Pittsburgh and Seattle share more than just rain

The first word that comes to mind when the average person thinks about Seattle may be the same… The first word that comes to mind when the average person thinks about Seattle may be the same one that comes to mind when he or she thinks about Pittsburgh: rain.

What may come as a surprise to most is that – according to www.seattle.gov, the official Web site of Seattle – the northwestern city is not the rainiest city in the country, but instead trails New York and Atlanta.

“I don’t think that anyone thinks that we have the most rain,” said Susan Gilmore, a news writer for the Seattle Times. “But we do get a lot of rain. That’s why our new baseball stadium has a retractable roof on it.”

According to Gilmore, the city was recently only a few days short of setting a record for the most consecutive rainy days.

Joni Balter, a Seattle resident for almost 30 years, couldn’t help noting the extensive rain that the city has been experiencing this year.

“It rained for about six weeks,” Balter said. “We might as well get the record so we have something to show for it.”

Despite all the rain that the city has been experiencing, there is one thing that Balter said that she would never do, even though it may seem to some like the obvious option to combat the rain.

“I would never be caught dead with an umbrella,” Balter said. “Usually it’s just a mist and not a heavy downpour. It’s something that you can’t imagine and I couldn’t imagine it until I came here. Umbrellas are for wimps, although my husband uses one and he’s not a wimp.”

Balter moved to Seattle from Pittsburgh. She said that there are very striking differences between the two cities.

“They are different cities because of histories,” Balter said. “Pittsburgh is older and, because of its history with steel, I believe that it has already reached its peak and is now trying to reinvent itself. Seattle is a much younger city and doesn’t really know where it is going yet.”

The residents of the cities also have different mentalities, according to Balter.

“In general your business is your business in Seattle,” she said. “In Pittsburgh people tell you how it is done. Here, nobody, well not nobody because I do have a nebby neighbor, but for the most part, nobody tells you what to do. It is live and let live.”

Seattle, like Pittsburgh, is a city full of universities that draw in students from around the country.

Travis McCoy, a sophomore at the University of Washington, is originally from Colorado.

“There’s a huge amount of diversity here,” McCoy said. “It’s an open-minded city. It’s a very liberal city which I think draws in a lot of students.”

McCoy also noted that there are a lot of job opportunities available within the city.

Gilmore also attended the University of Washington and then returned to the city in 1978 with her husband. She has lived in the city ever since and is quite content with it.

“Location is the biggest draw for people,” Gilmore said. “The location, the mountains, the water, it’s beautiful here when it’s not raining. Mount Rainier hovers above the city. You can see it on nice days.”

Seattle is the home of Starbucks, Microsoft and Pearl Jam. According to Gilmore, it is also home to the nation’s largest ferry system. Like Pittsburgh, Seattle is a city built around water.

According to the seattle.gov, 41 percent of the area within the city limits is water and it has over 150 operational bridges.

“Seattle has the look of an hourglass,” Balter said. “On one side is Puget Sound and the other side is Lake Washington.”

According to Balter, downtown Seattle is found in the western part of the hourglass. The downtown is then surrounded by neighborhoods that are mostly filled with single-family homes.

“Seattle is very much a culturally active city,” McCoy said. “There is an open public market downtown where you can find anything from produce to artisan knick-knacks. It is one of most popular spots in downtown.”

Seattle is also a haven for outdoor enthusiasts.

“A lot of people go hiking in summer,” Gilmore said. “Lots of people ski. We’ve had an amazing amount of snow this year because of all the rain.”