(Read comments) - (Post a new comment)

	chibikaijuu 2010-04-01 05:21 pm UTC (link)
	I don't know how many people in Seattle don't drive/have cars, but for me that's an insurmountable obstacle on my own. But, um, I don't care that much about Applebee's. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

tez
2010-04-01 07:28 pm UTC (link)

There is that.

The transit system in Seattle is pretty damn good, though -- there's buses everywhere and I'm pretty sure once it's totally done the light rail is going to pop right up to Lynnwood. So there are options there that don't require a car or a ton of time.

I confess to defaulting to Applebee's way too often...but that's largely because it's the nearest sit-down restaurant to my house that's not an IHOP.

(Reply to this)(Parent)

kelschuu
2010-05-13 07:15 am UTC (link)

If you're in Seattle and can get downtown:

Take the 101 South to Renton (can be caught in Bus Tunnel). Get off at the Renton Park and Ride, it'll take you about 30 minutes depending on traffic. It is Right across the street. I am not even joking, you can't miss it. And the 101 is frequently an Accessible bus. Just sayin'. I used to take it twice a day five days out of the week when I went to school in Seattle but lived in Renton.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

chibikaijuu
2010-05-13 06:08 pm UTC (link)

I'm not in the Seattle area (San Francisco), but I'll keep that in mind if I'm ever there. Around here there is decent public transit (though it is getting worse and worse) but it starts to get expensive when you go out of the city, and it doesn't go everywhere. I couldn't get to a friend's party in Daly City (basically the next city over) because there was no bus line anywhere near her place and I could get a ride there, but not home. I would have had to take a taxi from the closest public transit station to get there, and it's not even that far, but it is very pedestrian-unfriendly.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

kelschuu
2010-05-13 10:12 pm UTC (link)

Public transit in Seattle USED to be a lot better. Instead they figured the way to get people onto more buses was to cut out some routes entirely and just add more buses on already popular routes. So you have sometimes where a bus will come every 10 minutes, but then other places that just aren't accessible anymore. Still, you CAN bus from Seattle to Tacoma (roughly a 45 minute drive) if you don't mind a lot of transfers, as all of King County uses Metro (iirc, I haven't bussed much out of the general Seattle area) and bus transfers (free with cost of riding he bus!) last about two hours. Again, it depends on exactly where you need to go. But as far as going around to all of the suburban areas where all of the chains are? Uh, yeah, it'll cost you maybe like $4.50 total, assuming you hit peak-hours both ways.

There's also the light rail they've put in to get from the airport to downtown, but it's kind of lame. Then again the first time I had to take it was when I was already in a bad mood right after I'd come back from Japan (land of traaaaaains) so I was unable to keep myself from mentally comparing it to the Shinkansen and other trains the whole time. Which is unfair, because the Shinkansen > Every other form of train.

tl;dr version ....o hai, Seattle native here who used to get around exclusively by mass transit for about five or six years. :D;;; It isn't that hard. Just bring a book and headphones in case the crazies try to talk to you on the bus.

(Reply to this)(Parent)

	kelschuu 2010-05-13 10:14 pm UTC (link)
	ALSO IF YOU EVER GO TO SEATTLE you can get a visitor's pass, which idk how much it costs, but it basically lets you travel unlimited on mass transit. I hear it's pretty sweet. (Reply to this)(Parent)

(Read comments) -