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🏒 Puck yes
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🏒 Puck yes

WHAT IS IT? A nickname for White Center, a neighborhood that lies between West Seattle and Burien.

INCORPORATION: Rat City doesn’t actually have a city designation. Although many residents get their mail delivered to Seattle addresses, White Center isn’t incorporated into King County or the City of Seattle.

FAMOUS FOR: Its badass roller derby team, the Rat City Roller Derby.

🐀? As the White Center Chamber of Commerce says of its community’s name: “Rodents had nothing to do with it.” “Rat” is actually an acronym for a few things — a “Reserve Army Training Center” or the “Recruitment and Training Center” used during World War II, HistoryLink reports.

USAGE:  … Did Tyga write a song about White Center?

Nah, dude. That’s “Rack City,” not “Rat City.”

Know of a Seattleism that we should include in our glossary? Hit reply or email us at [email protected]. We’ll be sharing out the Seattleiest terms we can find over the next several months.

NOW HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON IN YOUR CITY

Puck yes. Seattle is one big step closer to getting our very own pro hockey team, y’all. Mayor Jenny Durkan made the official pitch to the National Hockey League’s executive committee in New York yesterday, and they’ve sent it along for a full, final vote by early December. We had a hockey team when we won the first U.S. Stanley Cup in 1917, then almost got a pro hockey team back in 1974, and again in 1990. What do we call the team we’re probably going to get by 2020? Thousands of locals have cast their votes in an unofficial name tourney at The Seattle Times, and it’s come down to two top ideas: the Totems or the Sockeyes. Love ’em? Hate ’em? Go vote here. (KING 5)

‘Welcome to the 12-minute commute.’ The City of Spokane has a question for cash-strapped Seattleites: Why not move out east? The second-largest city in Washington is spending $450,000 on a campaign to tempt Seattleites with less traffic, calmer growth, and homes that cost $193,000. Seattle real estate reporter Mike Rosenberg sees the appeal. “Really all they need to do is put flyers up around Seattle showing this median home price chart for both cities,” he tweeted. 💸 (The Spokesman Review)

A tour of Amazon’s ‘living laboratory.’ Curious about what Amazon’s going to be doing next? The New York Times says you just have to visit Seattle where the online retail giant is constantly experimenting. “Some trials never leave the city …  The pilots point to a company, with ambitions that at times can seem boundless, investing deeply in figuring out its physical footprint and how to provide convenience at a lower cost,” NYT reports. Some of the features of Amazon’s citywide testing facility: their grocery pickup stops, bookstores, and Amazon Go markets, the second of which opened in August. 🔬 (The New York Times)

Protected speech? There are more than 200 cities around the U.S. — 64 of which are in Washington — that, in some form, prohibit people from panhandling or begging. The National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty and housing advocates are asking for city leaders to, instead, fund more affordable housing. They argue that panhandling is considered protected speech thanks to a 2015 Supreme Court ruling, which said governments can’t make laws that treat certain kinds of speech differently because of their content. Their interpretation of that ruling, according to Real Change: “Ordinances that ban an individual from requesting money but not asking for directions could be found unconstitutional.” (Real Change)

Cushy or classic? Lots of local movie theaters are stepping up their game these days. They’re serving up fancier grub — hello $18 pretzel — and some have even upgraded their seats to be giant, comfy recliners. Rich Smith, politics and theatre writer at The Stranger, says they’re emblematic of being “too much of a good thing” and prefers the classic crushed red velvet seats. Editor Christopher Frizzelle argues they finally allow tall folks like him to go unseen. “I am tiny for once, I am a child again, I am lost in the world on-screen,” he writes.
How do you feel about these newfangled movie loungers? Vote below. 🍿 (The Stranger)

»*|SURVEY: If I’m paying $13 for a movie, the seat better be comfy. (click this to vote) |*

»*|SURVEY: I appreciate the classic seats — they make movies more magical. (click this to vote) |*

PARTNER EVENTS

🍸  TODAY: Take an inside look at what’s at stake in some key ballot initiatives at Seattle CityClub’s Civic Cocktail (Belltown)

🏠  TODAY: Get top tips on how to navigate our housing market at this Impact Hub Lunch + Learn (Pioneer Square)

🤓  TOMORROW: Hear your neighbors dive into 5-minute talks on a fascinating topic with Ignite Seattle (Capitol Hill— SOLD OUT, with a standby line

🎙️  Friday: Get a fun primer on Seattle history from the recession of the glaciers to the opening of Ballard Locks at this Foundation event. (Fremont)

🍸  Monday, Oct. 8: Learn all about gin at this Foundation workshop where tickets get you light snacks, an apertif, the classic cocktails, and a digestif. (Phinney Ridge)

🍽  Tuesday, Oct. 9: Eat good food and meet good people while you honor and celebrate local agriculture at this Futurewise Feast with Friends. (Downtown)

👍  Wednesday, Oct. 10: Decode your leadership style at this Impact Hub Lunch + Learn (Pioneer Square)

🗣️  Wednesday, Oct. 10: Hear from CNN’s Van Jones at Seattle Arts & Lecture’s three part series shining a spotlight on journalism and journalists (Downtown)

AROUND TOWN

TODAY

💡 Get yer flu shot and brush up on flu history at MOHAI (South Lake Union)
🎶 Celebrate Seattle’s iconic Artis the Spoonman’s 70th birthday (University District)
🎨 Sip while while you paint an autumn forest (Roxhill)
🗣 Explore key ballot initiatives at this Evergrey partner event (Belltown)
💪 Master our housing market at this Evergrey partner event (Pioneer Square)


TOMORROW 

🍻 Have a brew at the zoo (Phinney Ridge)
💡 Hear from poet and The Color Purple author Alice Walker (Downtown)


FRIDAY 

🎟 Ride go karts and bumper boats after dark (Tukwila)
🍴 Get greasy at Cowabunga, the festival of beef (South Lake Union)
🍿 Kick off the Social Justice Film Festival with a flick on immigration (University District)
👋 Make new friends and learn old local history at this Evergrey partner event. (Fremont)


SATURDAY 

🎈 Pumpkin it up at this family friendly fall fest (Pioneer Square)
🗣 Watch U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D) debate challenger Susan Hutchison (R) (Tacoma)
👋 Meet and support Native Coast Salish artists (Downtown)
🍻 Go on a wild ’90s bar crawl (Pioneer Square)
🎈 Root for robots at Robothon (Queen Anne)


SUNDAY

🎈 Geek out with Legos at BrickCon (Queen Anne)
🎈 Take the fam to the big Issaquah Salmon Days Festival (Issaquah)
🛍 Refresh your wardrobe at the 4th annual Frock Swap (Ballard)
🏞 Walk a corn maze and ride monster trucks at Thomas Family Farm (Snohomish)
🎶 Get hoppy and classical at Bachtoberfest (Columbia City)


Going to one of these? Take us with you! Email a pic to [email protected] or tag#theevergrey on Instagram. See more upcoming events on our events page, and add your own events with an Evergrey membershipIs an event sold out? Hit reply to let us know and we’ll update the listing in tomorrow’s newsletter.

KEEP THE KUDOS COMING

You know that person who made you smile big the other day? On the bus, at work, getting groceries — or maybe every day in a lot of different places so you almost don’t notice? We’ve been sharing your shoutouts the last couple weeks in our new Kudos section, and we’d love to hear more.

Let us know who you ‘preciate here (it only takes a minute!), and we’ll tell you when we give ‘em kudos in the newsletter.

See ya tomorrow. — The Evergrey

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