45 Best Things About Living In Seattle

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Does your city have a giant pink elephant giving itself a bath?

1. You get to sleep on the ferry during your morning commute.

2. Two words: Vivace Espresso.

3. Every apartment turns into a beautiful building covered in ivy and shade from lush trees in the summer.

4. Roundabouts everywhere > stop signs everywhere.

5. Seattle is where Starbucks was born, and still has the world’s first Starbucks (be quiet, you love it).

6. You can see Mt. Ranier — a 14,000 FT. volcano — from downtown.

7. It has a giant, celebrated statue of a Russian communist leader in Fremont, one of its most popular neighborhoods.

8. And a giant troll eating an old VW punchbuggy.

9. It’s part of Cascadia, which is the most badass region on the planet. Also, there’s a Cascadian Independence Movement.

10. There’s not as much pressure to get every new iPhone that comes out every month.

11. Washington is one of twelve U.S. states where same-sex marriage is legal.

12. And this is what Gay Pride looks like in Seattle.

13. And this.

14. And Microsoft — one of the biggest companies to come out of the Seattle area — is obsessed.

15. The Crescent.

16. Does your city have a giant pink elephant giving itself a bath?

17. You can always find a big bag of greasy Dick’s.

18. During the hottest summer days you can cool off in this huge public fountain in Lower Queen Anne.

19. The Ballard Farmer’s Market is amazing.

20. Kurt.

21. Seattle’s independent weekly The Stranger regularly throws “reading parties,” where people gather together for the simple purpose of reading books.

22. Cafe Ladro. Awesome espresso, awesome locations around the greater Seattle area.

23. If it snows enough, Denny — one of Seattle’s main streets — shuts down and turns into a wild sledding party (no one has sleds, so there’s a lot of improvisation).

24. It has the best laptop cafe in America — Victrola on 15th.

25. There are beautiful hidden stairways all over the city.

26. Volunteer Park in the summertime.

27. The downtown public library.

28. THE BINS, where you can get vintage clothes by the pound (and which Macklemore used for his video).

29. You can take a day trip to and hike up Mt. Si.

30. The view from upper Queen Anne.

31. IVAR’S.

32. Every year, The Stranger holds an amateur porn film festival for all sexualities called Hump!, which is widely visited and celebrated by the local community, and typically held in the heart of one of Seattle’s major neighborhoods, Queen Anne.

33. The San Juan islands.

34. Orcas <3 Seattle.

35. It’s just a few hours away from Vancouver.

36. Seattle has a real-life, crime-fighting superhero (Phoenix Jones).

37. Molly Moon’s.

38. It has an awesome community college — Seattle Central Community College — which also serves as a neighborhood hub for events and, in the summer, hosts an awesome farmer’s market.

39. KEXP, the world’s best public radio station.

40. Nearby La Push.

41. Gasworks park.

42. Sunset downtown, at Pier 55.

43. The view from The Lookout on Capitol Hill.

44. Love him or hate him, Macklemore’s a Seattle-area native.

45. Fireworks over Lake Union on the 4th of July. [tc-mark]