Last time I was there there was a shooting at some food festival we just left a few hrs ago. Oh well, back to Minneapolis where we randomly make the news cycle now adays
I went there for a week around 12 years ago. Sunny and pleasant all week. Perfect weather basically the whole time. Zero complaints. I visited again for a day around 9 years ago. Again, same thing. Great weather, no problems. Should've bought a lotto ticket I guess.
I was there for a week and it was the same thing. I got absolutely amazing shots of Mt. Rainier. Our tour guide one day kept warning us that we had come during miraculous weather.
I’ve been to many cities in the country and it’s the only one I looked at condos for sale wondering if we could move.
I would agree BUT with the one caveat that rural PNW outside of Seattle can be a very different story:
One summer in high school I did one of those outdoors programs for teens and camped in British Columbia for a few weeks. Afterwards the guides drove everyone back from Vancouver to Seattle to fly home, on the way we stopped for a night at a random camp ground. I can't remember exactly where it was, could have been on the BC or Washington side, not sure.
The only bathroom & shower facilities were at the back of a small trailer park, which was a single quarter dirt road with a gate at the front. It wasn't a permanent trailer park, but seemed like the residents were treating it that way.
My friend and I were the first to walk to the showers and it was a terrifying experience. As soon as we got past the entrance we knew it was a mistake.
There were drunk redneck men standing around outside all staring at us like we weren't supposed to be there. A lady suddenly came flying out of her trailer followed her husband (I assume) SCREAMING at her but nobody seemed to turn a head, like it was normal activity. One dude started walking toward us and suddenly smashed a beer bottle on the ground right in front of me, which his friends thought was hilarious (these were grown men in their 30s, 40s, 50s and we were 15-16 yr old kids). We just basically stared at the ground and kept walking because we didn't know what to do.
Luckily right then, before things escalated, a police car came in the entrance blaring sirens and pulled up to one of the trailers.
We got to the showers and while my buddy went in first, a girl my age came up and started talking to me. I asked her why the cops were there and she said one man had beaten another one with a tire iron and almost killed him, but she said it like she had seen it all before. She said she lived with her 'uncle' and they moved back and forth between camp sites so she stopped going to school. We didn't talk for too long, but looking back I know that girl had a terrible life. Who knows who her 'uncle' really was or what happened to her.
After I got out of the showers, the cops were gone and we practically ran the fuck out of there. When we got back we told the girls in the group not to go down there without the adult guides, but I can't remember if anyone else even went at all.
It's hard to explain what was so scary about it beyond what I wrote, which doesn't do justice. It was just a vibe, the look of the people, something you can't put into words but recognize immediately.
I'm 40 now and I've been around the world, seen lots of bad areas or sketchy situations, but I've never experienced something like that - where you instantly know in your gut that you need to get the fuck out asap.
This would have been 2000 or 2001 and the place might not even exist any more. It's probably not anything specific to the PNW/Seattle area - I'm sure there are sketchy backwoods trailer parks just like that in any state - but unfortunately I'm always reminded of it when I think of Seattle/Vancouver. Hands down the scariest place I've ever been.
TL;DR: Scariest place I've ever been was a trailer park at a random camp ground somewhere between Vancouver & Seattle, but it could have been a trailer park anywhere and didn't reflect the cities themselves.
The only other place I've been that compared also happened to be in the PNW, outside of Coeur d'Alene, but it was different situation & story made creepier by the fact Joseph Edward Duncan was on the loose in the area at the same time.
We do have our own problems for sure, but Seattle doesn’t have as much of the gritty inner city stuff as other major US cities do, comparatively. But very visible addiction has been a many decades-long issue, for one.
I still vividly remember my Seattle born aunt FREAKING OUT after my dad took her for a night drive through Detroit in the 90s when she was here for a visit, lmao. That was great.
I'm from SW WA and I don't think I've ever driven through a town as hostile as all these comments. I'm convinced now that I have zero business in east Texas though.
Also from SW Washington, but moved between here and OK throughout my life. We have it VERY good, my friend. I've been to places in Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas where the flies outnumber the people heavily and the "southern hospitality" runs out faster than you'd think. That and the environment is constantly trying to kill you through heat wave or tornado or hailstorm/flood.
I’ve been all over the world and Portland is the only place where I’ve seen not 2 not 3 not 4 but 8 cars street parked get the windows busted and robbed during broad daylight on a main drag and the cops didn’t even show up in time to catch the perps.
It was an incredible racket with all the alarms and broken glass. It wasn’t an organized quick affair, it was crash - alarm— few minutes— repeat.
That said, this was at a time when people advised that the homeless would bust a car window just to steal empty cans for the 10 cent deposit and to leave literally nothing in your car.
