I worked in Pioneer Square for a few years but hadn't spent much time there for a while, and I guess rarely on weekends. I got used to ignoring the drunks and homeless around our office, and escorting female coworkers to their cars. Definitely a rough part of town but I never felt particularly threatened, and that was pre-CPL.
Saturday around 6pm I was returning from the range via the Bremerton ferry which now drops you into Yesler, then I turned right onto 2nd Ave. to get to the freeway.
2nd Ave was like a scene from a George Romero zombie film. There must have been 100 plus homeless and street people milling around the sidewalks in that area, including some freaky guy in a mask dancing in the middle of the street and several people stumbling across against the red light. One tweaked looking guy bangs on my window asking for money, scaring the h*ll out of me while I'm waiting to turn, and suddenly there are three homeless guys around my car arguing about something and I can't move without hitting them. Finally they moved, but it was pretty freaky, even with a car full of guns and ammo.
WTF is going on down there on Saturday nights?
And what color MRAP should I rent for my next visit to downtown Seattle?