Monday, April 14

Potemkin Village

Front Street in Seabrook WA
A "Potemkin Village" is a made-up place intended to fool casual visitors. See Wikipedia. These can appear most anywhere. One such, IMO, is the "village" of Seabrook, Washington. It pitches itself as a "people friendly" location, contrasting itself from where I picked, Ocean Shores. Remember, Ocean Shores is a place with virtually no traffic and where I do most shopping by bike. Hmm. Did I perhaps make a mistake?


Bike Rental!

Golly, Seabrook even has bikes!


I didn't see Anyone in the Rental Tent
Above is the Seabrook bike rental location. While I never actually SAW anybody ride a bike there, I suppose sometimes some do. Certainly, Seabrook highlights their bikes, here.

Still, there's a phony air about the place. Kind of like if a tiny Disneyland had timeshares. This is a people-friendly place that no public transit or shuttle serves and which requires a four-hour drive from major cities. At least in "car-dependent" Ocean Shores, I can take the bus into Aberdeen or even Olympia. What's more, despite the Seabrook bike hype, it did not escape my notice that none of the businesses have bike racks. Not even the little deli that substitutes for groceries.

We spent 25 minutes there. It was plenty of time...



They Hide the Cars Behind the Buildings Mostly
Seabrook in Progress



 

6 comments:

Khal said...

I suppose the bicycles are a prop for whatever they are selling.

limom said...

the Truman Show.

cafiend said...

"Kind of like if a tiny Disneyland had timeshares."

Excellent.

GreenComotion said...

Steve,
How funny!
Bike-friendly, people-friendly, etc., seem to have 'different' meanings to different people.
Roanoke,TX, while it doesn't claim bike-friendly, pedestrian-friendly, etc., is better suited for pedestrian and bicycles than this nook.

But, I suppose, "It is No Big Deal", in some sense.
Such things do happen.

Peace :)

PS. I am back @ GreenComotion. Just sayin' :)

Steve A said...

GreenComotion didn't come up for me, though I agree tha Roanoke is pretty well suited for bikes, well except for the 114 Freeway.

Linda bus driver said...

Love it, great travelogue. Though I bet Alaska Airlines Magazine won't publish it. Or Seabrook Chamber of Commerce. Too bad they plunked it down in one of the most beautifully wild coastal areas in the U.S.

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