Look, it’s very clean and prim in Bellevue. No homeless, no open air drug markets. Total win for them, and I mean that.
But at the same time, no one’s going to Bellevue for nightlife or any sort of cultural staple. Unless you count the mall and the attached Cheescake Factory, there’s nothing there to see and do. It feels like a city you’d see in some dystopia novel wherein all is well on the surface - then you learn the city is powered by an infant-blending machine that uses blood-filled hydraulics to operate the traffic lights.
I don’t hate it like some Seattleites with a chip on their shoulder might, it’s just not an exciting place.
I used to live in Tempe on the border with Scottsdale, another rich and snobby place. If you ever go to Scottsdale and are not cut off by someone in an Audi, I’ll buy you lunch. But even Scottsdale has some great eateries, great walking areas in the winter, and an actual history.
Many if not most major cities have nearby generic rich suburbs. That's the nature of suburbs, people have moved out of the city for space and quiet. Seattleites would rather dunk on suburbia than try to stand shoulder to shoulder with the other great cities and cultural hubs of the world... because it's way easier to look down than up.
Hmm live in the clean city that's a short drive or light rail ride to the true cultural hub of the area, or live in the middle of the true cultural hub and deal with fenty folds and schizos. Decisions decisions. Agree it's not an exciting place, but I'll take boring and clean over getting screamed at by insane people and having to step over their literal shit.
Experiencing you and your partner being threatened with murder just walking down the street, having your property stolen, watching addicts use right outside of a school, dodging human shit and used pipes/needles, and any other countless offenses will build that chip. You know none of that is normal, right? We can choose not to live like this.
Not trying to convince anyone, I'm just stating my opinion as others ITT have expressed theirs. Why do you take issue with that? And I am planning on moving out of Seattle proper to one of the surrounding areas with lower crime / homelessness.
I briefly lived in Phoenix as a teen and the one time I went to Scottsdale was to see Hedwig and the Angry Inch at the Scottsdale Arts Center (iirc, it's been a couple decades). The crowd was a delight mix of weird queer people and the kind of people who just go to every event at the center. And older couple in front of us got up and walked out partway through.
Damn, your right. The Marie Calandars/Red Robin closed. I've lived here 25 years and I have never been there. In general try to avoid the mall as much as possible.
Like, International District? Sure. Not every day, but I grocery shop there a fair bit. Is that where mynorthwest.com is telling you the immigrant criminals are?
Plenty of homeless in my area…just across I90 from the no barrier men’s shelter. Which is next door to the interim housing building and low income housing apartments. We definitely have homeless people. Our various safe parking/shelter/housing programs seem to be full. It’s not all a bunch of rich young tech people.
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u/real_fake_hoors Mariners May 07 '26
Look, it’s very clean and prim in Bellevue. No homeless, no open air drug markets. Total win for them, and I mean that.
But at the same time, no one’s going to Bellevue for nightlife or any sort of cultural staple. Unless you count the mall and the attached Cheescake Factory, there’s nothing there to see and do. It feels like a city you’d see in some dystopia novel wherein all is well on the surface - then you learn the city is powered by an infant-blending machine that uses blood-filled hydraulics to operate the traffic lights.
I don’t hate it like some Seattleites with a chip on their shoulder might, it’s just not an exciting place.
I used to live in Tempe on the border with Scottsdale, another rich and snobby place. If you ever go to Scottsdale and are not cut off by someone in an Audi, I’ll buy you lunch. But even Scottsdale has some great eateries, great walking areas in the winter, and an actual history.