Seattle

[wxman]

I just got back from Seattle on Sunday. Here's my take (Blake's take!) on the city:

 

First Impression: Very industrial, not nearly as hilly as expected.

Lasting Impression: Sophisticated city, pretty.

Weather: Lived up to the Seattle stereotype: Chilly, gray, damp

 

My first time to the PNW was a positive one. I enjoyed touring Seattle and taking in the sights. Seattle in many ways lived up to its stereotype but in other ways, I was caught off guard. I was amazed at the urbanization that is taking place downtown. The amount of highrises actively under construction makes whatever Houston is trying to do look cute. There is literally a highrise going up on every corner between the Space Needle and the main downtown area. Unlike Houston where many of the highrises are on the drawing board, Seattle's are already coming out of the ground.

 

Architecture wise, the Columbia Seafirst Center is a dominating structure and the fixture of the Seattle skyline, more dominant than I thought it would be. I was pretty amazed at the steep grade that it's built on (35 or 40°?). I thought asthetically the building was sexy and sleak. The Smith Tower was fun to see and a bit bigger than I thought. Seattle has two distinct business districts: downtown and Bellvue. Unlike Houston where you have highrises scattered about from The Woodlands to the Med Center and everywhere in between, Seattle is nearly void of any highrises outside of the downtown area and Bellvue. Bellvue lies about 15 miles due east of downtown Seattle had has an impressive array of skyscrapers that would rival any medium size city (Nashville, Denver, Louisville) in size and scope. So in that regard, I was surprised at the lack of highrises outside of those two areas and the size and scope of each of the biz districts.

 

City wise, the city felt smaller than the census bureau indicates. For a city of 3.6 million, it felt very down-home. I didn't get the feeling of hustle and bustle (although I-90 was gridlocked the entire week I was there). Driving in from Seatac, the city had a very cramped and industrial feel. As you drive up I-5, you pass one of Boeing's runways along the freeway, the ports and lots of industry. Once we got into town, the feel of the place turned to more of a midwest or New England feel. The homes there seem to be very dated. I saw zero new construction of homes. I went to several dinner parties in different neighborhoods and none of the houses were less than 30 years old. Most of the houses were old, wood houses. Some had brick but many were just wood. It seems as though all the new construction I saw (and there was A LOT) were all highrise condos.

 

People wise, I got the feeling that there were a couple of distinct classes of people. First, I got the feeling of sophistication. People seem to be very corporate, smart and well educated there. That's not surprising being that Boeing and Microsoft are staples of that community. Second, people there (guys and girls alike) either were very dapper (men in suits) or bums. There seemed to be very few who strolled around in jeans and hoodie like I was. It's also every bit as liberal as I anticipated, if not more so. Gay guys openly walking around holding hands and NOBODY turned a head (except me). People openly rolling joints in public spaces took me back a bit. If you're one to burn roaches, this is your town. It was nothing to walk through the downtown area and get hit in the face with an overwhelming smell of pot. There is no room for discrimination there of any type and I definitely felt out of my comfort zone, even as a gay dude. Growing up in the south, I just couldn't get past the openess of it all. 

 

Downtown, the place is buzzing with people. The pedestrian activity in the downtown area would rival that of other large metro areas---maybe on par with Chicago. The shopping district, where the Flagship Nordstrom is, is packed with people---and bums. The amount of homeless was pretty overwhelming and they all seem to congregate in a two or three block area. We're not talking 5 or 10 homeless. I'm talking hundreds. It's pretty disappointing that they all decide to sleep outside Nordstrom or the other big stores. The shopping district is very impressive with big named, high end stores lining the streets for several blocks. It's too bad Houston doesn't use Seattle as their model.

 

Overall, I loved Seattle. It wasn't as hilly or mountainous as I thought it would be but it definitely was an interesting place in every aspect. I'm not sure if anybody else has been to Seattle but I would recommend a visit. There's so much to do! The flight museum where you can view the first 747 as well as the concord. There's the Space Needle, Mt. Reiner, shopping, the Boeing factory where you can watch planes being built, ect. I will definitely go back to visit.

 

QUESTION:

 

For those who have been to Seattle, was anybody else amazed at the amount of highrise construction in downtown Seattle???

