The Seattle Freeze - The Sociology Explained In Detail, and How To Overcome It! :)

[lostsoul2015]

so I am in Seattle at the moment and gotta say... I am becoming more and more ugly as these more attractive people look at me in disgust. feels so alone and isolated and here is me thinking that I want to move here pretty soon due to an image of betterness I had in my mind a few years ago when I was here and can totally notice the change in mood or vibe.

[VJUSMC]

With my wife and I about to move to the area I have been reading this thread off and on. I believe this "freeze" is really a world problem. Its not a Seattle problem I am from a very small town in Northern Georgia, and when I visit there I notice the change how people are much more private and reserved that every before. Also a year ago we moved to a small eastern NC town, and have made attempts to make friends, and experience some of the same freeze issues many of you mention. Now I have no real data from Seattle to base this own, but I would say its bogus. I do have many visits in which all were very pleasant and actually encountered some very nice human beings. Now I am certain we will have to work at it to make friends but that is any and everywhere you go. We have moved every 3 years for the last 18 and each time it was an uphill battle to build a friend base and get into an already formed circle. Some circles may be as strong as the Burns' circle of trust, but you can work your way in. I have already joined some groups on Meetup.com and plan on attending events within our first week in the area. Maybe I am wrong, and we will have no friends, and everyone will glare at us in a cold laser like stare. I will hit them with a bright smile, and Hello there GA TWANG and keep movin on...

[homesinseattle]

VJ, be friendly, be optimistic, reach out to people with love and you will find it in return. I'm a Florida boy here 26 years, I have great friends. When I got here years ago, people didn't complain like this. In my opinion, there are more people moving here who seem to want the town to conform to them.

[NotPikachu]

I moved to Seattle from Spokane and haven't noticed any difference in "friendliness levels" at all, so perhaps it's a Washington state or northwestern thing.

Why don't some of you guys who are "feeling the freeze" get together and have an "anti-freeze potluck" or something? I mean, you're all in Seattle and you all want to make some friends, right?

[thedonwind]

Originally Posted by NotPikachu

I moved to Seattle from Spokane and haven't noticed any difference in "friendliness levels" at all, so perhaps it's a Washington state or northwestern thing.

Why don't some of you guys who are "feeling the freeze" get together and have an "anti-freeze potluck" or something? I mean, you're all in Seattle and you all want to make some friends, right?

An "anti-freeze Potluck". Sounds like a good proposition. Who wants to sign up?

[Mr_onedayyet]

Originally Posted by cylee777

One thing funny though...is that just yesterday, I was hanging out at Shorty's (It's one of my favorite bar in Seattle as far as bar goes.) in Belltown and talk to this guy. He's from Philadelphia and was raised in the projects and he moved to Seattle in 2011. He was talking about how he thinks Seattle is better than Philly-As corny, lame, dorky, unsociable as Seattlites might seems, they're harmless. He never got robbed or anything in Seattle like he did in Philly. Which I agree...compares to the dumb, racist bullies "gang bangers" in LA and the whole "you gotta hustle and get cash or be hustled and have your cash taken" thing in Philly projects as he described, Seattle is a cake-walk when it comes to being dangerous.

And now that's where it gets interesting...after I briefly talked about the way my roommates are and how I dated this hipster vegan chick and broke up after I'm sick of her psuedo-intellectual bs (I did mentioned about it somewhere before. pm me if you trynna know.), he mentioned that the trick for us transplants to live here is being very careful about picking people as your close friend, girlfriend/boyfriend and share a living space as even if you somehow managed to form a close-relationship with them through various meaning, you'll realize that they're somewhat...odd. I was like dude I'm so agree with you here. It fits my experience in Seattle perfectly.

The conclusion I've came up is that Seattle is a good place if you're into: a. avoid troubles. b. outdoor activities. c. just trynna raise a family and have your kids growing up in the safest environment you can think of (I don't agree with this type of parenting, but I do personally know some people who moved here just for that. To each its own I guess.).

Do NOT move to Seattle if you're: a. Californians or Eastcoasters who moved here for cheaper place to live (While it might be cheaper than LA or New York, but I say move to the South if you want something dirt cheap.). b. You're into socializing. c. Unable to tolerate weirdness.

As someone who has lived in Oakland, DC, Durham, and Tucson, I can tell you Downtown Seattle is far from the safest environment in the world. It's not anywhere near the worst either but there are plenty of muggings, stabbings, fights, etc. I found Downtown Minneapolis and Downtown Denver to both be safer in my visits there.

And Seattle falls squarely in the middle of the pack in the country in terms of violent crime: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...me_rate_(2014)

[phoenixmike11]

Eight Easy Steps to Help You Break Through the Dreaded "Seattle Freeze" - New to Town - The Stranger