We moved to Seattle largely for the walkable urban environment that is missing from our hometown of Fort Worth. So, I have been following with interest the study in Fort Worth to determine the feasibility of adding a streetcar line there.

We have a streetcar running in our neighborhood, which was controversial when it was installed. However, in the few years since it's been installed, ridership has grown significantly as has the neighborhood. Developers have responded to the streetcar investment Seattle made in this long-neglected area and the neighborhood surrounding the streetcar is the fastest growing part of the city. Like Portland's streetcar did, Seattle's streetcar has been a catalyst for the development of a good urban neighborhood.

Fort Worth has also neglected areas near its downtown and a streetcar there would have sparked private development toward creating a significant urban center city area - the studies so far had predicted millions of dollars in growth. However, Fort Worth's city council decided to stop the studies and abandon the streetcar project. Stopping the streetcar study points to a lack of vision on behalf of Fort Worth's leaders and established interests.

There has been some resistance in Seattle to the investments in Seattle's urban areas and public transportation, but Seattle has been successful at creating urban areas that people want to live in. Fort Worth hasn't and apparently doesn't care to. Consequently, the town of Fort Worth will see more people like myself who prefer walkable urban areas over drivable suburban areas leaving for cities like Seattle.

According to a recent Travel + Leisure review, Sea-Tac International Airport is the best in the nation in terms of delays, with only 10.6% of flights being delayed. By comparison, 22.3% of flights are delayed at D/FW International Airport, the 3rd worst in the nation. According to the survey, the best time to fly in or out of Sea-Tac is before 10:00 am. The worst time window is 6–8 p.m.

Sea-Tac is one of the best airports I've been in. I've always liked that it's smaller than the gigantic D/FW Airport and isn't nearly as hard to get around between the terminals and concourses. It's still definitely large enough to get most places we want to go via direct flights. Sea-Tac rarely changes the terminal or gate on you at the last minute, which is nice. I've always been able to get through security rather quickly and most flights I can remember have been on time. The only exception to that was our flight out for Christmas in 2008 with the terrible snow storm that hit the area that winter. I also really like Alaska Airlines, which has its main hub at Sea-Tac.

Sea-Tac also has a lot of public art inside it, making it one of the most unique airports I've seen. Free Wi-Fi is available throughout the terminals, which comes in handy while waiting 1-2 hours for flights. It is also served well by Link Light Rail from downtown Seattle, although we've never actually taken it to or from the airport the entire way. We hope to do that this Christmas.

All of these factors add up to a generally stress-free traveling experience, which is not very common at other airports.

And because I like interesting statistics, here are the top 10 domestic routes out of Sea-Tac in 2009 by number of passengers (from Wikipedia):

1. Los Angeles, CA - 744,000
2. San Francisco, CA - 719,000
3. Anchorage, AK - 681,000
4. Denver, CO - 650,000
5. Chicago, IL (O'Hare) - 589,000
6. Phoenix, AZ - 550,000
7. Las Vegas, NV - 540,000
8. Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN - 519,000
9. Spokane, WA - 503,000
10. Dallas/Fort Worth, TX - 484,000

The weather was beautiful yesterday - clear skies filled with crisp fall air. Since I chose to drive to work, I wasn't able to enjoy the weather as much as I could've if I walked and took the bus to work. I was driving home with my window rolled down and when I turned on a street near our apartment, I heard a noise that I immediately knew was the sound of one of our car's hubcaps falling off.

This wasn't totally unexpected as our car's wheel covers have been cracked almost since the car was new, and each visit to the tire shop to have our tires rotated came with a warning that our hubcaps were cracked. In fact, last time I was told that if I didn't take the wheel covers off, they would come off on the road.

I was able to park on the next block to go pick the wheel cover up off the street. We had been planning to get new wheel covers soon anyway, so I suppose this was just a good reminder to do that.

We went to a Mariners game with Lesley's friend Megan last Monday night. The weather had been terrible most of the weekend, but it cleared up Monday afternoon and was comfortable and sunny when the game started.

Megan bought our tickets - they were good seats in the outfield. We were the closest I've been to Ichiro and it was interesting seeing him stretching throughout the entire game.

