Let's discuss the other cities of Washington state

Tacoma has a gentrified downtown (sort of), but it's a facade behind which the place ranges from boring to ghetto.

Kurt Cobain thought Aberdeen was no great shakes.

Leavenworth is a charming Bavarian apple-growing community in the Cascades. It's much warmer and drier there. Fun to visit.

I’m going Lilac Parade.

OP is either EXTREMELY bored or he's from the Washington State Chamber of Commerce

Port Townsend was nice.

Vancouver (Washington, not British Columbia) is great because it's across the river from Portland. Washington has no state income tax and Oregon has no sales tax.

Heaven.

I have a cabin in the San Juan islands. It’s the most beautiful part of North America, IMO.

Really nice meth. Some of the best you can find.

I'm all about Ellensburg!

In OP's picture, I lived in the dorm which is the tallest and largest building in this picture (middle left side )in 1980 at Western Washington U. It was a dying logging and paper mill town but I understand it has undergone a bit of a renaissance. Had a nice sleazy gay bar back then called "The Hut". I met some luscious local men there such as loggers and park rangers,etc.

Port Angeles has some excellent hiking at Hurricane Ridge.

Bellingham is very pretty.

Not a city, but I love Orcas Island.

They even named a town after one of Roseanne's gay offspring.

If you live IN central Seattle proper and also work there, it's unbeatable, especially if you can walk or bike to work. However, if you have to commute into Seattle, you might as well shoot yourself now. Western Washington is densely forested and hilly and the flattest parts, (yet still hilly) are right along Puget Sound, so you have 4 + million people trying to use inadequate freeways that have to curve around mountainsides and cut through forests. Hence lots of fender-benders and inexplicable traffic slowdowns. What by distance should be a 20 minute drive can easily turn into a 2 hour drive when you run into the wrong set of circumstances. On clear days, Western Washington is one of the most scenically beautiful areas of the entire US, with views of snow-capped mountains, enormous nearby volcanoes, water vistas and lovely forests. However, it is cloudy 250 days of the year, with measurable precipitation on 155 of those days, so proportionally you don't get that many days to savor the beauty of the region.

Central Washington is a cold desert with a few months of very hot and sunny weather. No traffic concerns here as the land is flatter and there are no forests - no trees at all in fact. The Tri-Cities are three adjacent town that together have a population of about 250,000 and they make up the biggest urban area of central Washington. There's good economic growth there, but it's the least scenic part of Washington State. A good place to live if you hate rain. Wenatchee is also in this region and more scenic with mountains close by, but it's a bit isolated from the rest of the state.

Eastern Washington is at the foothills to the Rocky Mountains, so it is forested, but not nearly as hilly as western Washington. Much colder in winter, so several long periods of snow on the ground is a given every winter. More dependably warm and sunny summers than western Washington. This is where Spokane is located. Spokane is the second largest city in Washington. It feels somewhat "midwestern" with a more conservative political bent than Western Washington, maybe because it's surrounded by farming country. It has beautiful housing stock, a gorgeous park system, lots of good hiking trails, nearby skiing and water skiing on area lakes, a good symphony and other cultural amenities, and no real traffic woes - about 500,000 in the county, and about 600,000 counting North Idaho 'suburbs" . Vancouver, Washington, across from Portland, has a good climate and less in the way of traffic woes than Seattle, but there's no city center, so it feels like one enormous suburb. You'd have to cross the Columbia River into Portland to have a real urban experience and then you're dealing with horrible traffic again.. Olympia is pretty, but much rainier and colder than Seattle. Tacoma is a gritty industrial city that is only just now starting to get cleaned up. North of Seattle, there is Everett, another industrial town that is slowly cleaning up, and then you have small towns all the way up until you hit Bellingham. Bellingham is quite beautiful, but it feels like a big college town, not exactly like a city.

I guess we need pictures.

Tricities.

Spokane

Tacoma

Wenatchee

R16, great post.

I always thought the west was far more gorgeous than even the most scenic parts of the east coast. Nothing on the east can really compare to the beauty of California, and PNW.

I've visited Seattle a few times over the last few years and enjoyed it. One thing that suprised me was the people weren't as bad as I heard. Supposedly seattleites are very unfriendly but I just found them to be slightly awkward introverts. Nowhere near as aggressively nasty as DC or to a lesser extent Boston. Granted I was visiting friends and didn't stay very long. Perhaps people who live there have a different experience.

Forgot to add, loved bainbridge Island . Stunning place. Last time I was there I ate at an amazing French restaurant.

What area of the state do them apples grow?

R24, how does you like ‘em?

R24 I believe Eastern Washington.

Let’s not please. Way too many people moving here; can’t even get away from them when hiking at odd hours on weekdays. Even late at night at Rainier on a Tuesday during shitty weather. It’s disturbing.

Why is there so little development and population on the south western coast of the state?

