Columns Aug 26, 2015 at 4:00 am

Ungratefully Yours

Comments

1
Another 27yo hipster bro waxing nostalgia for the WaMu/Bush era. You didn't know any business dickheads in 2003 because you were twelve, living in your parents' house reading Harry Potter and wanking to Hannah Montana in Bellevue.

Anybody who was drinking age before 2000 knows Seattle was ruined the week after Nevermind was released. (Though some think it was the week after MS Windows)
2
You spelled Bleach wrong.
OK music, it just drew the wrong kind of people.
Like Courtney Love.
3
@1 Kindly blow it out of your rectum. There's gentrification and then there's Gentrification. When people who have lived here their entire lives now can't even afford to live in their own homes, it's a worse problem than just young hipsters who didn't "get it" in the 90s, of course ignoring that plenty of the criticism--it would not be a stretch to call it the vast majority--is from natives.

Seattle has plenty of potential to develop in positive ways without jackoffs like the utterly self-congratulatory tech worker who wants everyone in Seattle to stop what they're doing and come see just how amazing he is for landing a job at a tech company which gives no fucks about him and which gives him his allowance to go have fun and gawk and the locals with their funny earrings and their kooky sexuality. A comparison between Seattle in the late 80s and early 90s with Seattle five years ago just as an example would be apt. Seattle has had 25 years to deal with the minor growing pains of a popular band and a tech company on the other end of Lake Washington, which more defined Redmond and Bellevue than Seattle. Now Amazon has taken a big fat steaming geo-cultural dump in SLU and people's lives are being fucked because they can barely afford to breathe the air in the homes they've had for decades, often their whole lives.

Bitch about hipsters all you want because you don't like their tone or the way that they in turn bitch about the transplants but don't pretend like it's equivalent just because bitching is happening one way or the other. Pushing an old lady out of the way of a bus isn't the same as pushing that old lady into the way of a bus just because an old lady, pushing, and a bus are involved in both scenarios. In this case, one group has it right, and it sure as hell isn't the techies.
4
If this city wasn't fucking retarded about raising tax dollars, public transportation and building codes we wouldn't have anything to complain about. Rent is high because we outlawed reasonably sized buildings, wasted our transportation dollars on a cluster fuck called "Bertha", and simultaneously cut money for buses.

("Retarded" isn't the right word. That's an insult to mentally handicapped people who would have done a whole lot better at solving these problems than our current leadership)
5
LOL Right-The-Fuck-On! Its true that you really can spot a transplant a block away. They use umbrellas when it rains, the Amazon transplants always drive to the QFC in their new cars by themselves when they live two blocks away (rain or shine) then bitch about Global Warming, and most locals read books while transplants read smartphone Facebook and work emails. Ive lived here most of my life and have decided to leave the Borg Hive mind for another state next year. I cant wait for Washington State to try to suckle the revenue off of these select few. All its going to take is a pop in the Amazon Bubble or the current rat infestation to bring the Black Death! As we saw with the Titanic and WaMu, nothing human-made is too big to crash and burn!
6
Nobody does NIMBY better than Seattle!
7
"Only people who fit into the categories I have personally decided on are allowed to move here and live in MY city!"
9
Waaaaaaa, "I want things to stay exactly like they are or were." Things change, sometimes for the better sometime for the worse. Either figure out how to adapt or move back into your parents basement, if you do not live there already or they aren't already renting it out to some hipster. Kind of hypocritical to complain that Republicans cannot adapt to a more accepting society and then bitch because you don't like transplants or that the look and feel of the city is changing. Guess what, your cities changing and if you don't like it -- move to Tacoma.
10
You gotta hand it to The Stranger. They constantly bitch about tech, yet these articles just bring in more money for Amazon, since their own website usesAmazon Associates ad services. They also use Google Adsense (source: http://builtwith.com/Thestranger.com), helping another tech company with an increasing presence in Seattle.

So bitch all you want, the more clicks, the more money that goes into tech.
12
@11, True Dat!
13
@I, A

You can always leave Seattle. No one is forcing you to live here. Go to Renton or Tacoma. I'll even help you pack.
14
Required reading for those who moved to Seattle after 2008
http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Conte…

Development in Seattle stopped during the 2008 recession and slowed way down until Amazon started hiring like crazy. The problem is developing houses/apartments take time, whereas hiring is quick. That combined with foreign money moving in on the housing market and little to no renters rights has caused the perfect shit storm.

