Seattle Bubble

I received the following in an email from a reader:

About the condo—comment article… the real issue is not the really cheap/ugly/tasteless and likely unlivable condos (apartments). Nor is it the equally horrible “townhouses.” It is about greed and lack of public (government) oversight and control.

The developers wanted the money, the government wanted the taxes and fees. The people were too busy raking in the first real money the bulk of Seattle has ever seen in history… to say HEY, what the heck are you doing.

Sad, the city I have loved for years is nearly off my list. No wonder the lovely, polite, civil people have turned rude and nasty (in a Northwest passive-aggressive kind of way).

This kind of behavior and housing greed has ruined many cities in this country…

How about opening a dialog on how to take back our city and stop being passive-aggressive whiners and start being organized and vocal about KEEPING our fabulous city just that.

This is not about money or affordability, it is about planning and demanding our rights as residents of a wonderful, (almost) world class city and LIVABILITY.

So what do you think? Has greed and lack of government oversight ruined the culture of Seattle? If so, can anything be done about it, or is it too late?

I’m interested to hear what people think about this topic.

Since making the big announcement on Wednesday, I’ve received a lot of feedback about Seattle Bubble and some of the improvements people would like to see now that I’m dedicating more time to it. Some of the comments have been constructive, while others have been… less helpful, but I honestly appreciate them all.

Here are some direct quotes from recent comments or emails:

• “…add more buyer support with consumer input.”
• “…take this blog in a new, constructive direction.”
• “…collect and publish some very useful statistics in King County that no one currently is putting together.”
• “…the mocking tone of most of the conversations here…how are you going to address that for new customers?”
• “Your site is rapidly becoming useless. Now that the repeatedly prognosticated fall has happened you have nothing to say of any value.”

Some of these are helpful, and in addition to this week’s poll, are helping me get a better idea of the direction people would like to see Seattle Bubble move. In order to solicit more feedback (hopefully of the constructive variety), I’m opening this post up for you to air your thoughts. If you just need to vent, that’s fine, but what I’m really interested in are your thoughts on how this site can become a better resource to anyone that is interested in real estate in the greater Seattle area.

If all you have is love and compliments, save those for another post, or feel free to express your gratitude in the form of a (non-tax-deductible) donation. Let’s keep the comments to this post on the topic of how Seattle Bubble can improve. Thanks in advance for your thoughts.