It's off to 425
Jul. 6th, 2006 08:30 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
susandennisI have a meeting this morning in Redmond so I'm off to what most folks around here call the East Side or what ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
jimcarson calls 425. (Seattle's telephone area code is 206. The East Side's is 425.)
I had never been to Seattle before the weekend I came here to find a place to live. I found one that weekend and then went back to San Jose for a week to collect my shit and moved up here. I was not too familiar with the territory. I worked a mile from my house so I got that mile down pretty quickly but the rest was still a mystery.
After work one night that first month, one of the guys asked me out for a drink. We were chatting away and he asked me where I lived and I told him and then asked him. He said that he lived on the East Side but that was only because he had a family and found a deal when he first moved here and the just stayed. I had no idea what the East Side even was but the way he said it made it sound like there was definitely something less than desirable and maybe a little embarrassing about the East Side.
I had several maps of Seattle and looked on them to see if I could pinpoint this Place To Avoid. But I got no clues. If you look at Seattle on a map and then you look east, you basically see the rest of the country. And, that turns out to be not that far from the truth.
The East Side is the land east of a giant lake that lies along side Seattle. Across that lake lies some extremely toney neighborhoods and some fairly large city-suburbs. They definitely lack the flavor of Seattle. (And many 425ers will work hard to convince you that this is a good thing.) You could pick them up and put them down east of Atlanta and not tell the difference. Also over there is Microsoft.
And that's where I'm headed this morning. My meeting isn't until 10 but traffic is always a mess so I leave early and get there early and play Bedazzel on my Treo until it's time to go in.
jimcarson calls 425. (Seattle's telephone area code is 206. The East Side's is 425.)I had never been to Seattle before the weekend I came here to find a place to live. I found one that weekend and then went back to San Jose for a week to collect my shit and moved up here. I was not too familiar with the territory. I worked a mile from my house so I got that mile down pretty quickly but the rest was still a mystery.
After work one night that first month, one of the guys asked me out for a drink. We were chatting away and he asked me where I lived and I told him and then asked him. He said that he lived on the East Side but that was only because he had a family and found a deal when he first moved here and the just stayed. I had no idea what the East Side even was but the way he said it made it sound like there was definitely something less than desirable and maybe a little embarrassing about the East Side.
I had several maps of Seattle and looked on them to see if I could pinpoint this Place To Avoid. But I got no clues. If you look at Seattle on a map and then you look east, you basically see the rest of the country. And, that turns out to be not that far from the truth.
The East Side is the land east of a giant lake that lies along side Seattle. Across that lake lies some extremely toney neighborhoods and some fairly large city-suburbs. They definitely lack the flavor of Seattle. (And many 425ers will work hard to convince you that this is a good thing.) You could pick them up and put them down east of Atlanta and not tell the difference. Also over there is Microsoft.
And that's where I'm headed this morning. My meeting isn't until 10 but traffic is always a mess so I leave early and get there early and play Bedazzel on my Treo until it's time to go in.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-06 03:34 pm (UTC)Ya just never know what the bridges will bring and driving around via Southcenter is never a good option.
Seattle traffic = Ugghs
(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-06 06:45 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-07-06 07:06 pm (UTC).
Yeah, well: I am one of those Seattleites who believes that the East Side is particularly devoid of personality.
And I hate the roads. I'm sure drivers love them, but as a walker, they are all so wide they make me almost agoraphobic!
.
.
I'd kill for a decent coffee shop that's not a major chain
Date: 2006-07-06 10:21 pm (UTC)What drove us from 206 to 425 was the price of housing. My budget would only afford a two bedroom one bath "needs TLC" in Seattle. So, I went for the cookie-cutter, where I can paint my house any color I want to, as long as it's among the five standard colors, is signed off by neighbors, and approved by the homeowner's association.