Tacoma, WA

[a_napoleon]

I discovered two things today about Tacoma, WA, the reviled southern neighbor of the continual cesspit that I live in. (As an aside: I would make the comment that when Seattle looks down on another city it really means something, but denizens of Seattle have a tendency to look down on just about everybody who doesn't do things in exactly the same '

Comments

[petefred]

So what *is* it about Tacoma that makes everyone look down on it? My brother lives in downtown Seattle and was acting like he'd been tainted a couple weeks ago by having a business trip down there. Apparently it's worse than Jersey, which is reassuring, but I'm not clear on why...

[a_napoleon]

hey, from what i saw last summer i actually thought NJ was pretty nice. although i have a suspicion that i saw the nicest part of the state.....

as for tacoma, its mostly just a city rivalry thing that doesn't mean much. tacoma also tends to be more blue collar, which latte drinking seattlites disapprove of (all this really means though is that tacoma has a slightly higher crime rate and far more affordable housing). however, part of the reason has to do with an anecdote from when both cities were relatively new. it turns out that seattle original sewer system back around the turn of the century just dumped into the sound, and that the tide and currents in the sound tended to push that sewage right into tacoma's harbor. needless to say this caused tension.

[petefred]

Ah, gotcha -- thanks.

And yeah, this part of NJ is nicer than most (it certainly isn't the stereotype of NJ that most people from New York look down on), but still has some issues that I'm increasingly noticing in terms of crowding and peoples' attitudes.

[zolaika]

"Babycatchers & Beyond, Inc."

Hah!

Yes, "catching" is the term most docs I know use for our role in a delivery. Because, frankly, mom has the harder job and the darn little guys and gals are *slippery.*

Glad you enjoyed your fancy golf!

[lgmuk]

I'm confused. It is meaningful that city looks down on something but not that the people of the city look down on it?

[a_napoleon]

it just means that people in seattle have a tendency to look down on everything that they aren't themselves involved in.

[lgmuk]

I got that part, what I'm confused about is how the opinion of Seattle is a separate thing from the opinion of the people of Seattle.