Monday, October 4, 2010

Seattle:The Ugly

First up: the color Grey. It's everywhere you are. The sky is grey. The buildings are grey. The walls are grey. Everything, it seems, even the stuff that is not grey, is still grey. I found the city kinda depressing, over all.
And there's no escape:Taking a drive, I was flanked by concrete walls of grey, connecting to grey underpasses, only to emerge among grey ribbons of concrete overpasses.

To be fair, I spent most, if not all, of my time downtown, or close to downtown, where even when the sun had broken through the cloud cover, the tall buildings cast long shadows so that even the sunlight was grey.


You'd think with such a prominent gay population, they'd find a way to spruce up the place. Some decor here. Splash of color there. Come on, Seattle! Can't you get a little queer-eye action going on?

The only thing rarer than sunlight is parking. If you find a spot, better read the posted signs very carefully, and then read them again. Having your car towed will cost you $108.80. I happen to know this, thank you.
Salt is poured into the wound with the parking ticket ($42, not included), they will hand you when you arrive to get your car back. Bastards.

Had a shitty end to what started out as a very pleasant Tuesday.

10 comments:

Brian said...

Aw, shit. That's too bad. If I'd known you'd want to gay it up, I'd have had you meet me in Cap Hill! Next time...

Parking here is awful, as is driving, generally. That's why I do it is little as possible.

But yeah, Portland is prettier...

Foxfier said...

Tacoma has all the stuff that is...well, not-gray. Lots of nice green zones, oddly painted houses, although the sky is still gray.

Gino said...

brian: any chicago bars in cap hill?
'portland is prettier' really isnt saying much more portland,though.

foxfier: south of town did look uch nicer from the freeway. i suppose life in the burbs would be less depressing.

Foxfier said...

Honestly, I haven't seen anywhere in Tacoma that's more than a block from lots of lush greenery. Often soggy greenery, but at least an empty lot with a couple of trees and a forest of wild blackberry vines.

my name is Amanda said...

Grey skies constantly? Welcome to what it's like to live in Monterey. Plenty of greenery, but to me, when the sky is grey, it all just looks greyish green and not fun. I don't understand why property values here are through the roof.

Boo!

Brian said...

I don't know about "Chicago bar" per se, but there are plenty of bars, including those that show plenty of sports.

And actually, the neighborhood around Volunteer Park (a few blocks north of my apt.) really is lovely...old growth trees, early 20th century houses in fantastic condition. The park itself is very nice (I believe it is an Olmstead park) and the views from the adjacent Lakeview Cemetery (where Bruce Lee is buried) are spectacular. There's also the Arboretum (just east of CH) which is very nice.

Other neighborhoods in the north end (Fremont, Wallingford, Phiney, Greenwood, Ballard) are certainly crowded, but much nicer than the U District.
I'd say Downtown is one of the least interesting parts of the city.

Grey skies don't bother me. I lived in AZ for so long I feel I've had a lifetime supply of sunshine.

Jade said...

I think you did manage to tour the ugliest parts of the city (truthfully... if the skies are gray, even the water in the sound looks gray)

Most of my city time is either to go a destination within a building, or to spend time in touristy areas or parks. Seattle Center is far more colorful than where you were at, and if you go up in the Space Needle you can look down and see how much greenery there is in the city (by way of rooftop gardens, and the park along the waterfront.) Pike Place Market is full of color, in many ways ;)

Green lush parks are everywhere up here, you've just got to get into them.

I was surprised by your comments on the amount of gray when you told me at lunch, I never really noticed it before. But taking a look at my wardrobe, and car, I realize that I lean towards the color gray anyway. (perhaps that's why my car was hit twice while I was at a dead stop... because it blends in to the background?)

But I also live in the suburbs, in the woods... so most of my daily view is every shade of green. Next time we'll have you over here for dinner and you can see the brighter side of the lake :)

(Oh, and the city itself is also much prettier on clear days when you can see the mountains around us)

Gino said...

ok, i'm totally convinced i need to not just get back, but hang out for a while in brian's and jade's neighborhoods.

jade: and that 520 bridge was cool. why cant all bridges be like that?

Jade said...

I know :) The I-90 bridge (next one south over the lake) is also a floating bridge. I really like those, though they are creepy to go under in the boat.

Capital Hill is a fun place to hang out... my husband just recently wandered into an inner-city late night dodgeball game up in that area. (How fun would that be, to go burn off some steam throwing things at people?)

Brian said...

Oooh, yeah, the dodgeball games at Anderson Park! Those are cool...my wife and I stumbled on one a few weeks back on our way home from a show at Neumo's. They're intense!

I've also seen people playing bike polo on the same court in the afternoon.