People who are from Seattle sometimes worry that people who are not from Seattle don’t get what it’s like to feel attached to the place. “How can transplants best respect the character of the city?” several of you wanted to ask. So we rounded up the answers from a group of Seattle natives and posted a video with their advice last week.
Some transplants were grateful for the tips:
“As a transplant to Seattle, I really appreciate this guidance. ‘Never be dismissive to things that may have an emotional tie to a native Seattleite.’”
— Shaya Lyon
Some of you opened up about the spots you feel connected to, like the UW, where James Cameron met his wife, or the Elliott Bay Book Company, where newbie Clare Sayas takes all her out-of-town guests.
A local political commentator asked a good question:
“I’ve lived in Seattle longer than many natives have been alive. At what point is this transplant’s vision for city valid as @KnuteBerger’s?”
— David Goldstein (“You’re always valid, Goldy!” Knute answered.)
And one local comic considered the idea that Seattle natives have a bigger say in where this city’s going… and poked some fun at it:
“Henceforth I shall vet my civic hot takes through my young male heir, who suckled his first mother’s milk within view of Husky Stadium.”
— Brett Hamil
There are tricky issues even in the questions you all wanted to ask each otherfor our 10-week series native/transplant series. Let alone the answers, or the issues cropping up as our city grows faster than most of us can make sense of it.
But we hope the five videos — on earning local cred, the so-called “Seattle Freeze,” moving to Seattle, our crazy growth, and respecting the city’s character — have helped make your debates about Seattle’s boom a little more nuanced. No matter where you’re from.
“I am a native,” said Stephen on Twitter. “But this decade has changed my hometown so much I need to relearn it.”
Thanks to Seattle CityClub for sponsoring our series, and to everyone who asked questions, suggested answers, and otherwise made this project awesome. Onward.