The Fight for the Soul of Seattle

[kingfin66]

Originally Posted by 46zilzal

Ever since Longacres closed

This comment makes zero sense. Seattle... since Longacres closed. Longacres closed in 1992. It was not even in Seattle. There is no correlation between it closing and the homeless and opioid crises in Seattle.

[kingfin66]

Originally Posted by Greyfox

I only watched the first few minutes of the video and it showed all I needed to see.
The Democratic Mayor and his Council are idiots.
Back in the '60's none of that crap would be tolerated.
In fact, Mayor Daley of Chicago had a "shoot to kill" order for looters and arsonists.
I've scratched Seattle off my bucket list of places to visit.

By the way, they get a new NHL team there in 2021.
Why would any fans go downtown to their new arena?

One minor correction. The "new" hockey arena is actually the "old" Coliseum. It is located in Seattle Center (Space Needle area) north of downtown.

[kingfin66]

Originally Posted by ultracapper

Seattle is a disaster. It really is turning into a model example of irresponsible progressivism. A progressivism that is shoved down the throats of the populous by people that can't be described as anything but hypocrites. The distancing between those on the higher rungs of the ladder and those on the lower rungs is alarming. I'm not just talking about economically either. There are the righteous at the top, and those of us down below that need to be continually reminded what is just, or moral, or ethical, or open minded, which is just another way of saying, politically correct. Political correctness here has become the fundamental litmus test of who you are here in Seattle, and if you don't measure up, you are compromised socially and economically. This city truly is an accelerating downward spiraling society, that will become more and more difficult to correct or save. There is fear in speaking open common sense or dissenting from the cultural lines that have been drawn. It wouldn't surprise me if, in due time, there were to be open violence in this city, a violence that many residence in this city would silently agree with. A violence that would be carried out, encouraged, and appreciated, by both ends of the political spectrum.

I've been here all my life, and it's heartbreaking what has happened to this city. It is a display of irresponsible leftist thinking, and most of the resulting casualties are people that "we all want to help, the downtrodden and unfortunate." They are everywhere, in the city, in the neighborhoods, and in the suburbs. And it seems, aside from feeling terrible for all these unfortunate people, there isn't a whole lot being done about the situation. So, a once beautiful city, a once special place to live, is decaying, step by step, into a crap hole.

You are definitely right about this. I have lived in the area for the majority of my life, including several years in West Seattle. The Seattle City Council is a collection of lunatics who, sadly, are unlikely to ever be voted out of office, or into any type of politically balanced group. They are certain to drive Amazon out of town, and probably sooner than later.

[kingfin66]

Originally Posted by baconswitchfarm

I don't feel like i am going to have the free time to travel the world and ask all seven billion people what they each prefer as their personal pronoun. I may just start calling everyone boss or chief and let the rest of you sort it out.

Don't forget pal, buddy and guy.

[TJDave]

Originally Posted by kingfin66

Don't forget pal, buddy and guy.

The secret is to be old and retired. Then you can call them whatever you want.

[thaskalos]

That's why I opted to move to Las Vegas. It had no "soul" to begin with.

[Dave Schwartz]

Originally Posted by kingfin66

Say Dave, how is Reno these days. The last time I was there it too had turned into a shit hole much like my beloved Seattle. Hopefully it has improved; it couldn't have gotten much worse. Not sure who is in charge there, liberals or conservatives.

Wow.

Your experience is way different than mine.

Definitely not a shit hole. No clue what you are referencing.


Low crime.
Low congestion.
Low pollution.
No longer a true casino economy.
Best low cost food in the country.
(Of course, food doesn't matter today, right?)

Tough place to make a living if you're an hourly employee.

The state is liberal but Reno is only a bit of a left-leaning government.

[kingfin66]

Like I said, it has been a while since I was there. I once went every spring for the opening round of March Madness. It was a cool town. Gradually, the small casinos closed, businesses were boarded up. There was a huge homeless population in and around downtown. Walking from downtown to the nearby Sands was a frightening gauntlet. I finally could take it no more and stopped going. It is good if things are better there.

I just thought I would check in with you since you happened to post in this thread and I know that you reside in Reno.