If we really care we need to stop blaming people and start passing laws/regulations to protect people. This means working together.
15
I get the resentment and hostility people have towards upwardly mobile tech workers. But I think it's misplaced. They didn't build/renovate high end apartment complexes and business spaces. Developers did that to draw tech workers in and to push current residents out due to make $$$. Tech workers didn't force your landlord to raise the rent at your same shitty apartment. Your landlord does that because he/she can, to make $$$.

Let's take a step back and look at who's really profiting from this situation.
16
trolling level: master.
17
bigot noun big·ot \ˈbi-gət\
: a person who strongly and unfairly dislikes other people, ideas, etc. : a bigoted person; especially : a person who hates or refuses to accept the members of a particular group (such as a racial or religious group)
18
@6 except San Francisco
20
Tech workers didn't force your landlord to raise the rent at your same shitty apartment. Your landlord does that because he/she can, to make $$$.
Disingenuous comment. Your landlord raised rents because "tech workers" made it possible.

But it's more than rents, it's attitude. Seattle used to have a unique attitude much like Portland (but different), a lot of diverse people, a big city with a small town feel... Now we are San Francisco North and apparently we are supposed to be happy about that, otherwise we are old fogies or something. Did Amazon destroy this town? Along with Starbucks, pretty much. Microsoft is not really a part of this equation since most of those people live on the East Side...
21
Jesus, these last two I Anons. Its like watching children learning about how the real works.
22
Seattle died with the Kingdome demolition. Then again, there once was a Hooverville there.
23
@ 21: Meaningless comment devoid of any value.
25
Let's ride the spiral to the end...we may just go where no one's been. Spiral Out, Keep Going
26
@23 Value is perception (even if I did accidentally a word in my comment). If you don't find the squabble of the last two anons amusingly childlike then you're probably too close to the argument. It's the greasers vs the socs fighting over territory neither one owns.
28
@23 Pot meet Kettle.
29
This is all the fault of techies? What are they supposed to do, turn down a good, high paying job?

I've been living in the area since birth, and if it weren't for you fucking NIMBYs, this wouldn't be a problem. Fuck you, and your anti-tax, anti-mass transit, anti-density bullshit.
30
Seattle had an opportunity in the 80's (or 90's?) to turn South Lake Union into what would be now a huge gorgeous park surrounded by beautiful homes called 'The Commons' - but no - everyone thought it would destroy the "character" - and Amazon would have had to build elsewhere.
31
@4 and @11 - you two are spot-on. This is far more complicated than JUST transplants. The building/housing codes here do not allow for housing to be built to meet the demand adequately, which sends rents through the roof. Let's vote, people. I know I do.
32
As a northern transplant to a southern state, I say people move. Deal with it. In my city, only half the people here speak with a southern accent.
33
Seattle is so passive it's insane. Call people out. Name names. You want change? Do something? Make changes. Vote in every local election. It's fine to complain if you also take some action to make the changes. If you don't it falls on deaf ears. My two cents.
34
Death to the Yuppie pukes; tools of Empire

35
@4 -- "Rent is high because we outlawed reasonably sized buildings, wasted our transportation dollars on a cluster fuck called 'Bertha', and simultaneously cut money for buses." Lots of big buildings going up, some of them more than "reasonably sized"; nothing outlawed there my friend. And we just increased money for buses. You have a clinker in your thinker.
36
@35 Just because you see more doesn't mean that it's enough - that shit could have happened a whole lot earlier and there could be a whole lot more of it.
37
Oh, shit. I honestly don't know what annoys me more at this point: stereotypical techbros, or the fauxhemians who are now incapable of doing absolutely anything other than whining about stereotypical techbros. I thought this battle was safely confined here in the Bay Area, but now I guess it's infesting my former home as well. Awesome.

I'm sympathetic to working class families being priced out of their home; that's a real problem. But for the most part, this debate actually ends up consisting of middle/upper class white liberal arts majors whining about middle/upper class white STEM majors - people who replaced some prior population and are now bitter the same is happening to them.
38
I'm still waiting to hear what the rest of you folks want the techies to do, and if that includes premtively turning down work.

