There is an easy cross-pollination that makes for a rich and varied life. For instance, nowhere in America is there such an easy intermingling of gays and straights, and such a large population of bisexuals. Because there is less resistance, people feel less of a need to prove a point. Self-definitions, so tightly guarded back East, lose their power. A rabid environmentalist will smoke cigarettes and drink coffee.
Nobody is any one thing, but rather, a little of both.
It is the mist whisking everyone together into the same creative sea. For anyone tired of the inane sameness of hegemonic American culture, Seattle is Shangri-La. Seattle explodes out of the right brain. It doesn't follow the normal rules, and it doesn't feel like any place else. Those who require strict rules and supervision will be lost without a paddle.