Seattle and I are having a spat and it may be an unreconcilable differences sort of situation. I will start this digression with a list of why we love/loved Seattle/West Seattle:
- Like a village in the middle of a city
- Nature, water & mountain view right out the door
- Super convenient to downtown, sports, shopping, events
- 21 minute commute to work – almost no traffic
- Amazing Parks
- Terrific year-round Farmer’s Market
- A real French bakery
- Light Rail is coming
- 10 minutes from the Airport
- Low Crime
- Trader Joes, Whole Foods, Thriftway, The Beer Junction, Safeway and some fantastic restaurants for food options.
- Ferry and Vashon Island access
- Alki Beach
- Affordable
- A sense of community
- Fantastic small shops and coffee houses
That is a great list huh? Why would I be upset? What has my undies in a twist? Well:
- 6.01 miles = 59m25s… My 12 minute “normal” commute to downtown is now an hour due to the West Seattle Bridge being out.
- This was not rush hour. It was a Saturday afternoon at lunch time.
- My commute to work is now 45m to 1h any time of day. Longest commute so far for the 11-mile trip to Kent: 1h47m.
- The West Seattle Bridge closure and access in general is a fiasco.
- The light rail will not happen in West Seattle until 2035
- My car tabs now cost $920 a year for two cars
- Our police are swamped dealing with protests, autonomous zones, and interference from our HIGHLY paid city council (Among the nation’s 40 largest cities, only Los Angeles pays its council more according to a survey by The Seattle Times. Seattle ranks 23rd in population, according to the Census Bureau.)
- Property crime is zooming upward
- Everyone on our side of the street has had something stolen out of their car or yard in the last 8 months.
- Our City Council is talking about defunding the police AND not prosecuting non-violent crime if the person committing the offence is “stealing for food.” How is that enforceable? Do they have to keep the food receipts?
- Building planning and permitting is a nightmare for a home owner.
- Long delays, constantly shifting zoning, weird ADU and garage rules that change every 2 years, high minimum fees, etc…
- My property tax has DOUBLED since we bought our home it went up $700 yearly in the last two years alone.
- A population and housing boom that has led to parking problems all over the peninsula due to City Planning forgoing the requirement for on-site parking in many of the new apartment buildings.
- I live in the city and I HAVE to have a generator. My power goes out for 24+ hours 2-3 times a year. It is an infrastructure issue that is long overdue to be fixed.
- The homeless crisis is not being addressed effectively at any level of city government. There have been assaults, property damage, and an exploding rodent population due to the lack o sanitary facilities, waste disposal.
- The hassle of transportation and craziness at city hall has us looking at other communities in which to pay our taxes.