Local civic pride and statistics to back it up
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5/6/2007
Seattle has a little city complex. It has tried (and keeps trying) really hard to lift its status to a tier 1 city.
While I think some of the recent posts from others sound a bit whiney, they hit on a few good points.
If you look at the statistics, which locals regard proudly as positives, they do not illustrate the city's negatives.
While it's unfair to Seattle to call it a "decaying city" on par with Detroit or other places that have fallen into disarray, it is dirty, has a homeless problem, lacks public transportation, city council and state government seem to have difficulties in reconciling public works projects. Seattle appears to lack the police and utilities services needed to keep the city running -- in the event of any natural disaster, this city is in terrible shape.
I've also found the local people to be strange: they are smug, they like to quote statistics and promote Seattle as the "best place to live bar none" -- if someone says something negative, they'll pick a place in the country that's worse off than it is (those poor people in Kansas, dealing with tornados, for example, or Detroit or Philadelphia, etc).
Bottom line is that liking or disliking Seattle is subjective, indeed. However, the locals tend to boast often, disdain criticism, and argue very emphatically that their city is the greatest and that anyone who disagrees is welcome to leave.
Case in point: the angry responses from Seattle's unofficial booster club that this post may illicit.
Franklin | Bellevue, WA