What a great description, made me feel like I was there! I am so fascinated about people paying attention and what a difference that made. It's so depressing to be at a game (or concert, or other public event like that) and watch people in the venue focused on their little screens. You can just see them thinking of how to turn it into content.
I’m sure there was some amount of self-awareness among the crowd: this is a once in a lifetime thing, I should not be on my phone right now. But… I’ve heard of events that are starting to limit phones, and after this experience, I would say I’m more interested in attending anything where phones are not allowed.
Pioneer Square is the name of the neighborhood (as well as the name of an actual small "square"). Occidental Square is where your picture is. So you were in Occidental Square in the Pioneer Square neighborhood, as weird as that sounds :)
What time of day and what day was it empty? It's usually pretty hopping most days/times now, with major events at least a few nights a month (Art Walk is the first Thursday of each month and is as crowded as your pictures show) outside of games at the stadiums.
That said, this neighborhood was absolutely decimated during Covid. It's only become healthy again in the last ~2 years.
Also - it is worth noting that "game days" are pretty common, with the combination of the Seahawks, Mariners, Sounders, and Reign meaning that roughly every third day throughout the year is a game day for the neighborhood, before we get to special events like World Cup or concerts.
I was there on a Tuesday morning. Partly it was early, and partly any place that’s big and open enough to host major events is going to feel a bit empty when a big event isn’t happening.
What a great description, made me feel like I was there! I am so fascinated about people paying attention and what a difference that made. It's so depressing to be at a game (or concert, or other public event like that) and watch people in the venue focused on their little screens. You can just see them thinking of how to turn it into content.
I’m sure there was some amount of self-awareness among the crowd: this is a once in a lifetime thing, I should not be on my phone right now. But… I’ve heard of events that are starting to limit phones, and after this experience, I would say I’m more interested in attending anything where phones are not allowed.
Great recounting of what sounds like an awesome experience. It reminds me of how I felt going to a football game at the 2012 London Olympics.
Pioneer Square is the name of the neighborhood (as well as the name of an actual small "square"). Occidental Square is where your picture is. So you were in Occidental Square in the Pioneer Square neighborhood, as weird as that sounds :)
What time of day and what day was it empty? It's usually pretty hopping most days/times now, with major events at least a few nights a month (Art Walk is the first Thursday of each month and is as crowded as your pictures show) outside of games at the stadiums.
That said, this neighborhood was absolutely decimated during Covid. It's only become healthy again in the last ~2 years.
Also - it is worth noting that "game days" are pretty common, with the combination of the Seahawks, Mariners, Sounders, and Reign meaning that roughly every third day throughout the year is a game day for the neighborhood, before we get to special events like World Cup or concerts.
Good to know, thanks for the clarification!
I was there on a Tuesday morning. Partly it was early, and partly any place that’s big and open enough to host major events is going to feel a bit empty when a big event isn’t happening.