Seattle: Characters Welcome…

Have been seeing this man walking around with no shirt on through rain and cold and…for about a week now. My guess is he is in training for the annual Polar Bear Plunge.
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ARDELL is a Managing Broker with Better Properties METRO King County. ARDELL was named one of the Most Influential Real Estate Bloggers in the U.S. by Inman News and has 33+ years experience in Real Estate up and down both Coasts, representing both buyers and sellers of homes in Seattle and on The Eastside. email: ardelld@gmail.com cell: 206-910-1000

38 thoughts on “Seattle: Characters Welcome…

  1. I think it’s because it’s sunny in Seattle, Ardell! 🙂

    We have a neighbor (really nice guy) who walks his two pugs pretty much just like this… he’ll get a shirt on if it’s really chilly but I don’t think I’ve seen him in anything but shorts.

  2. I think it’s because it’s sunny in Seattle, Ardell! 🙂

    We have a neighbor (really nice guy) who walks his two pugs pretty much just like this… he’ll get a shirt on if it’s really chilly but I don’t think I’ve seen him in anything but shorts.

  3. Jerry,

    I think writing about the things I love most about Seattle is VERY Rain City Guide 🙂 You’ve been on Mercer Island too long.

    The Fremont Solstice Parade, Polar Bear Plunge and many other “Seattle” points of interest are not outside of our area of interest. In fact The Tim complained I was talking too much about “issues” and not enough about “local interest” things…so I’ve been trying to infuse a few purely Seattle based posts. After all…we are “rain city” guide.

    • Ardell- We natives like to see newcomers like you appreciate our quirky places like Fremont. I had my office a few blocks North of there for quite a few years and ate many a lunch down there. it’s really hard to be on Mercer Island too long. It’s really a rural village of 22,000 people in the midst of three million. Hard to find that anywhere else. Seriously- write about anything, I enjoy it all. J-

  4. Jerry,

    I think writing about the things I love most about Seattle is VERY Rain City Guide 🙂 You’ve been on Mercer Island too long.

    The Fremont Solstice Parade, Polar Bear Plunge and many other “Seattle” points of interest are not outside of our area of interest. In fact The Tim complained I was talking too much about “issues” and not enough about “local interest” things…so I’ve been trying to infuse a few purely Seattle based posts. After all…we are “rain city” guide.

  5. I don’t know why, Jerry, but I find it insulting to the majority of my clients when people use terms like “natives” vs. “transplants” and “newcomers”. Given the diversity of the Seattle area, it really isn’t appropriate to use such terms. Sounds exclusionary or classist.

    • Ardell- Not at all “exclusionary or classist”- just coming at the highly diverse “Seattle Scene” from a different viewpoint. This native has been in 55 countries, all 7 continents, the Artic and Antarctic
      and knows and appreciates what’s special about the Northwest- and wants to keep it that way. J-

  6. Cynthia Pang Nowak at Zillow and I wanted to post pictures of quirky and interesting Seattle people. I chose the shirtless man of the Polar Bear Club. It’s her turn now.

    Maybe the man in the photo is a “native”, maybe Cynthia is a “native”, I don’t know or care. I do know that it makes people feel uncomfortable when one refers to themselves as “a native” in conversation.

    In my line of work it is dangerous to suggest there are natives who want “to keep it that way” vs. “outsiders or newcomers” who want to change things. It’s a common topic in real estate, and a fairly taboo one as well.

  7. LOL! I’ll ask him next time he walks by, but I’m pretty sure jumping into super cold water and being in The Polar Bear Club qualifies him as both quirky and interesting, without being patronizing. As does being a naked cycler in the Fremont Solstice Parade.

    I find most Seattle blogs and sites show the Space Needle, and “Best of”, often very expensive housing that many can’t afford. I’m shooting for every day affordable realities in my two recent posts of Seattle Homes and people.

  8. Jerry,

    I often wonder where they get the people for the Casino ads. They certainly don’t look like anyone I see out and about in Seattle. Though I don’t frequent Casinos, I did go once to see a friend of ours and his band. No one looked like the people in those commercials.

    People crave real life every day observations, so a quick pic of a person going by is of value to many who read blogs. The event is on the City site…so I’m sure it’s at least a “notable”.

  9. Jerry,

    I often wonder where they get the people for the Casino ads. They certainly don’t look like anyone I see out and about in Seattle. Though I don’t frequent Casinos, I did go once to see a friend of ours and his band. No one looked like the people in those commercials.

    People crave real life every day observations, so a quick pic of a person going by is of value to many who read blogs. The event is on the City site…so I’m sure it’s at least a “notable”.

  10. Ardell- While you were still on the East Coast, I was here watching all this happen. Affordable houses (as apposed to housing) used to be a goal of the architects, builders and others in the building industry. Ballard, Fremont, Wedgewood even had many “affordable” homes- until investors and apartment developers with the help of the Realtors bought them up. That’s why you have to write about quirky Seattlelites and naked cyclists. J-

  11. Hi Jerry,

    I haven’t been on the East Coast since 1998 or so. I know there are some who think people who are not natives caused a lot of problems in the PNW. But it’s time to get over that and weigh the pros with the cons of the many who have moved to Seattle, and are still moving here. I love the fact that Seattle has wonderful and somewhat odd things like naked cyclists. I don’t think I’d feel differently about that if I were “a native” like you.

  12. Ardell- This native has a wonderful wife who’s a New Yorker raised on Phinney Ridge so we have lots of East Coast connections. The Pacific NorthWest is the richer for those who have moved here- and contributed- stating a long time ago. Asa Mercer, for whom Mercer Island was named was one. J-

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