Official "Seattle Freeze" Discussion Thread (Bellevue: student loans, homes)

[scirocco22]

Darn it, I still contend there never was a freeze. I mean, I grew up in the Seattle area in the 19xx's (let's just say I'm an old guy ) ...everybody seemed friendly enough back then. I didn't start hearing about this so-called freeze until a few years ago.

[41Willys]

Originally Posted by scirocco22

Darn it, I still contend there never was a freeze. I mean, I grew up in the Seattle area in the 19xx's (let's just say I'm an old guy ) ...everybody seemed friendly enough back then. I didn't start hearing about this so-called freeze until a few years ago.

LOL,, the 19xx's ? You make it sound so long ago!

Well,, maybe I have it backwards then.(About the freeze) Anyone want to voice there opinion on this?

[chris]

Originally Posted by scirocco22

Darn it, I still contend there never was a freeze. I mean, I grew up in the Seattle area in the 19xx's (let's just say I'm an old guy ) ...everybody seemed friendly enough back then. I didn't start hearing about this so-called freeze until a few years ago.

I think I've mentioned it before, but I'm sure once tech became the dominate industry in Seattle, the freeze may have followed it. I mean, I know *plenty* of techies that can barely communicate without a keyboard.

Something funny I haven't mentioned before too, is that I have a friend I used to know in Massachusettes who moved out here about the same time I did (or maybe 2 years before I did, can't remember exactly). Before he moved out here, he was one of the most social, outgoing, and upbeat people I knew.

Zoom ahead three to four years later, he's an anti-social zombie who has no interest in his friends, and never leaves the house except to go to work, at Microsoft.

This isn't to say I haven't met nice people from Microsoft, but 9/10ths of the people I have do not like social situations, unless it involves the use of a keyboard.

Is the tech industry a part of it? Coupled with the weather, I say *yes*.

I'd rant on with other specific examples, but I think I've stated my case.

[scirocco22]

Good point. Again.

[badmikeyt]

Absolutely. I moved to Seattle from Northern CA (I learned to say "Northern" when a new acquaintance in Seattle warned me that just saying "California" would raise the ire of the natives) in January of 2004. Having lived in CA for most of my life, I was not prepared for the total lack of social interaction. I made the mistake of buying a townhome in Bellevue, which only made it worse when trying to meet people who were part of the 206 Mafia, as I came to call it.

A year into it, I was ready to scrap life in WA and move somewhere else but several people I'd met said that my frustration really was more to do with living in Bellevue, that if I actually moved into Seattle I'd have a much different experience. Well, I sold the place in Bellevue and moved to Capitol Hill, and the only difference was that I was paying more for the home that I never left.

I have worked in the high tech industry since 2000 and so I was used to somewhat nerdy/introverted types. I wasn't ready to live and breathe them full-time. There's a lot of speculation about what causes the 'freeze' but ultimately, if you are even remotely a 'people' person, Seattle just isn't the place for you - what does it matter why the people act the way they do?

After 3 1/2 years I *did* throw in the towel and moved to Chicago. Interestingly enough, every single person I met in Chicago during my househunting phase extolled their city's virtues with pride, and without fail told me how much I'd love living here. Everyone I told in Seattle did what Seattleites do best - zeroed in immediately on the negative (cold winters, no ocean, etc).

When I invited and received 'yes' RSVP's to ~40 people I'd either worked with or considered 'good friends' in Seattle to a going away bbq on a beautiful summer day, I jokingly told a friend from CA that I'd be lucky if 10 of them actually showed up. 8 did.

When I got to Chicago, 35 people I'd barely known at all showed up at a friend's house for a surprise 'welcome to town' party.

I don't share all this to **** on Seattle - god knows the skies do enough of that. But I think it's important for people to understand that the only way to really combat the Seattle freeze is to either a> accept that it exists and will likely suck you in to it, as I felt it doing to me, or b> move.

6 weeks after I arrived in Chicago, my best friend from Seattle joined me here. The first night he was in town, I took him to get some coffee and the barista's/cashiers chatted us up for 20 minutes welcoming us both to town and giving us recommendations on things to do/see. Ironically, this was at Starbucks.

