Never been there, but been there
For my sins, I was stuck in Ohio for nearly 5 years. I moved as soon as it was feasible because of factors like:
- arrogant idiots walking out in front of moving cars, especially in parking lots (not at the marked crosswalks);
- being asked where I went to high school, with the assumption being that it was (a) parochial and (b) within 20 miles;
- staff who refused to speak up in meetings but after everyone had spent hours coming to a conclusion, bitched about it after the fact to a buddy/superior who changed "our" decisions;
- a third grade, tattletale mentality;
- corruption; and
- sweet f.a. to do after 9 pm.
I'm in Atlanta now and like it, but don't love the neo-cons or the heat. I flew to Seattle to spend a weekend in Portland (and spent THAT 48 hours dodging idiot pedestrians and being bored). By comparison, Seattle looked pretty good. After all, people let me in in traffic (airport to highway) and once I got to Portland, anyone who drove courteously had Washington plates. People got out of my way in the airport and the car rental chick was pleasant. Thinking back, my first impression of Seattle was just like the first one of Ohio - what a charming if down-at-heels place, what nice people, how quaint that the local newspaper is 8 pages including ads. Thanks for the warning! Sounds like Seattle is the same backstabbing, entitled, desperately status conscious place.
I've already paid for flight and hotel for 3 days in August. I'm staying downtown and hadn't planned to rent a car because of the vaunted public transportation system. So I have two questions: (a) since you all say public transport sucks, should I rent a car and (b) where can I go in it within about a 3-hour radius that won't be a complete sucking waste of a long weekend?
Thank you, thank you, thank you for the warning, everybody!