Anyway, this was a Mariners game, so they gave up 3 runs in the 2nd inning, then back-to-back home runs later in the game. But, at the end they made it close, scoring a run in the 9th and having the winning run at the plate. Less-jaded fans had reason to believe in a comeback, but I saw the double play coming. Here's the game story. We've now seen 9 Mariners losses and 1 Mariners victory. It was an exciting victory, though.

We did learn from our transportation issues last time so we took a taxi home, and after a couple minute wait, it took us home pretty quickly for just over $10.

I had a couple of bad public transportation experiences on Friday, including missing the bus home from work and being passed by a full bus after the Mariners game. That didn't keep me from taking the bus the next morning, when getting around the city by bus was quite helpful and convenient.

Normally on Saturdays Lesley and I take the bus up the hill to get bagels, but her foot has been hurting so I went out by myself. I also needed to return a book to the library, so I took a bus downtown, walked a couple blocks to the library, dropped off my book and got another book.

Then I walked a few blocks to catch the bus that would take me to bagels. I made that bus without a wait. And, though the bus was kind of crowded, I found a seat next to a talkative fellow who was excited to show me the 40 of beer that he had with him. He was a friendly guy, so I got over my discomfort, and after just a few minutes I got off to go get bagels.

Just half a block away from the stop was Noah's bagels, where I got what I needed without much of a wait. Usually after we get bagels, Lesley and I just walk down the hill back home, but this time there was another bus arriving shortly, so I waited and took it back home. When I got to the apartment, the mail had already arrived for the day and we had received the new photos we had ordered to put on the wall.

I felt super productive having gotten a new book, picked up bagels and cream cheese, and our mail and all within just an hour. There's plenty to complain about regarding the urban environment and public transportation here, but I am happy when I'm able to take advantage of living in the city.

We took public transportation to the Mariners game on Friday, as we normally do. It's normally convenient enough to take a bus to the game and it isn't worth paying to park or take a cab.

We caught the bus a block from our apartment, got off downtown and went into the transit tunnel where we caught light rail without having to wait at all. Once we got off the train, we had to walk a few blocks to the stadium, but that gave us a chance to buy some cracker jacks and water for pretty cheap from a street vendor.

However, getting home after the game has always been a bit of an issue. Due to gameday traffic, bus routes around the stadium are rerouted, as we discovered one time after the game. There used to be a special bus that ran from Safeco Field to the retail core downtown, and it was easy to get home from there. However, that bus doesn't run anymore. In the past we've also just avoided the hassle of the buses and walked home since it isn't really that far, but that's an option I like more than Lesley does, and since her foot has been hurting, that wasn't an option Friday night.

We had planned to take the same way home that we had taken to the stadium. After the game, we had to wait several minutes before light rail arrived, but we were covered from the light rain, so it wasn't too bad. We took light rail into the tunnel and got off to transfer to one of three bus routes that would take us home.

Since it was late at night, buses weren't running very frequently anymore, so we had to wait a while before the next bus came. For some reason though, it was very full of people, maybe people from the game, though I'm not sure where they got on the bus. It was so full that it didn't even stop to let us on, unfortunately. That's happened to me a few times here, not very often, but it's always very frustrating when that happens. So, we had to wait another 10 minutes for the next bus to show up. That bus got pretty crowded after we got on, but it did take us home.

I'm not sure what we'll do after next Mariners game. I suppose taking a cab wouldn't be too expensive, but it shouldn't be so hard to get home from somewhere just 3 miles away. Unfortunately, the level of public transportation service here leaves something to be desired.

What does it mean when a sign says this: "Slower Traffic Keep Right"?

1. Go the same speed as everyone else


2. Stay in the left lane indefinitely, if you want to


3. Get out of the left lane unless you're passing someone


4. Speed limit 55


5. a, b, and d

The answer if you drive in Washington State is apparently e. At least that's what it appears to be any time I spend an extended amount of time on the freeway.

Note: This post was posted first at my Walking in Seattle blog.

Belltown is the densest part of the city outside of downtown and makes for a good place to walk. This route goes along the two most active streets in Belltown - 1st and 2nd Aves.


