Most Seattleites love outdoor activities. You'll see people jogging, cycling, canoeing, kayaking, and sailing in the city throughout most of the year, and outdoor festivals and street fairs are common in summer. Seattle has a superb network of city parks, and excellent opportunities for hiking, camping, mountain climbing, and skiing are only an hour's drive away.

For sports lovers, Seattle boasts professional baseball, football, soccer, and men's and women's basketball teams, and the UW Husky football team is a frequent PAC-10 conference champion. Grad students have full access to the university's extensive intramural athletic facilities, and the Math Department regularly fields intramural teams in such sports as volleyball, soccer, softball, basketball, ultimate frisbee, and tennis. The department volleyball team has won the UW intramural championship for three consecutive years.

Seattle is also a lively center for the arts: it's home to a new art museum, lively rock and jazz scenes, the Pacific Northwest Ballet, the Seattle Opera, the Seattle Symphony, and the highest concentration of theater outside of New York. The annual Seattle International Film Festival is the largest and best attended film festival in the United States.