How is the city of Seattle an important setting in the short story, The Senator's Son?

Seattle is a major coastal city in Washington State, in the Pacific Northwest of the United States of America. Seattle features into several stories in passing or mention, but features most prominently in the story The Senator’s Son. On Capitol Hill in Seattle, a place known for its leftwing culture, the narrator and his friends look to beat up some gays. The narrator himself punches his former best friend, Jeremy, in the face while on Capitol Hill. The narrator comes to quickly regret what happened, and seeks out Jeremy elsewhere in Seattle to apologize. It is in Seattle that Jeremy explains he will not press charges or go to the press, wanting the narrator’s father’s career to continue on unimpeded by what has happened.