge shopping cart full of trash and belongings. Another dude just pouring gasoline into a gas container (is it gasoline?)
No trees
No walkability/landscaping
Matters/dresses on the sidewalk
Brown, dry, drab apartment blocks that look super cheap
No visible shops or stores
Some busted looking vehicles
To me, the of the ghettos of Vegas looks desolate, underdeveloped, dusty, old, junky, ranch-like, vast, dull, hot and hellish. Landscape looks bare and unforgiving especially when I th ink of that heat, the lack of foliage harshness the appearance. I see junk in everyone yards, and sand in the road, with very little color to liven things up. Tons of vacant lots. Bars on the windows. No nice central village streets like in SEA/TAC.
Not that I don’t see a little bit of grit in SEA/TAC but I do think it looks more lush, developed, clean and orderly than Vegas.
Last edited by BostonBornMassMade; 04-06-2020 at 05:35 PM..
40 feet up a dude has a huge shopping cart full of trash and belongings. Another dude just pouring gasoline into a gas container (is it gasoline?)
No trees
No walkability/landscaping
Matters/dresses on the sidewalk
Brown, dry, drab apartment blocks that look super cheap
No visible shops or stores
Some busted looking vehicles
To me, the of the ghettos of Vegas looks desolate, underdeveloped, dusty, old, junky, ranch-like, vast, dull, hot and hellish. Landscape looks bare and unforgiving especially when I th ink of that heat, the lack of foliage harshness the appearance. I see junk in everyone yards, and sand in the road, with very little color to liven things up. Tons of vacant lots. Bars on the windows. No nice central village streets like in SEA/TAC.
Not that I don’t see a little bit of grit in SEA/TAC but I do think it looks more lush, developed, clean and orderly than Vegas.
Oh I agree that they look desolate, underdeveloped, hot, nightmarish, but that doesn't translate to gritty necessarily to me. I lived in Tucson for 5 years and it reminds me quite a bit of some of the areas there. Empty, desolate, dystopian even, yes - but not my idea of what is meant by gritty. It's a Mad Max vibe in that anything goes but the built environment is pretty nondescript and there are very few people around.
To me the definition of West Coast grittiness is the Tenderloin in SF or some of the denser corridors in East LA - plenty of commerce, restaurants, transit, etc. but generally run down with a lot of sketchy activity. Not a classically dangerous ghetto a la Southside Chicago but very gritty.
The gritty areas in the Seattle metro are more in that vein - they have that more more rundown look and sketchy vibe. Not desolate, underdeveloped, or dull necessarily. The heavy foilage makes it harder to translate via streetview, hence why I included some videos. Tacoma and Everett are still largely blue collar cities and have plenty of gritty areas in that respect.
For example, in my mind a block like this in Seattle is significantly grittier than those areas in Vegas (not more dangerous, but grittier):
Oh I agree that they look desolate, underdeveloped, hot, nightmarish, but that doesn't translate to gritty necessarily to me. I lived in Tucson for 5 years and it reminds me quite a bit of some of the areas there. Empty, desolate, dystopian even, yes - but not my idea of what is meant by gritty. It's a Mad Max vibe in that anything goes but the built environment is pretty nondescript and there are very few people around.
To me the definition of West Coast grittiness is the Tenderloin in SF or some of the denser corridors in East LA - plenty of commerce, restaurants, transit, etc. but generally run down with a lot of sketchy activity. Not a classically dangerous ghetto a la Southside Chicago but very gritty.
The gritty areas in the Seattle metro are more in that vein - they have that more more rundown look and sketchy vibe. Not desolate, underdeveloped, or dull necessarily. The heavy foilage makes it harder to translate via streetview, hence why I included some videos. Tacoma and Everett are still largely blue collar cities and have plenty of gritty areas in that respect.
For example, in my mind a block like this in Seattle is significantly grittier than those areas in Vegas (not more dangerous, but grittier):
To me the areas in Seattle would just be considered normal or even moderately upscale/gentrifying back East. Vegas looks distinctly western, alien and hellish. Most of the Seattle pics just looks like a less gritty what I’m used to. But these two pictures were legitimately gritty.
To me the areas in Seattle would just be considered normal or even moderately upscale/gentrifying back East. Vegas looks distinctly western, alien and hellish. Most of the Seattle pics just looks like a less gritty what I’m used to. But these two pictures were legitimately gritty.
I get what you're saying but in reality Aurora, Rainier Beach, and several other parts of the Seattle region are actually grittier than those two pictures from Pioneer Square.
This is just a random sampling of streetviews from around the Seattle region that I would consider gritty. I think these can hold up to most of the Vegas ones in terms of grittiness. Not as dystopian, alien, desolate, and hellish as you said, but more in line with the traditional definition of gritty.
The Los Angeles area has a lot of gritty parts, like most of South Central, Watts, Compton, and East L.A. like Montebello. A lot of San Bernardino and the Inland Empire have a gritty feel too, at least by West Coast standards. I'd say areas like Mojave and Victorville might count as gritty too. San Francisco has a more yuppie/hipster/techie reputation than gritty. Oakland is one exception, though I wouldn't say its grittier than South Central or East LA.
But there's nothing on the West Coast that's gritty on the level of Detroit, Chicago, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Newark or even parts of New Orleans.
During my visit to Seattle I saw more poverty and downtrodden areas than I had expected to, but I wouldn't say Seattle is a gritty city overall, it's probably one of the most plastic cities in the country.
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