(place) by jkonrath Sat May 20 2000 at 2:09:21
I used to live here, too, in Pill Hill, which is vaguely near Capitol Hill, the town's big GLB, artsy population. My neighborhood was just home to Harborview hospital and a stone's throw from I-5 (literally!)

Weird things unique to Seattle:

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(place) by heyoka Thu Jun 08 2000 at 16:17:58
According to Robyn Hitchcock's maddeningly chirpy song 'Viva Seattle' it has "the best computers and coffee and smack."

Once upon a time it had America's highest concentration of 'seamstresses' and a serious problem with back-firing lavatories because of the messed up water pressure system in the city.

It also has some really nifty underground streets that predate the building of the proper mud-free pavements and other fancy modernisations at the end of the nineteenth century.
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(place) by ScottMan Mon Aug 14 2000 at 21:52:08
Population: 536,978
Popultaion Density: 6,400/sq. mile
Population Growth (1990-1998): 4.0%
Area: 83.9 sq. miles
Unemployment: 3.6%
Per capita income: $33,373

History: First setled in 1851. Incorporated in 1869. Suffered sever fire in 1889. Played prominent role in Alaskan Gold rush, 1897. Heavy growth followed the opening of the Panama Canal in 1914. Has been a center of American Aircraft Industry since World War II. Also close to the town of Redmond, where computer giant Microsoft makes their headquarters.

Web sites: http://www.ci.seattle.wa.us
http://www.seattlechamber.com

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(place) by RML Mon Oct 02 2000 at 2:25:36
A large city in Washington State, where I have the good fortune to live. Seattle happens to be the home of Starbucks, Amazon.com, and Microsoft (well, Microsoft is technically in Redmond, which is across the lake from Seattle), but don't hold it against us.

Seattle has a reputation for getting a lot of rain, but that depends on how you look at it. In inches, it doesn't get any more than most cities. However, there are a lot of days where it rains just a little, and even when it's not raining, it's often overcast. On the plus side, it hardly ever snows.

For some reason Seattle has become a catch phrase for people interested in the whole WTO and free trade versus fair trade issue. Maybe it had something to do with the riots. They were interesting to watch on TV, lots of policemen in black riot armor looking like Darth Vader, but I wouldn't want to have been tear gassed.

The most interesting neighborhood in Seattle is probably Fremont, which has a life-size statue of a troll clutching a real VW bug (under a bridge, of course), a statue of Lenin imported from the ex-Soviet Union, and a rocket ship. Other tourist attractions are the Space Needle and the Pike Place Market, where you can watch them throw fish.

Seattle is definitely the most beautiful city in the world.

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(place) by flamingweasel Sat Mar 17 2001 at 8:55:02
My intention for this node cluster is to put a ton of links to nonexistent nodes, so others may take chunks of this documentation project out of my hands. Please. If you know of good nodes that need to get linked in here, /msg me and I'll hook it up.

Weather

Despite its reputation as a place where natives grow webbed feet, less precipitation falls here than in many Eastern United States towns like Chicago and New York. I think what causes the reputation is the fact that for 9 months of the year, we have tin grey skies and a light mist -- just enough to cause a little melancholy for those who are susceptible. Average rainfall is between 30 and 40 inches. Temperatures are moderated by the Puget Sound, and storms are moderated by the Olympic Mountains which shield the sound from major storms from the west. Snowstorms are very infrequent in the winter, and temperatures over 95 degrees are very infrequent in the summer. All in all, a lovely environment.
  • Wettest Months: November through December, averaging about 6 inches per month
  • Driest Months: June through August, averaging a little over 1 inch/month
  • Warmest Month: August, averaging about 75 high, 55 low
  • Coolest Months: December and January, averaging 45 high, 35 low

Environment

One of the reasons to move here. The Puget Sound Basin is amazingly beautiful country. Carved out by the last Ice Age and kept interesting by the fault lines...Anyway:

Puget Sound ♦ Lake Washington ♦ Olympic Mountains ♦ Mount Rainier

The Neighborhoods

Because of the particular geography of Seattle -- that is, there are big swaths that are difficult to get to from other swaths -- the neighborhoods used to be very different from each other. Now, with the Belltownification of Seattle, everything's dissolving into the same look: Thrown-up pastel condos. See Seattle while it still has a shred of interest, kids...

Northgate ♦ Ballard ♦ Wallingford ♦ University District ♦ Fremont ♦ Queen Anne ♦ Belltown ♦ Capitol Hill ♦ Downtown ♦ Pioneer Square ♦ International District ♦ Ranier Valley ♦ West Seattle

Higher Edjumacation

Just a few here...But I'm probably not remembering them all. /msg me, folks.

University of Washington ♦ Seattle Pacific University ♦ Seattle University ♦ Cornish College of the Arts ♦ Art Institute Of Seattle

Seattle Culture, Happenings, & Attractions

Coffee. And being polite. Okay, it may not be limited to only that. There's also complaining about Californians...

