Guilty of Slandering Seattle
Irony only goes so far and apparently, my list of things you should know before moving to Seattle was only the tip of the iceberg in terms of the way I’ve been known to slander Seattle…
The story behind the story… Apparently, the powers that be on wikipedia agree that “Rain City” is not an appropriate nickname for Seattle! (It’s not listed at the time of publishing!)
I changed the nickname. As a Seattle native, I have never, ever heard it called “Rainy City.” It is not, nor ever has been a common nickname of Seattle. For one, we get less rain than most cities East of the Mississippi River. Seattle is most commonly called “The Emerald City” followed by “Jet City.” If you folks want to continue this nonsense, of re-posting a lsanderous nickname, please provide some documentation.
This got me thinking of other ways I’ve slandered Seattle in the past and this photoshop of one of our prized institutions feels so wrong…
In all seriousness, does the name of a website really matter? Would you be a regular reader/contributor of a site that was named Emerald City Guide or Jet City Guide? How about if it were AnnaLuther.com as originally planned?
Posted: January 27th, 2007 under Site Info.
Tags: rain-city, rcg, real-estate, slander, Starbucks, wikipedia
About the Author: Dustin Luther
- Author's website: http://4realz.net/
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Comments
2.
Comment
from Davefrombellevue
Time January 27, 2007 at 7:20 am
Actually A local band Queensryche had A song “Jet City Woman’that was early ninetys I believe
being A native ive never heard of Rainy City but often heard the old “in seattle we rust not tan’.
3.
Comment
from Dustin
Time January 27, 2007 at 9:43 am
Bill and Dave… Thanks for the comments! I’m not really doubting my choice of title, but I find it an interesting conversation! 
4.
Comment
from Bert Sperling
Time January 29, 2007 at 1:45 pm
> For one, we get less rain than most cities East of the Mississippi River.
Maybe not most, but many. For example, Seattle gets slightly less annual rainfall than New York City.
But the inches of rain isn’t really the issue - it’s the number of days with rain. In this category, Seattle averages nearly six more weeks (!) worth of days with precipitation than the Big Apple does each year.
So maybe the correct sobriquet for Seattle would be “the Rainy Day City.”
Also, Seattle leads all major U.S. cities in the number of overcast days annually. But Northwest summers are the best!
(I’m so pleased I got a chance to use “sobriquet”, which I recently learned is not used in a barbeque grill. In my next comment, I will try to work in zeitgeist or schadenfreude.)
Best,
Bert
5.
Comment
from Jay Matthews
Time January 29, 2007 at 4:20 pm
In conversation, does anyone actually refer to Seattle as anything *but* Seattle?
-blinks several times and hits “post”-
7.
Comment
from Dustin
Time January 29, 2007 at 11:00 pm
The coffee theme is a really good one and I definitely could have happily gone that route!
8.
Comment
from ARDELL
Time January 30, 2007 at 12:29 am
I have to admit that I get really mad when I watch a movie that is supposed to be set in Seattle, and they have it pouring rain and people walking around with unbrellas all the time.
That is NOT how it is here at all.
9.
Comment
from Tina
Time February 9, 2007 at 6:18 pm
I’m just noodling around this site. My 23y/o daughter is the fourth generation of my family to live in Seattle. I like the name Rain City.
Does it matter if it’s an historical name? It’s a catchy name and I love it. PS All “Seattle” movies are filmed in BC and LA.
1. Comment from Bill Williams
Time January 27, 2007 at 5:03 am
Dustin, a Seattle author of mystery stories (fun ones too) by the name of Earl Emerson used the title “The Rainy City” in 1985 to introduce a series of mystery novels set in the Seattle area. And it appears that the objector on wiki doesn’t remember the jokes and complaints about the name “The Emerald City” when it was first proposed… a young native, no doubt. I don’t remember anyone using the Jet City since the “turn out the lights” days when Boeing was having trouble.
Rain City guide is the perfect name, and it is how I found you on the search engines early last year… say Rain City in Idaho, and we all know where that is