[PaceAdvantage]

Originally Posted by kingfin66

This comment makes zero sense. Seattle... since Longacres closed. Longacres closed in 1992. It was not even in Seattle. There is no correlation between it closing and the homeless and opioid crises in Seattle.

He's a doctor....whaddaya want from him?

Accuracy? Solid reasoning?

[kingfin66]

Originally Posted by thaskalos

That's why I opted to move to Las Vegas. It had no "soul" to begin with.

If I recall correctly, there is no need for the homeless in Las Vegas to reside in tents throughout the city because of the availability of the storm drain network underneath the city. I watched a fascinating documentary about it.

[ultracapper]

Originally Posted by kingfin66

Like I said, it has been a while since I was there. I once went every spring for the opening round of March Madness. It was a cool town. Gradually, the small casinos closed, businesses were boarded up. There was a huge homeless population in and around downtown. Walking from downtown to the nearby Sands was a frightening gauntlet. I finally could take it no more and stopped going. It is good if things are better there.

I just thought I would check in with you since you happened to post in this thread and I know that you reside in Reno.

Walking from Fitzgeralds or the El Dorado to the Sands way back in the 80s was a scary 3 block walk. Couple of real tough looking hole in the wall bars on that street.

[Dave Schwartz]

Originally Posted by kingfin66

Like I said, it has been a while since I was there. I once went every spring for the opening round of March Madness. It was a cool town. Gradually, the small casinos closed, businesses were boarded up. There was a huge homeless population in and around downtown. Walking from downtown to the nearby Sands was a frightening gauntlet. I finally could take it no more and stopped going. It is good if things are better there.

I just thought I would check in with you since you happened to post in this thread and I know that you reside in Reno.

Ah. Yes, the downtown area - especially the old casino part - is definitely blighted.

There's some rejuvenation but like a lot of downtown areas, better days are in the past, possibly to never return.

But the area you're describing is not ALL derelict. Of course, it's not an area where you'd typically be walking at night. I'll give you that.

Old casinos are so difficult to reclaim except as... well, new casinos. And that's not going to happen as Reno is just no longer JUST a casino town.

[davew]

Is the UNR still using a Circus Circus tower as a dormitory?

Downtown Reno is not a typical downtown as it does not have the other commerce usually seen.

[Dave Schwartz]

Originally Posted by davew

Is the UNR still using a Circus Circus tower as a dormitory?

Downtown Reno is not a typical downtown as it does not have the other commerce usually seen.

That was temporary while building a new dorm. Of course, now nobody is using anything, so no.
(At least not that I am aware of.)

The downtown businesses have all moved to an over-the-river sector called "Mid-Towne." South of the Truckee River, between Virginia Street & Center Street. Very trendy, designed for the millennial crowd.

The city offered all kinds of incentives to get businesses there and then... wait for it... 2 years in, started a TWO-YEAR BUILDING PROJECT!

The roads were completely torn up. Dirt road, single lane for quite a while. Put 2/3s of those new businesses under as well as a significant number of long-time businesses on S. Virginia.

This is the biggest weakness in Reno: poor leadership at the top. Not completely bad, but they make enough significant mistakes to cause big problems.

And some of them are legendary.

Like we had only one movie chain in town. So, they offered Galaxy Theaters riverfront property for $1 and loaned them the money to build the theater. The only stipulation was that they couldn't sell for (I believe) 5 years. Might have been 10.

What happened? At 5 years and a day they sold to the original competitors. Difficult to imagine that somebody didn't... uh... get compensated for their stupidity.


Reno Aces Ballpark
They loaned them the money - I believe $30m - to build the park. They were going to recoup it from sales tax revenues.

Long story short, when times got hard, the company said, "Can't make the payments. You'll have to take the payments out of the sales tax."

We should be even about the time that stadium is ready for a rebuild. GAIN=0.

[Tom]

Originally Posted by kingfin66

This comment makes zero sense. Seattle... since Longacres closed. Longacres closed in 1992. It was not even in Seattle. There is no correlation between it closing and the homeless and opioid crises in Seattle.

And yet they still call him "doctor!"

Merry Christmas my friend!