There's a story going around South Lake Union, but a spokeswoman for Vulcan, Paul Allen's development company, says it's just an urban legend.
That aside, the story that the neighborhood's streetcar line now under construction was called the South Lake Union Trolley until the powers that be realized the unfortunate acronym -- SLUT -- seems here to stay.
Officially, it's now the South Lake Union Streetcar. But the trolley name already has caught on, and in the old Cascade neighborhood in South Lake Union, they're waiting for the SLUT.
At the Kapow! Coffee house on Harrison Street, they're selling T-shirts that read "Ride the SLUT."
This quote seems fairly typical for around here: "There was a meeting with representatives from the city several years ago," Johnson recalled. "They asked us what we could do for you. Most people raised their hands and said 'affordable housing,' " he said. "Then the people from the city huddled together -- 'whisper, whisper, whisper,' -- and they said, 'How about a trolley?' "
Sad to say, I probably won't ever ride the SLUT. I mean, this SLUT will be like the village bicycle, everybody will have a ride. But then, you don't ride a SLUT just because it would be fun. I don't have much cause to go through that part of town, and so if I did at some point, everyone would know it was only to ride the SLUT. Besides, I'm a pretty experienced rider of these sorts of SLUTs, having ridden some in London and Cairo and Paris often. I'm afraid this SLUT probably won't compare very favorably with those more established ones. Still, a brand new, young SLUT does have a certain allure. Everything's still all nice and clean, the hardware all works, and everyone will be enthusiastic. But youthful enthusiasm only goes so far; sometimes having had a lot of riders makes a SLUT just plain more experienced. You know, one that's been around the block a few times will probably get you going faster and more efficiently. But who knows, I'll find out from other people of this SLUT is worth a ride and maybe I'll end up trying it.
Okay, stopping now.