I apologize for being blunt: Cannot wait to get out of Seattle (Rainier: neighborhood, university)

[Milano Grad Student]

Hi Folks! I just recently moved from Seattle to NYC to go to graduate school. I MISS Seattle, but perhaps I shouldn't tell of all the wonderful things of Seattle so that there won't be a huge population move to Seattle

I've lived in LA, DC, a Pacific Island, Barcelona, Spain and now NYC. I lived in a house that had the best view of the Cascade Mountains and was able to do many outdoor sports during the summer and made tons of friends while I was there. The artistic community and the holistic and healthy living community is very much alive and well. I did not have problems in making friendships. During the winter, it did get tough with the constant drizzle, but if you make the best of it and you know that summer is just around the corner, it's not so bad.

I made very little money but was able to live very meagerly. I did not like the lack of good variety of ethnic restaurants nor that Seattle is very homogenized, but I do love that everyone is into the environment and are health conscience.

I'd move back!

[toughguy]

Originally Posted by robertpolyglot

As for me, I don't live there. I used to. I just stumbled onto citydata and found all this "interesting" banter.

Seatle: the biggest dichotomy I've ever experienced....the most scenic American big city vistas ever (except for maybe those in SF) stocked with the least attractive and least emotive people ever.

HAHA man you are starting to get personal. Have you ever dated an Italian woman? There are some beautiful Italian women, but you don't know the meaning of the word hirsute until you have been to Italy. You know how there is a Starbucks on every corner here? Its the same in Italy, but instead of Starbucks its laser hair removal clinics. Back hair on women is the norm there.

[toughguy]

Originally Posted by robertpolyglot

Wow. We've got a sharp tool in the shed here, don't we? The above comment is uncalled for (no need for a mod cut, the dude needs to be told). I just said that there are different cultural and anthropological reasons for why areas have a "vibe" or a "personality." That means, the Arab countries have their own....they problably would be similar to those of Mediterranean types but their religion changes the rules quite a bit...they have to cover up more skin. Plus, having lived in the Northwest made me realize how lucky I am to be Italian, considering that, as a kid, I wished I was WASPier. Just think, if we fully infiltrated the PNW, people would say "gee, the population of Puget Sound is attractive." So thanks for that slam, too!

You've heard of social psychology? Didn't think so! They study "people patterns." Read the preceding threads -- they do talk about PNW universities studying this. And, no, it wouldn't be to get rich. Psych. profs. need to research and publish to KEEP their jobs... ever heard the term "publish or perish?" Probably not!

By the way, it's direct correlation and NOT direct corellary and effect is with an "e" and not an "a" - you were intending it to be a noun and not a verb, right?

Thanks for the grammar lesson professor.

No, you have stated that sunnier locales unfailingly foster social qualities that you favor in the local populace, without deviation. You have also consistently touted your Italian heritage, and implied that emotive, talking with your hands, brash personalities are vastly superior to the more aloof, scandinavian influenced culture here.......and you have called us all the ugliest people on the planet. You probably think you can say whatever you want and all of us wimpy pale white boys will just roll over. I choose to hit back, and hopefully make your day a little worse in the process.

[Ambassador]

I am a first generation Italian American and I come from a VERY traditional Mediterranean household where we were all a tight knit family unit which tended to be festive, loud, and very warm. Robertpolyglot would find it amazing that I love Seattle as does every member of my family who has ever visited. Also keep in mind that my family is truly Italian, in the sense they are from there. Not the "I'm Italian" sense where you have some ancestry that goes back a few generations. Not to mention in Seattle I dated a girl who was from Brazil-another very friendly country with a Mediterranean culture- and she loved Seattle more than I did. She still lives there and never wants to leave. Oh, and she was "white", a mixture of German/Italian ancestry with light brown hair and bright green eyes. So I think we can safely say that cultures from these friendly climates are indeed capable of leading happy lives in Seattle and elsewhere. It all comes down to what? Personal preferences. Its what I've been saying all along. I know of two polarizing opinions on the issue. One gentlemen I work with sees the deserts of Nevada as the perfect place and contends that Seattle and the entire PNW is a dreary and miserable place to live. That is fine. On the other hand is another fellow who wouldn't live in the desert if you paid him and feels that Seattle is the most beautiful and liveable city in North America. All three of us work closely together currently, share the same ideals and objectives...yet when it comes down to our perfect place to live we are divided on two sides. That is just human nature folks. Plain and simple. No need to get nasty about it.

[pwright1]

Originally Posted by The A-Team

Should have posted a picture of Alki. Why didn't you post sandy beach pictures? You do know where Alki is right? This " Jen Bar" poster sounds like they haven't spent as much time as they claim around Seattle"LOL"!

Alki Beach Seattle
















Golden Gardens Beach Seattle

[pwright1]

Originally Posted by wannabeaTexan

Pwright...not trying to turn this into a negatively racial thing, but I'm curious. Do you find that the people that you meet and become lifelong friends with are AA? I have a hard time believing that the freeze affects blacks given that it is a supposedly Scandinavian thing, even tho technically it might rub off onto others.

