Honestly, there are more people, housing/rent prices are higher, traffic got worse, but it really doesn't feel markedly different now than it did then. I lived here in the later '90s, move away in 2000, and moved back in 2013. There are plenty of good ones to choose from, more than in the 90s. As for restaurants/breweries, if there are too many generic ones, just avoid them. Sometimes I take the Rapidride D to Ballard, and while more crowded I still almost always get a seat. I normally get on at 2nd and Stewart, and there are always plenty of seats whether I get on at 3:00 or 5:00. Even when there is a dignitary in town and roads get closed, it's maybe 15 minutes late. I take the bus every day, and 10 minutes late is rare. I do not find people to be rude, nor sociopaths. Between Greenwood and Capitol Hill taking an hour would not be normal, but traffic is definitely worse. It once took me an hour to get from my office near Belltown to I5 at Merced, but Comic Con messed up the traffic. I don't know about the wait to rent a canoe, because we have our own, but there are definitely more people here now, and on a nice day that's a popular activity. I remember going into parts of Seattle that were scary in the 90s that are now fine. I have been here since the early 90s, and have found Seattle to be more peaceful and safe recently, more homeless people but they are generally harmless. Yes, those hole-in-the-wall places are great! There's a higher-end Asian restaurant downtown on 2nd Ave, where all the businesspeople go for lunch, that's to die for! Upscale-ish, but definitely not generic. You sound like a crank and a misfit, actually more like a grumpy old man, lol! And why would a social invitation cost you anything? What kind of invitations are these?

What you refer to as 'Seattle back before it became crap' to me sounds like Seattle back when it was a real backwater, with a sketchy, run-down downtown, and very few good restaurants.ħ. At least there are a few decent upscale restaurants. 'Generic upscale restaurants' is an oxymoron. 'Generic' and 'upscale' don't go together. Overcrowding on the buses through rush hour even past 6 pm sounds like another exaggeration.Ħ. 30 mins after the scheduled time, though? That's uncommon.ĥ. There have always been long bus waits in Seattle. Rude sociopaths 'everywhere'? You're on your own there, OP. Worse, even, in the days before Metro really started working to improve, and started getting a high level of federal grants to create new and improved routes.ģ.

Try getting the bus from Discovery Park, and see how long it takes you to get just to the U District. (I used to do it in the 90's, including the long haul from Northgate area to Greenwood on Sundays, when buses only ran once/hr.) The route you mention requires a transfer, which adds to the time. It's always taken forever to get across town like that. 'Everyone' who had any experience with it knew that, even way back in the 80's and 70's.Ģ. Getting a canoe at the WAC has always taken a long time, unless you show up early in the morning. What you're experiencing is the difference between life as a child under your parents' protection, and life as an adult. I turn down most social invitations due to inconvenience or cost.Too many generic upscale restaurants/breweries.I don't bother leaving home from work until after 7:30 p.m.Not unusual to stand at a bus stop for 30+ minutes after the bus was supposed to arrive, either due to the bus being way behind schedule or due to it being too packed to let me on.Takes 1 hour to get from one corner of the city to another (e.g.On sunny days, have to wait 2+ hours to rent a canoe at the WAC.Here's my experience as an adult in the city in 2016: We had friendly neighbors they were alcoholics, but my parents let us kids walk over there by ourselves and play in their house. It was easy to find parking around there. On weekends my parents would take us to the Seattle Children's Theater or Pacific Science Center. On sunny days we went to Madison Park and I built sand castles and jumped off the diving board on the dock (Is that dock still there, by the way?). I liked looking out the front window at the boats. I remember it being a very peaceful city.

Had a house overlooking Lake Washington that cost ~$100k. I remember being a young kid here during the 90s.

Reminisce group