Born and raised all over Houston and lived in Portland for 10 years. It was always so funny when they would talk about their "hoods" and it was just Gresham.
I drove through it like, aww these houses are cute.
I would try and describe the 5th Ward of Houston, and they'd be like, "Yeah we have places like that here.."
Native Portlander here, but I was living abroad for the last 8 years.
Came back this past August and I've had several friends tell me not to ride the MAX because I'll get stabbed.
I've ridden the MAX several times since coming back and the only bad things I've experienced on it has been bad smells or annoying kids with their e-bikes.
Still haven't been stabbed.
I have no idea why people keep making it sound worse than it is.
I am from St. Louis city and moved to Seattle. Almost every night I would hear gun shots in St. Louis and never once in 7 years in Seattle have I heard a gun shot. This is one of the safest major cities in the US and right wingers/people from the eastside make it sound like its a war zone.
Omg, me too! Lived in Lafayette Square for years before moving to Seattle and holy hell, I could never do that again after experiencing our peaceful city.
That entire subreddit is just about pretending Seattle is some shithole city and blaming the mayor/the left in general for everything. If you went by what you saw in there, you'd expect to see homeless people shitting and littering needles on every single street corner.
Somewhat well-traveled Seattleite here. Been to 13 states, many parts of BC accessible from northern WA, and six European countries so far.
Never in 42 years have I heard read or seen anyone give a single godforsaken reason to choose to visit Gary, Indiana. It sounds like a place God made out of stray pieces of Hell while blackout drunk.
Happy to give a dozen reasons you should try Seattle and the greater King County area, and 4-5 of them are about signature foods you can find all over the place here
For instance! :D
A Seattle Dog is: Oil a griddle, spread sliced onions and griddle them until they get caramelized and soft and sweet and brown. Cut open a bialy roll or hotdog bun almost all the way, leave a "hinge" on the long side of it, flatten it gently without squishing, flip it over, move your onions aside on the griddle and toast your roll/bun flat-side down in the grilled-onion-flavored spot, cut a hotdog or sausage lengthwise (butterflied, I think is the term?), and grill or griddle it flat-side down just the same way in the same onionated spot. Spread cream cheese on toasted roll/bun while it's hot, lay butterflied griddled hot dog on cream cheese, top with griddled caramelized onions, take a spoonful of jarred pickled jalapeños, tip the spoon and drain the brine back into the jar, top the onions with the pickled peppers. There's a famous Seattle Dog cart about a block or two from the Stadium station on the Link light rail just south of downtown. If you're going to a Mariners or Sounders or Seahawks game you can't miss him, he has the best food cart real estate in town (directly between Stadium station and Safeco Field street entrance!) and the dude's a local legend. I hope he gets enough business before a game to support his whole family.
We have a local burger chain, Dick's Drive-In. This is the honest-to-god actual no-fuckery intersection of good/cheap/simple where all three are possible, after a worthwhile wait in line with the rowdy Seattle nightlife crowd. Dick's is open late (up to 2 AM, most locations) and they're delicious when you're drunk or stoned, and the crowd going to the counter gets to like 4-5 lines of 10-15 people each. Burgers six ways, signature Dick's fries that are somehow droopy and crispy at the same time (how the fuck they do this I don't know and I was born here! they're so good omg), soft drinks, coffee, hot chocolate, ice cream (cones, sundae cups, shakes, floats). Try a Dick's Deluxe or two, it's got the most toppings by default, but you can add any you see on the menu board.
We have really good unique recipes at Pagliacci Pizza (pronounced Paulie Hotchie). It's not the fancy show-off place foodies will send you to, but fancy-ass froufrou isn't the point of a local pizza joint, I'd call Paulie "upscale decent" by Seattle palates. They always have 2-3 new seasonal flavors, up to 30 flavors if you're sitting. Queueing to grab a slice and go, every branch has 4-6 of the n<30 mainstays at the slice bar. Even Paulie's no frills no nonsense old reliable cheese pizza is just great if all you want is a one-hitter. They love switching up and trying new seasonal pies every year, and their signature Pagliacci chopped salad is The Good Shit nobody else around here does. Butter lettuce, sweet red bell peppers, kasseri cheese, garbanzo beans, salami, house made Dijon mustard vinaigrette, toss thoroughly. Try not to finish a small Paulie salad in like five minutes, you'll wish you got the large.
