Seattle

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Seattle is a city in Washington State.


Seattle

Seattle is the largest city in the State of Washington. With a population of roughly 600,000 people and a metro population of 3 million, it is the 24th most poulated urban center in the United States. It is situation on the beautiful Puget sound, hours from the Olympic Nation Forest, and the Cascade Mountains (Plus about 7 large volcanoes). Seattle is served by many different transit agencies (King County Metro is the main transit agency in the city, along with Sound Transit/Snohomish County Community Transit/Pierce County Transit/Washington State Ferries) oferring busses, trains, (soon) light rail, street cars, and ferries. One bonus for weary travelers is the downtown ride free area, which serves all of downtown Seattle until 7pm daily. All busses are free of charge in the ride free area.

There is plenty to do and see in Seattle if you are not just passing through.. Of course you will want to visit the world famous Pike Place Market or Seattle Center, but those are not the only attractions for travelers. Seattle is very welcoming to travelers as it is a city of transplants. Venture out of downtown and you will be very happy that you did. Take a bus out to Wallingford and see GasWorks Park on Lake Union or head on over to Fremont (the center of the known universe) and visit the Troll under the Aurora Bridge. Sample the delicious (and cheap!) foods in the International District and lounge around in one of the city's many parks.

The major highways and freeways in Seattle are:

  • Interstate 5 going North/South
  • Highway 99 going North/South (Do not even attempt to hitch on 99 -aka Aurora- you will get nothing but frustration)
  • State Route 520 going East/West
  • Interstate 90 going East/West


University District

The U-District is home to the University of Washington, UW Medical Center, and one of the largest neighborhood populations in Seattle. This is a good destination for hitch hikers looking to make connections or just a quick ride. It is also also widely known throughout the city to be a center for a large transient population. Most hitchers, homeless, buskers, gutter punks, and what-have-you usually center themselves around University Way, also know as "The Ave." In turn, these people have come to be known by locals as "Ave Rats." The U-District is an ideal place for hitch hikers due the wealth of clean public restrooms on the University of Washington campus, the food bank on 47th St and 15th Ave (One block east of the Ave), and there is a semi permanent tent city directly adjacent to the food bank. There is also an abundance of diverse foods, grocery and drug stores, and bars for those of you with a bit of change in your purse. You can also crash in Odegaard Undergraduate Library if you look enough like a student.

The main thoroughfares in the U-District are the Ave/Brooklyn Ave/Roosevelt Ave/15th Ave (North/South) and 45th St/Campus Parkway (East/West).

Transit in the U-District is some of the best in the city. Downtown is a 15 minute bus ride away during most hours. Busses run on regular schedule usually until 1 or 2 am on weekdays, the U-District is one of the only neighborhoods with Owl (night) busses running through it. Owl busses run overnight, usually about once an hour.


Capitol Hill

Now, the University District is not the only place in Seattle to find hitch hikers, buskers, and the like. Capitol Hill is another area of town frequented by hitch hikers. Capitol Hill is the city's second most densly populated neighborhood, center of gay rights, and home to many Seattle artists, musicians and travelers. Due to it's diversity and wealth of parks, Capitol Hill is an ideal place for hitch hikers to crash, get a bite to eat, get a drink, or just hang out. The proximity to downtown is also hard to beat. A multitude of bus lines (including an Owl bus) run through Capitol Hill and LINK light rail (Coming in June of 2009) is a 10 minute walk down the hill. Adjacent First Hill also has world class medical facilities, including Harborview Medical Center (The Northwest's only Level 1 trauma center).

The main thoroughfares on Capitol Hill are Broadway/15th Ave (going North/South) and Pike St/Pine St/Denny Way/E John St (Going East/West). Your best bet to score some cheap food is on Broadway. Many hitch hikers and buskers hang out in front of Dick's Drive-In on Broadway. Cheap burgers and open til 2 am. The best Park's to sleep in would be Volunteer Park (Located in a very affluet part of Capitol Hill) and Interlaken Park. Ask any local and they can point you in the right direction.

Tip: Busking is more excepted on the hill than the U-District, but begging is not. It is really hard to beg on Capitol Hill and have it be lucrative.

Tip: The best public restrooms on broadway are located on the third floor of Seattle Central Community College.

Hitching In

Seattle is a big city, so it is a common and popular destination for many drivers, regardless of the time of day or night. Hitchhiking in Washington State is illegal along the freeways, but not along on-ramps. There are "No thumbing" signs along I-5, so if your ride can't take you all the way to Seattle, make sure that he/she at least drops you off at an off-ramp, near the next on-ramp. There are also many good rest stops along I-5, which can make picking up a ride easier. If you are coming from the south you can easily catch a bus into Seattle if need be once you hit Tacoma. Busses depart from downtown Tacoma to downtown Seattle frequently and it is a 30 minute ride. Coming from the north, you can also catch busses from Everett to downtown Seattle frequently.

Hitching Out

There are generally two options when hitchhiking out of Seattle:

  • You can take a bus, express bus, or train out to a suburb (Federal Way in the South is good and Everett in the north is good as well) and try to hitchhike from there. This is the most common way out, since hitchhiking out of big cities is not popular. However, trying to hitchhike out of a low-income or high-crime suburb or city (such as Tacoma or White Center) may be even harder than hitchhiking out of Seattle city-proper.
  • There are exceptional on-ramps to I-5 in the University District, from within Seattle. amylin got a ride from Seattle to Portland from the on-ramp to I-5 South at NE 45th St & 5th Ave. There is a busy intersection at this point, in which vehicles stop and make turns onto the on-ramp, from 3 directions. There is even a nice spot for vehicles to pull into and pick up hitchhikers! The onramp going North at this same location is also recommended, and many hikers use it to get to Vancouver. The only drawback to this location is that there are frequently homeless people, who beg for food or money, nearby, and drivers may be reluctant to pick up hitchhikers in the presence of so many "unpresentable" people.

If you're heading South on I-5: Oregon is the only state in the US where it's legal to walk on the highway.


Public Services in Seattle

trash:Seattle