Restraining Cascadia's nanny tendencies seems about as easy as eliminating salal from one of the region's fields.
Just as Seattle seems to grow up and enjoy itself, opposition fights to keep it quiet. The number of licenses to sell liquor, for example, has risen almost 60 percent since 1997 as new clubs and bars have opened.
But Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels is harassing bar and club owners into signing agreements with a long list of operating limitations designed to make them "good neighbors" by keeping the area around their businesses quiet after hours. The city has obsessed for years over how to handle benign strip clubs and police regularly crack down with excessive force on club-going crowds downtown.
Now this week city police handed out a record number of tickets for "boating while intoxicated" during the annual Seafair hydroplane races. Editorialists applauded the crackdown.
There are similarities in Vancouver, where at least some residents have been trying to shake the city's "no-fun" image with a campaign and a web site, funcouver.com. Why become just another picturesque town filled with restaurants and shopping but scant nightlife?
The city is considering if it could loosen its drinking laws. Drinking at the summer fireworks show should lead to less enforcement in general, according to the argument.
Clearly the rules are local land-use issues that need to take into account the wishes of all the residents. But they should consider that having places to party, let off steam and celebrate is part of what makes Cascadia's unique quality of life.