Utopia, Part One

Ocean. Mountains. A downtown oveflowing with vitality. Terrific food and drink culture. Strong music scene, highlighted by a first-tier annual festival. NBA and NHL, in addition to professional baseball and football. Two daily newspapers and two alternative weeklies competing for readers. Billionaires willing to write enormous checks for local charitable causes. Big state university in town. Diverse, happy populace.

Seattle's assets shame Kansas City. Amenities that are exotic here are commonplace in Seattle. I explored Seattle during spring break.

Pike Place Market, pictured here, a sort of bacchanalian version of a farmer’s market along Seattle’s waterfront, contains as many food options as all of Kansas City combined. There’s salmon, of course, along every other local water creature. The world’s cuisines are represented at the market’s restaurants. I bought a salmon curry from a Moroccan man and piroshky from a Russian woman.

Sure, Seattle’s often cold and damp. But take a look out your window, Midwesterners. So, why don’t we all move to the Pacific Northwest? It’s the same old cost of living trap. I'll be content in Kansas City as long as I don’t make the mistake of looking at the seafood offerings at the local grocery anytime soon.