Come on folks, put up for shut up. Do you expect techies to just turn down a decent job?
39
I'm glad we've got this all sorted out and blame has been appropriately and accurately placed.
Looking forward to getting Seattle back to how it was when it was perfect.
40
It's the 80's all over again! How could we forget the timeless EAST SIDE STORY?
https://youtu.be/Pon4dhLRLlU?t=3m11s
41
@38 and others, no kidding! Seriously, people, stop blaming the tech workers for this. All they are doing is taking a job in another city and trying to move somewhere close to where they work, which is celebrated in every other case but is apparently a capital offense when an Amazonian does it. The tech workers do not set rents, and cannot be expected to manage the whole goddamn housing market of their destination city while deciding whether or not to take a job.

The root of the problem is the lack of any controls on the housing market that are designed to put the brakes on whatever sky-high price the market will supposedly bear and ensure that there remains some economic diversity in a given location. You want that? Fight for that, and stop bitching about some 22-year-old CS grads moving to town who are just trying to find work like everybody else.
42
The illustration is great.
43
A lot of Seattleites carry umbrellas. I do sometimes, and I have lived here for 45 years. Many Seattle friends do as well. Umbrellas keep you dry, and are kind of fun. They come in lots of different sizes, colors and shapes. Some have funny words or images on them. They get blown around in the wind, which is also kind of fun. Raincoats are not as fun, although I wear one of those once in a while too. Have a happy existence here in Seattle! I mean it. Stop worrying so much, grab your umbrella or jacket, and go out int he rain!
44
With this as a stump speech, a golf hat that says "MAKE SEATTLE GREAT AGAIN," and an idea to build a wall around the city, one could have a pretty good start on a mayoral campaign right about now. SECB-endorsed.
45
What all these butt-hurt techbros and yuppies are failing to admit (because they're just too ignorant to be sensitive to it) is that people of the LGBTQ community as well as the artists, musicians and others who flock to neighborhoods like the old Capitol Hill, are an oppressed MINORITY seeking shelter and safety. To people like them/us, the presence of ignorance, intolerance and stupidity is a DAILY OPPRESSION that affects our lives drastically. 95% of this country is a landscape where people like yuppies, bros and other psychologically stunted individuals reign - aggressively and often by the means of abusive behavior - and people of the LGBTQ and artists' community don't feel safe, because the ignorant assholes who make up the majority of the human race will bully, assault and harass them on the streets for being different. Beyond the obvious and quantifiable difference in the cultural offerings available on Capitol Hill now, techbros and yuppies turn the world into a high school cafeteria, where cocky ignorance, intimidation and attention whoring are the ultimate social commodities, not actual intelligence or substance as a human being. Because they aren't tolerant or intelligent, they're insecure and full of fake bravado.

That's the difference between bros and people who're in the underground. We don't actually want anything from you, bros and yuppies. We want to stay away from you, because we find dealing with the symptoms of your ignorance and stupidity oppressive, and also quite grating. We don't want your attention or need your validation (we've already graduated from high school!), though you seem very hungry for ours. Your bullshit is an unwelcome interruption to our lives. Bros come up to the hill because they're not making enough of a splash in Pioneer Square. They need to create a real culture shock to get that fix of attention to validate their sad, sad egos. For the most part, they're uncivilized assholes who're (unsuccessfully) attempting to cover up their inadequacies with volume and bravado. It's just so goddam annoying. Go home and deal with your shit asshole. Straighten your head out. Grow up. Face your inadequacies instead of trying to pawn them off onto people you perceive as easy victims.

What this comes down to is the artists and other creators of this neighborhood are saying

"Hey, you're stifling the flame of what we've got going here, along with appropriating our home and smashing our way of life. And instead of doing that, why not go to ANY of the other places in the city or world that serve your needs, instead of destroying our one home, because we can't just go ANYWHERE ELSE like you can and find safety, comfort and respect."

And the tech bros and yuppies, like butt-hurt little stomping babies, are saying

"Nothing's changed, it's only more expensive! I'm just as good as you!!!"

But the truth is, you're not. Your existence is valid, but the fact that you're ignorant to what we are EVEN TRYING TO CONVEY TO YOU shows that you aren't cognizant of what you lack. You can't conceive of it. You're too defensive and trying to defend your pathetic ego to see the truth. You don't care about truth, you only care about an emotional sense of superiority and dominance - a particularly broey quality.