I brought this up on the freeze thread, and although I'm not sure if it has merit, I wonder if the reason that we don't notice it as much is due to this observance. I don't find that most of my friends have this attitude, but most of my friends are black, white/black, white (involved with blacks), or hispanic.

I'm more than interested if anyone else wants to chime in.

Interesting that you bring this up. Most in fact are AA but you can throw in some japanese, filipino, whites and a few others.

[daytripper]

Originally Posted by robertpolyglot

As for me, I don't live there. I used to. I just stumbled onto citydata and found all this "interesting" banter.

Seatle: the biggest dichotomy I've ever experienced....the most scenic American big city vistas ever (except for maybe those in SF) stocked with the least attractive and least emotive people ever.

The least attractive???? I beg to differ. Come down here to Fl. (Destin)
You would swear there is inbreeding going on. Rare to find a full set of teeth!
Most men and women have more than 1 a$$.( to borrow from "Erin Brockovitch")I can't wait to get the hell out of Dodge.

[robertpolyglot]

Originally Posted by Ambassador

I am a first generation Italian American and I come from a VERY traditional Mediterranean household where we were all a tight knit family unit which tended to be festive, loud, and very warm. Robertpolyglot would find it amazing that I love Seattle as does every member of my family who has ever visited. Also keep in mind that my family is truly Italian, in the sense they are from there. Not the "I'm Italian" sense where you have some ancestry that goes back a few generations.

yet when it comes down to our perfect place to live we are divided on two sides. That is just human nature folks. Plain and simple. No need to get nasty about it.

Ditto. So "from there" it would make your head spin. As the last-born, I was the only person from my immediate family born in this country. I never speak English to my parents. I also tend to go over every summer for my vacation to visit my cousins. Also, my cousins have been to SEA and like it very much. From the aesthetic standpoint, what is there to dislike? It's very picturesque. However, the interpersonal mode is different as you head south (CA or FL). They picked up on it quickly as visitors. I've noticed it for at least a decade in movements between CA and the PNW, because my parents retired in the NW.

We are all relaying what we've experienced. What I'm saying is that, when in CA (large Hisp./Med. type populations) and ATL (large black population), being irreverent and joking around, even in a coat and tie environment, went over just fine. It was welcomed. In SEA and PDX, the same behavior was not appreciated. I was informally reprimanded for it. Office parties or pizza/beer Friday at employers I've had elsewhere were parties and the decibel level showed it.... at my 2 Bellevue jobs, you might as well have been in a morgue. Coincidence? My line of work? I don't think so....it was such a consistent pattern. Here's the greatest one: I had a neighbor (from WA, no less) while a townhome dweller on the East Side who actually liked me! She talked to me quite a bit. One time, my Mom came to town and met her. Before Mom visited the next time, she told me "I hope she doesnt' hug me." In my head, I thought "eff you." (My Mom gives people the shirt off her back.)

Last summer, I was "open minded" enough (LOL) to add Germany to my vacation, heading to Munich and Bavaria. I was told that this would be the most fun part of Germany; instead, I found it very stern. (However, the UK was full of an informal politeness that was phenomenal if only one could brave the exchange rate). So, this June it will be 1 wk. in Portugal and 1 wk. in Italy, all of it spent at the beach.

Lastly for mr. toughguy, that bad a$$ dude, not all of us look like Tony Danza or Alyssa Milano. There is not one dark complected person in my family. And no one is saying that a race or nationality is intrinsically bad, it's just saying that there are personality styles more common to one race or nationality that aren't so common with others. Every single Southern European that I've talked to in IT/SP/PT who is up in Northern Europe for work because conditions in the southern countries are bad love it and hate it. They love it because the standard of living is higher and hate it for how stoic and aloof the people are. They pine to return to their sunnier homelands. In a lot of ways, there are similar trade-offs in the U.S. and Seattle is one example of these trade-offs.

[robertpolyglot]

Originally Posted by daytripper

The least attractive???? I beg to differ. Come down here to Fl. (Destin)
You would swear there is inbreeding going on. Rare to find a full set of teeth!
Most men and women have more than 1 a$$.( to borrow from "Erin Brockovitch")I can't wait to get the hell out of Dodge.

I saw few attractive women in Seattle and neither did my friends who visited. And so does foul-mouthed abrasive Tom Leykis who blasts SEA and PDX for the shortage of attractive women and the abundance of Tony Harding types. As the area becomes more cosmopolitan, that is changing.

Since I was going to UW at night while living there, I used to look around while driving over the Montlake Bridge or in Fremont, Ravenna or Wallingford. What did I see? Too many (grayish) short-haired women with their Sedona- bought Indian jewelry driving Subarus with bumper stickers like "Keep Your Laws off my body" (as if somebody might physically impregnate you? doubtful) or "The Goddess is Alive." It was depressing. We can't deny that there is a huge lesbian population in the NW.

There's also a Seattle joke book someone brought to work. It said "What do you call an attractive person in Seattle?" Answer: "A visitor."

Look, whether its attractiveness or aloofness or political correctness or whatever, these debates rage on...with passion. Evidently you've got divided experiences here. It's such a hotly debated topic that the major newspapers print articles about it, so let's not forget that!

[sean98125]

Come on, malcontents! Less talking and more leaving!