Back to Seattle

Before I left Paris, I wondered how I would re-adjust to the United States. After spending the first five years of the Bush presidency in London and Paris, I was worried I wouldn’t recognize my own country.

On a local level, I was wrong to worry. Seattle is a great place to be, even from the perspective of the recently Parisian. First of all, the food is really spectacular. Our sushi-eating, latte-sipping needs have never been more satisfactorily sated.

Then, there’s the progressive social and environmental policy. Kyoto Protocol? Seattle follows it:

On February 16, 2005, the historic day when the Kyoto Protocol takes effect, Mayor Greg Nickels announced the City of Seattle’s 2005 Environmental Action Agenda to protect our air quality, the health of our community and our environment. The cornerstone of this agenda is a new goal for the City to reduce regional greenhouse gas emissions across our community and region, seeking to meet or beat the Kyoto target.

The local power utility, Seattle City Light, reached a target of emitting zero net greenhouse gases. It is the only utility in the country to have done so. For our part, we are now the proud owners of a Toyota Prius, which is super fun to drive—and it seems like every fifth car on the road here is one, too. We’re trying to make do with one car, which has so far been feasible thanks to Flexcar, a Seattle-based company that parks “hundreds of cars in cities across the country and let members use them by the hour.”  We also enjoy the free downtown bus service.

As for health care, it’s still a nightmare here, but at least the poor are covered by the state government. And the minimum wage in Washington is the highest rate in the nation with the exception of San Francisco, at $7.35/hr.

But all these crazy social programs must be ruining the economy here, right? Not quite. The Washington State poverty level is lower than the national average, and the per-capita income is higher than average. The unemployment rate in King County in November, 2005 was 4.9%, slightly below the national rate.

Plus, thanks to a voter-sponsored ballot initiative that was recently approved by a margin of 63% to 37%, all workplaces in Washington state are now smoke-free, including restaurants, bars, etc. That is certainly a welcome change from Paris.

In addition to progressive social policy, Seattle has expanded culturally over the past 5 years. The incredible Seattle Public Library is the best example of this trend, but there is also a new opera house, a relatively new home for the Seattle Symphony, and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen has built a new sci-fi museum. The Seattle Art museum is undergoing a major expansion, including a large outdoor sculpture garden.

So though there are of course many things I miss about Paris, especially our family and our wonderful friends there, it’s good to be back in Seattle.