Whats up with all the hate on this forum lately?! (Seattle: promotional, living in)

[bad apples]

Originally Posted by Blackhawk4440

Devan:
A big part of it has less to do with 'hate' and more to do with the knee-jerk hyperdefensive attitudes of most of the city's supporters. Yes, you can offer constructive criticism and give good advice---but many of these city defenders come across behaving as though there's nothing to criticize or correct about Seattle; and that any one who suggests that there are problems here is some kind of borderline nutcase; or at any rate not welcome in the city.

That kind of smugness really rubs people the wrong way; especially those who have legitimate concerns or grievances and blocks any kind of constructive solutions.

To give a hypothetical example: take a common complaint, the 'Seattle Freeze'. A person posts that there are no social venues in Seattle anymore that interest him. Somebody suggests he might try Bellevue---it's close and might be to his liking. A reasonable suggestion right?

Likely not---to many city defenders. Be prepared to hear an onslaught of 'the Seattle Freeze is just a myth'; 'the problem is with YOU'---and how can anybody seriously suggest that Bellevue might have a better social scene? Why, there's a coffee-house on Pike Street open 24/7!...You get the idea.

A++

[bad apples]

Originally Posted by Molli

There are a lot of unhappy people in the world. You will find hate on most any forum. Its pretty amazing to me what people will argue about on the internet. I guess if someone is unhappy they want to take a lot of people down with them LOL

Seattleites draw a special kind of hate due to their own smugness and pretentious attitudes towards the rest of the country. It isn't rocket science, just listen to the Seattle media on occasion. To me it sounds like reading a lot of the threads about Seattle and Washington you folks live in a fairy tale land in which nobody can show even a minute sense of disappointment without being accused of having mental issues. LOL and you wonder why people voice their opinions on the groupthink brainwashing that occurs there. City data is a site for discussion and some lead to arguments not a site for people who only want to hear how wonderful the Seattle area is. Why don't you start a website called "Seattle the greatest city ever known to man(no outsider opinions welcome)." Don't misinterpret critical thinking and constructive criticism as hatred. People are allowed to voice their opinions regardless if it goes against the status quo of Seattle and Washington.

[Jumpindogs]

Originally Posted by Ira500

You can tell the Seattle natives or us folks who have lived in Seattle for a long time. We don't water our lawns. We let them turn brown. If you water the lawn, it grows. Then you have to mow it. It's really surprising, the number of very expensive neighborhoods with brown lawns in the summer.

Glad to hear that. We are researching Sequim as a retirement destination and were wondering what folks do in summer with their lawns. Here in Wisconsin we don't water lawns either...they turn brown, go dormant and come right back when it rains again.

[rmkiefer07]

Originally Posted by bad apples

Seattleites draw a special kind of hate due to their own smugness and pretentious attitudes towards the rest of the country. It isn't rocket science, just listen to the Seattle media on occasion. To me it sounds like reading a lot of the threads about Seattle and Washington you folks live in a fairy tale land in which nobody can show even a minute sense of disappointment without being accused of having mental issues. LOL and you wonder why people voice their opinions on the groupthink brainwashing that occurs there. City data is a site for discussion and some lead to arguments not a site for people who only want to hear how wonderful the Seattle area is. Why don't you start a website called "Seattle the greatest city ever known to man(no outsider opinions welcome)." Don't misinterpret critical thinking and constructive criticism as hatred. People are allowed to voice their opinions regardless if it goes against the status quo of Seattle and Washington.

Many detractors paint everyone here as cold, soulless, ugly, mentally deficient, socially inept, groupthink/herd mentality, smug, pretentious and on and on and on. These allegations have been made against many other cities as well - Seattle is not unique in this regard yet to hear it from some, it's a "Seattle" thing.

I have no problem with people expressing their opinions positive or negative. I've lived here long enough to know that there is validity on both sides. However, I've been following these boards for over five years and it seems to me that the detractors on any board are not interested in providing "constructive criticism". Some have even stated in so many words that it's their mission to tell the world that <insert city here> is a ****hole - critical thinking is rarely employed in such an endeavor.

Seattle is not for everyone. Many come here and either find their little slice of paradise or their own hell on earth. Others come here and can take it or leave it. It seems to me that there is way too much hyperbole and broad brush painting and that's what I find annoying. I've seen many detractors come and go over the years and it's always the same pissing and moaning. Their postings suggest they aren't interested in being helpful or constructive, they just want to rile up the board. I think there's a kind of narcissism in this behavior, as though they're saying "...over here, me, me, pay attention to me!" - ahem.