View Larger Map

Start at 1st and Virginia and head Northwest, parallel to Elliott Bay. This part of Belltown has the most shopping and, being close to downtown and Pike Place Market, is an easy starting point. Walking along either side of the street is fine, but the right side has several small parking lots that interrupt the streetscape.

The first parking lot you pass has a wall decorated with one of the larger graffiti-style urban art projects in Seattle (go here for pictures from the Hideous Belltown blog).

As you continue walking, you'll see lots of historic low-rise buildings and will pass more retail, including an Army/Navy Surplus Store. At Battery St, you'll pass over highway 99 and will have a view of Elliott Bay. On the other side of the street you'll see some more old Belltown buildings, including the Austin A Bell bldg from 1890.



Continue walking a few more blocks and turn right at Vine St. Vine St is a relatively narrow street lined with trees but without much for retail or dining. Vine isn't a major street, so you won't have a crosswalk or a traffic light when crossing Belltown's Avenues, so be careful. Pedestrians can legally cross any intersection, but some drivers may not know that. Unless you're doing this walk at a busy time of day, you should be able to cross easily during a break in vehicle traffic.

Turn left at 5th Ave and walk a block in parallel with the monorail. You'll arrive at Tilikum Place, a shaded outdoor plaza with a fountain, surrounded by a few places to stop and eat.



Feel free to stop and rest or continue and walk southwest along Cedar St. At 3rd Ave, you'll see a large mural on your right on the building of New Horizons Ministries.



Belltown has a diversity of architecture to enjoy. The buildings on the eastern side, away from the water, tend to be shorter and are less likely to be inhabited by any street-level retail or dining. As you continue towards the water, you'll see more recent development and high-rise condo buildings. We'll turn left at 2nd Ave toward downtown.

2nd Ave is a 3 lane street with relatively few traffic lights, so it does have some fast-moving vehicles. However, the parking and trees insulate help to insulate pedestrians from the street, and curb-bulbs at intersections make it feel a little safer to cross the avenue. As you continue southeast, you'll encounter more bars and restaurants, especially once you get to Battery St.

Feel free to stop at any one of these restaurants or bars for something to eat and drink, or stop for a game of pinball at Shorty's.

A few blocks more and we'll end our walk at 2nd Ave & Virginia, just a block away from where we started.

Highlights: continguous urban streetscape, density, restaurants and bars, stop and rest at Tilikum Place, coffee shops, diverse architecture, wide sidewalks

Lowlights: a few parking lots, some dead spots without much to look at, can be rough at night, not much retail outside of 1st Ave, lack of designated crosswalks

Note: I've started a blog called Walking in Seattle to share local walking-related news and stories as well as suggested walking routes. I posted the walk below on my Walking in Seattle blog and am re-posting it here for anyone who might be interested.


This is a short and easy walk through the downtown retail core - a great way to see the shopping that downtown has to offer and end up at Pike Place Market.


View Larger Map

Start at 5th Ave and University St downtown near the 5th Avenue Theatre and head northwest. The theatre had a new sign installed on December 3, 2009. The new sign is similar to the sign that was originally on the theatre when it opened in 1926 except the current sign uses energy-efficient LED bulbs.



Feel free to walk along either side of the street, though if I had to pick, I'd opt for the right side to avoid the Red Lion parking garage entrance and an area in front of the hotel where tourists gather. Though 5th Avenue can be busy with vehicle traffic, it is lined with trees that help insulate you from the street, as well as glass windowed stores that draw you in. This initial section of 5th Avenue has an upscale feel to it, with Gucci and Louis Vitton. When you reach 5th Ave and Pike Street, you'll see the Banana Republic on the north corner of the intersection.



Turn right on Pike St. You'll see the Washington State Convention Center ahead. Turn left on 6th Avenue. There is more shopping on this block and some places to eat. Continue for a block to Pine Street.

At Pine Street, you'll be in the middle of it all. This part of Seattle makes it feel like a big city. It seems there are always people walking here at any time of day. At this intersection you'll see Pacific Place mall and the flagship Nordstrom.