There IS life outside of the Seattle freeze - just not likely in Seattle.

[argo69]

I've read many stories like Badmikeyt's as well as the various articles from the Seattle newspapers that have been written over the years on this phenomenon. Some blame it on the weather, some on a tradition of regional Scandinavian/Asian cultural reserve, some on the techie culture, some on a sort of "perfect storm" conglomeration of all of these factors. Some simply dismiss it as a myth, usually people who have lived up here for a long time and already have their social circles well established.

It's really only something that I think one would pick up on living here...not as a tourist. Seattle residents are famously polite and you will not encounter any aggressive or rude people while here on a visit. I tend to think there may be something to this notion that breaking into social circles is tougher here than elsewhere. Even the (4th edition) of The Seattle Survival Guide warns readers that..."Whether deserved or not, Seattle has a reputation of being a hard place to be single."

[seahawksweetie]

Originally Posted by badmikeyt

Absolutely. I moved to Seattle from Northern CA (I learned to say "Northern" when a new acquaintance in Seattle warned me that just saying "California" would raise the ire of the natives) in January of 2004. Having lived in CA for most of my life, I was not prepared for the total lack of social interaction. I made the mistake of buying a townhome in Bellevue, which only made it worse when trying to meet people who were part of the 206 Mafia, as I came to call it.

A year into it, I was ready to scrap life in WA and move somewhere else but several people I'd met said that my frustration really was more to do with living in Bellevue, that if I actually moved into Seattle I'd have a much different experience. Well, I sold the place in Bellevue and moved to Capitol Hill, and the only difference was that I was paying more for the home that I never left.

I have worked in the high tech industry since 2000 and so I was used to somewhat nerdy/introverted types. I wasn't ready to live and breathe them full-time. There's a lot of speculation about what causes the 'freeze' but ultimately, if you are even remotely a 'people' person, Seattle just isn't the place for you - what does it matter why the people act the way they do?

After 3 1/2 years I *did* throw in the towel and moved to Chicago. Interestingly enough, every single person I met in Chicago during my househunting phase extolled their city's virtues with pride, and without fail told me how much I'd love living here. Everyone I told in Seattle did what Seattleites do best - zeroed in immediately on the negative (cold winters, no ocean, etc).

When I invited and received 'yes' RSVP's to ~40 people I'd either worked with or considered 'good friends' in Seattle to a going away bbq on a beautiful summer day, I jokingly told a friend from CA that I'd be lucky if 10 of them actually showed up. 8 did.

When I got to Chicago, 35 people I'd barely known at all showed up at a friend's house for a surprise 'welcome to town' party.

I don't share all this to **** on Seattle - god knows the skies do enough of that. But I think it's important for people to understand that the only way to really combat the Seattle freeze is to either a> accept that it exists and will likely suck you in to it, as I felt it doing to me, or b> move.

6 weeks after I arrived in Chicago, my best friend from Seattle joined me here. The first night he was in town, I took him to get some coffee and the barista's/cashiers chatted us up for 20 minutes welcoming us both to town and giving us recommendations on things to do/see. Ironically, this was at Starbucks.

There IS life outside of the Seattle freeze - just not likely in Seattle.

Question-What do you mean by the "206 mafia"? Just curious as I hadn't heard this term before.

Thanks

[cobolt]

If the "freeze" is weather-induced, then doesn't it stand to reason that other weather-affected regions of the country would follow suit: be more insular in demeanor, polite but anti-social, cliquish, etc? I don't think if the "freeze" exists, that the weather is the culprit. I've visited ALaska for the past few years and have been there even during long stints in the winter and people are very outgoing, friendly, inquisitive, open, etc. So I tend to think the freeze has nothing to do with the weather.

[argo69]

I suspect that those who would argue that it has something to do with the weather would say that it's not low temperatures (Alaska, New York, Chicago)...but rather the gray and rain.

[41Willys]

I'm very fond of NYC (Manhattan) and unless your with friends that is one of the coldest places on earth EVEN in the summer! Seattle is a major city for crying out loud of course it's cold!

Go 45 minutes to an hour outside of Seattle and tell me if the freeze is still present!