SeaTac Hotel Night before Cruise

[Bruin Steve]

1 hour ago, Mary Ellen1 said:

I hate to say this, but Seattle is not what it used to be.  Seattle has really let their tourist areas go, and is providing, instead, a very welcoming destination for crime, homelessness and drug use.  It's unfortunate -- we wanted to spend several hours there before our home-bound flight, but after researching it, we opted to go to the airport and wait 5 hours for our flight rather than putting up with what downtown Seattle has become.  

Why do so many people want to come onto these boards to bash so many fine cities?

Mary Ellen doesn't state where she comes from, but there is a good chance it has a crime rate much higher than Seattle.

The FBI published the homicide rates for the 50 most populous cities in America (2021)...and Seattle ranks WELL DOWN THE LIST with 5.6 homicides per 100,000 population.  To give an idea as to how dangerous that is compared to other American cities, Memphis, Tennessee led the list with 48.7.  Atlanta was at 32, Kansas City 30.7,Louisville, KY 30.5, Columbus, OH 22.4, Houston 20., Dallas 16.5, Nashville 14.6, Tulsa, OK 14.3, Fort Worth, TX 12.6, Oklahoma City 11.5, Charlotte, NC 11.1. Many others on the list in double figures.

Seattle, again?  5.6.

 

Crime rates?   Forbes published the 15 most dangerous cities in America...

https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurabegleybloom/2023/01/31/most-dangerous-cities-in-the-us-crime-in-america/?sh=6a071c064b25

15 Most Dangerous Cities in the US

1 St. Louis, Missouri

2 Mobile, Alabama

3 Birmingham, Alabama

4 Baltimore, Maryland

5 Memphis, Tennessee

6 Detroit, Michigan

7 Cleveland, Ohio

8 New Orleans, Louisiana

9 Shreveport, Louisiana

10 Baton Rouge, Louisiana

11 Little Rock, Arkansas

12 Oakland, California

13 Milwaukee, Wisconsin

14 Kansas City, Missouri

15 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Funny, Seattle doesn't even make the list.

 

Seems it would be a whole lot safer for a lot of folks to enjoy Seattle than to stay home...

 

Homelessness and drug problems?  Look around...they exist EVERYWHERE in America today...Yet we continually cut budgets for programs to deal with these...but homeless and drugs are EVERYWHERE.

 

I was on a cruise recently and mentioned that, after the cruise, we were headed up to Portland Oregon to visit our daughters.  A woman responded "Portland?  I would NEVER go to Portland.  That's got to be the worst city in America. Someone there tried to set fire to a police station!"  i asked her where she was from.  She proudly responded "Oklahoma City!"  I said, "Oklahoma City?  Isn't that where someone actually BOMBED the federal building and killed 168 people???"

 

So many people, even here on cruise critic, seem to love to bash so many fine cities.  Most don't care about the actuall facts or statistics.  They NEVER look at their own home towns or areas.  Their opinions seem to be formed by ignorance and anecdotal information only.  Yet they love to give advice on where NOT to visit.  Ignore them.  When you visit Seattle, enjoy it for all of the many wonderful things it has for you.

Edited March 12, 2023 by Bruin Steve

[KeepCalmBearOn]

1 hour ago, Mary Ellen1 said:

I hate to say this, but Seattle is not what it used to be.  Seattle has really let their tourist areas go, and is providing, instead, a very welcoming destination for crime, homelessness and drug use.

 

I hate to say this, but NO MAJOR U.S. CITY is what it used to be pre-2020/Covid. I travel constantly on business and New York, Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta, San Diego, Portland, Honolulu, and on and on and on.

 

That does not mean these cities don't have great sights, aren't safe for visitors, should be avoided, etc. It just means travelers need to be aware, compassionate and engaged.

[disneyochem]

1 hour ago, Bruin Steve said:

Why do so many people want to come onto these boards to bash so many fine cities?

Mary Ellen doesn't state where she comes from, but there is a good chance it has a crime rate much higher than Seattle.

