My experiences, observations, and opinions after a month long stay in Seattle (Bellevue: fit in, home)

[just4ivaylo]

Hm, I agree with most of your points but one: the level of service at most restaurants is usually quite good. Come down here to Texas and you'll see what it's like to have terrible service.

[seattlenextyear]

I moved here from NC and Seattle natives always ask me why in the world I did that. They think its this sunny idyllic land where people just sit on their porches and sip iced tea all afternoon. One person was actually surprised that it got below 50 degrees there!
Others make me laugh when they say "is it as humid in NC as it is here?" Oh, if you only knew!

I do agree about the expensive restaurant food. The Triangle area has some excellent reasonably priced restaurants that I miss a lot.

To observer: I agree with a lot of things you said in the post and it was a nice summary.

Its makes sense why your city-data username is observer.


However, I strongly disagree with you that the food scene is overrated. I feel like it is underrated and has one of the best food scenes in the USA.

I can name at least 30 great restaurants in Seattle that I have been to that I liked a lot. Maybe you just went to the wrong food places? Do you want me to name the restaurants? Seattle also has a lot of great food supermarkets. I feel like Im in a foodie's paradise in Seattle.

[jr75]

Some good observations there. One thing that really baffles me though is why so many people have such strange reactions to hipsters. Why is it any more annoying than fleece clad techy types or suburban Moms that dress too young for their age? Just another sub group of people that make up a cities populace. I don't think of myself as a hipster-though I like some music that might be classified as hipster and I don't shave everyday. I don't think a lot of people understand that the "hipster" population is responsible for most of the music Seattle is nationally known for. A vibrant youth culture is good for a city IMO.

[SeattlitefromNC]

Originally Posted by jr75

Some good observations there. One thing that really baffles me though is why so many people have such strange reactions to hipsters. Why is it any more annoying than fleece clad techy types or suburban Moms that dress too young for their age? Just another sub group of people that make up a cities populace. I don't think of myself as a hipster-though I like some music that might be classified as hipster and I don't shave everyday. I don't think a lot of people understand that the "hipster" population is responsible for most of the music Seattle is nationally known for. A vibrant youth culture is good for a city IMO.

Exhibit A in the theory of youth culture being good for a city: Portland, OR. They have practically turned the exporting of youth and "hipster" culture into a basis for growth for an entire region.

Also, I think the various sub-groups of Seattle make this place as fascinating as it is. I grew up in Raleigh, NC, and I assure you: no amount of Southern cuisine served with due deference can make up for the overall blandness and homogeneity that permeates that specific regional culture. Seattle's cultural history is far spicier, far more complex, far more interesting to me ... and the various subcultures that have emerged from that mix are part of what make this place so great.

But again, we will have to agree to disagree.

[DoctorRain]

Originally Posted by observer

Seattle_Sundial,

without a doubt Seattle has better public transportation, scenery, and urban lifestyle than Raleigh. However, Raleigh does have lots and lots of green ways and parks. Raleigh does have nice scenic areas and slight elevation changes (considered flat to most, but I live in FL LOL!) Scenic areas and elevation/hills does not compare to Seattle, but again not many cities scenery does either. I also find the Raleigh metro area to be much cleaner and well kept compared to Seattle. In general, I find the people to be nicer and the level of service in Raleigh to be superior to that of Seattle. According to some magazine a few years ago Raleigh was ranked #3 as far as number of people with bachelor degree or higher behind S.F. and Seattle coming in #1.

I like the Seattle metro area and would consider living their if the right opportunity became available their and if I could deal with their winters/spring. I have never visited Seattle in winter or spring. I also like the pace in Raleigh better than Seattle as far as traffic goes. Raleigh's downtown is growing nicely and gradually becoming more and more attractive. Still, Raleigh's downtown does not compare to other major cities downtown as far as bars, restaurants, and overall activities. I describe Raleigh as a city that is not to big, yet not to small. When I put the pros and the cons of both cities, for me Raleigh comes out on top. I do like Seattle though.

Meet another person living in FL.

I have never been to Seattle, but am considering it ALONG WITH Portland OR. Portland is the city I been to and was highly impressed with the restaurants and then someone here says how Seattle restaurants are pricey and mediocre and can't get cheap beer anywhere. In Portland, it was everywhere unless of course you went to a microbrew place, but you could definitely get beer for 2 bucks each or less if it was PBR or something.