Turn left on Pine St. You'll pass by more retail stores, such as the GAP. There are also several entrances to the underground bus and light rail tunnel around this area. On your right will be Westlake Center. At Westlake Center you can take the Monorail to Seattle Center. The Westlake Center also has an outdoor plaza, which has the 2nd busiest Starbucks in North America. Up ahead you'll see Macy's (formerly the Bon Marché).



On the South side of the street is Westlake Park, which is often used by skateboarders and homeless. Cut through the park or turn left at 4th Avenue. On any weekend, you'll likely find people at 4th and Pine holding signs protesting Israel or encouraging you to come to God. And you'll be lucky to pass through this area without getting approached by someone with a clipboard representing a charity. You'll also likely pass by a few buskers and shoeshiners,

Turn right on Pike St and you'll be facing the "Public Market Center" sign of Pike Place Market. As you continue the few blocks to 1st Avenue, you'll pass a few shops and cafes. Our walking tour ends here in front of the market, but there is plenty more walking you can do there.

Finish at 1st Ave and Pike

Highlights: shopping, things to look at, people, excitement, places to eat at the market, street performers, tree-lined 5th ave, ending at Pike Place Market

Lowlights: intimidating big city feel, loiterers, a few underused areas of the streetscape, can be crowded

We take the bus about once a week, aside from when I take it to work, and the route we take most is route #8. We often take it to Capitol Hill (usually to get bagels on Saturday morning) and it also goes to Lower Queen Anne. However, despite being such a convenient route, it only runs every 30 minutes. Fortunately, starting on February 6, it will run every 15 minutes.

I think it's significantly more challenging to drive here than in Texas. Urban Seattle, a walkable, urban city is a much different driving environment than the open roads of sprawling Texas.

When driving in Texas, I hardly ever had to watch out for anything other than cars, but on any given street here there are lots of things to watch out for, like bicyclists and pedestrians. Many roads are used by bicyclists, so I have to give them room, especially when passing. And many arterial streets have a lot of crosswalks, so I have to watch out for people crossing the streets. And, aside from crosswalks, pedestrians technically have the right of way at any intersection. There are also relatively few protected turns, so when turning left, not only do I have to watch out for oncoming traffic, but once there are no more cars coming, I also have to make sure there are no bikes coming, and make sure there are no pedestrians in the crosswalk or about to enter the intersection. And turning right isn't that much easier.

Plus, on top of all that, there are many hours of darkness and frequent light rain in the winter, with the occasional snow dusting. And, there are also hills, some of which are really steep, which makes the whole thing more difficult. While Seattle follows a pretty standard grid pattern, a lot of streets are ended or diverted by hills or water, making it important to know which street takes you which way you want to go. And because many arterial streets aren't much wider than normal neighborhood streets, it's not always easy to figure out which way to go.

And the streets are pothole-riddled and loud. Plus some parts of the city have bad traffic (not that traffic in Texas is much better).

All these factors combine to make it challenging to drive around urban Seattle. Furthermore, with only a couple short driving trips per week, my driving skills may have declined somewhat. The good thing is that alternative means of transportation like walking, biking, and taking the bus are a lot less challenging here.

One of the things I love about my lifestyle here is how I have multiple ways of getting around. I love to walk and am glad that it's often a convenient mode of transportation. I've also come to really enjoy riding the bus - relaxing and looking out the window. And, I sometimes take the Streetcar, which is consistent, clean, and contemporary. Seattle also now has light rail, which is enjoyable to take. And, we still drive often enough, and I enjoy the freedom, comfort, and speed that driving can offer. I've also thought about getting a bicycle, which would give me another great way to go places.

I've realized that traveling by a variety of modes keeps each one a little exciting. There's not one perfect way to get around the city - it depends on where and when I'm going, how much time I have to get there, what the weather's like, and other factors too. It's nice having options, though.

I would become frustrated at being limited to one option, such as if I had to drive everywhere, or had to walk everywhere. It's tough to choose a favorite mode of transportation, they all have their advantages (and annoyances). While I have lots of options available, I'd probably say that walking is my favorite way to get around whenever it's a convenient option. What's your favorite mode of transportation if you could have convenient access to all these?

