Is Seattle's beauty overrated? (Edmonds: architectural, yard, vehicle)

[tatania199]

How, exactly, is it "rated" in the first place?

I think that if you can't appreciate at least some beauty around you in the average day, you need to do some re-evaluating.

Objectively, how can a city bordered by ocean and mountains not be beautiful? I suspect that anyone who says it isn't hasn't lived somewhere truly bad. It would be a privileged opinion to say there's no beauty in a place like this.

Everyday, I drive one road int eh neighbourhood that has a view of downtown Seattle, downtown Bellevue and Lake Washington in the middle, just all spread out in front of me. If you can't find the beauty in that, well, that's very sad.

[Ira500]

When I'm in certain neighborhoods overlooking the Sound or the lake or seeing downtown in the distance, I am awed by the beauty. When I'm in downtown Seattle, and not in a place where I can see the water and mountains, I think "Meh."
DT Seattle does have some very cool old buildings, but a lot of the newer buildings either look like newer big buildings you'd find in any large city, or they're unique but ugly( Hello, EMP.)
Maybe downtown Seattle's beauty is overrated, but it's beautiful when you're looking at water or mountains from it.
Still, looking at DT Seattle from Hamilton Viewpoint in West Seattle is astounding, or from Kerry Park in Queen Anne, or from Somerset. I guess I'm just an old fuddy dud, and preferred some of the older buildings before they were torn down to make room for modern monstrosities.

[MaikeerinWA]

That's one of the things that makes Seattle beautiful in comparison to most cities - the natural beauty that you can see from the city. As tour operators are fond of saying, you can see two national parks from Seattle. Quite the backdrop...

Originally Posted by Ira500

Still, looking at DT Seattle from Hamilton Viewpoint in West Seattle is astounding, or from Kerry Park in Queen Anne, or from Somerset. I guess I'm just an old fuddy dud, and preferred some of the older buildings before they were torn down to make room for modern monstrosities.

[swerver]

Actually wouldn't that be 3 national parks? Olympic, Rainier, and North Cascades? The north cascades views aren't as prominent but technically they can be seen. Maybe not from downtown at street level.

[mrman78]

The beauty of Seattle also depends on where you are comparing it too. Like anywhere, there are always places people think are more beautiful. However, to me, Seattle is the most beautiful place that I've lived so far (including Hawai'i). But then again, it's a different kind of beautiful than many of those places too. I still don't see how anyone can find Seattle ugly by any means though.

[Beenhere4ever]

One of Seattle's nice features are those woody hills. I remember the hills of Seattle from my visit in the early 60's. It was my dominant impression. I had lived in San Fan in 1955, so I recognized there was a similarity.

[EastMeetsWest7]

Seattle's beauty rivals that of any Swiss city and I think Swiss cities are at the top when it comes to beautiful urban areas. Tokyo I think could be considered a rivalry with a backdrop of Mt Fuji and the water. However, Tokyo, itself, is just so urban and doesn't have the natural setting embedded into the city as Seattle. I don't know if Seattle is "THE MOST BEAUTIFUL", but it certainly at the top of list of beautiful cities in the world. The old buildings obviously give European cities an edge on beauty, but I think the modern architecture embedded in nature is what gives Seattle a unique look and feel all on its own.

[evergraystate]

It might not be the most beautiful but Seattle is definitely the most delusional city.

[Sandhillian]

The prettiest city I have ever been to is Istanbul, but I think Seattle's skyline is breathtaking. There is something about blue water next to a big city that is just beautiful.

[jr75]

Seattle is a very beautiful city. Mountains to the west, east and south, water all over the place and hills hills hills. Architecturally no slouch either and with a nice stock of older heritage buildings to boot.
Portland has some great old buildings downtown , but the Willamette river doesn't really compare to the sound and all of our lakes. Vancouver is beautifull too with a great waterfront but not nearly the amount of water throughout the city and tall hills that Seattle has nor the diversity in architecture.
I love coming into town from I-90 when the mountains open up and suddenly you enter Issaquah with Lake Sammamish visible to the right. Next over the water to Mercer Island (you are literally in a neighborhood on an island in the middle of a giant lake) and through a tunnel that then opens up to Lake Washington. You see the skyline in the distance but still a little far off. Gliding over the water on the floating bridge you glance to your left to see Mt. Rainier. I mean, seriously. You're in a major American city and you are speeding along the water like a boat with a 14,000 ft snow covered volcano hovering there heading towards another huge hill with houses tumbling down it and then through a carved tunnel entrance that says-SEATTLE PORTAL TO THE PACIFIC. Under the hill and through the tunnel you go to then pop out on the other side and there's the skyline with the Columbia Center standing guard towering over the others and the sparkling waters of the sound and the lofty peaks of the snow covered Olympics behind. I'm sorry but it's just stunning.