You’re not alone, your dog goes with you. In the Jungle, there are dog parks, dog cafes, where people meet and exchange info or relax. Fast food is being redefined as healthy food and is being served up quickly, vegetables and fruit is passed out for free off food carts to walk by’s. Workers are dressed in Jeans and comfortable shoes, tee shirts and button downs. Facial hair, people who are trimmed well, and those that are not. It seems to be all about come as you are.
Route
40 might be one of the more interesting and diverse routes.
It
travels from Northgate Mall, (1st Suburban Mall in America) to
Downtown Seattle.
I can’t
talk about route 40 without mentioning Paul Allen.
Paul
Allen might be best known for being a cofounder of Microsoft. Here in Seattle he is loved for keeping the Seahawks
in town, saving them from moving to another city by an owner who was only
interested in the profit. Paul made sure
the Seahawks were Seattle’s team by being the perfect owner: Deep pockets and
forward thinking enough where he truly believed the Seahawks home was in the
hearts of the 12th man.
A new
stadium was built, state of the art, a practice facility was built, state of the
art.
He enacted
a business plan to attract players that included that they would be treated
well. He as much as any of the players
won our Superbowl and there by securing Seattle’s Sea Hawk worship.
Paul
Allen didn’t stop there, he invested in South Lake Union, he saw an opportunity
for growth and development for our high-tech industry made a deal with Amazon
and buildings that would house people and offices were built. Amazon being what
they are, were not interested in just business as usual, as much as they have
changed retail, they are also changing the way business is done. When you go into what I call the Amazon
Jungle, you walk about 20 years into the future of how we will do office
work. Spaces there are less about
cubicles and more about being able to move person to person. You’re not alone, your dog goes with you. In the Jungle, there are dog parks, dog cafes,
where people meet and exchange info or relax.
Fast food is being redefined as healthy food and is being served up quickly,
vegetables and fruit is passed out for free off food carts to walk by’s. Workers
are dressed in Jeans and comfortable shoes, tee shirts and button downs. Facial hair, people who are trimmed well, and
those that are not. It seems to be all
about come as you are.
Starting
at Northgate Mall I head south and west over to North Seattle Community College
where I drop a few students and teachers, pick up commuters and continue west. I cross Aurora, stop, pick up a few more
commuters and some street people, head towards Ballard. First is our Crown Hill
district Dicks Drive Inn will be on my left, ( another Seattle Landmark, the
burgers are not to be missed) a couple of grocery stores, restaurants, ma and
pa businesses mixed with apartments and condos.
Taking
a right onto 85th, I’m driving in a neighborhood with a mixture of
homes from different era’s. Arts and
Crafts, Modern, International, NW contemporary, mostly a higher income
neighborhood. Here I’m picking up older
commuters or students.
As I
head South on 24th towards Ballard, I pick up groups of people and
start to see the dogs who come with their mates to work for Amazon. I like to be introduced to these dogs and
claim the dog’s way of paying fare is to say hi to me…. Some lick my hand, some
like to be petted. Gigi a toy poodle kisses
me on my cheek. A young man with a Borzoi has no interest in me or anyone else
and enters my bus as his partner pays human fare. A squiggly mutt is happy to see everyone, and
this is the best day enters and wines as people reach down to say hi to him,
his mom says good morning as she giggles at her dog.
In
Ballard on Market street a few more commuters then I head south towards downtown
Freemont, I pick up more people, a few leave who work at google, or facebook,
or leave to enjoy shopping, or a walk by the Ballard Locks.
I go
over the Freemont Bridge and hope that it doesn’t stop traffic, raise and let a
ship pass. I head south past lake Union,
past marinas, restaurants, high end Condos with fantastic views of Lake
Union. (Lake Unions Gasworks park is
where Seattle has its 4th of July fireworks). When I reach South Lake Union my bus is often
at standing room capacity. I start
dropping people off in the Amazon Jungle at dog parks and cafes, office
buildings and workspaces. Seattle’s
diversity is on display here, its progressive acceptance of all that is human,
people from all parts of the world, gays, lesbians, transgenders, black, white,
brown, all cultures and back grounds come here to do business. Most are younger
than 40, they have their computers, tablets and smart phones. They are dressed
casually and behave professionally and are personable. Their Dogs wag tails and are part of this
parade.
I
tell people that to come here is to see what business would be like 20 or 30
years from now. I hope the world truly
does follow this path, and I believe Paul Allen is as proud of this
accomplishment as any of his.
I
drive up to 3rd ave and drive south, by then its just a few people,
a couple of commuters and street folk, they go where they need to go, then the
bus is mine while I lay over at one our bases.