Seemed to me when I lived in Seattle in the late 80s it was a pretty friendly place for street musicians.

Last weekend I was in Boulder, Colorado visiting my 6-year-old daughter and we went to the Boulder Jewish Festival. Saw lots of street performers on the Pearl St. pedestrian mall. There was an excellent magician at the festival who told the crowd, "I'm getting paid by the festival for being here today, but not too long ago I was out there on the street where those guys are. So if you feel like giving me some money for this performance, go on over and give it to them." Now that's class.

And speaking of former buskers who made good, the well known magician duo Penn & Teller started out on the street. In Philadelphia in the 70s they were 2/3 of the Asparagus Valley Cultural Society, whom I saw a couple of times in Washington Square (yes, there is a Washington Square in Philadelphia, near Independence Hall). The other third of the group was a musician. Does that say something....?

Aloha,
Mark