I’m out in Shoreline, in the northern part of Seattle’s sprawl. I feel like I’m in an alien place.
I grew up near the edge of where New Orleans shades into suburbs, a short bus or bicycle ride away from downtown. As I grew older I moved to one of the coastal cities that LA has enveloped, then in the center of the suburbiest suburbs in the world: Burbank.
I always felt stranded in Burbank. Suburbs aren’t made for people who don’t drive. And I’ve never learnt how.
When my exes and I moved from Boston to Seattle, we ended up in its suburbs. After the breakup I ended up in the University District, a resolutely urban area. Not quite the high rises of downtown, but a place full of streets with sidewalks, tightly-packed apartments, and parks. A place you can walk to most of your needs.
Now I’m walking down the side of a busy road full of cars. I just don’t feel like I belong out here. This place isn’t built for humans to move through; it’s built for cars.
Im sure I’ll enjoy the party I’m here for. But I’ll be glad to be back home in a place I can get around.
Yeah going out to the suburbs is always so jarring here. Kent is similarly awful.