Anyone familiar with Seattle here?

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this was in aug about 8 blocks from your location. victim got a broken jaw, the perp was never caught. on the plus side the fact that this happened has pissed a lot of people off.

btw......this happened at about midnight.

Thanks, hawkeye.

It sounds a lot like Portland. Our downtown is really safe if you stay within certain perimeters but wandering a block or two in the wrong direction isn't a good idea.

I imagine they'll be back from the game around 10 so I wouldn't be out on my own very late.

I'll be riding by around noon on my way to Vancouver. I'll be the guy waving at you.

they feel a lot different to me, i would be curious if they do to you. the vagrants seem to be more desperate and less tolerated in Seattle. Portland thus feels more safe, though i am pretty sure it is not. now that Amazon is getting so big and since their employees want to live downtown or near downtown I think that the days of the vagrant advocates winning the city political arguments are about over.....the homeless/druggies/whack jobs will be encouraged to move south to a more hospitable climate.

as far as everything changing in 2 blocks....ya, that is the same.

I haven’t been to Seattle in five years, we also stayed near the museum and Pike's Market, lots of nice places to eat, one restaurant I remember was The Red Door, not sure if its still there but the food was good. Of course there is also the restaurant at the top of the space needle.

If you pass the train I'll be on it!

Have fun in Vancouver! I've always wanted to go there.

Portland is pretty safe. You have to go looking for trouble. If you stay within downtown proper there aren't many problems. Most of the panhandlers are young hipster types.

Thanks! I'll keep an eye out for it.

You know who did come from Seattle - our old friend Stoat or Stoat Fur.

Sadly lost his contact details.

Remember epic journeys on the Stoatmobile.....and Vinny?

I always wanted to go to Vancouver, even considered it as a place to move to back in 2005 when I was decision making. (I didn't know if I'd be able to qualify as a resident, though, being older and maybe or maybe not starting up a business, and not having a worthy bank account at my behest... even though I had a respectable career.)

I liked Seattle, except for the cludgey traffic, but didn't make it to any seriously crummy areas, being a visitor (staying with Piffka and her husband once and at a motel by the airport once). Pioneer Square was said to be, ah, troubled, but not when I was there, which probably was late morning.

I'm sure I would like Portland, but have only made it to the airport a couple of times.

Please report back, eh?

Yes. I dearly loved Stoat.

Typing on my phone, i'm not good at this....

Hotel is fab! Chatted with the room service waiter on my way to the ice machine and he gave me a plate of choco strawberries he was delivering to a different room. Some girls have all the luck!

The hotel is in the middle of the shopping district. Gucci, louis vitton, et al. Out of my budget but great window shopping in a carnival atmosphere. Think I'll hit the free concert in the lobby.

Love the tag but I'm the one who tagged it tourism. I'm a shameless tourist.

I went by the stadium at about one on Sunday. Tailgaters were starting to set up.
When I got to Vancouver we watched the game. Most excellent.

That was me. I'm tourist clump avoidant, but I'll do it if I "must".

To me, a tourist and a traveller may see some of the same sites, but differently.
Even as I start in on this very mild whine, I'll say 'some of my best friends are tourists'. Or now they are, as it's easier at advancing age with mixed health.

To knock myself, maybe it's that I like control of what I am going to see, not to mention how fast I move whether speedily or involved in what I am seeing - and I hate being herded. Once in a while it's ok, going through the rooms in the papal palace in Pienza with a german speaking guide, the german way too fast for me but slightly familiar and was gibberish to my husband - but he got us there. That tour was fine, and I've read a lot more about that town and Andrea Piccolomini since. Small tours can be really good. Small tours can also be horrible.
So maybe I have control issues.

I know what you mean. I think I'm a good tourist though. I've found that people love to tell you about their city if you ask with open arms. It's almost like a confession. I get stories, not just advice: "You should go here because it means something to me ....."

what, we are not going to get a field trip report out of you??

are the street people like those of portland?

Between Christmas and the big game the whole town was in party mode. The streets were jam packed and I didn't notice any panhandlers at all.

We did encounter a few on the way to the train station the next morning. They were all selling the local street paper. One guy got a little pissy towards us when we didn't buy one but it wasn't a big deal.

The only thing I noticed was that the street people seemed to be older than the ones you see in Portland. Most of the street people you see here are very young -- teens and early 20s.

I agree with that, and do that, get people talking with me, usually very interesting.
But then, I'm alone, or with just one other person if not, and not hard to talk with - not in some clump. Maybe we're defining tourist differently.

true, and are more hardcore and with more problems. with a lot of the Portland street people one gets the sense that they are on a lark, that somewhere in America there is a loving home waiting for them when this is not fun anymore.

i assume this was the fairmont.... I had afternoon tea there today with my daughter.....very nice though the service was a bit off.