Seattle: Locational Identity

    Throughout my travels to various cities, both big and small, I have noticed that each individual city carries its own identity. Smaller cities tend to have a very strong community feel, holding every person together. Big cities tend to have this fast paced feel, as if everyone who enters them is immediately immersed into this big movie with the fast forward button being held down.

    I recently visited the city of Seattle. Although Seattle is a fast paced city, it also carries another identity. When walking through the streets of the city, I felt that the identity that fit Seattle best was one of the "hippie" type of style. Most people residing in the city were very eco-conscious. Location may be one factor to the cities unique identity. Being so close to the ocean and the surrounding mountains, residents of Seattle can see firsthand the effects of not taking care of the environment. The city streets were crowded with bustling people. These people constantly walked from their homes to work daily. Public transportation within certain city limits was free. This persuaded people to use the bus system instead of driving everywhere.

    Downtown there was Pike's Place Market. Here fresh vegetables, fruits, fish, and homemade crafts were sold. Walking around in this area, an aroma of the ocean was prevalent. These local venders relied on the constant stream of customers to keep their home derived specialties in progress. That being said, the people that called the market their job were talented at what they did. The best nectarine I have ever had was from the market. Upon returning home, nectarines that I would usually consider good, just didn't taste quite right.

    Seattle is known for rain. Not what I would consider as rain in the Midwest, because in Seattle the sky only mists; as in walking around in the "rain" is a fairly dry activity. Mysteriously enough, the days I spent in Seattle were sunny. This perfect sky situation, allowed me to try out some of Seattle's outdoor activities, which help to further the eco-conscious vibe within the city. One such activity included paddle boarding. Being so far north, Seattle's viciously cold water is far from fun to fall into after slipping off of a paddle board. Multiple times when trying to stand up, I found myself landing in the water and frantically scrambling to resume a dry and warmer position on my board. As an aspiring marine biologist myself, I was able to quickly cross off working without a wet suit in Seattle, if that is where I decide to work.

    Visiting Seattle exposed me to a city identity, focused on furthering their positive environmental impact. From this I believe everyone can learn that although one person can take a stand and be a role model, sometimes it takes a community to help others grow in awareness.