“They’re not friendly, they’re nice“- that was the advice given to me on one of my first nights in Seattle. Apparently, it’s called the ‘Seattle Freeze.’ People are polite, but that’s as far as it goes. I’m not convinced.

Take Pike Place Market – one of the oldest public farmers’ markets in the USA. In the 1960s there were plans to demolish it, until campaigners like Betty Bowen and Victor Steinbrueck won their fight for it to become an historic preservation zone.

Its charitable arm, the Pike Place Market Foundation, receives hundreds of thousands of pounds in donations each year. Some of the donors’ names are on the trotter prints on the pavement outside. (The market’s mascot is a pig named Rachel and you can put money inside her at the entrance). Cash raised goes towards projects like the Pike Market Medical Clinic, the Downtown Food Bank, and low-income housing.

The city’s Underground Tour was also set up after preservationists prevented the historic Pioneer Square from being demolished.

It’s the area where the Emerald City Supporters gather on match days. They stand separately from the club’s official rally just metres away. The soccer fans want to preserve the ‘Sounders’ name and invite other supporters to join their March To The Match.

Local people here care about their community. They can’t be that cold, surely?