I moved to Seattle 11 years ago to live with the woman I ended up marrying. We had discussed her moving to Milwaukee, where I grew up and was living, but it turned out I was more willing to uproot my life and move halfway across the country than she was. (I’d been working third shift at a grocery store, so it’s not really a surprise.)
I came to Seattle sight unseen. And it was love at first sight.
Seattle is almost exactly the right size – it’s big but not mammoth. But while it was (and maybe still is) technically smaller than Milwaukee, it felt much bigger at heart, which called out to the city boy in me.
I can see the latest blockbuster movie or an independent film or a classic revival. There are plenty of great restaurants, whether you want gourmet entrees or authentic Thai or bacon and eggs. It’s progressive and liberal but still pretty fucked up politically, so you get the entertaining debates about stuff like monorail vs. light rail vs. build more freeway lanes. It’s got KEXP for independent music and KUOW for NPR. Plenty of live music venues with plenty of live music. A thriving neo-burlesque scene Art galleries, art museums. Plenty of theater that I don’t take enough advantage of.
Most of all, I love the weather, especially October through March or so, when it’s grey and sometimes rainy. Sometimes I think I have reverse SAD, because too many sunny days in a row start to get on my nerves.
The only cities that I love more intensely are New York City and London. I’ve been to the former twice and the latter once, and I love them with the passion a mistress brings out. (Not that I’ve had a mistress, but I can extrapolate.) I don’t know that I could live there, even if they do have even more of everything I love.
I can’t imagine moving anywhere else. I’d be fine in Portland, a nice city in its own right, but Seattle is where my heart lies. Funny to first come home when you’re 23.