Dear Seattle: You’re on notice.
It’s not that I don’t love you, Seattle, I do…You’re actually way more liberal than New York in many ways…it’s just I can’t live another four days like this. I had such a bad day today, trying to get around you. Six inches over four long, unproductive days. If the first three inches had been dealt with properly we wouldn’t be in the mess we are in today. By the way, it doesn’t help that your roads are laid out like spaghetti on a plate.
You are located much further north than New York or even Boston, and yet the only snow removal plan the city seems to have is “Let it melt.” Did anyone ever think about the possibility that the snow would not melt? I can understand Houston, New Orleans or Miami being surprised by snowfall, but Seattle, you knew this would eventually happen. Virginia goes years between snow storms and they are out there with their plows as soon as the first flake falls. Even though they don’t use it that often, they have the equipment and the plan. It’s usually some form of alternate side of the street parking. Can’t find a place to park? Too fucking bad. No one can. It’s a risk associated with owning a car and expecting to store it on city property. Seattle, you really do coddle your motorists. But that’s another story.
I know it’s not all your fault. You’re trying to work with a state that doesn’t have an income tax. Sales tax is nice, but very fickle.
Have you thought of the implications? I would guess sales tax receipts would suffer as a result the mass closures and advisories against leaving home. People know the snow on the road has nearly melted and refrozen several times already. Your icy roads are keeping people at home, when they need to be out spending money. Now you’ll have even less money to deal with the next snow storm and I’ll be using my trekking poles to get down Capitol Hill again.
Help me help you. I won’t be able to stick around much longer if you continue to act this way. Make no mistake about it, this is a an abject failure of your government and it makes me question how you will behave in the next earthquake.
And it lowers the quality of life dramatically.
Yours Affectionately,
Dan Ruisi
Christopher Frizzelle was The Stranger's print editor, and first joined the staff in 2003. He was the editor-in-chief from 2007 to 2016, and edited the story by Eli Sanders that won a 2012 Pulitzer... More by Christopher Frizzelle
Fucking pussies.. 3 inches of snow.. we got 3 feet last weekend, and I spent 4 days without electricity – life goes on. If you can’t keep up, you get left behind.
Get snow tires and/or tire chains. Put them on. Leave extra time to get places and don’t drive like an idiot. Repeat.
Why is this so hard for people?
Just got into Syracuse to see my family. It snowed all last week, but thanks to salt and correct plowing, the roads are totally clear.
Salt works, people, and I’ve seen birdies singing and trees growing, so apparently it didn’t kill them all.
@152: good driving and equipment can only do so much on completely ill-managed streets. I’m sick of people acting like putting up with stupid decisions makes them bad ass.
I’ve been driving all week, but the snow that fell on a foot and a half of thick ice covered with a layer of slush this morning has made driving exponentially worse on side streets than it has been so far. I got stuck on my street, managed to get loose, and barely was able to park safely again – and everyone I’ve spoken who drove today had a similar experience.
On the other hand, the walkways and steps I’ve seen that were salted seem to have melted this morning’s snow fine and haven’t refrozen. I’m not a big fan of salt under normal circumstances, and I don’t think we need to go out and buy a whole bunch of new dedicated snow plows.
That said, it seems perfectly reasonable to me that the City ought to buy some new plow attachments for existing trucks, consider contracting with construction companies on a contingency basis to do some road clearing (and/or allow citizens to hire them to clear streets – which is not currently allowed in Seattle), and yes, when you have ample notice a rare weather event in which a lot of snow falls and sticks is going to happen and you already have salt on hand anyway you freaking use it – particularly after day 3.
That footage of Nickels giving himself and the City a “B” for their snow response is going to make the mother of all mayoral campaign attack ads in 2009.
Oh, fuck off “native Seattlites.”
If you’ve looked at how this has all played out and you DON’T have a complaint, then chances are, as has been suggested before, it’s because you, as a holier-than-though native, have never BEEN to a city that doesn’t get incapacitated by less than a foot of snow.
There is no excuse for this city being thrown into panic when it snows. It happens yearly, and at least once every two years the city is shut down for a day or more. Having a plan to deal so people can do things like go to work or school is not a waste of money, it’s a waste of money not to. Like this Ruisi guy has said, we depend largely on sales tax in this state, and gee, I wonder if not being able to go anywhere to buy anything during THE FUCKING HOLIDAY SEASON will have some negative side effects.
This drivel you all are spouting about a “metronatural” attitude (I nearly vomited when I read that, by the by) is in reality just an indicator of how ignorant and oblivious you are. Some of us had to try and get to SeaTac to go see our families. My particular experience was a lovely 4 hour trip from the U-District to SeaTac, including the amount of time spent waiting for the bus, only to get to the airport and find out that most of the flights have been canceled due to them running out of deicer. Then, I couldn’t even leave the airport for another 3 hours because the ridiculously late-running buses couldn’t accommodate all the people whose flight had been canceled.
More deicer could have been bought to have in reserve. More buses could’ve been sent out a long the same routes to help make up for how late they all were running. There are many cheap and efficient steps that could’ve been taken but weren’t.
The breakdown in the city’s infrastructure is not understandable, it’s ridiculous. It really is a failure on part of the city administration, and if you aren’t pissed about it, and you don’t think that Seattle Public Schools closing last Wednesday because it might of snowed is insane, then you’re not some enlightened Northwesterner who just knows how to “roll with it.” It means you are a massive, and I do mean MASSIVE tool.
However, I will say watching you all try and drive in this has been pretty funny, if not a little sad.
All Seattle “natives” who are not in some way related to Chief Sealth, or any of his fellow tribe members, really need to shut the fuck up…
I did finally see a snow plow, sorta on Capitol Hill…on Boren.
Apparently, they are unable to make it up Pike, Pine, or 15th Street.
@151-
hey nick ruisi.
FUCK.
YOU.
The problem with plowing is that unless the side streets are clear, it doesn’t help most folks trying to get to work. Three blocks of snow and slush can be impassable for vehicles without chains or snowtires. Seattle tends to have narrow sidestreets with parking on both sides, and the plows have to push the snow somewhere. That “somewhere” is the side of the streets…where all the cars are parked because they can’t get out of their spots and have no other place to park.
140 FTW!