Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Two-Block Radius / The Weather Seattle Needs a Shower
Posted by Megan Seling on Wed, Aug 5, 2009 at 11:56 AM
Here we have the sidewalk outside of the Comet. On the right, you get a glimpse of what color the sidewalk should be. On the left you see what color most of the sidewalk is. It's covered in dirt and gum and beer and hot dog juice and probably a little puke. It smells bad and it looks disgusting. Oh how I wish it would rain.
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3
or gee, perhaps the proprietors of this establishment could hose their funk off the sidewalk, as a courtesy to their customers and the sidewalk-using public. jesus fucking christ that's nasty.
4
@3, I agree, there are things called hoses. They should use one.
But it's like when it snows; no one in Seattle will get off their asses to shovel it from their sidewalks.
But it's like when it snows; no one in Seattle will get off their asses to shovel it from their sidewalks.
5
@1 I'm torn. On one hand I agree, but a quick walk around down town reveals that half the city smells like stale urine. Maybe a nice quick summer rain would freshen things up a bit.
6
That's not dirt.
It's condensed sin.
Still, I believe, like dirt, it's water-soluble. Hose it off.
It's condensed sin.
Still, I believe, like dirt, it's water-soluble. Hose it off.
7
um, isn't that also what the floor *inside* of the comet looks/smells like? i don't think that floor has been hosed off in 70 years
8
Um, have you been to other cities in America?? Seattle has some of the cleanest sidewalks I've ever seen.
10
@8: Have you been to Seattle? Cause that's just not true. The sidewalks in certain places here are just disgusting.
12
You are more then welcome to take some of the NYC area's rain. I think we switched summers, we had 28 days of rain in June, 20 in July and already 2 days of rain this month.
15
If you look closely, you can see an image of Slats in the sidewalk in a beatific pose, looking barward in hopes that some kind soul will give worship in the form of a cold one.
...or maybe some pretzels.
...or maybe some pretzels.
17
This is what Los Angeles looks/smells like year-round.
I remember being really struck by it when I went down there for a few weeks in September about ten years ago -- every sidewalk in the city was covered with this kind of mashed grease stain that smelled like piss and rotting food. I'd been to LA before, and lived in San Diego and San Francisco, but I didn't remember them ever seeming quite so obviously putrid as the sidewalks in LA. Just walking around on them made me want to scrub down with rubbing alcohol and move to Montana.
I remember being really struck by it when I went down there for a few weeks in September about ten years ago -- every sidewalk in the city was covered with this kind of mashed grease stain that smelled like piss and rotting food. I'd been to LA before, and lived in San Diego and San Francisco, but I didn't remember them ever seeming quite so obviously putrid as the sidewalks in LA. Just walking around on them made me want to scrub down with rubbing alcohol and move to Montana.
18
agreeeeed. except after a good rain the U-Dist it somehow makes it smell worse because as the water evaporates it takes with it some of the scent...right up my nose! ew~
20
@17
Head to New York, DC, Philly, Boston, Chicago too.... that's what most city sidewalks look like. And add in the sweltering hot and HUMID summer heat? It's not pretty. Seattle's just sparklin' clean. Quit yer whinin', everybody.
Head to New York, DC, Philly, Boston, Chicago too.... that's what most city sidewalks look like. And add in the sweltering hot and HUMID summer heat? It's not pretty. Seattle's just sparklin' clean. Quit yer whinin', everybody.
21
@15 haaaaaa! <3
Pike & 11th smells like they pressed oil out of fetid humans, used it to deep fry castoff items Value Village won't even take, left the oil out in the sun all last week and then varnished the sidewalk with it.
Although it's not so bad since it's cooled off a bit. I can outrun the smell most of the time.
Pike & 11th smells like they pressed oil out of fetid humans, used it to deep fry castoff items Value Village won't even take, left the oil out in the sun all last week and then varnished the sidewalk with it.
Although it's not so bad since it's cooled off a bit. I can outrun the smell most of the time.
22
It doesn't matter where I go -- LA, NY, wherever, anytime I'm traveling and do happen to smell dried urine, I always think, "Ah, Pioneer Square in the summer."
23
Some rain would be nice for the highly stressed plants and trees. Lots of stuff is already dried to a crisp and probably won't be coming back.
