There are definitely times, when I look around at Seattle, and I am sadden by the negative outcomes of Amazon moving into the neighborhood, impacts of climate change, architecture treasures being torn down for high-rises, standstill traffic, pollution causing poor air quality, and higher cost of living; however, as someone who implements Pro/Con Lists for most things, the pros still outnumber the cons immensely. Lately, I read the book Seattleness: A Cultural Atlas, and I was surprised by how much I did not know about the past and present-day Seattle. Per the author's intent, "Seattleness will nudge you in countless ways and challenge you to see the city and region through new, crisp, and yes, sometimes even warped lenses." Through the maps, charts, diagrams, illustrations, and photography in the book, the reader will learn about 50 real and strange narratives about my beloved city, Seattle. Below are some of my favorite gems of knowledge gained:
- Gray Anatomy
- Sherwin-Williams has produced multiple paint colors based on the city's pale pallor (Seattle Gray, Seattle Mist, and just plain Seattle).
- On average, Seattle has 240 days of cloud cover
- Mountain Morphology
- Top six mountains in Washington State: Mount Rainier, Mount Adams, Mount Baker, Glacier Peak, Bonanza Peak, and Mount Stuart
- 10 volcanoes in the state
- Raising Seattle
- In January 2017, there were 62 construction cranes in the city, whereas San Francisco had 22.
- Saucers in the Sky
- The first ever so-called UFO sighting happened near Mount Rainier in 1947.
- Today, people in Washington report UFO sightings at a higher per capita rate than any other state, about 300 per year.
- National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC) is headquartered in Seattle, and sightings can be reported to their hotline at 206-722-3000.
- Aw, Shucks!
- The state of Washington is the only state in the United States that grows all five major edible oyster species.
- A Damn Fine Cup of Coffee
- Seattle and its suburbs contain over a thousand coffee shops, more than a dozen coffee roasters, and many businesses related to coffee sourcing, logistics, and equipment.
- Top shops are: Starbucks, Top Pot Doughnuts, Cherry Street Coffee House, Caffe Ladro, Tully's Coffee, Uptown Espresso, Caffe Vita, and Gourmet Latte.
- Sasquatch Sightings
- Bigfoot Field Researchers Organizations, since 1995, it has collected reports from all over the world, and the largest number comes from Washington State (over 600 sightings from as early as 1812).
- Humble Beginnings of Seattle Public Library
- The current library was built in 2004, and cost $165,900,000.
- Literary Seattle
- Seattle has ranked in the top-three most literate cities from 2003 to 2016. Rankings are based on six key indicators of literacy: number of bookstores, educational attainment, internet resources, library resources, periodical publishing resources, and newspaper circulation.
- Ferried Way
- In 2016, Washington State Ferries carried more than 24 million people and ten million vehicles across the waters.
- City Microclimates
- Seattle ranks only forty-fourth for annual precipitations among US major cities.
- Experiences an average of around 38 inches annually.
- Area experiences 152 rainy days a year.
- Seattle's average weather patterns by month (number of rainy days)
- January =20
- February =15
- March =17
- April =10
- May =7
- June =6
- July =3
- August =5
- September =8
- October =11
- November =20
- December= 23
- Welcome to Seattle
- From 2010 to 2016 the state grew 8.5% compared to California's 5.4% and New York's 2%.
- Seattle growth was 15.7%, whereas, San Francisco and New York experienced only 5% growth.
- In 2016 and 2017, Seattle's average home price increased by 13.4%, landing at $750,000.
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