R28, I thought a lot of the southern coast was native reservation?

R22 that's called the Seattle Freeze. it exists in Portland as well.

you wouldn't encounter it on a normal sightseeing or business trip. you have to live there long-term to experience it. most people have a difficult time making friends if they relocate. they usually only find other transplants to relate to.

people are how i imagine them to be in Scandinavia--extremely polite and solicitous of the rights of others (don't go outside major metros though, incredibly racist). but essentially they will never want to get to know you on a deeper level, no matter how many times you pleasantly converse with them.

[quote] [R22] that's called the Seattle Freeze. it exists in Portland as well.

It exists at R27 as well!

[quote]that's called the Seattle Freeze. it exists in Portland as well.

I live in Portland and have not encountered it. I have experienced it in Seattle however.

Nobody's mentioned Bellevue. It may be fashionable to turn your entitled noses up at it because it's the "Eastside", but Bellevue's well planned, it has traffic lights that respond to movement (unlike Seattle where you sit for fucking ever at 0330 waiting for a fucking green light to turn red so you can proceed through a huge empty intersection). There's also Lake Sammamish, wh. has some great beaches and parks.

I drove through Aberdeen once and got so depressed I wanted to kill myself there and then. I'm surprised Cobain made it as far as he did.

Do you live on the Eastside, r33?

r33 = Ted Bundy

I like Bellingham

Bellingham is boring and empty, Bellis Fair Mall has tanked with empty stores for years now.

Spokane is full of very stupid, clueless and uninformed people.

I prefer Lynnwood for all my shopping needs. There’s no nightlife there, but it kicks ass for being able to find everything in a relatively small radius.

Is it true that Spokane is a meth infested shithole?

I have snow qualms about Snoqualmie Pass.

[quote] Is it true that Spokane is a meth infested shithole?

Yes. That and heroin.

Is heroin still a big problem out there?

Puget Sound area. So beautiful.

Seattle guys have Peter Pan syndrome - true Lost Boys. Typical date invitation: "I usually hang around at such-and-such bar on weekdays after around 7. Feel free to stop by and say hi if you want to chat more."

I stopped by Metaline Falls and had a slice of the best cherry pie I ever tasted and a cup of damn good coffee. Pretty waterfalls and magnificent forests too with plenty of cute little cottages and cabins.

Then this chick with blood-red lipstick hissed "regnagelppod" at me and I rethought my retirement plan.

Seattle's the only city that feels like a real city. Bellingham's a pretty town. Spokane's kind of bland. Tacoma's kind of the industrial armpit, though it has some interesting things in it--I think the glass museum is down there. Olympia's pretty, but again, small-townish.

Outside of Seattle, Washington's really about the outdoors and small towns. The Puget Sound and the San Juans are gorgeous. Port Townsend's pretty, but it feels like it's struggling to stay afloat as a tourist mecca. The Olympic Peninsula is beautiful and the foggiest, rainiest place I've ever been.

Honestly, when I think of the cities of the Northwest, I think of Seattle, Portland and then Vancouver--the one in Canada. (Victoria's charming too. )

[quote] Vancouver (Washington, not British Columbia) is great because it's across the river from Portland. Washington has no state income tax and Oregon has no sales tax. Heaven.

I'm interested in this tax haven. Last time I brought it up on DL, somebody mentioned "Vantucky." Why do people say it's some kind of anomalous armpit of WA? I looked it up on Wikipedia and the median income is modest ($41,618 per household), unless it's outdated info. Truck-filled, meth, inter-familial marrying? Is that true? Or are hipsters just being snobby about it?

It’s becoming only for the rich. Same as Idaho and Montana.

Yes to Bellingham. Hello Miss Zukas.

R49 - just remember that's Helma NEVER "Helm"!

Seattle is overrated.

I never thought I'd think of Puyallup as desirable or convenient until I moved to Spanaway.

Seattle is overrated but it's miles better than Vancouver.

I like all the posing towns in Washington. If I want a real city I’ll go to another state. I just don’t find Seattle charming or all that interesting.

Oops I meant podunk

R55 No, you were right the first time.

I have an old friend who moved to Orcas Island. I agree the San Juan Islands are charming and beautiful.

When I went to school....in Olympiaaaaaaaaaaa

[quote] If you live IN central Seattle proper and also work there, it's unbeatable, especially if you can walk or bike to work. However, if you have to commute into Seattle, you might as well shoot yourself now.

[quote] you have 4 + million people trying to use inadequate freeways that have to curve around mountainsides and cut through forests. Hence lots of fender-benders and inexplicable traffic slowdowns. What by distance should be a 20 minute drive can easily turn into a 2 hour drive when you run into the wrong set of circumstances.

Aside from some geographically specific bits, this also has started to describe Denver.

Seattle isn’t interesting. It’s beautiful but that’s it. The people are weird.