The best cities in the world have good public transportation, including Melbourne and Sydney. Each of them had extensive heavy rail networks. Melbourne had multiple train lines and hundreds of train stations connecting the whole area. Sydney's rail network was similarly sized.

One thing that Melbourne had was a great public tram system. We have a single streetcar line in Seattle and are talking about adding more, but Melbourne is way ahead of us. The trams serve the CBD very well and go outside of the CBD to serve the inner city, similarly to how buses would, but easier to access and with a dedicated right of way.

Sydney didn't have trams, which made it more difficult for us to get around the CBD. However, Sydney has a pretty extensive ferry network to serve a lot of areas along its harbor.

Surprisingly, both cities are fairly low-density outside of the CBD, and part of this is because of the extensive heavy rail networks, which have been place for more than a century, and allowed locals to live more than walking-distance away from the CBD. The heavy rail networks were very well used, though, and very extensive.

We didn't get a good taste of the bus system in either city, but Sydney had more buses because they didn't have trams.

Overall, public transportation was great over there. Seattle's definitely a smaller city, but our public transportation system is a far cry from the great systems of Melbourne and Sydney.

Seattle has been ranked the 5th most pedestrian-safe city in the country.There are lots of cities out there that are pretty unsafe for walking and around 5,000 pedestrians are struck by vehicles and killed each year. So, it's good that we're able to walk in a pretty safe city for walking considering how much walking we do.

I like riding the bus, but one of the things I had to get used to was the exposure to reality and interaction with real people. Normally the bus ride is pretty uneventful, but occasionally something interesting happens. Here are a few of the more interesting things that have occurred on the bus:

• Lesley and I were riding to the University District one weekend and there was a guy on the bus listening to a Walkman. He kept turning up the volume and bobbing his head and it seemed like he was really into the music. Every minute or so he'd say out loud "marijuana", as if he were singing along to the music. Kind of strange.


• The bus I take to work is normally pretty quiet, with people minding their own business on the way to work. This morning I wasn't reading my book yet when a man with messy white hair and a large, scruffy beard set down nearby. He then turned to me, and pointed at me, and asked, "Do you like steak?" Um, well, I didn't want one right then, I didn't know if he was going to give me one or something, so I said no. He looked a little confused, then started telling me that his friend was going to take him to the best steak place in town and saying that his friend orders a steak well-done with a salad with ranch dressing but he doesn't like the vegetables and something about Outback and that his friend doesn't even like the vegetables. He said a couple more things to me that I couldn't hear, but I nodded anyway, and then he got off at the next stop.


• On my way home one day I sat down next to someone and was reading my book. I noticed he was rapping quietly to himself and I tried to ignore me, though it seemed that he was rapping about me. So, anyway, we started talking and he explained that he's going to school at the U and decided a few months before that he wanted to be a rapper and that he had been spending his free time rapping so that he'd get better. He showed me one of the raps he had written and asked what I thought. Well, um, I'll just hope that he's still in school.


• Last summer, the bus was very crowded because of the high gas prices and there were some people standing up toward the front of the bus. I was seated in the middle of the bus on the way home when I heard some noise up towards the front. A couple people were arguing up front. Apparently some guy was accusing another of stealing his wallet and started throwing punches. It seemed like he was drunk or something and ther people on the bus were able to drag him off the bus.

I've mentioned before an interest in getting a bicycle but I've been somewhat deterred because bikes here seem expensive. And apparently Portland is the same way, as someone wrote of their experiences trying to find a cheap bike in Portland.

Still, what’s up with this bike micro-inflation? Why does there seem to be no market in Portland for used bikes that are actually cheap? Portland is otherwise a pretty cheap city. Beer is cheap. Used clothing is cheap. By major urban standards, housing is cheap too, unless you compare it to the strip-mall-type cities. And certainly there are plenty of people in town who can’t afford to spend $475 — never mind $1,000 — on a bike.

I asked a few people in town about this and got some general sense of agreement and common frustration: cheap bikes are impossible to find around here. The word on the street was that so many people are selling their cars (or taking their cars off the road) and using bikes to commute to work that there just aren’t enough bikes to go around.