Asking why an artist is more interesting or enriching than an ignorant basic bitch is like asking why the world is more interesting with art, music, literature, philosophers, poets, film than without it.... I mean duh.
46
"Auslander raus! The purity of mein city must be maintained! Purge all foreign influence! Tod der Amazon und kapitalismus!"

Bohemianism and Fascism have a very uncomfortable relationship to say the least.
47
I think I've seen a photo of Cobain in that exact outfit.

Things are more like they are now than ever before.
48
You can still find the old Seattle of the 80's and 90's but you do have to go to Tacoma. After all, Tacoma has always been about two decades behind Seattle. However you on't find the club nightlife or the downtown hustle and bustle; it just isn't there. You will find a lot of the old neighborhood charm though, but on a smaller scale. There is a bit of Capitol Hill, Queen Ann, Fremont and Green Lake type areas. Prices are also very reasonable when compared to Seattle. But it will only be for a while.
49
I live in White Center because it's what I can afford. Don't see me complaining because nobody offers me a better place in a better neighborhood for the same price. Want a better life? Will it dude, and it is no dream.

I'm a lazy man, so White Center is just perfect for me (plus it rules).
50
This mutual resentment bullshit is getting really old. The city council and the developers that own them don't give a shit about your beefs. Tech workers are not our economic saviors. There were plenty of assholes on Capitol Hill when it was a Mecca for poor hipsters. All y'all need to get over yourselves.
51
@45 Right, because anyone with a STEM degree can't be LBGT and has never created art ever. Got it. Just close the door on them because "you got here first", even if they were born here? "Fuck you, got mine" at it's finest.

By the way, are the folks working on cures for cancer also basic bitches that never make art as well, or are you willing to grant them a special exemption?

Maybe if "the underground" wouldn't act like a fucking roadblock to increased density and mass transit, and I dunno, maybe voted in an election that didn't occur during a presidential year maybe shit would be better for everyone.

You're a pretty shitty artist if you can't adapt to changing times.
52
@45 Why do you directly support the existence of the techbro with your tech-bro created computer or phone by using the software they write to run and manage this website, the techbros that manage your ISP, the techbros that manage the routers and switches and god knows what that makes the Internet magically deliver your verbiage to the unwashed techbro masses?
53
I have lived in Seattle all of my life, I grew up in Ballard. Ballard has changed tremendously since I was a kid. It changed before Amazon. People need to realize that neighborhoods and cities change all the time and crying about it won't change. If you cannot afford to live here, then get out and don't let the door hit you on the way out. Or you can find a way to make more money, evolving like your surroundings. That's what this uneducated, skilled worker did. Instead of crying that everything costs too much, I evolved because I love my city.
54
Everyone knows Seattle was ruined the day Frederick & Nelson closed.
55
@54: And when Tugs closed in Belltown.
56
signed, Princess Angeline
57
Bros and yuppies are so hilarious. So sad. You're soo drawn to subversive, underground culture like a moth to the flame (as soon as it becomes mainstream enough for ignoramuses like you to be conscious of it), but you don't even understand the fucking core of it. It's just this abstraction that you can't comprehend, represented by vague imagery, that dazzles you because you perceive it as being elite and super trendy, so you flock to it. Meanwhile, you stomp all over the people who built the scene through passion, hard work and personal sacrifice, appropriate their homes, demolish the things that kept them connected, unified and able to create this "authentic vibe" that you enjoy so much to pretend you're a part of. If you had any sense, or any true understanding of this thing you claim to like, you'd realize you've destroyed it. And that would actually matter to you. But it doesn't. Because you're ignorant, smug and a total impostor. And because underground culture, to you, is just a social media tag or photo waiting to be appropriated into your online ego.

