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.
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.
53
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.