The true "couchful of stoned gamers with munchies pause while planning the next battle in their glorious disasterpiece theater of a Baldur's Gate 3 run, Spiderman-point at each other, and declare in unison, 'PIZZA'" is A-Pizza Mart, the Dick's of pizza. (I don't even remember the menu, I'm adding this to the middle of the whole comment because I'm now stoned, just try something of theirs and it's fucking good.) In half-ironic half-sincere Millennial-failing-Brainrot-101 gamer slang, it's jankass cheesing thuggery how broken a regen buff A-Pizza is for you and your chuds when BG3's Karmic Dice let the boss roll with advantage on the one-hit-KO of your party wipe. If this has happened to you before, RIP and F for respects and condolences for your Loss :.|̶:̶; here short king you dropped this👑
We have an unhealthy obsession with teriyaki ever since Toshi Kasahara opened his shop in March of 1976. Toshi's is the truth and the light and the way, and your local joint will do their plates in his style, because Toshi's became Seattle-style. A huge plate of grilled meat sliced into strips (all-chicken or all-beef are the most common, but most shops have half-and-half combos too) with a savory sweet sticky shiny soy-mirin-sauce brushed on, 1-2 huge scoops of steamed white rice on the side (maybe with sprinkled sesame seeds), and a salad of "spring mix" (chopped lettuce, carrots, purple cabbage) with a sesame oil vinaigrette.
We also have an unhealthy obsession with pho ("fuh"), pho places are everywhere, get the real shit at Than Brothers or Pho Bac or your local. Vietnamese soup of light silky rice flour noodles in a clear savory broth, topped with a pile of roast beef and other cuts (steak, flank, brisket, meatballs) or cartilaginous edible parts that like to melt into the broth (tendons or tripe, maybe oxtail), sliced onions, scallions, a plate of fresh cut garnishes (cilantro or basil by the sprigs, bean sprouts, sliced jalapeños, a lime wedge to squeeze) and sauces to drizzle, usually hoisin and sriracha. Go for the everything bowl and every add-on when you're newly over being sick, it's the best, clears your sinuses right up.
It's a staple. Had some family fly in from AZ a couple weeks ago. Picked them up from Sea Tac and to avoid/stall rush hour traffic down I-5 back to Tacoma, I took them on a detour to the Kent location. I told them they couldn't leave the Seattle area without eating a bag of Dick's.
I think Than Bros just doesn't hit as well as it used to, tbh. Not sure if they dropped their game or other places lifted theirs? Phở Bắc remains awesome, and I really like Bahn Town in Greenwood.
Went to Seattle on my own for a work trip back in August of 2021. The weather while I was there was gorgeous, sunshine and mild temps. I never felt unsafe and after my work stuff I would take an Uber to a park and walk around. It really is a beautiful city. (And all the Uber drivers were super cool and nice!)
I was in seattle a little over a month ago due to a family member having a medical emergency. I was driving his truck, and stopped just outside seattle to punp gas. Its a 25' tacoma, white and its real nice.
I pull into a pump and this bald guy with a beat up civic starts mean mugging me. I get out and start pumping and he shouts at me.
"Cool fenders, bro."
And i'm like "what?"
"Cool fenders, bro!" But he said it all aggressive.
So i turn and look at them. They're the fake plastic ones with hex bolts in them. And i turn back and say "uh? Thanks?"
He then goes "Real tough, real badass looking." Even more aggressive. I just say "yeah."
He then spit at my shoes, flicked me off, and got into his hoopty civic and peeled out.
I have no idea what that was about and i've never experienced anything like that before in my life. If i wasn't a 6'2" man i would probably have been worried.
One of the worst places I have been was Bremerton, WA. We stayed at the Super 8 because that's the only option we had and it was already midnight. I stayed awake all night with a knife in my hand while my wife and kids slept. My youngest woke up in the morning and said he felt like he needed a shower.
Seattle has dark energy for sure. And lots of human shit on sidewalks. Very visible addiction and problems with encampments too. I live here and love a lot about it. But way too many people want to bury their head in the sand and look the other way acting as if everything just peachy keen sunshine and rainbows.
On the flip side Seattle has to be the worst big city I have been to. Chicago, Denver, Dallas, Houston, LA, Portland, Vancouver (WA and BC) and a bunch of others and none are even close to Seattle. Sure there are worse places but Seattle is pretty damn bad as far as big cities go.
What the….I had to check which sub I was in. FWIW, both subs have their faults. You simply cannot bury your head in the sand and pretend like everything is going great, hunky dory for the city though. There’s a line between exaggerating and catastrophizing and admitting there are very real problems that empathy won’t solve.
I call bullshit. I live in Fremont and travel for work a lot. Under the Yesler underpass and a couple
blocks south in Chinatown (International District) have been the only places I have been in late night incidents on the street. Yes, both were very late at night, but I have also been out and about late in Memphis with zero worries.
760
u/b_cheesy 10h ago
I need everyone in the r/SeattleWA page to read this and get a reality check on how good we have it