Being an artist is not about painting seashells on the weekends, assholes. It's a drive that defines you, that makes it impossible for you to sell out and live the corporate lifestyle, and for which you suffer judgement and marginalization from the rest of society. Bros wanna come around and throw on a leather jacket and pretend to be part of some trendy scene because they saw a fucking Macklemore video. But you don't realize that by the nature of the overwhelming presence of squares, posers and hangers-on like you, who wanna be "hip" but who walk around judging the real artists for being crusty undesirables, and who just want to appropriate the underground into your mainstream consumerist herd culture, you destroy it. There is NO LONGER a burgeoning underground music scene on capitol hill anymore, because nearly all the venues, art houses and independent businesses (not to mention the artists themselves) have been ousted, because of the skyrocketing rents. HOW MANY LANGUAGES DO WE HAVE TO SPELL IT OUT IN FOR YOU DUM DUMS. You've destroyed the thing you hoped to appropriate. Good going assholes! Enjoy your Baby Gaps and sports bars.
58
@57: Pretty sure the newer, wealthier newcomers are pretty happy with their lot in life. Whereas you, quite obviously, are a miserable, sad little wretch.
59
Burgeoning underground music scene? I must know more, but I am afraid. Help me understand. Help me.
60
That is truly exceptional parody, though, 57. Well done.
61
Fuck this shit, let's all move to Bozeman and ruin that place! Ride the mechanical bull backwards and other stuff that would ruin Bazeman.
62
@57 Ok, no one has passion or value unless they're an ~*~UNDERGROUND ARTIST~*~ , got it, thanks!

When's the last time you voted in a non-leap year, SeattleCattle? That is, a year that wasn't a presidential election year? Does your tough schedule even allow for that?

If you were here first, why did you either ignore the political process or stand in the way of higher densities, more mass transit and so on? You could have prevented this shit but now you're left screaming at perfect strangers that they just don't understand your passion and how that "passion" entitles you to below-market rents that you would deny to non-artists, the elderly, families and others who don't fit your perfected image.

Why are you so fucking lazy?
63
@62 I love seeing the seething rage of squares like yourself, trying oh so very hard to be willfully ignorant of the articulate, succinct points that SeattleCattle made. Why are you so threatened by the reality that not everyone wants to live like you?
64
@63 Ah, so you're not going to address any of the points being made, accuse someone else of being "angry" and "threatened", then claim they weren't paying attention at all. Neat tactic, it makes you sound like a republican. I'm certainly not angry, and I'm certainly not threatened.

How about you answer my question then - if there aren't enough places to live such that vacancy rates are low and rents are skyrocketting, why aren't the people who are already here (and shouting it from the rooftops) advocating for increased density and the mass transit and other infrastructure required to support it?

Why did they instead sit around and do nothing or worse, take up the NIMBY cause?
65
@20, Microsoft didn't have the same impact on Seattle as Amazon because, as you said, they headquartered in the suburbs. The flip side of that is that Microsoft's growth led to much more sprawl and car-centric development. I'm quite happy that Amazon has chosen not to repeat that disaster, and has headquartered here in the city, where a large number of their employees can walk, bike, or bus to work. I hope future growth companies make the same choice. If that upsets SeattleCattle a little, that is a price I'm willing to pay.
66
I'm not sure if real, underground artists are able to leave Capitol Hill, but now Shorty's is gonna be torn down by some commercial developers from Atlanta.
67
SeattleCattle@57, you've already thoroughly knocked down those many straw men (again, and again, and again, at the expense of absolutely everything else, based on your comment history.) Give it a rest already. Honestly, you don't sound like anyone inclined to make a positive contribution to any culture, anywhere.
68
This wasn't written by a 25-year old who moved here to go to SU.
69
Dear fucking god I hate this city. It's beautiful, my family is here, and so after our kid we moved back. I am originally from portland, moved here in the early 2000's then left because I couldn't fucking stand it anymore. All anyone does here is fucking bitch, that's like everyone's main skill. "Wah, rents are high!", and yet god forbid we bring in higher density housing. "Wah, that buildings too big". Capitol hill really is the only "cool" neighborhood seattle ever had. It's gone now, why don't you use your fucking creativity to do something new? As every other fucking city does when the cool neighborhood becomes more expensive? Bottom line: Yes, we need more housing. Yes, we need income diversity in every neighborhood (please note: the is a GLOBAL problem, you are not a snowflake). Dear god yes, public fucking transportation. However, please shut the fuck up! Do something for your fucking community, fight for what you beleive in any sort of way besides bitching. You all sound like tea baggers or something, you have no grip on reality.
70
MOTHERFUCKING YES!!! HALLEFUCKINGLUJUAH. BEST I,A EVER. THIS. RIGHT HERE. l moved out of state two months ago after fifteen years in Seattle because of this.
71
Dear special bitchy snowflake #69 - are YOU doing anything to change it? Or are you doing exactly what you say folks *shouldn't* be doing, and just being a little bitch about it?

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