If one really wants to be helpful, then present the facts as they are, insert one's opinion where it's relevant, but please, leave the exaggeration behind.

[GatsbyGatz]

Can't we all just agree that we're all awesome?

[Blackhawk4440]

rmkiefer:
"These allegations are made against many other cities as well."

Which ones?

"The detractors are not interested in constructive criticism"

The fact that they're referred to as 'detractors' at all shows that criticism---constructive or otherwise---isn't welcome.

"I've seen many detractors come and go over the years and it's always the same p****ing and moaning."

Maybe if you've been hearing the same criticisms over and over again for years from different detractors, do you suppose there just may be a kernel of truth in what they're saying?


"Seattle is not for everyone."

Don't you see that a statement like that presupposes a 'think and be like the rest of us or get out?' attitude? Other cities NEVER things like this. Look at any other cities' promotionals: they try to appeal to as broad a base as possible and say 'there's something here for everyone'. But not Seattle.

[Blackhawk4440]

Bad Apples:

Excellent analysis. The Seattle media is especially disgusting in its hubris.

[SaltyDawg]

Pretentious attitudes? Smug? Superiority complex?

I give you every influential metropolitan area in the West You'll find it if you're looking for it.

What is the Seattle media guilty of, exactly? They cover shootings & stabbings & fires & weather just like every other silly local news outfit in a top 20 media market. I'd hardly accuse them of carrying the water for any sort of superiority - they profit from the (often ridiculously-emphasized) warts of the are in which they operate. A house fire in DuPont (absent loss of life) does not equate to what the city council is up to, but that's what you'll get.

The Seattle Freeze conversation is interesting. I'm a native, and I absolutely understand the underlying truths of tight existing social networks. What's hard to square is the hyperbole on either side - Seattle is not an impossible place to make friends, nor is it the easiest of places to make them. There are FOUR MILLION people in the region. Cliques exist. Bluebloods abound. Divisions persist. Outgoing people who would thrive in Miami are here as well.

Naming it a uniquely Seattle thing is always curious to me - it exists everywhere I've been in the US - admittedly more West than East.

Big cities/regions engender strident opinions. The worst ones are always the loudest on either side.

Seattle has a ton to offer, and plenty of folks will not enjoy them in any way. That's great - let's close threads wringing hands over why that might be.

[Seacove]

Originally Posted by Blackhawk4440

"Seattle is not for everyone."

Don't you see that a statement like that presupposes a 'think and be like the rest of us or get out?' attitude?

It's funny when a poster complains about Seattle in every thread then complains that people might suggest that Seattle is not for him and maybe another city would be a better fit. Some people just don't want to be happy and are angry at those that are.

[rmkiefer07]

Originally Posted by Blackhawk4440

rmkiefer:
"These allegations are made against many other cities as well."

Which ones?

Check out the Boston, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh forums for starters - they're there.

"The detractors are not interested in constructive criticism"

The fact that they're referred to as 'detractors' at all shows that criticism---constructive or otherwise---isn't welcome.

Just because one is referred to as a detractor does not mean their viewpoint isn't welcome. You sir are reading too much into a simple label. What would you call them?

"I've seen many detractors come and go over the years and it's always the same p****ing and moaning."

Maybe if you've been hearing the same criticisms over and over again for years from different detractors, do you suppose there just may be a kernel of truth in what they're saying?

Reading is fundamental - did I not state that there was validity to both sides?


"Seattle is not for everyone."

Don't you see that a statement like that presupposes a 'think and be like the rest of us or get out?' attitude? Other cities NEVER things like this. Look at any other cities' promotionals: they try to appeal to as broad a base as possible and say 'there's something here for everyone'. But not Seattle.

No I don't because if that's how I felt, then that's what I would have said. The truth is that it's not for everyone. Now whether one stays or leaves matters not one bit to me. Again, you're reading things into my statements that exist only in your mind.

Don't you see your own hubris by projecting your thoughts into my statements? It seems to me that you and yours want free reign to say anything you want without challenge - the very same thing you accuse the "boosters" of doing. The word for that is hypocrisy. Yours sir is a groupthink of a different kind but it's the same thing you complain about.

Say what you will, that's what the board is for. But just as you challenge the boosters, don't complain when they challenge you.