The Battle of Seattle ♦ Seattle Mardi Gras ♦ Seattle's Best Coffee ♦ Seattle Bands ♦ Bumbershoot ♦ Space Needle ♦ Seattle Center ♦ Seattle Monorail

people who rule for corrections & submissions: prole
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(place) by Uranium Fri May 04 2001 at 4:13:17
Seattle may not have the greatest architecture but the climate and the greenery more than make up for it. The grass is green and the flowers bloom 365 days of the year while also having variety in weather(unlike other always green places like California). And while the days are overcast the rain is always light and any place that a tree or aflower or vines would fit is stuffed full of lush greeness. Also the beautiful houses and apartment complexes provide hours of pleasure for the urban geographer as they are densely located in the most unsuspecting of places. The weather is never ass-frying Hot and Never ass-freezing cold. Always mild. To the west is the Sound and the beautiful San-Juan Islands, to the North is the path to neato Vancouver where gambling and drinking is available to 19 year olds and To the south is smelly but always interesting Tacoma. Look to the the East to see the closest one of the three ranges of beautiful beautiful mountains that are within view. Just beyond the Mountains to the East lie a very weird and intriguing midland desert.

The cost of living keeps getting higher and higher and Gridlock is the third worst in the nation. (its best not to enter a car between the hours of 7am-11am and 3:30-8 pm.)

Panhandling is legal and the panhandlers lurk on the fringes of any highly public area. But the various neighborhoods are pretty safe at all hours. Very inviting for those late night walks essential to helping one get over the loss of a love or any promising prospect.

The current Mayor is a complete dufus, the crowds are overly-rowdy and politcally passionate and billionaire Paul Allen owns a large amount of the city...those amounts growing by the month(bye-bye KCMU). But due to the UW many parts of the city cater to The college age. That includes yuppies, freak, geeks, and musicians (throw a rock and youll hit a musician) and whatever else you can think of. For the most part, theres always something to do.

But I love Seattle. Seattle is my home.

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(place) by smileloki Thu Jun 17 2004 at 0:30:03

Seattle, Washington is the largest city in the Pacific Northwest.

The first settlement that is was considered Seattle was at Alki Point in 1851 by a group of settlers headed by a New Yorker named David Denny. They'd taken the Oregon Trail looking to settle in the Puget Sound area because of its potential as a seaport. A rough winter prompted them to move the settlement to Elliott Bay where the settlement was renamed "Seattle" after Sealth, a Duwamish chief who was friends of a merchant. The new town was laid out in 1853 and became a sawmill area mostly populated by bachelors. Early in its history it withstood a number of riots and attacks, including an Indian attack in 1856 and anti-Chinese riots in the 1880s. One of the founding residents traveled back east on two trips to encourage young unmarried women to come to Seattle and a total of 57 came to marry area residents.

The Great Fire of 1889 burned over 50 blocks of wooden city in a day, but even that couldn't slow Seattle's growth. The city was rebuilt centered on what is now Pioneer Square in brick and iron and the coming of the Great Northern Railway in 1893 gave the area the boost it needed. Seattle has a naturally landlocked harbor which is at the end of the inside passage to Alaska and the gold rushes in the Yukon and Alaska made the area a major supply depot, starting in 1897 when the Portland docked with two tons of gold from the Yukon. It only took a few weeks for the city to be flooded with aspiring millionaires on their way up north and the city's nightlife industry flourished. In order to both expand the harbor and flatten parts of the area in the early 1900s a re-grading project took place in downtown. In just five years (1905-1910) Seattle annexed 10 of the surrounding cities and town, including Ballard, and the city's population grew to 237,194.

Its harbor continued to drive the city's development with opening of the Panama Canal in 1914 shortening the sea route from the east coast and the Lake Washington Ship Canal's completion in 1916 joining the outer harbor with Lake Washington. World War II brought the demand for the area's lumber and fed money into the growing aviation industry in the area and the city had the honor of hosting the 1962 World's Fair (for which the city's symbol, the Space Needle, was built). Even today the area's economy is based on trade and technology. Boeing's headquarters were in the area until 2001 and Seattle is still the site of Boeing's plant. The software giant Microsoft, coffee giant Starbucks and the dot com Amazon are practically synonymous with Seattle's tech industry, but while they still are making profit many jobs in the area were cut when the crash came.

Seattle is known across the country for its rain, but in actuality it receives less rain than major metropolitan areas like Boston or New York. In winter it is almost perpetually cloudy and instead of snow the warm ocean air brings light rain and mist to the region in cold months, while summers are fairly dry and sunny.

Fast Facts

  • Population (from 2000): 563,374 (Seattle - King County), 3,275,847 (Greater Seattle Area)
  • Area: 83.9 Square Miles
  • Average Yearly Rainfall: 36.2 Inches (92 centimeters)
  • Median Home Cost (from 2000): $220,100
  • Average Family Income: $72,200/year

Places

  • Neighborhoods
  • Education

    • Government

    Other

    Sources:
    "Seattle." Encyclopaedia Britannica. 2004. Encyclopaedia Britannica Online. 16 June 2004 <http://search.eb.com/eb/article?eu=68216>.
    "Seattle.gov" City of Seattle. 16 June 2004 <http://www.seattle.gov>.
    "Seattle History" Lonely Planet World Guide. 16 June 2004 <http://www.lonelyplanet.com/destinations/north_america/seattle/history.htm>.

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