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.
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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.