My Big New City

The date was 1/1/11 (there's really no reason to tell you this other then the fact that I think that it looks cool when I write it out) and the streets were still frozen as Rachel and I drove our uHaul with volvo in tow into Seattle. At this point is was still barely a month from the day decided to move from Ashland Or to Seattle Wa. While the previous month had been a whirl-wind of emotion and crazy days putting the plan into action it hadn't prepared me for the move.

I've never lived in a big city before. I lived in the Portland area but anyone who knows where Newberg is knows that I didn't live in Portland. And even still, Portland is not as big as Seattle, so it's a hard comparison. I've never thought of myself as city person. Moving from a town of 20,000 people to a major US city is a huge change.

Luckily for me Seattle is well distributed and is comprised of a lot of little neighborhoods. Most of the neighborhoods are separated by water. Now this is good for two different reasons. It's good because it's fairly easy to learn a couple lakes and/or canals so you have a visual reference of where you are. The other reason it is good is drawbridges! I love watching the drawbridges going up and down, and the big ships going through them. It's so cool!

So far I've been super impressed with Seattle's promotion of cycling. Primarily the focus is centered around commuting via bike and the city has done a good job of creating bike-paths, sharrows, and throughways for cyclist throughout and around the entire city. This means that I can get around on my bike super easily and most of the time faster then automobile drivers. It doesn't always make for the most intriguing training ride, but it does allow for safe training in the urban environment.

It's taking a while to adjust to the city lifestyle. There is 8x as much stuff coming at you at all times then I am use to, you have to pay for parking, and there is real crime! But there is also a lot to do, great food, and we have a baseball team, football team, and pro soccer team!

Seattle is a beautiful city. With the sound, the lakes, the canal, the olympic mountain range to the west and the cascades to the east, and the night lights of the sky-scrappers there is endless views. I am definitely starting to feel at home in my big new city!