Here and There

While we were in Seattle last weekend, it occurred to me: though I’d probably never move there, there’s a lot of things that town is doing right that San Francisco gets wrong.

So now that I’ve had time and distance to reflect more, I decided to write about it.

I can break into two basic categories: people and economy.

On the people tip, first I’ll just say that people in Seattle are nice. My girlfriend (who spent some time growing up and going to college there) and I noticed this several visits ago. But it had been about three years since we were there, and absence definitely made the heart grow fonder.

Everyone, from the people making your coffee, to friends and friends of friends, to people at the hotel front desk, to just random strangers on the street, they’re all just nice. No sticks up anyone’s ass or chips on any shoulders. Maybe it’s the weather that fosters a sense of community, the idea that we’re all in this shit together so let’s get along. Maybe it’s being surrounded by so much bad fashion, the stigma of grunge and flannel and Birkenstocks. Who knows?

Whatever the reason, you just don’t encounter self-indulgence the way you do in San Francisco.

Which leads me a second people-oriented observation: in Seattle, hot shots are hard to find. There is a fashion-conscious set out and about, but nothing that pretends it’s better than you. No one looks down their noses at passersby.

Contrast that with spike-belted, tattoo-sleeved, pretentious hat-wearing, five (or ten) o’clock shadow-sporting San Franciscans. Of course, there’s a lot more to it than appearance, but that’s what strikes you first.

So many people, guys and girls, walk around this city like they own the place, and they’re not about to share their toys. I just wonder: what exactly is it that makes them so cool? Maybe they’re in a band. Maybe they have a cush J-O-B. Maybe they date the hottest guy or girl in town. My response: So what?

My philosophy is, I don’t care what you do with your life, how much you contribute to the betterment of society. If you can’t be nice, normal, humble even, you’re useless. It’s just the idea of “cool” worn over an empty shell.

Pardon my ranting, but again, it was nice to visit a town that I believe has been contributing more to the human creative endeavor lately than SF, and not encounter anyone anywhere close to what I’ve described here.

Now on to the economic aspects. I quickly noticed in Seattle that there’s no shortage of neat little stores, cafés, and restaurants in neighborhoods citywide. From Fremont and Wallingford to Capitol Hill, Bell Town, and the Pine/Pike Corridor, businesses in Seattle lure a wide range of people, not just those who whimsically decide to take break from shopping at Neiman Marcus and hit up the more Bohemian shops.

So, I started to put two and two together. Why and how does Seattle have all this entrepreneurial innovation, while a new business in San Francisco, no matter the neighborhood, is a ritzy gallery or cuisine of nothing the common folk can afford? It’s got to be real estate and politics. Got to be.

I plan on looking into this matter more in-depth in the coming months. I want to know what people opening a business in San Francisco face, versus what people in Seattle are up against. It can’t be that Seattleites are more wealthy. My suspicions are:

1) There’s less bureaucracy in Seattle. Less red-tape. Fewer mindless neighborhood activist types. And of course…
2) A more realistic real estate market. A market that actually encourages innovation and fun.

I don’t know how many store fronts I’ve seen boarded up in San Francisco since my visit just before deciding to move here, back in April 2000. If I had time, I’d look into them all, get the story of why this is allowed. Of course, that’s a huge story that would take me to City Hall and phone conversations with wealthy property owners in other area codes, if not other states.

But maybe I’ll just have to become that investigative reporter I’ve always longed to read. With graduation just around the corner, maybe I’ll time.

Either way, I want to get to the bottom of why a less populous city like Seattle knows how to do this so much better than San Francisco. It’s a complicated question that I’m sure demands a complex answer.

On a similar note, Mark Morford’s column today perfect sums up a growing frustration we’ve been having: loving life in the city while simultaneously being fed up with just about every aspect of it. And the Sphinx riddle: how to have the best of both worlds, city and non-city. I’ll go on scratching my head and stepping on the broken glass, used syringes, and semi-dried loogies.

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