Sunday, December 10, 2006

Seattle among the worst?

I saw a story on the evening news Friday about a new book titled The Absolute Worst Places to Live in America by Dave Gilmartin. Two Washington cities, Aberdeen and Seattle, made the list. I have only driven through Aberdeen so I don’t feel that I am well versed enough to render a fair opinion. However, I have very strong feeling about Seattle. Gilmartin describes Seattle as overrated, overcast and overcaffeinated. I could agree on the overcaffeinated part especially on a day when I have spent several hours parked in a chair at Starbucks but Seattle is not overrated. I was immediately hot around the collar about the idea that this dip shit would write a book about the worst places in America and include Seattle in the same category as Barstow, CA, Camden, N.J. and Carson City, Skid Row, Los Angeles. That was until I found out that this guy is s 30-year-old New York advertising copywriter who was raised in South Jersey (talk about worst places in America) and admits to never setting foot in many of the cities and towns included in the book.

He goes on to say, “When one of your leading citizens rose to prominence for convincing people to pay $2.50 for a 50-cent cup of coffee, earning a modest, honest living loses quite a bit of appeal. The city begins to rot at the core. … Then there’s the price of housing. … Real people can’t afford to live in Seattle yet the biggest newspaper is so stunningly tone-deaf to the Aspenization that it published a how-to section on becoming emotionally attached to your new home.”

I am the first to admit that the housing prices in Seattle are astronomical but there are so many wonderful things about Seattle including the people, the coffee, the breweries, ferry boats, Pike Place Market, the Space Needle, the lakes, beautiful parks and beaches and the rain ensures that it's beautifully green everywhere!

Two additional Washington cities made the dishonorable mention list including Forks which the author described as a "festering wound of a town,” and Vancouver described as a “a run-down methamphetamine junkie haven.”

Let Gilmartin think what he wants. Those of us who love Seattle don't want to share the Emerald City with jerks like him anyway!

And in case you are curious about the other cities that made the list, here they are in alphabetical order: Aberdeen, Albuquerque, N.M., Allston, Mass., Atlantic City, N.J., Baltimore, Md., Barstow, Calif., Beloit, Wis., Birmingham, Ala., Camden, N.J., Campton, Ky., Carson City, Nev., Centralia, Penn., Cincinnati, Ohio, College Park, Ga., Cranston, R.I., Detroit, Mich., Dillon, S.C., Dodge City, Kan., El Paso, Texas, Fairbanks, Alaska, Fitchburg, Mass., Gary, Ind., Gatlinburg, Tenn., Glens Falls, N.Y., Granite City, Ill., Greeley, Colo., Greenville, Miss., Harrison, Ark., Helena, Mont., Houston, Texas, Jacksonville, Fla., Lake Placid, Fla., Lorain, Ohio, Manchester, N.H., Mitchell, S.D., Nampa, Idaho, North Platte, Neb., Philadelphia, Quartzsite, Ariz., Rock Springs, Wyo., Salt Lake City, Seattle, Skid Row, Los Angeles, Springfield, Mo., St. Cloud, Minn., Tulsa, Okla., Virginia Beach, Va., Washington, D.C., Yuba City, Calif.

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