The Reality

In my last blog post, I explored the common misconceptions about the land of my birth, the Great Pacific Northwest. I wrote about Seattle's annual rain fall, the laid-back hippie culture, and the commonly held perception of Seattle people being extraordinarily polite. In this post, I plan on engaging and disproving these misconceptions.

Rain, Rain, Go Away
According to several different sites, Seattle does not even rank in the top ten in terms of annual precipitation. That award goes to either New Orleans or Mobile, Alabama, depending on who you ask. How much rain falls on the heads of Crescent City citizens? New Orleans receives, on average, 62.7 inches of rain each year. That's over five feet.

Maybe you're thinking, "Okay, so Seattle doesn't get that much rain. But surely they have the most rainy days." Again, you would be wrong. Rochester, Buffalo, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh all have more rainy days per year than Seattle. It rains around 167 days per year in Rochester, and only 149 days per year in Seattle. So, all you Upstate New Yorkers tired of the rain and terrible football teams, go ahead and pack your bags and head west.

Now, Seattle does top the list in terms of days with heavy cloud cover. Current Results defines heavy cloud cover as clouds sweeping over three-quarters of the sky. In Seattle, it is not the rain that will destroy all of your hope for humanity. It is the endless days of gray steel skies.

Work Hard, Play Hard
Seattle has long been known as one of the most liberal cities in the United States. Washington State, along with Seattle, is a Democratic stronghold, and not in the Chicago dead-people-voting sort of way. Part of that liberal history has been a fairly lenient attitude toward drug use, and especially marijuana. Along with Alaska and Oregon, Washington was one of the first states to legalize medical marijuana. Last year, Washington and Colorado legalized recreational marijuana.

This has lead to the misconception that all Seattle people do is smoke weed. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Seattle area has the third highest GDP in the nation. Seattle has been one of the key cities in the growing technology arena, and Forbes currently ranks the city as number seven in terms of creating technology jobs.

Some of the most important companies in the nation started in the Seattle area, including Boeing, Microsoft, and Amazon. Bill Gates was born and raised in Seattle. Although there is a "hippie" culture present in Seattle, there is also a climate of technological and manufacturing innovation spurred onward by hard work.

The Seattle Freeze
Last week, I wrote about Seattle's "politeness" factor. We only press down on our car horns when we see someone we know. The first time I visited Chicago, I expected a car accident every six or seven blocks. In Seattle, strangers will stare into your eyes and ask "How are you," and you will get the impression they actually mean it. 

However, many people have never heard of "The Seattle Freeze."  According to several different sources, transplants form other cities find it remarkably difficult to make friends in the Seattle area. Because I grew up in Seattle, I have an interesting perspective on this situation.

Natives tend to see the Pacific Northwest as the absolute greatest part of the nation, and we have been perfectly content allowing the rest of America to imagine us drowning in rain. The truth is Seattle people love Seattle. And we don't want the secret getting out, lest the heathens from Southern California invade. Our lack of acceptance of outsiders is a defense mechanism. While we will start up a conversation at a coffee shop, we will not invite you over for dinner. 

There you have it--the reality of Seattle. Make sure to visit sometime, preferably in August, but don't plan on staying.