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Emerald City Comic Con
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45 posts in this topic

On 1/29/2023 at 11:29 AM, 2 Sharpe's Collecting said:

Thinking of going, would be my first time. I would be coming from Wisconsin, is it worth it? Thanks!

As a former law enforcement officer I would advise no one to go to downtown Seattle right now. The area where the convention center sits is unsafe; Nike just closed its flagship store one block away due to crime. If that's not enough to persuade you, view the video here by a Seattle journalist:

 

Edited by KirbyCollector
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On 1/29/2023 at 9:59 AM, KirbyCollector said:

As a former law enforcement officer I would advise no one to go to downtown Seattle right now. The area where the convention center sits is unsafe; Nike just closed its flagship store one block away due to crime. If that's not enough to persuade you, view the video here by a Seattle journalist:

 

I have visited many large cities and Seattle is the 1st large city where I felt unsafe walking the streets downtown.

Hotel we stayed at recommended not going out after dark but if we had to gave us a list of street to avoid

Never smelt so much pot while walking around downtown

Tons of tent cities along the train route from airport to downtown

Got to see several people using the streets as a public toilet

This was actually several years ago, it is way worse now.

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Live North of Seattle (Bothell) and hit the ECCC a few times. Got too big/crowded and not enough celebs/creators to make it worth it IMHO. Compounded with what downtown has become, many can argue self-inflicted, I try to not to go downtown unless it's necessary for a concert or something. That said, I have been hitting the Washington State Summer Con at the fairgrounds in June and they seem to get a better selection of celebs/creators and MUCH less crowded than ECCC. 

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I went recently and it was fine.  Honestly, I think a lot of this is a bit overblown and exaggerated.  I didn't feel unsafe. They just pumped a ton of money into the convention center, and I am excited to go check it out.  Last time I walked all over downtown without any issues.

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I work in Downtown Seattle, anyone going to the convention center will be just fine.  Seattle is like any other big city, it has homeless people and crime.  I've never felt unsafe walking downtown during the daytime, there are certain spots at night I would be more careful of.  The city isn't perfect by any means but a lot of it is exaggerated.

The city is also excited about the brand new state of the art convention center that was just completed.  I'm not entirely sure if the show will be using both the new and old though.

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On 1/31/2023 at 6:24 PM, EggShen4thewin said:

Seattle is like any other big city, it has homeless people and crime

See, this is where people are victims of lower expectations. I worked in NYC for almost 9 years, and all of them under Mayor Bloomberg. Despite carrying a gun, neither myself nor anyone I worked with ever encountered street crime in downtown Manhattan the entire time. Homelessness was dealt with by making sure individuals were placed in shelters where they were provided help and food -- and if they wanted to stay on the streets, there was zero tolerance for public defecation, aggressive behavior and camping on public property. NYC was literally one of the safest and nicest cities in the US at that time, period. It was simply a matter of will, and by God I enjoyed every day of it while I was there. You should demand better from your folks in charge -- better isn't impossible.

Edited by KirbyCollector
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On 1/31/2023 at 4:55 PM, KirbyCollector said:

See, this is where people are victims of lower expectations. I worked in NYC for almost 9 years, and all of them under Mayor Bloomberg. Despite carrying a gun, neither myself nor anyone I worked with ever encountered street crime in downtown Manhattan the entire time. Homelessness was dealt with by making sure individuals were placed in shelters where they were provided help and food -- and if they wanted to stay on the streets, there was zero tolerance for public defecation, aggressive behavior and camping on public property. NYC was literally one of the safest and nicest cities in the US at that time, period. It was simply a matter of will, and by God I enjoyed every day of it while I was there. You should demand better from your folks in charge -- better isn't impossible.

In an odd coincidence, I can side with KirbyCollector on NYC being safe at that point in time. I lived in NYC (The Bronx) from 2008-2009 and traveled somewhere almost daily on the subway into Manhattan at all sorts of hours (even around the LES, Harlem and Chinatown at 2am) and walked everywhere in between - sure, there were bums and panhandlers, but there were very little to no people living on the sidewalk, I experienced zero aggressiveness, police were all over and helpful. The experience I had living there was definitely different than how it looks now. Haven't been back since I left - not sure I will again, if only to not ruin my fond memories of exploring NYC at all hours of day and night.

Edited by Dr. Balls
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On 2/5/2023 at 12:33 PM, Dr. Balls said:

In an odd coincidence, I can side with KirbyCollector on NYC being safe at that point in time. I lived in NYC (The Bronx) from 2008-2009 and traveled somewhere almost daily on the subway into Manhattan at all sorts of hours (even around the LES, Harlem and Chinatown at 2am) and walked everywhere in between - sure, there were bums and panhandlers, but there were very little to no people living on the sidewalk, I experienced zero aggressiveness, police were all over and helpful. The experience I had living there was definitely different than how it looks now. Haven't been back since I left - not sure I will again, if only to not ruin my fond memories of exploring NYC at all hours of day and night.

I was born in one of the 5 boroughs and grew up in central NJ. Left in 93 and haven't really been back, until last year. Was in Midtown and was expecting the worst based on the news. I was around 52nd, cabbed to Joe's in GV and walked back from Bleeker up to 52nd. I just didn't see the urban decay or even the piles of trash I was expecting. Not sure what to say about that.

And my current nothing of a city in Arizona also has a growing problem with homelessness. We had a car break down in a rough part of town that I had to leave overnight. Came back 6am to meet to the tow truck driver and there were open fires on the sidewalk underneath the overpasses, people emptying their toilet buckets, etc. Didn't feel unsafe, though clearly on watch more than normal. It felt apocalyptic and then the train went by and the living situation for these folks went from bad to worse. Felt very Escape from NY. 

Edited by cstojano
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On 1/29/2023 at 11:59 AM, KirbyCollector said:

As a former law enforcement officer I would advise no one to go to downtown Seattle right now. The area where the convention center sits is unsafe; Nike just closed its flagship store one block away due to crime. If that's not enough to persuade you, view the video here by a Seattle journalist:

 

WOW 

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On 1/29/2023 at 9:59 AM, KirbyCollector said:

As a former law enforcement officer I would advise no one to go to downtown Seattle right now. The area where the convention center sits is unsafe; Nike just closed its flagship store one block away due to crime. If that's not enough to persuade you, view the video here by a Seattle journalist:

 

Yikes

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