After 6 years I am ready to leave Seattle. (college, live in)

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by NaturalUrbanBalence

Seattle has had a lot of things going for this June-September(2 different film festivals, jazz festival, environmental festival, a huge local arts festival, and 2 music festivals)and other months of the year too. Always a lot of music concerts, and things like that. So many great restaurants, and independent coffee/tea places in Seattle. Other things too.

I dont know why some posts make it sound like Seattle lacks urban culture or something. Looks like they just didnt know cultural things that I mentioned above exist in Seattle and didnt try hard enough to look for it.

I like a lot of things about the Bay area. There are some things I prefer about the Seattle area/Pacific northwest over San Francisco/Bay area and other things I prefer about San Francisco/Bay area over Seattle/Pacific Northwest.

To eskercurve: Wow, if you feel like that about San Francisco, how do you feel about New York City and places like that!? I didnt feel like San Francisco was crowded, or noisy most of the time.

Sometimes I like the crowds and noise. I like how Seattle and San Francisco have have a nice balance of slower pace/quieter/more desolate places and more faster paced/louder/more crowded areas.

There are a lot of good things about density, though. Seattle is actually pretty dense compared to 80%-95% of the USA, but compared to San Francisco and NYC, its not that dense for most spots

I still like a lot of things about Seattle though. New York City, Seattle, Chicago, and San Francisco= my favorite cities in USA.

I saw in one of your posts youre from Phoenix! So interesting you went from Phoenix to Seattle. I saw in one of your posts that you hate Phoenix and love Seattle.

So why do you hate Phoenix? I hate Phoenix too.

I think eskercurve is from Chicago

To Gentoo: Interesting to see your opinion about this coming from someone who is from the Bay area! How do you feel about my last post in this thread before this one?

It seems like we both feel very similarly about Seattle which is good and see how it can be great for city stuff as well as nature/outdoors stuff.

Where did you grow up in East bay in particular?

I am surprised to see how some people say so many negative things related to crime/safety in San Francisco on city-data. I had no idea it was so bad. I visited San Francisco for a few days in February 2008 and was outside a lot at night(up to 11pm) and felt completely safe.

Even in places like Detroit, Gary, and Anchorage(Anchorage has crime problems too) a lot of people say that crime isnt random there, so is San Francisco's crime problems more random!?

Im pretty sure eskercurve said he is from Phoenix.
Do you also hate Phoenix like me and eskercurve? I have a hunch you also dont like Phoenix.

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by NaturalUrbanBalence

To Gentoo: Interesting to see your opinion about this coming from someone who is from the Bay area! How do you feel about my last post in this thread before this one?

It seems like we both feel very similarly about Seattle which is good and see how it can be great for city stuff as well as nature/outdoors stuff.

Where did you grow up in East bay in particular?

I am surprised to see how some people say so many negative things related to crime/safety in San Francisco on city-data. I had no idea it was so bad. I visited San Francisco for a few days in February 2008 and was outside a lot at night(up to 11pm) and felt completely safe.

Even in places like Detroit, Gary, and Anchorage(Anchorage has crime problems too) a lot of people say that crime isnt random there, so is San Francisco's crime problems more random!?

Im pretty sure eskercurve said he is from Phoenix.
Do you also hate Phoenix like me and eskercurve? I have a hunch you also dont like Phoenix.

I'm from Berkeley, lived in Oakland also. No place I've been in Ca. is more Seattle-like than those two cities.

As far as Phoenix goes, I've not been there. However, I hate the desert with a passion so I see no need to go there. I have family there that I don't visit...it's that bad.

Some of the SF stuff on C-D is exaggerated but there is some truth to it. Go to the SF forum and I'll tell you more about it there.

You said a lot of things in your last post so I'm not sure where to start.

As far as safety goes, I felt perfectly safe in Seattle. I know Seattle is a safe place just due to what the news chooses to report. When I was there, there were a string of armed robberies in the Green Lake area. Such a crime "spree" of that nature wouldn't even make the news anywhere I've lived.

To Gentoo:

I visited Oakland in February 2008, but only for two hours and at night lol. But what I saw of it, I liked. I wish I visited Berkeley when I was in the Bay area. I completely regret it.

I guess I could just google earth parts of Berkeley one day and pretend that I visited it lol. Im sure I would like Berkeley a lot.

One of my family members said that University Way in Udistrict Seattle is like Berkeley. Is that true?

I also feel like I hate most deserts with a passion(I think I might like coastal deserts), and I never visited Phoenix, but from what I know about it, I hate it, and would never visit. LOL You live only 2-4 hours away from Phoenix, and you never visited Phoenix. Thats interesting. I think San Diego is less than an hour away from some deserts, or it can even be a desert itself the driest months of the year.

I visited San Diego in February 2008(5 days after the Bay area), and it was green when I was there along the coast, but Im sure its not that green most of the year.

I feel safe in Seattle most of the time, but it doesnt seem that safe to me sometimes after 10pm. In some ways, I actually dont feel like Seattle is as safe as some people say.