 

 

 

[Fringe]

Visited Seattle for the first time a couple of years ago (before pot was legal) and really loved it despite having worst traffic than Austin. Hope you visited the Chihuly glass garden. It was awesome.  I don't remember seeing that many bums/homeless people. Certainly not on par with say San Francisco. Did notice a lot of construction downtown even 2 years ago before the economy got better. 

It was a very walkable downtown. The monorail was cool even though it was a short ride from the Space Needle to the shopping district. Only spent like 2 days downtown. Definitely will return. Best thing about Seattle is it's just a ferry ride from some beautiful little port towns and mountains.  

[fkp5]

Yes, I've been to Seattle and was also amazed at the number of high rises popping up. Like you said, they have a lot of high rises (mostly residential) that are actively under construction and nearly topping out, while most of Houston's downtown buildings are still proposed or just starting. Does anyone else maybe know why Seattle's construction boom started about one or two years earlier than Houston's following the recession? Overall, my opinion of the city was pretty similar to yours. Seattle is a great place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there. It was kind of a shock to me.

 

I did some searching on the internet and apparently Seattle has 100 active projects just in their downtown as of June 2014. That includes 5 permitted, 50 currently under construction, and 45 completed since January 2013. 64 of those buildings were residential. Here's the link in case anyone else wants to take a look.

 

http://www.downtownseattle.com/resources/development-and-construction-projects/

[barracuda]

I've been to Seattle many times and agree, the amount of residential high-rise construction is surprising. I believe this is in part because Seattle is geographically constrained and unable to sprawl in every direction like Houston.

 

As you mentioned, I've also found downtown Seattle to be bustling during the day and not too dissimilar to Chicago in that regard. However, street activity is extremely quiet at night, and by 11 or midnight the homeless and stoners outnumber the few folks still outside. It is kind of surprising just because the city is so active during the day...it's like a switch is turned off sometime after dark and everyone heads inside.

 

And yes, while Seattle itself isn't super-hilly, the region is stunningly beautiful with the Puget Sound and all the hills and natural bodies of water. Sometimes it feels like you're in a Tolkien novel. In late summer, there are few better places to be IMO. If it wasn't for the dreary weather most of the year, I might have considered moving there. 

[Dakota79]

Yes, I've been to Seattle and was also amazed at the number of high rises popping up. Like you said, they have a lot of high rises (mostly residential) that are actively under construction and nearly topping out, while most of Houston's downtown buildings are still proposed or just starting. Does anyone else maybe know why Seattle's construction boom started about one or two years earlier than Houston's following the recession? Overall, my opinion of the city was pretty similar to yours. Seattle is a great place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there. It was kind of a shock to me.

I did some searching on the internet and apparently Seattle has 100 active projects just in their downtown as of June 2014. That includes 5 permitted, 50 currently under construction, and 45 completed since January 2013. 64 of those buildings were residential. Here's the link in case anyone else wants to take a look.

http://www.downtownseattle.com/resources/development-and-construction-projects/

That's a lot of projects for such a small downtown. They must be mostly midrises.

[Slick Vik]

Vancouver lite, but not by much

[tanith27]

Being from the Pacific Northwest, yeah I've been there a lot.  Love it.  One of my most favorite cities in the US.  Northern winters can get a bit rough with the amount of darkness but the abundance of indoor pubs/coffee shops with fireplaces and good friends made it way easy to deal with.

[fkp5]

That's a lot of projects for such a small downtown. They must be mostly midrises.

 

I don't know. From my experience, it seemed like there was a high rise going up on almost every block between the space needle and the main business district.

[arche_757]

Vancouver lite, but not by much

 

How so?  In terms of high rise living?

[LarryDierker]

nevermind. please delete

[Alki]

Greetings from Seattle

 

First I want to thank wxman for sharing his reactions to Seattle with those of us on the Seattle bldg forum. Its always interesting to hear what others think of your city. I really cracked up over your comments about people smoking blunts and guys holding hands. If you had been here in the summer, you might have seen dudes in skirts........with full beards. As for hoodies and jeans, there are lots wearing them......but more in the neighborhoods.

 

As for the construction, yeah, its out of control. We're thinking of making the bldg crane the city bird. Seattle has been bldg to this intensity for the past 20 years. That's roughly when DT started to really revive. After years of bldg, there are probably around 75K living DT and more moving in every week. Most of the hi rises are between 20-40 stories but as the bldg boom continues bigger bldgs are getting announced.

