The only compromise is:

Name University Station as University Station
Name Husky Stadium Station as University Sports Station
Name U District Station as University District Station.

And make tourists pay extra if they get lost. Think of the revenue in bike rentals!

I'm good with this. In fact, if there were ranked voting, the top three vote-getters would match my top three in order.

Now, if NHL Seattle can just name their team ANYTHING BUT Sockeyes.

“Symphony” is corny. “Seneca” is at least accurate. And whoever voted for “Arts District” deserves the same fate as those who voted for “Midtown”

With few exceptions, you should name your stops after streets. Otherwise, you start thinking that the whole point of a subway system is to serve large areas, not small ones (oops, too late). The stops should be close together, and if your subway has a stop called "Fife", then you are likely doing it wrong.

That being said, "Symphony" is fine. Whatever. The problem are the stops north of the ship canal. There are two stops in the UW -- the first should be called "Husky Stadium" (since it is right next to it) and the next should be called "45th" because that is the cross street. That should be followed by:

65th
Northgate (which unfortunately isn't on Northgate Way -- too late now)
130th
145th
185th

You get the idea. One of the big advantages of cross streets is that is pretty fucking obvious where the train is going. If you are a tourist, and the numbers are getting bigger, it means you are going away from downtown.

All those names are also short. That is why symphony is fine. It is short. But names like "Shoreline North" or "Federal Way Transit Center" (two proposed names, by the way) are fucking ridiculous. No one really knows where those are, yet you spend a shitload of space spelling it all out. Anyway, if the biggest flaw with our hugely expensive subway line is that it has shitty names, we would be blessed. We are not.

@3 -- Steelhead sounds just as good for the name of our hockey team.

@4 -- Agreed. Arts District? Give me a break.

Run-off Vote. Put only Benaroya & "Symphony" on a ballot and let us take another crack. 1% different is far too small to be declared "the will of the people". Let 'em go toe to toe...

Despite growing up there, when seeing the University arrow in the tunnel I did do an idiot double-take that I wasn't about to on going the wrong way while visiting a few weeks ago. Call it Seneca (makes the most sense), call it Symphony (kinda weird), call it Umpqua Jimmy John's Pokeworks Station—anything is less confusing than University.

If I can say something nice about your train, your payment kiosks are top notch. Simple to use and all seemed to be in working order. I could only dream of the day for BART/MUNI.

I do like Symphony. I think it's kind of classy.

I agree with Sir Toby. If you're gonna call it Symphony instead of something practical like Seneca you should decorate the station so it's thematically appropriate.

@4, @5 Yes. @4 Can we also include the people who put those on the ballot? @5 I absolutely agree and here is my logic: I am okay when the only stop next to a uniquely named landmark or area is named for that landmark or area (Northgate, which is one word and unique in the area). If you need a modifier, (south, stadium) or if your street or area name is too generic (Lake, Midtown or, ahem, Symphony) then the name isn't great but might be okay (Lake City is probably fine if it's the only stop affiliated with the neighborhood and the only stop with the word "Lake" or "City"). If the name has a word that exists in another stop (besides a number, aka 120th and 185 are fine) or major landmark that ISN'T NEARBY then the name is a failure and should have been nixed to start. AKA, because there is more than one "University" in the area (city, street, UW, Seattle University, etc.) it is not an appropriate word to use in ANY station name.

It's Husky Stadium station, UW is way over there dude

Thirty Dollar Car Tab Station

I prefer Seneca but Symphony will get the job done.

@15 They try to provide the illusion of public input. Though they usually ignore it nobody can deny that they sought it.

Your choice is a good one (as are some of the others), but it's hardly "the will of the people." It's merely the top vote-getter amongst the tiny number of people who chose to participate.

I voted for Symphony, then immediately wished I had voted for Seneca; although I suppose I can't regret that too much because it may have prevented Benaroya, which is just the worst. The Benaroyas paid for they symphony, and got their name on the building; they shouldn't get their name on a public transit station as a bonus, unless they want to pay for it again.

@5 I agree, but I would have liked if they stuck with “Brooklyn” instead of University District station. It’s on Brooklyn Ave and serendipitously it is the historic name of the neighborhood.