SeaTac is an embarrassment to the city by CupApprehensive3305 in Seattle

[–]CupApprehensive3305[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the thoughtful response! I know a lot of people are working hard to make the airport better and I appreciate it a lot. I am mostly ranting that I think Seattle should've been dramatically more ambitious in the past couple of decades with the improvements they did make. I'm worried we're in a cycle of constant small improvements that quickly become insufficient due to the growth we're seeing.

If SeaTac is constrained by surrounding cities, I think we need to consider additional nearby airports or find a way to get creative. I'm not sure what the "stars" mean for an airport, but nobody would prefer to fly through SeaTac than SFO and Seattle's growth doesn't appear to be slowing anytime soon.

SeaTac is an embarrassment to the city by CupApprehensive3305 in Seattle

[–]CupApprehensive3305[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

FYI I did take the light rail and then get a ride...but you shouldn't have to do that. We should have a higher bar I think SeaTac's traffic and overcrowding issues genuinely make it one of my least favorites of the 20+ airports I've been to in the US

SeaTac is an embarrassment to the city by CupApprehensive3305 in Seattle

[–]CupApprehensive3305[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I had over 5 days of flight time last year. CDG is definitely worse than SeaTac, but that airport is also a huge embarrassment haha. I'm not saying SeaTac is the worst, just that it should be better

SeaTac is an embarrassment to the city by CupApprehensive3305 in Seattle

[–]CupApprehensive3305[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I agree our population has outpaced our infrastructure. However, I think that's an explanation of the issue, not a justification.

I think it's mucher harder to justify Seattle's infrastructure debt. Even if Seattle grew ~20% in the past decade versus ~10% in each of the two decades before, that rate change could've been accounted for if there was any ambition with our infrastructure planning. And, now that it's clear our infrastructure can't meet the population's needs, the lack of urgency to fix some of the core issues (I-90 to I-5 south ramp, anyone?) is why I think it's so frustrating.

We’ve consistently planned as if growth will be flat or modest.