but i think it is unfair to say the central district is “sketchy.” first off, the CD is so big and has so many different areas it is silly to generalize it as a whole. some of the nicest houses with the best views i’ve seen are in the CD, which is rapidly gentrifying for a reason. there are unique places to go, like central cinema, no shortage of supermarkets, and like it’s name suggests, it is close to a lot of fun places without the hassle of having to actually live in those neighborhoods, like cap hill (but without the panhandlers) lake washington (doesn’t get any prettier than that), montlake and the arboretum, close to the u-dist, etc. and what does sketchy even mean, anyway? try living in LA or NY or pretty much any other city and tell me how the CD is sketchy. besides, there is never a shortage of police in the area if you don’t feel safe!

As far as neighborhoods go, the Central District is probably the most skechy of neighborhoods, though it has its own charm, I suppose. For close proximity to downtown, I think Queen Anne is the way to go. It’s a little pricey, but you have unlimited amenities and interesting nightlife.

Thanks for hikipedia link - I’ll contribute.

As for the driving, can’t dissagree there either. There’s a strange cattle-like mentality to Seattle drivers on the whole. Sometimes you’ll be barricaded by a series of Volvos that insist on driving many miles below the speed limit, right next to each other. Then you have the phone yappers. Oh and the frustrated drivers that weave in and out of all the oblivious ones. Of course, for the patient and clever driver, this has its upsides. My boyfriend has discovered over time a plethora of short cuts, still unused by most drivers, and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve blazed past a huge line of cars that failed to see there were two lanes with the same directional option.