Anyways, been hearing more about Seattle. I hear of this freeze. Being a MA person with immediate family from Boston, I am more of the show your feelings type rather than the I dont like you, but I will be polite to you bit.
That freeze is making me think about Seattle some in regards to those who move there and struggle real bad to make new friends. Portland didnt even seem as bad as how they described the freeze in Seattle at all in my month long stay there. It may depend on who you meet. I think many places it can be a challenge to meet new people.

I wouldn't pick Raleigh AT ALL over Seattle though lol. Asheville might make sense, but Raleigh? I dunno.

[DoctorRain]

Originally Posted by Bill Loney

North Carolina is a lovely state. A wee bit conservative for my tastes however.

Ya like most of the south. Welcome to the south ANYWHERE.

[DoctorRain]

Originally Posted by jr75

Some good observations there. One thing that really baffles me though is why so many people have such strange reactions to hipsters. Why is it any more annoying than fleece clad techy types or suburban Moms that dress too young for their age? Just another sub group of people that make up a cities populace. I don't think of myself as a hipster-though I like some music that might be classified as hipster and I don't shave everyday. I don't think a lot of people understand that the "hipster" population is responsible for most of the music Seattle is nationally known for. A vibrant youth culture is good for a city IMO.

A suburban mom often times can be more annoying many times than not.

Now as far as hipsters go, I for sure look like one, only difference, I am more down to earth and not extremely pretentious. I am overly sarcastic though and have been known to get on some peoples nerves who couldn't understand what I was all about, so they judged me hard. I for sure do not shave every day. Sometimes I might just shave enough to get the thickness down, but could still look scruffy after hahaha.

Every once in awhile depending on where I go, I might try to start a convo with another hipster type and I get the cold shoulder or maybe a quick answer, but not many seem to wanna hold conversations too long or at least some that I'm thinking about. Usually the ones who talk politics are easiest to talk to and some of them are down for debates. Theres different types of hipsters imo, just depends.

[aaronmidnight]

I'm not too familiar with Raleigh, but I wonder why SeattlitefromNC thinks it is bland and homogeneous compared to the Seattle area?

A quick comparison via Wikipedia of King County, WA and Wake County, NC demographics shows that Wake County actually seems equally if not a bit more diverse:

- King County is about 76% White; Wake County is about 72% White
- King County is about 5% Black; Wake County is nearly 20% Black
- King County is abut 11% Asian; Wake County is about 3% Asian
- King County and Wake County are both about 5% Hispanic

So the Seattle area seems to have a bit more Asian culture, but quite a bit less in the way of African-American culture.

In both cases, the stats above come from 2000 census data, so I'm guessing that Hispanic numbers have probably gone up in both places, but probably more quickly in North Carolina (since I think Hispanic immigrants tend to move to where cost of living is lower).

Just found a story online that backs up this point. Depending on when SeattlitefromNC left NC, he/she might not realize just how ethnically diverse NC is becoming - Carolinas lead the nation in Hispanic growth - CharlotteObserver.com

Are there other non-demographic ways in which SeattlitefromNC or others familiar with Raleigh think the area is more homogeneous than Seattle? Politically I'd guess that NC is probably more homogeneously conservative, but Seattle is probably more homogeneously liberal. Etc.

I shouldn't be annoyed since again I have no skin in the game when it comes to Raleigh, but I understand that the Triangle area of NC is booming and it just seems to me offensive and unfair to label an entire city as bland.

PS - I did a little more digging into the demographic data and found that Raleigh has a higher percentage (52% vs 46%) of married couples living together. So Seattle seems to be more of a singles scene based on this very superficial demographic analysis. Maybe that's what SeattlitefromNC means by bland? Married couples - especially if they have kids - often spend more time at home with family as opposed to partying out on the town. So if bland = less nightlife, I could see why perhaps Raleigh might appear bland...

[HuskyDawg]

Grew up in Atlanta and brother went to UNC Chapel Hill so I went up to NC a lot. Kept hearing Charlotte's the next Atlanta, and that Carolina is up and coming. Blah blahh. It is growing fast with transplants from the Northeast, but I found it kind of boring/low energy. Pretty state, fine place to live, but I think the West Coast offers so much more for activities, lifestyle, and culture. If you didn't have good food in Seattle, you didn't go to the right restaurants. There's plenty of good food in this town.