- The streets ARE a grid, despite evidence to the contrary. The problem is the ground isn’t flat and it’s often interrupted by these large bodies of water nature has strewn about our fine city. It’s kind of like how the sum of a triangles angles can be greater than 180 degrees if it’s on a spherical plane. So when you look at it from above, you see the grid. But when you are driving, you can’t even see the next street or the street one block over let alone a grid. That coupled with the fact that downtown has 3 separate grid systems makes for a confusing jaunt around the city. Just remember that Arthur Denny controlled all of the screwed up streets downtown and ran them according to the grade of the hill instead of North-South like he was supposed to and Doc Maynard did.
- God hates the eastside. Don’t go there unless you are under threat of death or pain or non-payment. Seattle has everything you need from Northgate to SoDo. There are two other Barnes & Noble that I can think of off the top of my head that are easier to get to than the one in Bellevue.
- You don’t always have to take I-5 to get north or south in the city. If you want to go to Ballard, take Elliot Ave. If you want to go to SoDo take 1st ave. If you’re just going to Fremont take Westlake. If you are going to the U-district, take Eastlake. If you are going to Cap Hill, take the bus.
- That heavy Seattle rain? That’s the first heavy Seattle rain we’ve had this summer. Most people around here were glad to see it, especially the gardeners. I’ve never seen it rain harder than that since I’ve been here (one year so far).
- Since you’re downtown, you HAVE to try one of Tom Douglas’s restaraunts if you haven’t already. It’s required.
- Salumi is the best Italian deli on the west coast. It’s the closest thing to a NY Italian deli that the west coast has. Granted my experience is limited, but that’s what I’ve been told.
- The Bagel Oasis spots are the closest thing to a NYC bagel you’re going to find in Seattle.
- If you really want to see a cross section of what Seattle is about, go to the Mecca
- Cutters Bay house – In the comments Lance mentions Cutter’s Bay House down on Western Ave.. I’ve been there once and I’d say it was a great dining experience. For a great view at a cheaper price, you can’t beat either the Athenian Inn or Lowell’s in Pike Place Market.
- If you want to know the normal goings-on for a given weekend, pick up a free copy of The Seattle Weekly. If you want to know the freaky goings-on for a given weekly, pick up The Stranger.
- It’s Pew-All-Up (Puyallup), Ska-Jet (Skagit), and Yah-Keh-Mah (Yakima). If you are trying to think of the name of a river/mountain/lake/area make up a word with “hom”, “ham”, or “qual” in it and throw an “ish” or “ash” on the end. Chances are you’ll get pretty close to the name of an actual place.
That’s all I can think of right now. I think I’ll keep this running. Maybe some of these entries will make their way onto the Seattle Wiki if I can type them up in a more professional manner.
update
We don’t hate ALL the other cities around us, Just Tacoma and the Eastside. There’s a long history about why Seattle and Tacoma have a rivalry. Take the Underground Tour in Pioneer Square and they’ll tell you about some of it. Oh and we persist that rumor about the weather so the tourists and Californians won’t move here permanantly. We have less rainfall and snowfall per year than Houston, TX. 
Bainbridge Island is nice, calm, peaceful. It has great people also. It’s also the gateway, for me, to the Olympic Penensuala. But for sheer relaxation, you can’t beat the San Juan Islands.
I also forgot about Fremont streets. The roads get a little hairy along Fremont ave. When driving in Fremont just remember….. ah heck, forget that. Just park somewhere and walk through Fremont.
edit: fixed the ignorance on display pointed out by paul in the comments. Where’s the ’sheepish’ emoticon?
[...] Blogging guru stops, for a while, in Seattle Cool, I got a mention in the local paper. Here is the post mentioned in the article. [...]
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[...] General My Life — Scott @ 15:21:48 So the latest blogger meetup forced me to break rule # 2 Orcmid asks me in the comments to my prev [...]
Don’t forget that Seattleites are xenophobes – there is no other major City that isn’t at least a full hard day’s drive away, or across an international border. This combined with the 9 months of light rain and cloud cover makes folks at times withdrawn. Much of the region lies outside the City limits proper, though most folks within the ‘boundaries’ are not aware of it. Seattle has great entertainment, including coffee shops and our big dark secret – the escort/prostitution center for the entire Pacific NW. But real folks live and raise their families outside of the City these days.