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by NaturalUrbanBalence

To Gentoo:

I visited Oakland in February 2008, but only for two hours and at night lol. But what I saw of it, I liked. I wish I visited Berkeley when I was in the Bay area. I completely regret it.

I guess I could just google earth parts of Berkeley one day and pretend that I visited it lol. Im sure I would like Berkeley a lot.

One of my family members said that University Way in Udistrict Seattle is like Berkeley. Is that true?

I also feel like I hate most deserts with a passion(I think I might like coastal deserts), and I never visited Phoenix, but from what I know about it, I hate it, and would never visit. LOL You live only 2-4 hours away from Phoenix, and you never visited Phoenix. Thats interesting. I think San Diego is less than an hour away from some deserts, or it can even be a desert itself the driest months of the year.

I visited San Diego in February 2008(5 days after the Bay area), and it was green when I was there along the coast, but Im sure its not that green most of the year.

I feel safe in Seattle most of the time, but it doesnt seem that safe to me sometimes after 10pm. In some ways, I actually dont feel like Seattle is as safe as some people say.

Check out my post in the SF forum for my pics of Berkeley as I'm sure such a post would be met with a fair amount of disenchantment here. I didn't visit the U district when I was in Seattle so I can't make that comparison.

San Diego is about 6 hours from phoenix but 2 hours away from deserts proper. It's not green here for about 8 months of the year.

We should probably talk more about Seattle here as I don't think this forum is as free as the Sf forum. Those of us who say Seattle is safe have lived in places where safety is a commodity you buy and pay for. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like I will make it up there again this year so I'll have to wait for next year maybe.

Oh, which areas of Seattle did you visit!?

I thought Phoenix was much closer to San Diego than that lol.
I also thought San Diego was one of the safest cities in America! I also thought Berkeley was safe.

I am almost always a Seattle booster, but I dont feel like its as safe as some people say. However, I do think its still relatively safe compared to some other places.

So San Diego does get some rain 4 months of the year! But its probably like 6-15 inches vs. Seattle's 30-50. Actually, I want Seattle to get 10-30 more inches of rain per year. lol.

There are other cities that get more rain than Seattle per year. Miami:60-70 inches, New Orleans:60-70. Hong Kong: 90-110 inches! And there are other cities that can get cloudier than Seattle too.

New York City and Washington D.C get slightly more precipitation than Seattle per year.

[415_s2k]

I had to pull a weapon on a guy for threatening myself and a female companion in the ID.

I have had to pull a weapon on someone in Los Angeles, as well.

I've never had to pull a weapon on someone in SF, and I walk back along Geary through the edge of the Tenderloin nearly every night.

[stingray427]

Originally Posted by 415_s2k

This is true. But SF still has way more going on and is IMHO more lively. I'm a bigtime gearhead and have burned off many a set of tires on roads around LA, SF, and Seattle, and SF definitely is the least pleasant to drive on.

Yet somehow, when I've got the top down mid day and am cruising through Golden Gate park towards the coast, I the condition of the roads in Union Square don't bother me...

But the conditions of the roads wreck havoc on your cars suspension, tires and your body.
There are some fun roads in Marin Co. Hwy 1 only 1 lane each way very curvy and hilly.
Ditto on the coast from SF down to Monterey.

[stingray427]

Originally Posted by 415_s2k

I had to pull a weapon on a guy for threatening myself and a female companion in the ID.

I have had to pull a weapon on someone in Los Angeles, as well.

I've never had to pull a weapon on someone in SF, and I walk back along Geary through the edge of the Tenderloin nearly every night.

Your luck may run out.

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by NaturalUrbanBalence

Oh, which areas of Seattle did you visit!?

I thought Phoenix was much closer to San Diego than that lol.
I also thought San Diego was one of the safest cities in America! I also thought Berkeley was safe.

I am almost always a Seattle booster, but I dont feel like its as safe as some people say. However, I do think its still relatively safe compared to some other places.

So San Diego does get some rain 4 months of the year! But its probably like 6-15 inches vs. Seattle's 30-50. Actually, I want Seattle to get 10-30 more inches of rain per year. lol.

There are other cities that get more rain than Seattle per year. Miami:60-70 inches, New Orleans:60-70. Hong Kong: 90-110 inches! And there are other cities that can get cloudier than Seattle too.

New York City and Washington D.C get slightly more precipitation than Seattle per year.

Mostly, I did the touristy things in Seattle; Pike Place Market, Olympic Scupture and Myrtle Edwards Parks. However I did make it to the zoo so I got to see the Phinney Ridge area and I also went to Discovery Park so I got to see Magnolia as well. I wanted to see more but my travel partner wasn't the most cooperative person. I didn't even get to Lake Washington.

San Diego is safe, however like you are with Seattle, I don't think it's quite as safe as some make it out to be. Berkeley has a fairly high crime rate by comparison although many of the perpetrators are from nearby cities (like Richmond...yuck). SD receives about 9.39 in. of rain a year.