Other than Chicago, NYC, Montreal and Mexico City.

I have lived for 3 years in Vancouver (Canada) and while I enjoyed my time in British Columbia, I definitely have to say that life in the big Vancouver is certainly not better than life in Seattle. No matter how much people on Reddit romanticize that city. Firstly, I am born to Indian immigrant parents and right now, there have been some racial tensions brewing in Vancouver ever since the 2023 killing of Sikh militant Hardeep Singh Najjar, racial tensions between Indians and other racial groups in Vancouver have been pretty rife. Teenagers would sometimes yell racial slurs at me just because I look Indian. Secondly, the big Vancouver has seen a very noticable decline in general safety. While public transit in Vancouver is excellent by North American standards, I keep seeing how so many people feel unsafe taking it at night. I've been hearing so many stories about how people don't feeling safe getting around the city after dark. Third is the sheer cognitive dissonance. People there take pride in the PNW, but the city has this complex where they do not want to be associated with the rest of the PNW and this is very well illustrated on the r/Vancouver subreddit. People there will claim to be radical environmentalists while they drive their sedans everywhere and take nice trips to somewhere tropical come winter. Lastly, Vancouver wants to brag about its great urbanism while having the same metro population and a significantly less GDP that Portland, a city that is nowadays widely seen as a backwater.

I know Seattle isn't super safe either, but over the past few years, Seattle is the only city in the Pacific Northwest that has truly recovered from the pandemic. I see a very diverse group of high schoolers in Cal Anderson park playing soccer without any supervision. I see so many groups of teenage girls and young women out by themselves even well after dark. I see normal looking people pack the Seattle Link metro. I would never see this in Portland where so many people are afraid of venturing in Downtown, especially after dark, because of all the crime and homelessness.

I know Seattle is not perfect, and it does have its issues with it's very high cost of living in and near Downtown, homelessness in some areas, and the lack of sunlight from October to May. However when you look at the horrendous winters that Chicago or Toronto endure, or the urban decay that my city Portland or SF, LA and even Vancouver are facing, Seattle is actually in a very good and fortunate position. I visit Seattle about 3 times a year from the Portland area, and the city never fails to make me feel welcomed in an actual respectable big city. I personally used to dislike Seattle when I was younger because of city rivalry, but with everything going on post-pandemic, it's now the only city that makes me delighted to live in the PNW. You Seattleites have no idea how spoiled you are to live in such a beautiful and safe city! Thank you Seattle and Seattleites!

Hey Seattle people,

A quick reminder to you all: the candidates in our local elections have all been settled. Now is the time to utilize those democracy voucher coupons to send public funds to the candidates of your choice.

The one major quibble I have with the entire program is sending everyone's vouchers in February, which you have to stash away somewhere safe for 5 months before the candidates get locked in and decide who you want to send them to.

Thankfully this can be done online, but I believe you still need the secret access code that was sent to you in the mail. (I think.)

Go forth and take advantage of the tools made available to you.

SOURCE: seattletimes.com

I've never yet ridden Nathan's bus, but I do read and love Nathan's blog. Checked out his first book from the library, but it was so darn good I had to buy a copy, so I'm delighted to hear that he's written a second book.

Well, I usually carry a hammer in my backpack.

SOURCE: seattletimes.com

She Got an Abortion. So A Texas Cop Used 83,000 Cameras to Track Her Down.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/05/she-got-abortion-so-texas-cop-used-83000-cameras-track-her-down

that happened here in WA

I'm surrounded by Airbnbs where I live. Has any one had any experience with halting the expansion of Airbnbs? Politically or legally even. Saw one host operating a few dozen listings in Seattle which is outrageous (probably found a loophole). Can't have that with a housing crisis.

Any tips help! Thanks!

SOURCE: seattletimes.com

This is the final post covering candidate responses to questions during a recent forum hosted by urbanism organizations.

8 candidates will be on Seattle’s August 5 primary ballot (register to vote or update your registration address online)

Ry Armstrong, Clinton Bliss, Bruce Harrell, Joe Mallahan, Joe Molloy, Isaiah Willoughby and Katie Wilson attended the forum.

Only Thaddeus Whelan didn't attend.

SOURCE: seattletimes.com

Rally and march, starting at Cal Anderson Park in Seattle. More info: https://seattleindivisible.com/events/2025/6/1/seattle-no-kings-june-14th/

In case you haven't to been to one of these protests before, this is a big, mainstream one. Think strollers and old ladies, although I'm sure there will be some signs with naughty words on them. So it's a good way to ease into protests and do something if you've finally gotten to the breaking point after seeing the shit going on in L.A.

EDIT: Seattle Times, which is known for undercounting protests, reports that this one was >70k people. That's over 9% of the population of Seattle! (Of course not everyone there was from Seattle.) SPD also reports the march itself was 1.5 miles long.