The FBI published the homicide rates for the 50 most populous cities in America (2021)...and Seattle ranks WELL DOWN THE LIST with 5.6 homicides per 100,000 population.  To give an idea as to how dangerous that is compared to other American cities, Memphis, Tennessee led the list with 48.7.  Atlanta was at 32, Kansas City 30.7,Louisville, KY 30.5, Columbus, OH 22.4, Houston 20., Dallas 16.5, Nashville 14.6, Tulsa, OK 14.3, Fort Worth, TX 12.6, Oklahoma City 11.5, Charlotte, NC 11.1. Many others on the list in double figures.

Seattle, again?  5.6.

 

Crime rates?   Forbes published the 15 most dangerous cities in America...

https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurabegleybloom/2023/01/31/most-dangerous-cities-in-the-us-crime-in-america/?sh=6a071c064b25

15 Most Dangerous Cities in the US

1 St. Louis, Missouri

2 Mobile, Alabama

3 Birmingham, Alabama

4 Baltimore, Maryland

5 Memphis, Tennessee

6 Detroit, Michigan

7 Cleveland, Ohio

8 New Orleans, Louisiana

9 Shreveport, Louisiana

10 Baton Rouge, Louisiana

11 Little Rock, Arkansas

12 Oakland, California

13 Milwaukee, Wisconsin

14 Kansas City, Missouri

15 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Funny, Seattle doesn't even make the list.

 

Seems it would be a whole lot safer for a lot of folks to enjoy Seattle than to stay home...

 

Homelessness and drug problems?  Look around...they exist EVERYWHERE in America today...Yet we continually cut budgets for programs to deal with these...but homeless and drugs are EVERYWHERE.

 

I was on a cruise recently and mentioned that, after the cruise, we were headed up to Portland Oregon to visit our daughters.  A woman responded "Portland?  I would NEVER go to Portland.  That's got to be the worst city in America. Someone there tried to set fire to a police station!"  i asked her where she was from.  She proudly responded "Oklahoma City!"  I said, "Oklahoma City?  Isn't that where someone actually BOMBED the federal building and killed 168 people???"

 

So many people, even here on cruise critic, seem to love to bash so many fine cities.  Most don't care about the actuall facts or statistics.  They NEVER look at their own home towns or areas.  Their opinions seem to be formed by ignorance and anecdotal information only.  Yet they love to give advice on where NOT to visit.  Ignore them.  When you visit Seattle, enjoy it for all of the many wonderful things it has for you.

Thank you for saying this!

 

[vswan]

6 hours ago, Mary Ellen1 said:

I hate to say this, but Seattle is not what it used to be.  Seattle has really let their tourist areas go, and is providing, instead, a very welcoming destination for crime, homelessness and drug use.  It's unfortunate -- we wanted to spend several hours there before our home-bound flight, but after researching it, we opted to go to the airport and wait 5 hours for our flight rather than putting up with what downtown Seattle has become.  

My husband and I did an Alaskan cruise last summer. We came in on Amtrak a day early, took the light rail and city bus to our hotel, back to the cruise ship and also spent the day in downtown area prior to leaving the evening our cruise docked - never took an uber, taxi or shuttle of any kind. Living in rural flyover country I understand that large cities probably have more crime than I have where I live and we did see some areas that had people sleeping on the streets. Having said that, I didn't feel uncomfortable or worried in Seattle, and actually enjoyed seeing the real city rather than a sanitized tourist view. I was very proud of us for figuring out the system and making it work for us, luggage and all.

 

I should say that Minneapolis is located about 60 miles from my hometown. As many others, I watched the news reports in horror at the protests and building burning during the George Floyd situation. There are areas that I do avoid, but overall Mpls is not what was shown on the news. There are pockets and places to be avoided in most large cities.

[psuboater]

On 3/12/2023 at 10:38 AM, disneyochem said:

Thank you for saying this!

 

 

As someone who had to go into downtown for work a few times in 2020/2021, it is now a VAST improvement of what it was when we didn't have any tourists. I now go in once a week and don't feel unsafe at all. Like any large city, walk with purpose and with few distractions, and don't engage with anyone that makes you feel unsafe. 

 

I'm in my late 30s and female, and lived in Columbus, OH and Philadelphia, and can say that Seattle is the safest city I've worked in. Our issues are mainly with property crime, and very low in violent crime.