From the rain to the Seattle Freeze, there are a lot of misconceptions about Seattle!
If you’ve never been to Seattle, you may come here expecting to find a gloomy, rainy city full of unfriendly, over-caffeinated people in flannel and hiking boots. Those who live here know that’s not actually the case! We asked Seattle residents what misconceptions about Seattle are off the mark, and we received a lot of passionate responses.
Here are the common misconceptions about Seattle that Seattleites themselves are tired of hearing:
1. It’s not that rainy, we swear:
The biggest misconception about Seattle, apparently, is the idea that we are constantly being drowned in the rain, with many responses asserting something like the following:
“That it rains all the time!”
“That it’s non stop raining.”
“It rains 24/7 (which is not true, obvi).”
“It ALWAYS rains.”
“It rains 24/7.”
“[It] doesn’t ‘rain,’ just drizzles all of the time,” one person clarified.
And a classic Seattleites response: “It doesn’t always rain. In fact, any city in the NE or SE United States gets more average annual rainfall than Seattle.”
2. We won’t actually Freeze you out:
The Seattle Freeze was the other most common misconception, with many responses taking issue with the fact that Seattleites have a reputation for being cold, rude, and unfriendly:
“The Seattle Freeze. Not real.”
“The people are incredibly unfriendly.”
“‘Seattleites are rude.’ after 6 years leaving in Seattle I can happily confirm that this is absolutely incorrect! Seattleites might not be the friendliest but they are definitely the most polite!”
“The Seattle Freeze—there aren’t enough natives anymore, we’re all mostly transplants.”
“The ‘freeze’ and that we aren’t friendly.”
“We are cold and unapproachable.”
“We are mean.”
“Seattle Freeze!”
“That they’re unfriendly.”
“People here are nice, kind, and easy going,” one Seattleite insisted.
“[That] people are rude/Seattle Freeze. Reality: we respect personal space.”
“All tech bros are antisocial… I promise I’m not 😅”
“Seattle Freeze—people are actually so friendly.”
3. Concerns about our mental health are misplaced:
“They aren’t all depressed in the rain and gloom. My kids are born and raised there and my son loves it there way more than California. He’s Happiest in Washington.”
“Weather is always depressing.”
“We’re all depressed.”
4. And our fashion sense isn’t that bad:
“That we all wear flannel.”
“Everyone wears hiking gear year round and has a dog. It’s actually only 90% of us.”
“We don’t all work at Microsoft, Amazon or Costco; nor do we all wear Birkenstocks with socks; down vests in summer; and women actually do wear makeup!”
“We don’t all wear flannels & drink coffee.. 👀🤷♂️😅”
5.-6. Speaking of coffee…
“That we all drink coffee.”
“We all love Starbucks.”
7.-9. Seattle IS expensive, but not everyone here is rich:
“Everyone is wealthy.”
“That it’s ALL expensive. There’s cute local shops/restaurants with affordable prices!”
“That cost of living is affordable. You are wrong NYT.”
10.-11. Seattle may be cleaner and safer than you expected:
“Dangerous 🙄”
“It’s dirty. I just moved from Portland to Seattle and it’s WAY cleaner!!!”
(We will admit that the Gum Wall may be skewing perceptions here.)
12.-17.You may have these misconceptions about Seattle culture:
“It’s open minded.”
“Seattle is diverse.”
“People are entitled.”
“Party place.”
“We don’t all laugh at people with umbrellas. Bruh, if it’s pouring just pull it out. ☔️”
“Not all Seattleites smoke weed! It’s one of the first things out of state people say to me. They think we’re all high 😅”
18. And finally, one Seattleite is tired of this very niche misconception:
“Lots of bumper stickers.” We can’t say this with 100% certainty but we do seem to have just an average amount of bumper stickers here in Seattle!
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