 

Why Seattle is Vancouver lite? Seattle is bigger population wise but Vancouver has a much more spectacular skyline partly because its surrounded by water on three sides. Having said that, most cities in the northern US and Canada founded by Nordic types tend to have strong DTs. Other examples are Portland, Madison and MPLS. In addition, Seattle is surrounded by lots of water and mts.....yes, there are mts to the east and west of the city and Mt Rainier, an active volcano, is to the southwest. However, they are pretty hidden when its rainy.  

 

There are a couple of reasons why Seattle's bldg boom may have started earlier than Houston's. First, Amazon moved its headquarters DT after the recession and they have eaten up close to 3 million sq ft of office and brought with them thousands of millennials looking to live DT. Secondly, other tech companies have opened offices DT.......twitter, facebook, F5, google and a few others........mostly since the recession. Thirdly, still other companies are moving in from the suburbs. Finally, DT has always been the heart of the city and all the pieces finally have fallen into place.

 

And yes, the feel here is very Tolkein.......lots of trees, hills, green grass and water. And I also am particularly proud of the active port and the industrial feel as well.........Seattle is a working city. That's why foot traffic dies off at early at nite DT although its more busy during the weekends.

 

And about Houston........I have been a few times on business. IMO one of the better looking cities in TX......more interesting than Dallas for sure. I think you'll will get your DT together and have it become more active.  At least it looked that way to me the last time I was there. I liked your lite rail too.

 

Cheers!

[Zappa]

More Greetings from Seattle!

 

I just returned from a week of business in Houston and the contrasts between the cities is pretty dramatic.  We have bad traffic in Seattle due to geographical constraints....(there is NOWHERE else to build a road!), but Houston traffic was a bit staggering at rush hour. The cloverleafs that split and then quickly split again are confusing and a bit intimidating. I was glad to have a GPS buddy in the car, but it was still stressful to navigate. I found Houstonians to be very friendly in person...but behind the wheel they were really aggressive by Seattle standards. The other thing that struck me was that I never really saw any pedestrians, but that's pretty typical of most American cities. Everyone is in their car.

I found the food scene in Houston outstanding and had some really great meals there. It was quite chilly and even cold at night while I was there, so it wasn't the hot muggy Houston I remember from years ago. Downtown seemed to have been wiped clean of any human scale by massive 'scrapers back in the 70's - 90's??? but it sounds like there's a major effort to revive it with more livable and walkable streets. I loved the neighborhoods around Rice Village..really beautiful old architecture.

Whereas Houston has no zoning, Seattle has really restrictive zoning. We have building height restrictions downtown which means that a lot of the residential construction happening now is restricted to 440-500 ft. We do have two major office buildings breaking ground which are around 550 and 660ft, with another in the pipeline which will be 850ft. They are being built in the zones which allow these heights, but no more. The Columbia Center will probably always be our tallest.

We are probably in midst of the biggest building boom ever, not only downtown but in just about every city neighborhood. We instituted 'Urban Growth Boundaries' (Like Portland) back in the 90's to prevent sprawl into the Cascade Mountains, so the result has been infill back into the city into what are termed 'Urban Villages' which are zoned around existing commercial districts to allow them to build more densely. The plan has worked and we're getting thousands of new apartments within existing neighborhoods. (Which in turn creates more traffic) We're rebuilding a major new bridge across Lake Washington, digging a tunnel to put cars underground along the waterfront ( big boondoggle), digging more subway lines north under Capitol Hill to the University of Washington, and finishing up a new trolley line to Capitol Hill. Even with all of this our infrastructure can barely keep up.

Being a native Southerner (South Georgia) I can attest to Seattle's Liberalism. It's quite secular, with few Steeples to be found. The founders were mostly Scandinavian, so the social attitudes run Northern European, as does the climate and general temperament of the people. It's truly a live and let live area, with a great appreciation for the outdoors as well as culture. The central city neighborhoods are gentrified and were built about a century ago. Thats why most are wood construction, and there's a lot of brick too, but not on the scale of Houston. In my neighborhood, there are lots of 'Dwell' style houses going up to replace small bungalows which aren't worth the cost of the land beneath them. 

Because of our latitude, Summer and Fall is the best time to come as our days are really long and dry. (We do go into draught during the Summer!) We are appx. the same latitude as Paris, with a similar climate to there and London, which is further north.

Come visit!