"Seattle! Emerald City, indeed... " a Seattle Travel Page by gilescorey

I have a friend in the Broadway cast of "Shrek! The Musical", and decided to pop up to Seattle for the previews, rather than do the long journey to NYC from Los Angeles.

Hey, I'd never been to Seattle and this seemed like the ideal long weekend.

I spent two nights in two different hotels, and the rest of the time crashing in Queen Anne.

Without a doubt, Seattle is a city on the rise.

Downtown is rife with cranes, condo conversions, boutiques, returning young professionals, and fleeting images of the destitute being forced out of the central city. Where Seattle has an advantage over similarly sized cities is in it's compact geography. Downtown's rebirth provides an anchor to surrounding neighborhoods that feel remarkably integrated to the city as a whole - regardless of the 5 Freeway gap and the abominable Alaskan Way elevated roadway.

Expand mass transit, take down Alaskan Way(in the works) and cap the freeway with parkland(my suggestion), and few cities will be able to compete on livability and scenic superiority. From the waterfront to the hilly neighborhoods ringing the core, Seattle will be an urban model.

Unfortunately, I'm not the only person aware of Seattle's potential. I was shocked by how expensive Seattle is: the housing prices, rental and otherwise, are astronomical. The dining, and entertainment scenes don't yet justify such high demands, but I'd wager developers see the future of Seattle in the same way I do. Thus, housing is outrageous, already.