He has a job as a downtown doorman, and he landed a corner apartment in the elegantly restored Eagles Building. His windows look down the length of Union Street to the ferries scooting across Elliott Bay. Russell is part of a remarkable migration of wealthy and working-class people back into the core of Seattle, where residents would rather bump elbows on the sidewalk of life than seek sanctuary in a suburban cocoon. In return for accepting the aggravations of an urban center, downtown dwellers live in the epicenter of culture and commerce, surrounded by some of the state's most powerful people and institutions. Living downtown means being able to walk to the Pike Place Market or the downtown library.
Residents usually leave their cars parked, if they own one.
Living downtown also means never having to rake leaves, clean gutters, mow lawns or fret when the furnace goes on the fritz. But it also means putting up with needle-jabbing junkies, the walking wounded and threatening thugs. Sirens and jackhammers generate an urban Muzak, while greedy landlords, aggressive cabbies and befuddled tourists serve as constant irritants. This urban lifestyle is an acquired taste and not meant for everybody. Compared to Vancouver, B.C., where 50,000 people live downtown, less than 15,000 people choose to live in downtown Seattle.