So boring here (Seattle: air quality, ferry, park)

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by Unicorn hunter

Have to agree. I lived in downtown Seattle with my 3-year-old granddaughter for 2 years. Of course, I worked during the week, so maybe that's a difference...only needed to keep her busy on the weekends, but yikes, so much to do! We would walk to the market, walk over to Seattle Center, go to the Children's Museum, Pacific Science Center and splash in the pools. Take a bus out to the zoo, go to the aquarium, etc. Now maybe if you are out in the burbs it's a different story. We were never bored! Knew all the shopkeepers, waiters and neighbors in the building...maybe we were just different.....

I'm surprised it requires pointing out, that keeping a 3-year-old entertained is very different from finding entertainment as a teen or an adult.

[Unicorn hunter]

Sorry if I misunderstood the OP...I thought she had small children she was trying to keep entertained...will have to go back and read again!

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by Unicorn hunter

Sorry if I misunderstood the OP...I thought she had small children she was trying to keep entertained...will have to go back and read again!

The OP (on page 1) posted years ago, and is long gone. The topic was revived recently, by a new member, on post #130. That's the post I was responding to. It's not about entertaining toddlers. It's about a guy with a scuba hobby, who moved here from TX, and hasn't been impressed with the Space Needle or Pike Place Market.

[jm31828]

First of all, as others mentioned, you can't compare Seattle with a city/metro area twice or three times it's size- of course LA or the Bay Area will have a lot more to do city-wise than Seattle does. But in my experience Seattle has as much or more going on as other cities its size.

And the huge draw for Seattle is the nature and the surrounding area- I moved here 8 years ago, and when I tell people back home how much I love living in the Seattle metro area, that includes the huge "back yard" Seattle has- every single weekend we are out at Mount Rainier, or other areas of the Cascades, or over on the peninsula, or just in some park such as the waterfront in Edmonds- enjoying the gorgeous natural environment we are in.

[elkotronics]

And the huge draw for Seattle is the nature and the surrounding area- I moved here 8 years ago, and when I tell people back home how much I love living in the Seattle metro area, that includes the huge "back yard" Seattle has- every single weekend we are out at Mount Rainier, or other areas of the Cascades, or over on the peninsula, or just in some park such as the waterfront in Edmonds- enjoying the gorgeous natural environment we are in.

Great points, jm31828. I grew up swimming in the Puget Sound at that waterfront beach property in Edmonds. I was cool ta see the Washington State Ferry come in to dock and then leave again. Simple, but beautiful. The Olympics shone white-capped in the distance. Absolutely a beautiful memory!

[Unicorn hunter]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

The OP (on page 1) posted years ago, and is long gone. The topic was revived recently, by a new member, on post #130. That's the post I was responding to. It's not about entertaining toddlers. It's about a guy with a scuba hobby, who moved here from TX, and hasn't been impressed with the Space Needle or Pike Place Market.

Gotcha!

[tkz4]

There are so few places in world with a year round climate approaching SoCal. Maybe parts of Australia like the Sunshine Coast?

Much of Europe only gets 1700 hours or less if sunlight a year (Seattle gets 2200 which is a low number for the US, while London and Paris get only 1600... LA 3200+.) So in terms of climate, it's a massive adjustment from growing up in SoCal to just about anywhere else.

I've lived on the East Coast and Midwest, and from that perspective I find Seattle to be very mild and temperate... and much more accommodating to year round outdoor activities than I'm used to. If I grew up in the South, I'd probably find Seattle to be cold, and I'm sure if I was used to SoCal, Seattle... or just about anywhere, would be a shock to the system.

[SunAndRain808]

To the OP.

How is it so boring here in the Seattle area or Western WA area?

There is so much entertaining things to do, ranging from watching a Seahawk's football game to going hiking on the various hiking trails in Western Washington.

You can also get a permit and do some "claming" (sp?) during clam picking season.

There are also many of rivers you can do some fishing during the summer and fall season.

If you get sick of downtown Seattle, you can always do a road trip and venture out to Oregon coastline or take a road trip up to British Columbia (Vancouver...woo hoo!!).

If you want to try some skiing like I have done this past April with some friends, you can go to Crystal Mt. resort or check out Snoqualmie ski resort.


I just see a wide variety of things to do here no matter the season of the year.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by SunAndRain808

To the OP.

How is it so boring here in the Seattle area or Western WA area?

There is so much entertaining things to do, ranging from watching a Seahawk's football game to going hiking on the various hiking trails in Western Washington.

You can also get a permit and do some "claming" (sp?) during clam picking season.

There are also many of rivers you can do some fishing during the summer and fall season.

If you get sick of downtown Seattle, you can always do a road trip and venture out to Oregon coastline or take a road trip up to British Columbia (Vancouver...woo hoo!!).

If you want to try some skiing like I have done this past April with some friends, you can go to Crystal Mt. resort or check out Snoqualmie ski resort.


I just see a wide variety of things to do here no matter the season of the year.

But, Sun/Rain, the bolded is exactly the point; much of the "entertaining things to do" involve leaving town!. When people compare cities/urban areas for entertainment quality, they don't include outdoor recreation outside of town. That's not what they're talking about. They're referring to entertainment the CITY (or cluster of cities, as in "greater Seattle area" and SF Bay Area) has to offer.

If you have to resort to listing activities out in nature, even to the point of listing out of state activities, as you just did, that only accentuates the dearth of entertainment in the city. Talking a walk, a bike ride, a kayaking trip, or going fishing aren't part of any entertainment industry, nor are they organized events created by, say, local music groups (concerts, dance events like salsa clubs, swing, folk dance organizations). Nor are they institutions, like museums, created for entertaining and educating the public. Those latter things are what people usually mean, when comparing the quality and amount of entertainment available in cities and towns.

Basically, what you just did in your post, is point out that because Seattle doesn't have much to offer, people need to leave town to find things to do. People need to drive to Oregon, according to your post, because there's so little to do IN Seattle.

[Tim Randal Walker]

Originally Posted by jm31828

First of all, as others mentioned, you can't compare Seattle with a city/metro area twice or three times it's size- of course LA or the Bay Area will have a lot more to do city-wise than Seattle does. But in my experience Seattle has as much or more going on as other cities its size.
.

Seattle isn't in the same tier as those other cities. I would compare Seattle to cities of similar size.