Is Seattle getting better?
Monday, January 5th, 2009Some things never change in Seattle. Like the weather. But wait a minute. The last two years have brought us snow that stuck with a vengeance my childhood self could only have dreamed of. So I guess that’s out.
How about the familiarity of our neighborhoods? There’s actually been a lot of change there. It’s hard to make that old Almost Live seatbelt-hanging-out-the-door-of-the-double-parked-Volvo joke anymore in Ballard, and all the old skid rows now house trendy haunts that stock booster seats.
What about being a one-company town? The Boeing town that became the land of Microsoft that became Starbucksville is now home to so many little (and not so little) start-ups that it’s pretty hard for us to be pigeonholed as a workforce.
So what hasn’t changed in the last few decades? We still don’t have high-speed light rail criss-crossing the city, but it’s getting closer. And the Viaduct still stands, but supposedly its days are numbered. The Seattle Center and the Market are both growing cobwebs, but Pike Place Market repairs are on the way.
It seems we’re changing a lot. Knute Berger’s Mossback column this month talks about the ways we’ve gotten better. Berger, who admits he more often complains “about more people, more condos, bad traffic, and grocery-bag taxes,” lists “Five things that make even a Mossback happy.”
Among the acheivements: getting greener and making investments in our cultural infrastructure, like the Central Library, the Sculpture Park and neighborhood libraries. Berger says we’re also more diverse, and our food is better.
P.S. Not everyone is happy with all the changes. That irreverent little blog that disses Seattle condos is back up. . .
