Seattle or Vancouver?

[Wat_Tyler]

Poll question: Seattle or Vancouver?

Hmm?

[Magrittes Pipe]

1. Chicago.

[Wat_Tyler]

5. Nonsense.

Clearly Paisley, Scotland beats them all.

[XNASA]

2. I recognize Reykjavik....

...but are the others actual places? I've never heard of them.

[Wat_Tyler]

4. I think Douglas Coupland invented Vancouver BC for one of his books.

[XNASA]

9. That's the guy who nicks pop music culture for book titles?

Generation X, Eleanor Rigby, etc....?

[Wat_Tyler]

10. Pretty much. He regurgitates minutae as art.

I rather like it, but I could see where the problem might be.

[XNASA]

12. Any recommendations then?

I need to start a book in the next couple of days. Reading the paper every morning is giving me headache before I even stumble in the door.

[SnowGoose]

14. If you have any interest in Indian culture -

you might try "Mistress of Spices" by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni (and if that's spelled correctly, I warn you, I'll be strutting around insufferably).

As one reviewer put it, 'prose as colorful as a closetfull of saris.'

I just remember you recommending an Indian joint in Chicago, so thought you might be interested.

[XNASA]

25. Thank you.

I love Indian culture, especially the food, however colorful prose is not in my wheelhouse. I recently read Henry Miller and found his straight from/to the head, no holds barred style very comforting.

But I'll look it up and see if it's at the book store (I walk past a few on my way home) and check it out.

[Wat_Tyler]

16. As far as Coupland goes, my favourite was Girlfriend in a Coma.

Ever read any Iain Banks? I was just re-reading Espedair Street.

[XNASA]

26. Thanks again, Wat.

I'll see what I can see.

[kick-ass-bob]

3. Portland.

Maine.

[Flaxbee]

6. Helsinki, Finland!

nt

[Us vs Them]

7. Go to Vancouver

at least one in your life. It has the best vibe - I didn't want to leave.

[SnowGoose]

21. My wife and I seriously considered emmigrating there...

it seems to have just the right mix of big/small town flavor, plus just enough nature closeby to keep you feeling human.

One of my favorite things was going down to the beach by Stanley Park to sit on the big old logs with hundreds of other people and just watching the sunset (and then walking back to the Banana Leaf for a Malaysian Food ass-whoopin).

But, I guess it's just not as cheery as Detroit, so we stayed.

[Lautremont]

8. I do like Vancouver,

but I had to throw mine in with Reykjavik. It's a wonderous place.

[Locut0s]

11. As a Vancouverite how could I vote for anything else?

Best place on earth, or close to it :)

[RevolutionaryActs]

13. Dude Vancouver Washington is what it's all about...

:+

[CanuckAmok]

15. I'd take Seattle over Vancouver, anyday!

Seattle: thriving arts scene, beautiful architecture, dining, clubs... great antique stores. Young, hip vibe, the Mariners...etc...

Vancouver: junkies, nowhere to park, my ex lives there.

Although Vancouver has Stanley Park, the most beautiful urban park in the world.

I think Seattle should buy Stanley Park and move it to Everett.

[Zuni]

17. Seattle is really nice to visit

honestly, one of the nicest cities I have been to.

Vancouver has decriminalized marijuana, but it also has ALOT of junkies. My buddy saw a girl sitting on a sidewalk downtown with a fucking needle in her arm, acting like nothing unusual was going on

[CanuckAmok]

18. Yes, the junkies are ruining Vancouver.

It's not the city it was even ten years ago... and they were at least concentrated in one area before, but now they're brazen (and desperate) enough to go anywhere they can. You will find used fits in every neighbourhood in the city... schoolyards, peoples' yards, library washrooms... it's pandemic.

[UrbScotty]

19. How many Democrats are there in Vancouver? Maybe a dozen? (nt)

[yvr girl]

22. There's a lot of Americans here

and I would say they lean left.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

20. Nairobi

[Danmel]

23. Coincidentally, we vacationed in both this past summer

I liked them both, but Vancouver really does have a serious homeless/drug problem. We went with our kids and they felt very uneasy and threatened by the constant and unrelenting panhandling.

Now I live in the suburbs of NYC and I grew up in Brooklyn and we go into Manhattan a lot.I worked in Manhattan for 12 years starting in 1975, when the city's economic situation was very very bad (remember Ford to NY, Drop Dead?) And even in the worst days of NYC crime and homelessness (before they started hiding the homeless people somewhere- I'm still trying to figure out where they've gone), it was nowhere near as consistent as it was in Vancouver- it was not a pleasant thing, and I don't mean to sound insensitive to people's plights. These were menacing people, aggressive and really really strung out.

That said, the area is very beautiful- Seattle was nice too- a little small, a lot wet and a not very efficient mass transit system. And it was pretty dead at night (unless we just didn't know where to go- being accompanied by a 14 year and 10 year old is not conducive to night clubbing!)

Hard to pick, so I'll go with Reykjavik, which has glaciers and the whole country has fewer than 300,000 people, so I bet the air is good and the night sky is beautiful!

[FrankBooth]

24. Having lived in both Vancouvers and Seattle

I give the slight edge to Seattle. Vancouver is great though, and much more cosmopolitan than Seattle. And the women are amazing!

Vancouver, WA, is an armpit, and Portland is overrated and boring as hell.