[brwnll]

I have issues with Seattle, especially the city counsil, and prefer the smaller towns that surround it, but a few of your items are outright falsehoods.

>> - Tokyo offers people nice 1BR apartments for roughly $900-1000 a month, because they are pro-development. that same apartment costs me $2k a month in Seattle

Seattle is doing it's best to accommodate growth. Estimates now peg 1,000 people moving to Seattle each week[1], which is not easy to absorb for a city of 700,000. Seattle has had the most construction cranes in America, each month since July 2016[2] to try to cope with growth.

>> - spending by the city of Seattle has doubled over the last few years, but the population did not double. this means that taxes will eventually be raised to fill the gap. I'm not my brother's keeper, so I'm moving to another low-tax state.

Agreed, Seattle city high earners tax is stupid, but it's being taken to the state Supreme Court where it's widely expected to be tossed out as the Washington State constitution prevents any income tax.

>> - the city has done next to nothing to remove restrictions on the heights of new buildings downtown. it also has made it nearly impossible to do mixed-use arrangements inside towers.

Which area of Seattle are you referring to? There are several skyscrapers being built currently downtown.

>> - taxes on ridesharing? why?! if you want to get rid of cars, as I do, hurting ridesharing won't get you there.

I wasn't able to find any reference to this. Do you have one? Seattle is attempting to push cars out by increasing car tab fees and the cost of parking, which appears to be working with y/y ridership up 12% [3]

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My point is only, Seattle city council has a lot of problems, like most do across America, so there is no reason to manufacture ones that don't exist. As someone who has grown up in the area, I'm glad they are taking some action (unlike somewhere like SF) to accommodate the sudden growth of high wage earners, even if they aren't perfect.

[1] https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2017/03/27/25043201/more-th...

[2] https://www.seattletimes.com/business/real-estate/fewer-cran...

[3] https://patch.com/washington/seattle/sound-transit-ridership...