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• Reputation: 1962 Q&A: 32 0 1 1965 663 0 Classifieds: 0 0 what's this? Follow Following 2 elenchos

  8 1 The biggest problem in Seattle is the way government is paid for: regressive sales taxes and property taxes. The worst effect of this is that just when people most need government services, consumption by those paying the most taxes -- the poor and middle class -- declines, throwing the budget into crisis. The last thing you want to do to struggling people in a recession is hit them even harder by raising an already regressive tax. So instead you cut their helthcare, education, police protection and social services? Same goes for King County and the state, with the B&O tax making it worse. We could fix these problems now and institute income tax at all levels of government, but Seattleites are too smug, lazy and unimaginative. Seattle needs a normal-sized police force. Currently there are fewer sworn officers per capita than any large city in the US, and it shows. Part of the reason for the hamfisted, counterproductive dick moves Seattle cops sometimes pull is that they're overwhelmed. They shuffle patrols around to whichever neighborhood is on the front pages, and spend all their time on murder, rape, arson, and assault. Property crimes and petty nuisances and harassment are not investigated. Traffic enforcement sucks -- hello, bicyclists and pedestrians? How to pay for hiring a shit-ton more cops? See above. I came to Seattle for the climate, topography, views, natural beauty in the surrounding region, job market, and the interesting people the city attracts from around the US and abroad. I didn't come here because of the charming Seattle natives. I suppose they could change but I don't deal with them much so whatever. elenchos answered in Whatever about 1 year ago | Report 1 comment by NGC1275… 0 0 I agree with you 100% on the Seattle natives thing... thumbs way up. NGC1275 commented about 1 year ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  5 0 I agree with NGC's comment about allergies, but for the rest of the year (in no particular order): 1) The bus system can be frustrating in that to get from neighborhood to neighborhood you might need to transfer through downtown. 2) Despite being called a highly bike-friendly city, I've found the opposite to be true in many cases. Sure, the Burke Gilman is great, but only if I'm going on a ride just to ride or if I'm going to school (UW). Riding on the streets is another story, and frankly, can really suck. Streets in poor repair, cars and trucks who nearly run you over, and people who YELL at bikers even when they are riding perfectly legally are all dangerous. 3) As a nearly life-long Seattleite, I used to think that people were making up or overblowing the Seattle Freeze. However, as I've grown up and taken a "different path" than most people my age, I've found it to be quite true. People often seem taken aback by any friendliness and almost seem afraid when I try to make conversation. And I consider myself to be pretty introverted - I don't mean I'm talking to people on the street, but people in classes with me or who work with me. It can be pretty frustrating. That said, I don't hold them at fault - in the cases where I have broken through the barrier, so to speak, I've often realized that they're even more introverted or are socially anxious. Vicious cycle. C. W. answered in Whatever about 1 year ago | Report 1 comment by RM… 0 0 I agree 100% with all of these. RM commented about 1 year ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  3 0 Hate's a pretty strong word. I'm not sure I 'hate' anything... but I am certainly easily irritated by pockets of poor city planning / sometimes questionable design aesthetic. I do like cities with long-scope master plans and unified design principles. Ms. Bell nails a good point: cost of living could always be lower. Real estate in particular seems out-of-touch with value reality, and more consistancy would be nice too. Education opportunities here also can be irritating: for a city with so many degree-holders, bookworms, atheists, millionaires, and tech industries, you'd think we'd have a decent chance of having the best schools -by far- in the nation. Less SPS exec staff turnover would be one focus to think about... Rev.Enant answered in Whatever about 1 year ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  3 1 I would change people complaining about the Seattle Freeze. (Sorry, C.W., nothing personal.) Does it exist? Probably. But I don't tend to have a problem with it because I don't hang out with people who display those tendencies. If people are unfriendly or flakes, I don't spend time with them and I don't worry about not spending time with them. I don't think Freezers are doing it to be malicious, and too many times that seems to be the implication from people who complain about it...but the ones complaining are also usually the ones who seem like they are perpetuating the stereotype and making it worse. Miss Foxtrot answered in Whatever about 1 year ago | Report 3 comments by keshmeshi, Miss Foxtrot, and CleverScreenName… 0 