Seattle Primer - somewhat rant-y

I was rather fond of this response I gave to someone thinking of moving to Seattle and looking for hip and affordable. It was before I left Seattle, and I see in here a bit of WHY I left Seattle....

"Hip and affordable in Seattle. Hmmmmm. Well should start out that there are no real ghetto places in Seattle... compared to other cities. It is a pretty homogenous group with an enormous amount of fierce individualism thrown in. There is probably no street in Seattle that I would not live, although some lean more toward owning a car alarm, not walking your dog at 1 in the morning in the park or making sure your front door is locked. The most ethnically diverse areas are still the central area, international district, and White Center (not yet swallowed up and annexed by the city of Seattle, so still 'cheap') and can be a blast. Some folk are flipped out by the central district, since in white white Seattle it has more of a color range to it's residents... but it is becoming completely gentrified and losing a bit of it's character. But then much of Seattle is losing it's character.... but I digress. Since you said hip: I am thinking you would be fond of (the old) Fremont, Ballard, Columbia City, Capitol Hill and parts of West Seattle. Queen Anne is another hill in Seattle that some may consider hip, I think it has gone beyond that due to being way too expensive and a little high on the 'aren't we lovely' scale. If you mean hip as kinda a self-centered uptight way.. you would probably like the eastside as in Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland, or the lovely gem of an island a 30 minute ferry boat ride way-- Bainbridge Island. Good for you to moving to Seattle with so many others: Here is your damn seattle primer: You gotta recycle (really, you will be fined), don't jaywalk (you will be ticketed), you gotta be pc, if you are a baseball fan and go see the Mariners...you need to sit on your rear and cheer (don't jump up! heavens! don't yell! oh no!) during baseball games so the people behind you don't get there panties in a wad because they paid good money for season tickets and don't want you jumping up in front of them during an amazing play, or even being too loud, and no, they won't tell you directly by leaning forward the 3 inches to your back... they will go get the usher who will tell you to hush (oh, no, I am not bitter), so that being said, true Seattle-lites have a bit of a passive aggressive thang going on... and if you stay you will learn the 30 second super-nice attitude to all things and the ability to committee meeting things to death --"the Seattle way" . Please come with the ability to make decisions rapidly, and speak your mind. We need more of that so if you can get through your first two very grey winters which tends to suck the everlovin' life out of some folks... welcome!
Photos: Wilder and I waving a ship with Rose on it heading to camp through the Chittenden locks
Heading down down underground to the express lanes under I-5