Seattle urbanity (Vancouver: best city, job market, neighborhoods)

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by thatguy950

I’ve been to plenty of pretty decent places in Seattle, but compared to real large cities they’ve all come up way short, I hear this a lot from others who’ve spent a lot of times in big cities as well. They certainly price themselves at elite levels, but even the top restaurants in the area (Canlis, Herbfarm, Seastar) would only be average in places like LA, SF, NY, etc.

This was my impression, too. And why are the ethnic eateries the only ones that are competitive, or that get mentioned, here? What about "regular" fine dining? That's where Seattle comes up short.

In fact, earlier in the thread, I thought about asking for suggestions about good (non-ethnic) dining options in Seattle. IDK if we've ever had that, on a thread. I know we've had threads suggesting restaurants in general, most of which turned out to be ethnic. Anyway, for the OP's sake, maybe somebody could make some finer dining suggestions?

[homesinseattle]

Originally Posted by thatguy950

I’ve been to plenty of pretty decent places in Seattle, but compared to real large cities they’ve all come up way short, I hear this a lot from others who’ve spent a lot of times in big cities as well. They certainly price themselves at elite levels, but even the top restaurants in the area (Canlis, Herbfarm, Seastar) would only be average in places like LA, SF, NY, etc.

Been to Kashiba at Pike Place?, otherwordly sashimi and Japanese, Shiro the master. highly rated: Welcome - Sushi Kashiba

How about Junebaby just north of U Village. Major national press right now. Chef/owner formerly of French Laundry. Here is the link: https://www.junebabyseattle.com/

Stateside (upscale creative, complex Vietnamese) in the Pike/Pine area is objectively delicious and gets national press: https://www.statesideseattle.com/

Bateau-James Beard Award-winner Renee Erickson founder. French-ified whole-animal steakhouse, A staggering array of dry-aged cuts: Bateau

Walrus and Carpenter in Ballard has been written up multiple times by New York Times food critics. Here is the link: The Walrus and the Carpenter

I could go on and on and on, then launch into endless examples of little hole in the wall off the charts ethnic places. I'll be the first to admit that we aren't NYC or SFO dining but to say that we don't have delicious restaurants here is flat out wrong. Also, most chefs and foodies around the country would (and do) disagree with you.

[rupp-certified]

Originally Posted by homesinseattle

I could go on and on and on, then launch into endless examples of little hole in the wall off the charts ethnic places.

I would be interested to know. Maybe in a new thread, if you haven't posted it somewhere already?

[rupp-certified]

Originally Posted by pete98146

My good friend has a theory. He says "remember your advanced calculus class? Seattle is like hanging around an infinite number of this type of person X infinity" Seattle is the new home to countless engineers and programmers. Really, how much fun can that be? Having lived her for 20 years, there is some element of truth to this point.

LOL. When I go out to eat I frequently overhear conversations about how the new revision of Android is causing a bug in the code etc etc etc - even if you are one of "this type of person" it gets old pretty quick!

[homesinseattle]

Originally Posted by rupp-certified

I would be interested to know. Maybe in a new thread, if you haven't posted it somewhere already?

Sure rupp, I just bumped an old thread I created with some good suggestions. I added one more .

[509]

Seattle is trying real hard to be an urban area. It is really suburbs in search of a city.

I lived in Vancouver in the early 1970's and Seattle was a gritty, blue collar town at that time. TOWN...not a urban area.

Full disclosure: I don't like Seattle..Portland is more my taste. But if urban is important to you, Seattle is trying real hard to become a world class city...if that is important to you....Vancouver.

My daughter lived in Seattle for about 10 years before moving back to eastern Washington. She really liked it. It reminded her of a "small town". She did work in the music and counter culture industry.

It reminded me of a "small town" Berkeley when I went to school there.

There are some good restaurants in Seattle. There is some good music in Seattle. It isn't Portland or Vancouver, but they are trying. Remember Seattle really was formed in the Alaska gold rush...it is about the money in Seattle.

[Tim Randal Walker]

Seattle isn't one of the great cities of the world, it simply isn't in that lofty tier. So I would expect that if anyone moved here from a higher tier city, that Seattle would seem lame to them.

A few people have started threads essentially saying that. Apparently some people move here without comprehending that difference, so they end up disappointed.

[Botev1912]

Originally Posted by 509

Seattle is trying real hard to be an urban area. It is really suburbs in search of a city.

I lived in Vancouver in the early 1970's and Seattle was a gritty, blue collar town at that time. TOWN...not a urban area.

Full disclosure: I don't like Seattle..Portland is more my taste. But if urban is important to you, Seattle is trying real hard to become a world class city...if that is important to you....Vancouver.

My daughter lived in Seattle for about 10 years before moving back to eastern Washington. She really liked it. It reminded her of a "small town". She did work in the music and counter culture industry.

It reminded me of a "small town" Berkeley when I went to school there.

There are some good restaurants in Seattle. There is some good music in Seattle. It isn't Portland or Vancouver, but they are trying. Remember Seattle really was formed in the Alaska gold rush...it is about the money in Seattle.

Portland feels more like Bellevue (absolutely nothing against Bellevue) , so not sure what you are tying to say. Seattle feels much bigger than Portland. There is nobody in downtown Portland after 5pm.

[509]

Originally Posted by Botev1912

Portland feels more like Bellevue (absolutely nothing against Bellevue) , so not sure what you are tying to say. Seattle feels much bigger than Portland. There is nobody in downtown Portland after 5pm.

It is not about size.

It is about a urban setting. I will take downtown Portland over downtown Seattle any day.

Granted urban isn't my thing, but I do enjoy once in awhile. And I have spent many, many more nights in downtown Portland than Seattle. So maybe I am just knew more about Portland than Seattle, but my daughter was tapped into the Seattle scene. She liked it. But she only spent time in Portland as a four year old.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by Tim Randal Walker

Seattle isn't one of the great cities of the world, it simply isn't in that lofty tier. So I would expect that if anyone moved here from a higher tier city, that Seattle would seem lame to them.

A few people have started threads essentially saying that. Apparently some people move here without comprehending that difference, so they end up disappointed.

This sums it up well.