24
@20
Yeah, I've been to New York, DC, Chicago, London, Berlin, Paris, San Francisco, Budapest, Oakland, Rome, Berkeley, Venice, Prague, Cardiff, Bristol, Bath, Venice, Florence, and dozens of other towns and cities all over the country and the world that I've forgotten the names of. I know what a fucking city looks and smells like and I can tell you with some authority that Los Angeles (and the sidewalk outside the Comet) smells worse than most of them. The exceptions would probably be New York and Tijuana. New York can't help but stink -- when you pack that many people into that small an area, there's just going to be some stink. Tijuana, on the other hand, smells like someone wiped their ass with it -- because someone basically did.
But thanks for your, "Seattleites don't know what a real city's like, quit your whining," post. It wouldn't be Slog without you (or someone like you).
Yeah, I've been to New York, DC, Chicago, London, Berlin, Paris, San Francisco, Budapest, Oakland, Rome, Berkeley, Venice, Prague, Cardiff, Bristol, Bath, Venice, Florence, and dozens of other towns and cities all over the country and the world that I've forgotten the names of. I know what a fucking city looks and smells like and I can tell you with some authority that Los Angeles (and the sidewalk outside the Comet) smells worse than most of them. The exceptions would probably be New York and Tijuana. New York can't help but stink -- when you pack that many people into that small an area, there's just going to be some stink. Tijuana, on the other hand, smells like someone wiped their ass with it -- because someone basically did.
But thanks for your, "Seattleites don't know what a real city's like, quit your whining," post. It wouldn't be Slog without you (or someone like you).
25
@20, Bangkok makes New York, DC, Philly, Boston, and Chicago seem sparkly like Singapore. Everything is relative, but that doesn't mean this sidewalk is any less filthy.
27
I'm guessing there's a linden tree just out of the photo. They line 3rd Ave downtown, and every year in the summer, they drip their sap. It sticks to the soles of your shoes. It coats the sidewalk, and any bit of dirt sticks to it. The city planted these trees on sidewalks all over town. They should be responsible enough to clean up the unsightly mess they create.
28
Addendum: it is likely sap from a linden tree (or possibly a maple) and it's called honeydew. But to be clear, it's via an aphid. The bugs consume more sap than they can process. While they digest some of the sugar from the sap, the excess flows right through them. So what you're seeing here is nature at work. It doesn't absolve the city of their responsibility to clean it though.
29
@24 Try New Orleans anytime of the year-especially the summer. There is NOTHING more disgusting. I've been to most of those places you listed as well as lived in L.A. for five years and never, EVER, come across anything more foul than a morning down-wind from the Quarter or the River or Lake Pontchartrain for that matter.
Which reminds me, why were you walking in L.A.? Nobody walks in L.A.
Which reminds me, why were you walking in L.A.? Nobody walks in L.A.
30
Funny. Most every other city I've visited, which isn't nearly as long a list as Judah's, has cleaner and more intact sidewalks than Seattle. Most of those cities pay their homeless to clean the streets during the day, however. That's not the Seattle Way, I guess.
Is there any part of Seattle that has an entire block of clean & unbroken sidewalk?
Is there any part of Seattle that has an entire block of clean & unbroken sidewalk?
32
29 beat me to it. I've traveled all over the world (ok 1st and 2nd world anyway) and I've never smelled anything as bad as the funk coming off a sidewalk in the quarter.
33
you know it's the dog days of summer when a post about dirty sidewalks gets 33 comments...
i'm also shocked that no one made this very obvious comment:
"...and, many Seattlites (i'm looking at you, Capitol Hill hipster/rockster/grunger/tweaker/hippie) could use a shower as well."
i'm also shocked that no one made this very obvious comment:
"...and, many Seattlites (i'm looking at you, Capitol Hill hipster/rockster/grunger/tweaker/hippie) could use a shower as well."
34
"Oh how I wish it would rain."
Yeah, because dirt-gum-beer-hot-dog-juice-puke smells SO much better when it's wet...
Yeah, because dirt-gum-beer-hot-dog-juice-puke smells SO much better when it's wet...
35
two things (didnt read other comments):
one stop harshening my mellow on the summer sun
and two, that grunge outside the comet has more to do with the comet patrons and the nasty hotdog stand there than the lack of rain
one stop harshening my mellow on the summer sun
and two, that grunge outside the comet has more to do with the comet patrons and the nasty hotdog stand there than the lack of rain
36
Perhaps the producer$ of the Capitol Hill Block Party could get some pressure washers on those sidewalks and clean up the excess mess they helped make.
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