Seattle is a City of mass bi-polar psychosis – all dependent on the weather. If the sun is shining folks are manic, if it is not, watch your back.
Check out Bainbridge Island – a famous dot com location thanks to Doonesbury, newly revitalized downtown Tacoma, the Redmond Town Center – and if you have the time and the Weather, Mt. Rainier and Leavenworth across the Mountains.\
Oh yeah, and never, never cross Bill Gates Sr.
I have never been happier going anywhere than this past year, or so. I can go anywhere, and never get lost. My Garmin iQue 3600 knows where I am and can tell me how to get anywhere from that spot, no matter where I am.
The Seattle street system is almost completly logical. And an excellent illustration of why a totallly logical system is completely in appropriate for people to use.
For example, the street systems in the city can be N, NE, NW, W, E, SW, S. An intersection like 50th and 50th can exist because NE 50th runs E-W and 50th NE runs N-S. (Very few of these in the city, but NE 124th and 124th NE is a major intersection in Kirkland). Avenue numbers below 10 line up so that 3rd Ave and 3rd Ave N are the same, while above to 10th ave and 10th Ave E are continuations, because of the curve along the bay. Streets in the middle of nowhere use the county grid system instead of the traditional names, so the road to Cedar Falls is something like SE 358th instead of Cedar Falls road. And sometimes towns have their own grid, so as you travel through Renton in I-405 you’ll jump from NE 40th (Renton grid) to SE something else (King County grid). But given a King County address like 12345 NE 124th, you could stick a pin in the map and get within 1 1/16th of a mile without even looking for a street.
Oh, and there’s lots of missing important signs in Seattle. Do get a map and read it before going anywhere! Most supermarkets carry them.
So, a few points.
1. YES on Salumi! It is the greatest. Another yes on Tom Douglas’s restaurants. I’ve grown a bit cold on Etta’s though lately. Service and presentation hasn’t been what I’m used to over 5+ years. I’ve had a few great meals at Dahlia lounge lately though.
2. Highway 99 can be a good north-south corridor, but isn’t always. At the very least, the entries and exits downtown can be confusing.
3. http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/pugetsoundtraffic/default.htm can be very useful for trip planning.
4. Seattle has lots of great internet cafes with good coffee and free WiFi. TopPot downtown is nice. TopPot on Capitol hill is cool. Zeitgeist in Pioneer square was one of the first. Herkimer on Phinney is my favorite — great coffee and close to home. There are lots more.
5. Seattle is a great town for sushi. I Love Sushi on Lake Union is an old favorite. My new favorite is Chiso in Freemont. Wherever you go, sit at the bar, ask the chef for reccomendations.
6. Check out Discovery Park. It’s a former military base that’s currently a semi-wild space. Ballard Locks is also cool, its worth hitting Golden Gardens while you are at it. The area around Alki beach is also cool. It has a very seaside feel to it. Very relaxed and windblown.
I’ve lived both in Seattle and on the Eastside. The “hatred” of one side of Lake Washington for the other is overblown and reminds me of Woody Allen’s question “What’s your favorite ocean?” Check out the great Eastside hiking in Issaquah. No reason to provincially limit oneself to certain neighborhoods.
DL: You mean to say that Portland and Tacoma aren’t major cities? Portland is only a 3 hour drive from Seattle, Tacoma is about 45 minutes at the max (unless you try going at 5PM, ugh). Portland is the strip club capitol of the US. The boundries of Seattle are pretty long, 145th up north. The southern border is a little wonky though, nobody really knows where it is. Somewhere past Boeing field, unless you are on the west side of I-5.
mb: Actually in the area I live in (Laurelhurst/Windemere) the street numbers collide quite often. I live about 2 blocks from the corner of NE 45th and 45th NE. You have to be patient with delivery drivers in this area.
