Everyone in Seattle seems to be waiting for a hero. In their absence, we might become the hero Seattle deserves. While we wait for someone to save us, let us try saving ourselves. While we demand change, we might reframe the conversation and change the City of Seattle along the way.  

Making a new city home is one of those things that seems glamorous on paper, but is much more challenging than you might think. It requires some discomfort. Every setback or unmet expectation has a way of becoming a thought about how much simpler life was back home. Building a new network of friends is one of those significant challenges that defines a transition.

At networking events or in small group discussions, we laugh about the “Seattle Freeze” and how hard it is to make genuine friends in this city. We keep waiting for a hero to make this transition easy. I am here to tell you your wait is over. Look in the mirror and realize you are the hero Seattle deserves. You can warmly greet newcomers. You can arrange gatherings. You can foster community around shared interests. Powerful tools to connect people are at your disposal. Use them.  

It is hard to live in Seattle long without hearing about the Seattle freeze. It is a crutch and exists because we allow it to exist. If you want the Seattle freeze to end, be the friend you wish would have greeted you at the city limits. Talk to the person standing alone at the networking event. Invite people you barely know to lunch, coffee, drinks, or to roll up their sleeves and volunteer. Seattle deserves a hero that mirrors the best kind of friend. 

Seattle now ranks as the 9th most expensive city in the United States. Last time I checked, the average price of a home is $800,000. To qualify for a mortgage, your income (combined or flying solo) needs to be in the ballpark of $215,000 annually. This economic reality means many people and families who could positively affect the fabric of this community are being priced out of the city. I have long argued a city is no good unless it is good for everyone. Faced with these challenges, you can be a hero and help us build a Seattle for anyone who wants to call it home. Fight for affordable housing, housing for all, density, and push back against NIMBYism.  

For six years, I lived in a small apartment complex near Alki Beach. I went two of those years without knowing my next-door neighbors. When we finally met and broke the ice, we laughed with bewilderment and amazement at how long it took us to get acquainted. Be a hero. Introduce yourself to your neighbors, and welcome neighbors home. This simple act could reshape this entire region block by block.  

The challenges before Seattle, or any other city are enormous. They are not insurmountable, though. We can reduce crime, eliminate drugs from our street corners, remove graffiti, and provide a welcoming home for people experiencing homelessness. We can conquer all these challenges, but we cannot complain them away. They require action, volunteers, financial support, and involvement in the democratic process. Seattle deserves heroes who believe this city’s best days are before it.  

The days of sleepy little Seattle are over. This city is rapidly becoming the Manhattan of the West coast. Before we are awash in a world defined by steel and glass canyons, we can find a balance between charm and growth. We can beautifully blend sleek modern buildings into the architecture that makes this city unique. We can do this with a growth mindset and one focused on raising the tide for everyone who wants to call this their home. Yet again, this requires active participation. Seattle cannot afford for its heroes to sit on the sideline.  

We may never beat our chests with the same bravado as someone from New York, Boston, Chicago, or Los Angeles. That simply is not the Seattle way. Still, this is a beautiful place with fascinating people who are smart, caring, and focused on the future. There is so much pride to be found in our story, but we must change the narrative. This city is not beyond saving, but we must begin telling ourselves a more hopeful story. That heroic story begins with what makes this place so special.  

Seattle deserves a hero who can end gentrification and house our homeless neighbors. Seattle and King County are in the middle of a housing crisis. Annually, 53,000 people in our community are housing insecure or are without a roof over their heads. In this new Seattle, this is simply unacceptable. The stories of our homeless neighbors are our story. We can only successfully write that story when we have ensured that everyone has a fundamental right to a home. This is a crisis and should be treated as such.  

I write these words from the comfort of my apartment in Renton. Priced out of Seattle, I sit here wondering when the relative affordability of the suburbs will collapse. Soaking in this thinking, I am not ready to close the door on Seattle or this chapter of my life. I long to call myself a citizen of Seattle once again. To get there, I must become the hero Seattle deserves. I must become the hero our region deserves. But I cannot do it alone. We need a critical mass to join us and help write a new chapter. Together, we can become the hero Seattle deserves.  

Be good to each other,  

Nathan