Quantcast

Seattle Through Red Colored Glasses

goldberg.jpgSeattlest was outside the walls recently (Lynnwood) and we managed to catch an earful on the state of Seattle as seen by the right side of the political spectrum. "And they're even worse in Seattle. They're crazies downtown." We were talking about smoking and it was unclear who the denizens of downtown Seattle were worse than and in what fashion. Those comments were courtesy of a legit Joe On The Street, though, so whatever he meant we're taking it to heart. On the other hand you have the established punditocrasy of the right embodied by wanna-be Joe On The Streets like Jonah Goldberg who recently had a few things to say about our enclave:

IN SEATTLE [Jonah Goldberg]

I'm heading back to DC in a few hours. I always have such mixed feelings about Seattle. On the one hand, there's a lot to like about this town and this region. It's my kind of weather, my kind of food, etc. But I'm always amazed at how pre-Giuliani so much of the downtown is. I'm baffled at how the business community and the tourist industry can cave to the drug-addict romanticizers and panhandler enablers. There is so much skeeviness and bummery going on right at the heart of why people come to this town in the first place. And, it's not just to prey on the tourists, there are half-way houses, methadone clinics, etc all near Pike's. I don't folllow Seattle politics so I don't know how the arguments play out, but I'd have to guess there are West Coast versions of the same jackasses who thought drug dealing, transvestite hookers, and robbery were what gave Times Square its authenticity and "charm."

Skeevy, drug dealing jackasses, drug addict romaticizers, transvestite hookers, half-way house layabouts, methadone wolfing panhandling enablers, West Coast dandies: Jonah levels many charges in such a short span. Seattlest embodies and embraces every one of those. There's only one shot in there that we can't abide: "pre-Giuliani."

But hey, the food and the weather are alright so if we roll up our sleeves and really get to work on cleaning up all the bummery maybe we can earn the thumbs up from Jonah one day.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@seattlest.com with further questions, comments or tips.
By Dan in on November 29, 2005 1:16 PM

Comments [rss]

  • Row =! Road

  • Although I've never been brace enough to try them out, I'm pretty sure the silver space toilets are free. And there's a Barnes and Noble in the retail core part of downtown. Take that Portland!

  • I love it when someone gets bitch-slapped with the OED. That always makes my day.

  • I love Wikipedia, but I trust HistoryLink more. "Skid Road" is the term that "Skid Row" came from; according to the OED, the earliest use of "Skid Row" is in 1931, long after Yesler's mill -- which didn't process skidded logs, per the HistoryLink essay -- folded. No way was Seattle the origin of "Skid Row," since it wasn't the origin of "Skid Road."

  • Skid Road is came from New York but Skid Row is all Seattle.



    "The first skid row was Skid Road (Yesler Way) in Seattle,"

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skid_Row

  • Seth

    All I know is, Portland's downtown has really attractive brass water fountains and a Barnes & Noble downtown, whereas in Seattle we have pay toilets and a Ross Dress for Less. Well, we also have a Brooks Brothers, but that doesn't count because I say so. Besides, to New Yorkers, Times Square is as much a part of the neighborhood as Disneyland is to Los Angelinos. It's not somewhere that you go to hang out, it's a place where you are as much of a tourist as the Canucks and Portlanders and other inferior beings. If you can't figure out what point I'm trying to make, neither can I.

  • Dan

    Seth, it's a little weird that you use Portland as an example of an immaculate downtown and Dan over at the slog frames it as overrun with bummery, but what's really fucked up is that pdx actually is both more sterile and more, uh, skeevy than seattle.



    And there is more to Portland than dinner parties.

  • Actually, "Skid Row" predates Seattle -- it probably came from New York (state). Check out Wordorigins.org's page on the term.



    There's a lot of info from the Underground Tour that turns out to be, well, wrong...

  • Also the term Skid Row started in Seattle. What do you expect from a city that was built with the taxing of whorehouses back in the gold rush days?

  • Hey that is Post Mark Sidran and post Eyeman Seattle he was talking about.



    Man this guy is a real "Compassionate Conservative".



    The radical right Republicans really really really hate Seattle and King county and King county is not crazy about the radical right Republicans. Congressman Jim McDurmott got over 80% of the vote. That is one of the reasons why I love it here.

  • Seth

    Seattle isn't just pre-Giuliani, it's pre-Koch. Remember, not long ago we had an contentious debate here about whether it should be a crime to defecate in the street. That said, there's plenty of grime in New York City still, just as close to Times Square as "The Turf" is to Pike Place Market. Grime is the mark of an interesting city. Look at Portland--an immaculate downtown--but what really ever happens there except for white people having house parties?

blog comments powered by Disqus
Home

send a tip

tips@seattlest.com

about

staff / advertising / contact / archive

contribute