The signs, especially the ones to get to I-5 and hwy 99, are missing at a lot of crucial turns. You’ll see a sign downtown that says “I-5 ahead” but not one where you need to turn right. >:(
eas: Mikos(?) in the Westin hotel has a great all-you-can-eat sushi lunch special.
Don’t go sticking apostrophes in the middle of “Barnes & Noble.” Feel free, however, to include an ampersand.
I was in Seattle this summer for an intership, and here are the places I learned to love:
Kells Irish Pub. I think they have a live band every night, and everyone there is always super nice. Its downtown, so you can get there from anywhere in Seattle in a reasonable amount of time, so its a good meeting place. Me and several other interns frequented this place often.
Thai Tom’s. In the U-District. The service will make you want to leave, but if Tom is cooking (he’s kinda short, has long hair pulled back into a pony tail)… you have to stay. Sit at the counter if possible, and watch the magic happen. The food is off the charts.
Jai Thai. There are 4 of these around town, and my favorite one is the one in Fremont. Great service, good prices, and ridiculously good Thai food (not like Tom’s… but still REALLY good).
Blue C Sushi. In Fremont. Its got the conveyor belt, which always makes it more fun… the chefs will recommend and make you anything you want though.
Cedar River Smokehouse. Down in Renton, but OH SO WORTH IT. If you’re ever down there during lunch hours… hit it up.
Mashiko (Sushi Whore) is suppose to be some of the best sushi in town. I never got a chance to go, but the word on the street is that its phenominal. I Love Sushi on Lake Union is marginal… at best. Service is painfully slow.
Right across the alley from Kell’s – since Dave is near Pike Place – is the Pink Door. It’s Italian. The service is good and the food is *very* good. My wife will kill me if she finds out that I mentioned it, but Matt’s In The Market is our favorite restaurant, bar none.
I say before the weather really turns sour head to the Woodland Park Zoo. You won’t find a better one anytime soon.
As for eats with a great view try Cutter’s Bayhouse, just outside the Pike Place Market, and across the street from Etta’s.
Things you can only do on the Eastside
In response to the snarky attitude about the eastside in What the heck is he thinking » Survival tips for Dave Winer while in Seattle, here are some things you can only enjoy on the eastside: Stay at the Bellevue…
Hey, welcome! You might or might not be able to tell from my welcome post that I was raised in Tacoma before they improved the aroma and also blew down the Ruston stack. What rivalry? There is no rivalry. Tacoma ignores Seattle. The Puyallup Fair is running this week and next. It’s a hoot. Definitely not East Side [;< ). I wouldn't vouch for authenticity of Ralph's Grocery & Deli past Virginia on 4th in downtown, a leisurely walk from Pike Place and where the Web Log Meetup will be held at 7pm, Wednesday, September 15. By the way, today is primary day here and you'll get a kick out of reading the candidate profiles.
Oh, and Dave is really missing something if he doesn’t go to Le Pichet right near Pike Place on 1st & Virginia. C’est kick-ass.
My split citizenship between Seattle and its suburbs
Dave Winer’s arrival in Seattle for the fall has inspired lively dialogue on the strengths and weaknesses of living in the Rainy City or its suburbs, including statements on God’s preferences for either side of Lake Washington. Now who am…
Tom Douglas, Tom Schmouglas. Dahlia is the perfect restaurant for a business meeting or meal with older family members you don’t really like–decent, completely inoffensive, uninteresting, ignorable, faux-fine-dining food for which somebody else is picking up the tab. If you want a true Seattle experience, try one of our multitude of Thai places (I like Jamjuree on 15th on Capitol Hill), sushi at Nishino (the freshest fish in the world outside Japan), raw oysters on the half-shell at the Elliott Bay Oyster House (tourist restaurant, but the best oyster menu around) or Shucker’s, or good old Ivar’s Salmon House (get the smoked salmon at the to go place and eat it on the dock if it’s nice). If you want to spend a bunch of money and have a meal that you’ll actually remember, go to Mistral or Cascadia or Lampreia. Better yet, head down to the San Fransicso Bay Area.
urists and Californians has failed again. Curses! I’m going to repost a link to my Survival Guide for Dave Winer for them to enjoy. Hmmmm, [...]
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