0 I definitely agree about people who complain the most largely being part of the problem. What blows my mind is when I run into people like that and, after some digging, they admit that they pretty much never go out in public. Big fucking surprise they have a hard time making friends. That said, the two things that get me down about the Freeze are routinely being ignored/snubbed in social situations (you have to very carefully choose who to talk to lest you choose poorly and the person turns his/her nose up at you) and, related to the first, people being assholes when they reject you offhand. I think most of it is introversion and fear, so I try not to take it personally, but it still really stinks when someone is an asshole to me when I'm just trying to make conversation, be friendly, smile at a cute guy, whatever. keshmeshi commented about 1 year ago | Report 0 0 Yeah, it does suck when it happens to anyone, I'm not saying it doesn't and I'm sorry that you have to deal with it. Me, too, I don't like jerks either! I just feel like there are introverted (and extroverted!) asshats everywhere, and generally when I'm happy and positive and friendly I make friends. If I'm in a shit place emotionally and don't want to leave the house, then I make no friends. I admit that I may also have developed a thick skin and cheerful apathy in response to living in Seattle. I'll probably be nice to you if we meet, and I'm hard to offend. :) Miss Foxtrot commented about 1 year ago | Report 0 0 Thumbs up. I don't see Seattle as different from other places I have lived as an adult. Most people are friendly, some are not. I don't worry about the non-friendly ones. I have met people who could talk about nothing other than how unfriendly people in Seattle were. That's not the best way to meet people. CleverScreenName commented about 1 year ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  2 0 New-age people. Produce is really really expensive up here (including apples). The northwest is utter hell as far as allergies go. NGC1275 answered in Whatever about 1 year ago | Report 1 comment by NGC1275… 0 0 btw New Age |= progressive. You know the difference... NGC1275 commented about 1 year ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  2 0 1) Traffic. Poor management/bad planning + geographical bottlenecks = traffic nightmare far more often than it should be. 2) Local government. Nothing ever gets done. Everything is debated endlessly. People borderline abuse the legal system to stop infrastructure improvements and/or new buildings. This also shows in the public schools which largely suck. I guess high cost of living is kind of my phone-in third but overall I can't think of a third thing I really hate about Seattle right now. protosaurus answered in Whatever about 1 year ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  3 2 Too expensive. Too expensive. Too expensive. Kristin Bell answered in Whatever about 1 year ago | Report 2 comments by cew and Kristin Bell… 0 0 What would you say are the top things that impact your budget in a way other cities might not? cew commented about 1 year ago | Report 0 0 Well, pretty much all cities are kind of expensive to live in...which kinda sucks. But, Seattle used to be more affordable...like for students to rent a halfway decent place together. Now not so much. Of course, if you are comparing Seattle to NYC, hands down it is more affordable than NYC. In fact, Seattle is probably more affordable than a lot of cities, but it has gotten to the point where awesome people are leaving the city, because it is too expensive to rent or own anything worth living in. I don't actually live in Seattle anymore. I'm too poor. But, I know someone who pretty much decided to move because it was just getting too expensive. It became a question of: do we really want to live in this piece of shit house just for the social benefits? I guess it was no, because he moved--to the midwest AND he's gay! Kristin Bell commented about 1 year ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  1 0 The Seattle Process. Appoint a committee to discuss an issue to fucking death and never, ever actually DO anything about it, because someone somewhere might be offended (the horror! the horror!). Big agreement with Elenchos on our tax structure. It's insane. It's unworkable. It's causing a huge number of our problems. People from other climates who never cease to complain about the weather. I'm not talking about the occasional bitching about long periods of gray, I'm talking about the whiners who flip out with one misty day after two weeks of sunshine and start keening, "What happened to our summmmmmeerrrrrr?" But the #1 thing I'd change if I actually could is sprawl. This area was so beautiful before it got so crowded and the sprawl got so out of hand. We can't seem to do anything to really control sprawl, because the politicians are far too timid to risk offending suburban voters (witness the still-incendiary rage about the CAO and Growth Management Acts). Geni answered in Whatever about 1 year ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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