Submitted by Active-Stand6298 t3_11n0q2i in Washington
Hello everyone! My friend (m21) and I (m23) are in the midst of creating a fantasy novel series based in Seattle in the 1990s. It will take place in the year 1995, following a group of teenagers (ages 15-16). I lived in Snoqualmie, Washington (30 minute drive away) for the majority of my life and fell in love with the city of Seattle. I would always drag my friends to drive over whenever we had the chance. I would love to include this city and more specifically this interesting time period into our books. The only problem is, neither of us were even born yet! While we are doing our own research (reading books/articles), we would love to interview some people to gain a deeper understanding. If anyone wants to help us out, it would be greatly appreciated! :)
hotdogmatt t1_jblb8on wrote
I was born in 87 and grew up outside of Seattle. Both of my parents worked downtown so I did spend a lot of time in the city then. I'm happy to help with any questions you might have.
A good source for you will be the season of the real world when it was set in Seattle.
For the most part what I remember is that Seattle is pretty much the same as it is now but it was less crowded. The 90s was a big tech boom but not quite as big as it is now.
Ppl in Seattle were no where near as rich as they are now so everyone would be dressed down much more casually.
No big flashy stores. Most places were rundown/humble.
It was kind of a quite sleepy town. I'd vist places like Port Townsend or Spokane. Those have similar vibes to 90s Seattle.
No one was in much of a rush. You would see ppl at coffee shops catching up or just milling about.
The teens then were kinda rowdy. The grunge scene was huge and the kids here really lived the lifestyle. Smoking hang out by train tracks dressingfrumpy. Had no respect for authorities. Loitering skating and vandalized a lot. Just burnout hoodlums.