Yes, my favorite time/place associations with Seattle have all been in the "crappy" parts. I love walking around in the middle of the night, talking to the hobos under the bridges and chatting with random people. That, and the protests downtown--walking around in that mess made me feel alive like you wouldn't believe. I love the parts of the town that actually have some character, too...but that character usually means that the rich people get scared and it all goes away.
One of my customers two nights ago made sure to let me know there was a suspicious guy in the parking lot with buckets on his car and that she parked on the other side to avoid him. I ignored her as much as I could without getting myself fired, and then when she couldn't see me (I wasn't about to legitimize her complaint) I walked to the front to go see. There was a guy loading some groceries into his car. And he had a bucket. It's just sad, except it's not--pisses me off like you wouldn't believe. This store closes their side doors if there's a homeless guy 30 feet away, making everybody walk the long way around so they wouldn't have to get their precious selves near another human being. I made a point of sitting down with a guy named Doug and bringing him a lunch and chatting for a while. Nobody would even look over. Not a single one would spare a piece of food. In their fucking Mercedes and Audis and fancy $500 dresses, no less. And he couldn't even drink the ginger ale I brought him with it, because he's too scared of getting the cops called on him again for "drinking" (it's happened 3 times for him, all over ginger ale). And he loves Reeds 
And don't even get me started on the stupid yoga places.
Ugh. I can't stand it.
Ah, well, thanks for letting me rant. There's not many people around here who'd listen, except for those who are in my position.
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