Going anywhere in Seattle requires you to go up, down and through as often as left, right or around. Stairs, escalators, bridges, and tunnels abound. Flat land must be created by bulldozing hills or by landfilling water courses which is frowned upon in the heavily Green city. So bulldozing it is. Before building their subway, Seattle already had a transit tunnel keeping much traffic underground.
Building rise parallel to ridges they only sometimes surmount while houses cling desperately to hills with concrete walls and cantilevered rooms. It is not uncommon to enter on one level and leave on another in larger structures. You need both limber necks and strong legs to navigate this place.
Maybe this is why Vancouver is home to the largest expatriate community to Chinese from Hong Kong. In addition to more favorable immigration laws for former members of the United Kingdom than the USA, the greater Seattle area looks like home. Colder and greener but in other ways familiar.
