I think I've talked myself out of moving to the PNW from the Midwest ... for now (Pacific: live, shops)

[elkotronics]

Smoking seems ta be a too hard to pass up habit for teens and it's always been that way. People want to look cool or they want to have something ta do with their hands, so they get hooked. And it doesn't seem to be that vaping is going to be able to help people stop smoking much at all, either.

I grew up in Edmonds and went to Meadowdale High School and I can tell you that I had a lot of classmates that smoked. Lots of them. Now I don't have any data that western Washington residents smoke more than the national average when they're teenagers.

It just seems ta be this way, I work in healthcare and work with current and former smokers, smoking leaves lots of damage and is a very, very hard habit to break. Then it's dealing with the shot lungs and COPD the rest of people's lives, even if they are fortunate enough to quit smoking. But I would agree with pikabike, it starts with the youngsters - I noticed it over on the "mainland" growing up in the greater Seattle Metro.

[Diana Holbrook]

Not moving here because of smokers and fat people? Really? Is that where we are on this thread or did I miss something?

Maybe the human race is just not going to measure up anywhere.

Don't look at me, I'm one of the pudgy ones, but I think if one were to look around, they'd find plenty of healthy thin pretty people too. I know they're everywhere I look!

And I was a social outcast when I smoked 20 years ago... I can't imagine that it's any better today, or that smokers are more common. We actually used to be able to do it in restaurants! And bars! And airplanes! And schools! It's a little surprising to me, now.

I'm convinced people bring their own ability to be happy with them. Happy people can do it anywhere.

I also think this is one of the best places in the country to try to be happy in, but that's just my two cents. Even if there are a few overweight, pale, introverted, redneck, flannel wearing, smoking, tattooed hippies around.

[pikabike]

It is in the OP, first post several paragraphs down. They didn’t say they would not move for that reason. They said they wanted to live among people who valued a healthful lifestyle. They did not mention smoking, but a later poster talked about it in relation to possible overly high expectations of Seattle.

See Post 57 and the following ones to see how the thread turned.

I couldn’t care less if someone smokes as long as they do it in their own home or car.

It is now irrelevant to the OP, who has found another area(s) that would better fit for a variety of reasons. Kudos to him for thinking carefully and not jumping the gun based on one visit.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by pikabike

I can’t speak on Seattle smokers, but in PT, smoking was common, in fact prevalent enough that my husband used to comment on it periodically. And he was right: there were far more smokers than we had been accustomed to seeing in the CO Front Range towns. The worst part was that so many of them were YOUNG smokers. Not so much the retirees. We knew that some of the young smokers were locals, so it was not just visitors from another place.

It tended to go hand-in-hand with wearing all black clothes, extremely pale skin, tattooos and/or body part rings, and hanging out with coffee or supercaffeinated drinks in one hand (ciggie in the other). I figured smoking had gotten trendy once again, among those who spurn healthful lifestyles.

I don’t know if smokers had actually become a majority of the population—didn’t look like it—but there most certainly were more than a smattering of them around. As for obesity, that, too, was more prevalent than we had expected. Very surprising given the temperate climate all year ‘round, no extreme heat OR frigid cold OR snowfall to speak of.

Thanks for this info, Pika. I can't imagine smoking coming back into vogue--that's weird. You're talking Millennials, basically, right? This is alien to me. I have Millennial friends and relatives, and they're not into that at all, but maybe the people you're referring to are among the more "lost" people in and around Pt T, that you've mentioned before...?

[homesinseattle]

It tended to go hand-in-hand with wearing all black clothes, extremely pale skin, tattooos and/or body part rings, and hanging out with coffee or supercaffeinated drinks in one hand (ciggie in the other). I figured smoking had gotten trendy once again, among those who spurn healthful lifestyles.


Yeah, that's a subgroup, see more of that in the Pike/Pine area of Seattle, U Dist and some downtown. Statistically, Seattle is a very health conscious city, number 6 on this list, and pretty high any list you pull up: https://www.thestreet.com/personal-f...-s--14686878#7

[pikabike]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

Thanks for this info, Pika. I can't imagine smoking coming back into vogue--that's weird. You're talking Millennials, basically, right? This is alien to me. I have Millennial friends and relatives, and they're not into that at all, but maybe the people you're referring to are among the more "lost" people in and around Pt T, that you've mentioned before...?

The goth and heroin addict kinda looks that I thought were long dead still appeared to be going strong in PT. No idea why, unless the fans were stuck on the Curt Cobain days. I mean, he was popular when these kids were born, or just tots. Strange.

There was a period when teen smoking rates supposedly rose all over the US, but I don’t remember what years the survey(s) covered.

[Seacove]

Originally Posted by pikabike

The goth and heroin addict kinda looks that I thought were long dead still appeared to be going strong in PT. No idea why, unless the fans were stuck on the Curt Cobain days. I mean, he was popular when these kids were born, or just tots. Strange.

There was a period when teen smoking rates supposedly rose all over the US, but I don’t remember what years the survey(s) covered.

Funny. We just spent a week on the OP including Port Townsend. Saw exactly zero goth people. We did one evening see lots of Port Townsend people bringing their lawn chairs from their homes to watch a musical performance in town. Still no goth people. This was over the course of the Lavender Festival so whatever musical performance was going on in Port Townsend during that time, that would be it. Oh and there were thousands at the Lavender Festival, still no goth people although I did see one lady with her hair dyed the color of lavender. That was different.

[pikabike]

Originally Posted by Seacove

Funny. We just spent a week on the OP including Port Townsend. Saw exactly zero goth people. We did one evening see lots of Port Townsend people bringing their lawn chairs from their homes to watch a musical performance in town. Still no goth people. This was over the course of the Lavender Festival so whatever musical performance was going on in Port Townsend during that time, that would be it. Oh and there were thousands at the Lavender Festival, still no goth people although I did see one lady with her hair dyed the color of lavender. That was different.

Good for you.

[happygrrrl]

Originally Posted by Seacove

Funny. We just spent a week on the OP including Port Townsend. Saw exactly zero goth people. We did one evening see lots of Port Townsend people bringing their lawn chairs from their homes to watch a musical performance in town. Still no goth people. This was over the course of the Lavender Festival so whatever musical performance was going on in Port Townsend during that time, that would be it. Oh and there were thousands at the Lavender Festival, still no goth people although I did see one lady with her hair dyed the color of lavender. That was different.

You came during tourist season. Come back in the dead of winter.

[mayfair]

Originally Posted by happygrrrl

You came during tourist season. Come back in the dead of winter.

Yes. I haven't been there in a few years but saw plenty in Pt. Townsend. We tended to not go during summer due to the ferry lines and went in the shoulder seasons on nice days.