Posted: Oct 9, 2003 4:07 am
OK,i'm back...now where was i? Oh yah...
MAGNOLIA: Queen Anne's wealthy dowager older sister.the highest rate of registered Republican voters,the highest Rat infestation levels in the city.Coincidence?
GEORGETOWN/SOUTH PARK/SODO:the industrial heart of C-Town.Boeing's still around here somewhere,and every few years gets written up in the papers as a Destination Location for artists,fartists,etc.Due to shitty bus service, though,this area has never had it's day,and probably never will,but hey,it's the cheapest rents in town (You can get a house in South Park for $650 a month!!!)."SODO" stands for "South Of Downtown",the site of the Kingdome (RIP)and now the site of Safeco Field and Seahawks Stadium,where the White Stripes just played .It is best avoided!
BALLARD:For being founded by a bunch of whitebread Norwegian motherfuckers,this 'hood has a rich history!
I won't go into that here,but i will say that it has kickin' bars and a reallly nice quiet feel while still being able to accomodate Rockarolla retardedness at all hours (4:00 Punk Rock on Sunday afternoons being Prime Example 1!).Beware of condos in the future,but it's still safe now.Could be a "next Capitol Hill",but most Hill types find it too weird or slow,and that's a good thing...
WEST SEATTLE: Some cool ass Industrial ports,beautiful Alki Beach,and lots of nice little neighborhoods full of Grunge-era superstars and their families.Most Likely Place To Find Eddie Vedder Playing Hackey Sack With His Dog (i'm making that up but he does live there, so does Mudhoney members and the great band HEAD!)
GREENWOOD:OK,i saved the best for last here-this place is GOD'S COUNTRY!!!!Lifer drunks,Section 8 freaks,Midgets With Tourettes,armless guys driving Muscle Cars with their feet,Model T's on blocks- a lot of my friends don't like it up here,but the ones that live here know how much this place RULES!Any Portlanders reading this can see a paralell w/ St.John's in No Po but with only the smallest fraction of the outsider hostility!Long dismissed as a "skid row" for rummies,this place is just far enough to be drama free from other 'hoods,close enough to downtown to be a bus ride away! Convenience,Location,Character-what more could you want?
COOL BARS: Comet Tavern,Lobo Saloon,Monkey Pub (sometimes),The Funhouse is opening in the old Zak's space right across from the Space Needle,and Sunset Tavern (the only Rock Club in town i actually like)
SHATTERED BARS:Graceland,Crocodile Cafe,Chop Suey,pertty much any pretentious Rock Club in the city.I favor the Punk Dives,even if they don't always book the best bands,and aren't always as divey as i want 'em to be (insert complaint about there being no Lake Union Pub or Storeroom here).
OTHER FACKS:Public Transpo goes all nite,with "Drunk Buses"(Metro calls'em "Owl Lines") depositing you in most C-Town hoods one every 90 minutes after 2AM (which is Last Call.I know that sux,but there's always some Krazy after show party goin' on so it don't make much of a difference!).
The Dot Com bust has slowed down the economy,but you can still get a shit job starting @ $7.15 Minimum Wage,effective next January.
Folks in The Scene can be pretty standoffish,but there are a lot of cool folks that don't give a shit too.Plus,the Clique Walls are a little more easy to climb than ,say,Portland.
Shit,i could post all day about this city,but i'll save the space and tell you that my house is looking for roommates,so if you were intertested in checking it out,just let us know and we'll do what we can to get you situated,and if you don't like it,a safe passage back.
Portland's great and all,but after a while it just got too small for me.And why in the hell would you wanna live in Scwartzeneggar's California?