The great Seattle migration (maybe)

[beats me]

I’m considering a move to Seattle around this time next year. I’ve mentioned this possibility to some friends and family and they are responding like it’s a done deal and are excited for me. I think I am the only one concerned about the whole pesky work/income issue of which I have no prospects. My skills and work history fall under the “under educated general admin” variety.

Why I would move there. My roommate and last remaining friend in a 30 mile radius is moving there because he has family there and is sick of the cost of living in the Bay Area. All my other friends left for similar cost of living issues. I also have relatives in Seattle. I have very little reason to stay where I am at. People have moved on and the place barely resembles the area I grew up in. I’ve mentioned on here many times my disgust with the techie-fication of the area that is rapidly spreading like a plague.

Soooooo, any Seattle people have any insight/advice/warnings/recommendations?

[Tarekith]

Do it, best place to live if you like the outdoors and laid back attitudes. Great food too.

[beats me]

When I was there about a month ago I was surprised how familiar it felt. Most of the time when you travel you are well aware you aren’t home.

Is The Lounge in Seattle more active and tolerant of people who aren’t keeping it positive and respectful 100% of the time?

[arctic ranger]

washington and orgegon are two vastly underrated states imho. maybe because ive lived so close, but they are just hella cool. i remember back in the day mt baker was closed for like mon, tues and wed, so every thursday we would skip school for great snow and the dodgiest chairlifts. cant believe i graduated.

loads of cool stuff down there

[mmorgan]

I live north of Seattle now (90 miles or so) but at one point I was doing a lot of consulting in Seattle and kept an apartment there. These days I hear the cost of housing in Seattle is aggravatingly high and seems to be getting worse. Traffic congestion also seems to be an issue.

That said, Seattle is called the Emerald City for a reason: absolutely fantastic flora and fauna, stunning views, great architecture, fantastic music scene, etc., etc. In general the area is a great place to live...I'd say go for it. I love living here.

It is wet though.

[Tarekith]

Only in the winter though, that's the secret. Then you just head to Stevens Pass to play in the snow anyway

I'm jealous, Bellingham is a great area to be, I'd love to live there. Having Galbraith in your backyard if nothing else, too sweet.

[mmorgan]

Only in the winter though, that's the secret. Then you just head to Stevens Pass to play in the snow anyway

I'm jealous, Bellingham is a great area to be, I'd love to live there. Having Galbraith in your backyard if nothing else, too sweet.

Galbraith is literally in my backyard I can walk across to the back of my property head up the hill till I reach a DNR trail and start my ascent. Wonderful way to spend the day.

Tarekith I wasn't trying to turn him away due to rain but it is something to consider. I was lucky in that I grew to love the rain. Just like today: we are in the typical mist of autumn with intermittent showers. What's that line? "Oh god I need a drink, of cool cool rain." That's me.

[Machinesworking]

A couple things...

Yes Seattle is great outdoors wise, but you will be shocked by how many overcast days we have.
I'm not an outdoorsy person by default of putting in the most strenuous work hours of my job in the Summer, but it doesn't mean Seattle offers nothing for me. It's still up there with Southern Oregon as far as most beautiful places nature wise I've lived.

Escaping tech industry prices and the like is going to be impossible here in a couple years. The earlier you move up the better. Buy, do not rent, there is no rent control here and Amazon etc. are set to make Seattle into the next Cupertino. IMO it will never be that bad, but we're coming close. Right now the housing market still includes Condos and houses for the same amount you would probably pay to rent an equivalent place. That is changing rapidly. As an example, my house, I would rent rooms to friends, the going rate has doubled in the last couple years. The value on the property is at what it was before the mortgage crisis again. Considering your tech skills I don't see an issue with work, like the rest of the industry all the companies up here hire a ton of contract or temp workers.

All that said, in general what has kept me in Seattle over moving back to CA or OR where I have family is that it's cost of living VS wages is pretty good. The Bay Area is a constant struggle, period, unless you're a millionaire. OR still has the same cost for houses and rent even though the wages are lower. I make my living as a house painter mainly, and there are about 3 months a year where I'm pretty much on my ass, I don't receive unemployment insurance and I still manage to keep afloat here in Seattle.

There are far more shows here than in the Bay Area from what I could tell, if you still like to go out it's a great place for that.

The food is comparable, coffee houses and bars are better on average.

People are less mean. The general spiteful attitude of Bay Area CA is noticable when you go down there as a WA resident.
What we have here instead is a standoffish passive aggressive politeness that at first will be confusing... Most people are actually friendly though.


And again, you can buy a house here.

[eddiex]

i'm in portland....but i've got to concur with pretty much all the good things said about the pacific NW. i've spent a little time in seattle...there is a little more "grit" there than portland (it's also more expensive) but yeah, thumbs up.

[H20nly]

portland

that's where i wanna be...

[beats me]

Thanks for all the info, fellas. Not in the mindset to respond to it all right now but I am reading it.