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Old 11-09-2017, 06:15 AM
 
Location: Bellevue & Seal Beach
768 posts, read 716,339 times
Reputation: 1404

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I moved to the Seattle area five years ago. I would hear about the bad or run down areas but I never knew where they were. The closest I came to was a street named Aloha. I was lost so I'm not sure of exactly where I was. There were bars on the windows and vehicles parked on the dead lawns. Seemed that could be a bad area. But in less than five minutes I was on a two lane meandering road in the forest. Everywhere I go it seems like I'm in the forest.

My grandson had a baseball game at a high school at Ranier Beach. One parent said to bring your concealed carry because it was a dangerous area. But this high school is across the street from the south end of Lake Washington! With beautiful trees and picnic areas. There are some very old houses in many areas of Seattle. And people and municipalities don't water their lawns in the summer. I'm sure this is an economic issue. But the trees, so many lakes, the Sound, the mountains... it's all so beautiful. And the air is so clean and fresh.

I lived in southern California until five years ago. I've watched it go from orange and lemon groves, two lane tree covered streets to the concrete jungle it now is. I guess it's a matter of what appeals to you and what you've been used to.
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Old 11-09-2017, 08:17 AM
 
Location: Alamogordo, NM
7,940 posts, read 9,455,120 times
Reputation: 5695
Ruth - I love Victorian homes and in Wenatchee we have a chance at actually buying our own. I am eyeing one now that's not selling. But as you were describing their huge windows I was imagining the upstairs of one (in a hallway) with large windows with the curtains pulled letting lots and lots of light in. No, you're spot on, Ruth, it's up to the Victorian homeowner how much light they want to show. I absolutely love and am in love with them. Everett has scads of them and the Mrs. and I had several friends with them on the NW side of old Everett (west of Colby, I forget the neighborhood's name but homes would know, he's really familiar with Everett). Their homes were immaculate - they would have it no other way. They'd decorate with fluffy chiffon curtains flowing down to separate rooms. When these two neighbors (yes, women) started dressing in Victorian flair my wife and I knew they really had caught the Victorian flair.

I'm definitely going to look Victorian in Wenatchee. If we try to buy in Moses Lake, forget it. I can't recall seeing a one of 'em there - Ephrata, quite possible. It's like all of Moses' old homes were bulldozed in the 40's and 50's and replaced with simple, yet nice tract homes for the soldiers to live in there at the AF Base. Its seems like that because that's exactly what happened, although true Moses Lake historians would no doubt tell you that a lot of the homes on the base were built from scratch as simple 50's tract homes. Nothing there before on the base. We rented a home on the base and it's huge. We were warned of crime there but we never experienced any of it. Moses Lake is actually a nice town to live in. Quiet, quiet living - I'll bet Ephrata would be too.

And yesterday we ate at the Original J's Teriyaki in East Wenatchee. Oh, my my my - that was the best Teriyaki meal I have ever tasted! Moses Lake has a J's Teriyaki - I never knew they had one in Wenatchee (actually East Wenatchee) at all. The best.
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Old 11-09-2017, 10:07 AM
 
Location: Seattle Eastside
638 posts, read 527,686 times
Reputation: 1492
Quote:
Originally Posted by NoNansea View Post
I moved to the Seattle area five years ago. I would hear about the bad or run down areas but I never knew where they were. The closest I came to was a street named Aloha. I was lost so I'm not sure of exactly where I was. There were bars on the windows and vehicles parked on the dead lawns. Seemed that could be a bad area. But in less than five minutes I was on a two lane meandering road in the forest. Everywhere I go it seems like I'm in the forest.

My grandson had a baseball game at a high school at Ranier Beach. One parent said to bring your concealed carry because it was a dangerous area. But this high school is across the street from the south end of Lake Washington! With beautiful trees and picnic areas. There are some very old houses in many areas of Seattle. And people and municipalities don't water their lawns in the summer. I'm sure this is an economic issue. But the trees, so many lakes, the Sound, the mountains... it's all so beautiful. And the air is so clean and fresh.

I lived in southern California until five years ago. I've watched it go from orange and lemon groves, two lane tree covered streets to the concrete jungle it now is. I guess it's a matter of what appeals to you and what you've been used to.
People don't water their lawns to save water because the water in the dams also needs to serve the farmers and the salmon.

I have been to some of the poorest and all of the richest cities in the world (save Oslo). I don't understand what people are talking about. From Geneva to Monaco to Dubai, to Karachi, Tijuana, Kabul, and in between, Moscow, Paris, New York, Seattle is a beautiful middle-class city.

I honestly think it's some kind of smear campaign. I would never say Seattle is perfect. It is a working class town that has grown up very fast but total trash?

Quote:
One thing I've noticed throughout the Seattle area is the large number of inoperable motor vehicles, with long-expired registrations, that people have left in the driveways, yards, and on streets throughout the metropolitan area. This is not just in poor areas or rural areas, but in upscale neighborhoods in cities like Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond, and Issaquah. I don't recall noticing as many inoperable vehicles at homes in the greater Phoenix area.
How do you know they are inoperable? I don't see that many inoperable vehicles (though they do exist).

Are you sure you're not just looking at frugal people's old cars that you think must be inoperable? Can you post multiple pictures?