Interestingly, he then looks at the median price for bikes and for cars on Craigslist and finds something very interesting:



Of a few sample cities, Seattle is the most expensive place to buy a bike from Craigslist (and the cheapest place to buy a car). There are lots of possibilities why the bike prices are higher here, but the cost of bicycles here seems to reflect the fact that lots of people (including me) want to have a bike to ride.

We've been riding public transportation since we moved here since it's usually more convenient than driving. We've ridden the buses, the Seattle Streetcar, the ferry, and now Link light rail. I used to have to buy ticket books for the bus at specified locations like Bartell or QFC. And sometimes I had to buy separate tickets at kiosks for the other modes of transportation.

So, Seattle came out with the ORCA card to pay for all these things much quicker and easier. It stands for "one regional card for all." I got an ORCA card online through their website and put money on it with my credit card. It was so easy and I didn't have to go to the store to get tickets or anything. We've had a few fare increases too, which meant that the tickets I bought weren't worth enough, so I would have to add a quarter to it a few times. With my ORCA card, I don't have to mess with carrying change with me. So far I've only used it twice, but I'm sure I'll use it again soon.

I've mentioned in the past how I really like being able to walk so many places here. However, South Lake Union is surrounded by highways and busy streets that make it discouraging to walk outside the neighborhood. Though there are some good walking areas very nearby, it's often necessary to walk a few blocks around a highway or cross a busy street. We can still walk pretty easily to a lot of things that are relatively nearby, but it's just not the ideal walkable area that I'd like to live in. For an idea of what I'm talking about, look at the map below:


The green are streets that are enjoyable to walk along.
The orange are streets that are busy and not the most fun to walk along
The red are streets that really suck to walk near
The black are roadways that we physically can't cross.

On the bright side, we are a 15 minute walk from the downtown retail district, closer to Capitol Hill and Lake Union, and from our place on the east side of South Lake Union, we can walk to Seattle Center, Lower Queen Anne, Belltown, or Pike Place Market in less that 30 minutes. So, overall we're in a pretty good location for walking, but the neighborhood just needs to be more seamlessly integrated with its surroundings.

This weekend Seattle became the 20th city in the US to have a light rail system when the city's first light rail line opened from downtown to Tukwila. It was free this weekend as part of the grand opening festivities, which also included musicians at some of the stations. About 51,000 people boarded the train Saturday, the first day of service, and this article does a great job of capturing the event.

We were among the 41,000 people who rode it Sunday. We didn't have anywhere in particular to go, we (particularly me) just wanted to ride it. We got on at the first station and were fortunate to find a seat. I really enjoyed the ride, which was very smooth, though parts of it were a little rougher than I expected. Sometime, we'll visit some of the areas surrounding the stations and will be able to take it to the airport after the line is extended this December. This morning, the train was mostly empty as I rode it toward work, though I had to get off and transfer to my regular bus.

For now, it's not useful to us on a regular basis. Still, I no longer have to be embarrassed that Seattle, with its environmentalist culture, doesn't lag behind so many other cities in the country anymore. In building this line of light rail, Seattle has started what will grow into a transportation network that befits the grown-up, worldly city that Seattle wants to be.

The roads here in Seattle are mostly asphalt and as I've mentioned before, they're often terrible. I talked to someone about it once and he said that every few years they'll repave the road with new asphalt but it only takes a few months for snow tires and ice to create cracks and bring back the same potholes that were there before.

Recently, though, the city has been repaving some of the major roads around here with concrete. As they were digging up the layers of asphalt, I noticed that these layers had just been laid on top of bricks, so the roads are pretty old. They had to remove these bricks to lay concrete and had a few lanes closed while doing one side of the street. The side they did in concrete was very smooth, so I was excited to see what things would look like when they finished both sides.

However, for some reason, it appears that they continued repaving these roads with asphalt. But, wait, why? Why didn't they just continue repaving with concrete? I don't know. Maybe they'll go back later and dig up the asphalt and finish repaving with concrete? Who knows. We don't drive that much, so it's actually not a big deal as long as they keep the sidewalks open, but I wonder why they'd ever use asphalt again.