Seattle is close to snuffing out its club scene and is losing the people who produce the city's music, according to a pair of articles in The Stranger. Whether you're a club-goer or not, Seattle needs all the diversity it can get.
Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels is drafting a series of rules that reportedly would make it easy to close down all of the city's clubs on drug-related technicalities. The proposal is unworkable in the extreme, as shown in this hilarious story.
Meanwhile Portland is becoming "Seattle's hot new neighborhood" as musicians move south. The attraction is a lower cost of living, an influx of talent into the city and new music venues. Not that this is a new trend -- the Doug Fir lounge, cited as one of the new draws, opened two years ago.
The proposed rules are part of a trend that threatens Seattle's character by discouraging vibrant nightlife. No doubt The Stranger would argue that outspoken coverage of these issues is important for the city. It's convenient that it also makes a brilliant defense of the paper's advertising base.