One of the curious aspects about Seattle was that it was so empty. Sure, the first day, it rained a bit, but it wasn’t much rain; days 2-4 were sunny. And yet, almost no visible humans, except for the homeless people.

And the streets were so clean, everywhere! Possibly, it’s because it rains so much.

I mean… there are people here, in the picture, but… like… to call Seattle a city feels like an exaggeration. Where are all the people? Where are so many buildings and so many parking structures, but there were almost no cars and almost no people.

Even in the touristy sections (which will come in later posts), there weren’t that many people. Granted, it was early May and not July or August. But still. Surely there must be residents of this city! Where are they? Where have they gone?

This emptiness persisted on the weekend as well as on a weekday. Also, it didn’t matter if it was night or day. It didn’t matter if it was sunny or rainy. And this almost-no-humans-walking-around effect occurred in various parts of the city. The city was just empty. I see more people in the little LA suburb, where I live. It was so curious. It felt comfortably dystopian: no humans, but all streets and buildings well-maintained.

Inside some of the buildings, there were humans. Say, in restaurants and the opera house, for example. But once I left the building? No walking humans. Not even that many cars. It was so bizarre. Maybe the people of Seattle, and even the tourists of Seattle, do not loiter. I approve. I completely approve. It’s just strange, because I am not used to non-loiterers.

By the way, the tourists of Seattle (in May 2023) seemed so polite. All of them. They walk in rows, for gods’ sake! Nobody needed to tell them to keep order. They were hyper-well-behaved all on their own.

What a strange city. Anyway, I really liked it. This quiet emptiness is one of the reasons I could picture myself living in Seattle. A small, walkable, almost-human-less, if-there-are-humans-then-they-are-neat-and-organized city? Methinks I can handle the rain.