Seattle's Neighborhoods

On June 7, I flew out of San Francisco to Seattle without my family for the first time. I was excited to travel on an airplane since I haven't ridden an airplane for more than a decade. Once I arrived at Seattle, I rode on a LINK light rail that functions just like BART in San Francisco and transferred to bus 97 in order to go to our hostel called Green Tortoise. After I arrived to my hostel, I walked to the Pike Market. At the market, I thought about how the atmosphere of the market was similar to Fisherman's wharf in San Francisco since the market was packed with tourists and locals.

    After I explored the market, I went to Wing Luke Museum for a tour. Throughout the tour, the tour guide told us about the history of Seattle's Chinatown. While I listened to the tour, I noticed how the historical context was similar to San Francisco's Chinatown. Many Chinese immigrants who were mainly men came to Chinatown during the Gold Rush because they wanted to support their families back in China by getting better paying jobs in the United States. Another fact that stood out to me was the relocation of Asian residents. In Seattle, white people pushed anyone who was Asian to  Chinatown. Likewise, Asian citizens were relocated into Chinatown in San Francisco. This shows how Asian people in the United States were receiving similar treatments in different places.

    When the tour ended, I headed to Uwajimaya supermarket. As I was walking to the supermarket, I saw how the built-environment in Chinatown was different from San Francisco. The Chinatown in Seattle doesn’t have a lot of restaurants and cafes. In addition, it has a low number of pedestrians walking around Chinatown. On the contrary, San Francisco's Chinatown has many stores and restaurants with crowded streets. Despite the difference in their environment, they shared common factors which includes open spaces and single room occupancy housings. Although Chinatown in Seattle and San Francisco has different exterior, their interior has resemblance.

-Stephanie  Chan

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