I'm from the NorthWest, and watching the cities change has been weird. The grunge has always been there, but theres also a real soft heart inside of it. I once didn't have the cash to pay for the meal, and some random guy chewed me out, and paid for the meal. That's Seattle to me. Where you don't know if you just talked to a homeless guy or a millionaire.
Californians moved in, and made the place look a lot nicer. The graffiti was now works of art, and people talked about how into the scene they were. They also played politics, and took away the warmth. You couldn't walk over to a random guy, and just talk. That's also when they started to really make rules about where the homeless could be, and how they should be treated. Homeless shelters that took care of people, but looked like trash, were closed down and the city promised to make better places for them. It never happened, or happened in limits.
Tons of money went into making cool new things, and some of it actually happened. The joke goes that the marijuana money went up in smoke. The roads went to Pay to Play. The radio guy announcing traffic started casually mentioning riots and protests blocking traffic. Rent went up to super high rates. Most of the housing started being bulldozed and replaced by high rise apartments. We nicknamed the new folks Amazon Warrior Princesses.
If you live in the area, check out some of the old arcades. They still have the feel for Seattle back in the day. Shorty's had a parade of people singing and dancing when it had to move to a new building. That was Seattle of old. Honestly, Bremerton feels more like Seattle than Seattle does anymore.
I really liked Bremerton the handful of times I've been there. Though even that has its gentrified areas, especially around the waterfront area.
Last time I was in Georgetown it still had some of the older vibe. The power tool races being my canonical example. Strictly speaking they're pretty dangerous, especially when they deliberately crash them into each other or fly them off ramps. Not something someone would want near their million dollar home. Eventually someone's kid is going to get hit from some shrapnel, or a racer is going to fly off a ramp into the crowd, someone's going to sue, and that's going to be the end of that.
Part of me says Seattle deserved better, but the other part of me says they got exactly what they voted for. Either way it's not my problem anymore, as I haven't lived there for many years.
I'm from the NorthWest, and watching the cities change has been weird. The grunge has always been there, but theres also a real soft heart inside of it. I once didn't have the cash to pay for the meal, and some random guy chewed me out, and paid for the meal. That's Seattle to me. Where you don't know if you just talked to a homeless guy or a millionaire.
Californians moved in, and made the place look a lot nicer. The graffiti was now works of art, and people talked about how into the scene they were. They also played politics, and took away the warmth. You couldn't walk over to a random guy, and just talk. That's also when they started to really make rules about where the homeless could be, and how they should be treated. Homeless shelters that took care of people, but looked like trash, were closed down and the city promised to make better places for them. It never happened, or happened in limits.
Tons of money went into making cool new things, and some of it actually happened. The joke goes that the marijuana money went up in smoke. The roads went to Pay to Play. The radio guy announcing traffic started casually mentioning riots and protests blocking traffic. Rent went up to super high rates. Most of the housing started being bulldozed and replaced by high rise apartments. We nicknamed the new folks Amazon Warrior Princesses.
If you live in the area, check out some of the old arcades. They still have the feel for Seattle back in the day. Shorty's had a parade of people singing and dancing when it had to move to a new building. That was Seattle of old. Honestly, Bremerton feels more like Seattle than Seattle does anymore.
It's hard to watch is what I am saying.
I really liked Bremerton the handful of times I've been there. Though even that has its gentrified areas, especially around the waterfront area.
Last time I was in Georgetown it still had some of the older vibe. The power tool races being my canonical example. Strictly speaking they're pretty dangerous, especially when they deliberately crash them into each other or fly them off ramps. Not something someone would want near their million dollar home. Eventually someone's kid is going to get hit from some shrapnel, or a racer is going to fly off a ramp into the crowd, someone's going to sue, and that's going to be the end of that.
Part of me says Seattle deserved better, but the other part of me says they got exactly what they voted for. Either way it's not my problem anymore, as I haven't lived there for many years.
I honestly don't know if the locals voted for it, or the californians did.