Quote:
I have also noted vegetation overcoming houses, due to lack of pruning and maintenance
This may be confusion. I think people actually like what you call overgrown lawns. Wild English-garden style rockeries. That's the look they are actively going for.
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Old 11-09-2017, 11:35 AM
 
Location: Alamogordo, NM
7,940 posts, read 9,455,120 times
Reputation: 5695
This is not January 2014. After this past Sunday's game, few would agree that Seattle has "the world's finest professional football team."

Hello? For some reason you can't tell I'm a die-hard Seahawk's fan? I bleed blue, silver and green. That's right. Their original colors. If you haven't noticed, the NFL is full of thugs like Josh Norman of the Redskins. What a moron. Why wasn't he called for a penalty after he tried to injure Jimmy Graham is beyond me. The ref's must've been smoking some strong Columbian bud, or they were paid off by the NFL. Yes, the NFL is not clean and pure. And many people were hurt by the Seahawk's Super Bowl victory on Feb.2, 2014. Jeff Triplett*cough*cough. Did you see the picture of Jimmy Graham during the tackle? He looked like a dog from China while it was being burned alive (yes, many Asian nations burn, cut or boil dogs and cats while they're alive. They get off on it and think it'll make their male organs ignite).

Come on, man. Get a stronger grip. And if you're a woman, brighten up your knowledge of the NFL. Oh, check Pete Carroll's record since he hit Seattle with a storm and get back to me. The NFL is highly competitive and you can't win every game. But thugs like the Redskin's Josh Norman are morons and bad for the NFL.

It would be like David Stern running the NBA for a long, long time. Oh, wait a minute. He did! He did!

Grow up.
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Old 11-13-2017, 04:46 PM
 
22,629 posts, read 24,490,853 times
Reputation: 20284
IDK, Seattle, just like any other city, has its sketchy areas. But, 95% trash, not even close.
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Old 11-14-2017, 08:26 PM
 
Location: Pacific NW
545 posts, read 409,710 times
Reputation: 1070
Obvious, but 95% of the original post is complete trash and nonsense.
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Old 11-14-2017, 10:52 PM
 
Location: Nashville
3,533 posts, read 5,811,792 times
Reputation: 4708
10% of Seattle's neighborhoods are insanely expensive, 75% of Seattle's neighborhoods are very expensive. The rest are cheaper (still expensive) and obviously, trashy.. You get what you pay for in a very expensive city like Seattle.

As far as moss on the roofs and run down looking buildings. We have year round moisture and cold weather around 9 months of the year.. It doesn't usually get above 50 until April and 60s usually dont start until late May. Basically, we have three seasons.. Cool and Rainy, Cold and Rainy and Summer.. All the houses here are built with cedar and fir and they do age a bit with the weather. The cold, damp , dreary weather coupled with extremely dry summers which will suck the moisture right out of the wood (damaging and aging it) is somewhat the worse of both worlds.

Growing up in the Northwest I have almost grown to admire our mossy, worn out looking houses and actually find it gives them a bit of character. When I was in Boise where it is much much drier, every building and home looked so clean and new and I found the buildings to be pretty bland. Just comparing the State Capitol of Idaho and Washington. The Washington state capitol is much more majestic than the Idaho one, but it looks 200 years older with more washed out and mossy overtones, even though the two capitol buildings were built not very far apart in the late 1800s.

Our trees are pretty because of the weather and I find our homes and buildings are too.. It's an acquired taste, I agree; but it doesn't always reflect the care people have for their homes.
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Old 11-15-2017, 06:33 AM
 
Location: Texas
4,850 posts, read 3,627,257 times
Reputation: 15374
After living in the Seattle/Tacoma/Puyallup area for 12 years (recently relocated) I found the houses ok, nothing extraordinary. But the area has lots of natural beauty, so you are paying for that.

I remember when I had to go to Group Health (ohhh how I miss this health insurance!) I would think that most of the houses in the area, and in Capitol Hill, were really old and worn down. But the close proximity to downtown made them expensive, just like anywhere.

You want run down and trashy, travel to Tacoma. Oh my, so sad. Some of the housing in Old Town was nice but the same thing - old, worn down, not well kept.

Puyallup and Spanaway/Parkland was nearly as bad or worse. Husband's son and daughter live in Puyallup and are in upscale developments and their homes are worth 500k or better now, so there ARE nice places but still expensive.

We owned at Pacific Tower for five years, had a territorial view of Mt. Rainier and I LOVED it. Husband didn't acclimate to condo living so he made living there hell on earth. We sold, took a 30k bath during the recession. Probably a good thing as in retirement the $2300 a month payment and condo dues would have taken a huge chunk of our income. Compare that with our mortgage now, $1k, for 1900 square feet, totally updated home in a quiet development in Texas. More bang for your buck, but NO view of anything.

Just my two cents.
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Old 11-15-2017, 07:52 AM
 
Location: Seattle
8,165 posts, read 8,253,464 times
Reputation: 5983
Mschrief, from Group Health, if you had driven two blocks in any direction, you would have seen gorgeous historic mansions, refurbished beautifully. I drive through this area every day.
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Old 11-15-2017, 09:12 AM
 
Location: Near Graham WA
1,278 posts, read 2,917,479 times
Reputation: 1734
Saying "95% of neighborhoods are trash" is like saying "95% of vegetables are nasty". It's a matter of taste.
Some folks like "character" homes, all of them different, with front yards of different style and maintenance.
Others prefer the tidy, orderly look of a development - mowed lawns, similar-styled houses.
As they say, one man's "trash" is another man's treasure.
It always surprises me when folks cite as fact what is really just their inclination.
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