Elites don't mix. Small town America has no choice.
If not for my business I wouldn't spend any time on Mercer Island, Magnolia, Queen Anne, etc. I appreciate them as clients, but for the most part they aren't people I'd care to socialize with.
I saw the opposite over the weekend, a cruise through Spanaway on Pacific Ave. It seemed to be overwhelmed by fast food, tattoo parlors and cannabis shops...And billboards advertising same.
I've had the same experience at Renton Wal-Mart. I describe it as being like the bar scene from Star Wars. Yet less than 25 minutes away in Covington (WA) if the nicest Wal Mart you can imagine.
You've got a King County population in excess of two million, a three county population (King, Pierce, Snohomish) of 3.8 million. "Next" is possible, not so much in rural areas.
I went to one year of Jr. High in mercer Island in 1967. We didn’t mix. We got a really nice house for dirt cheap rent because it was to be torn down for the I-90 expansion. The kids at that school knew I wasn’t rich and the way they treated us was a bit annoying.
Interestingly, I rented there for a couple of years (on the scar a couple of blocks from Paul Allen’s “compound”) about 12 years ago for the same reason. Nice house but dirt cheap rent.
One of my friends became an Algona cop back in the early 70’s. Pacific and Algona (and Black Diamond) very much resemble the small towns around here. in central KY, though there is a lot more history here.
I went to a Kent HS WAY back in the day. Covington was part of my stomping grounds back in the day, I was shocked how it got built up when I visited the “new” costco store there. You would have thought they would have done a bit more traffic planning before putting all that stuff, but that does seem to be the King county way.