Seattle vs. Austin cost of living comparison (Leander, Post: cul-de-sac, for sale)

[manbehindthecurtain]

Originally Posted by hunter_mom

And while the cost of living may be less in Austin for certain things, the discrepancy isn't as great as the difference in the salaries.

A lot of this has to do with the breakneck pace at which Austin has been growing. Wages have not grown to meet the cost of living.

[sberdrow]

Originally Posted by manbehindthecurtain

A lot of this has to do with the breakneck pace at which Austin has been growing. Wages have not grown to meet the cost of living.

Yeah, I work in commission sales, and Austin just does not seem to have as much disposable income. You would think with the lower price on houses, and the fact that there is no income tax, folk would have more money. My wife made 16 dollars an hour in the Pac NW at At a grocery store, the same company only pays $10 per hour top wage. That was kind of a big buzz kill. Who cares if it cost less to live here if you also make less money. I love to VISIT Austin, but I just felt it was time for someone to defend Seatte.

[malarkey]

Originally Posted by sberdrow

Welcome to the NW. You will love the weather. Its very mild. Yeah you have some clowdy days, but no Tornadoes, flash floods, deathly thunderstorms.

just earthquakes that happen without warning, that's all LOL and I think you might want to retract that flash flood statement given what happened last winter.

Originally Posted by texastrigirl

Now I must get to work on finding those full spectrum lights.

If they don't outlaw them, which could very likely happen.

Originally Posted by hunter_mom

As for the cost of living, we were planning to spend around $600K on a house in Austin. We found a house in Seattle (east side suburbs) for $830K which is roughly the same size and lot size as houses I was looking at in Austin.

If this is what is now "normal" I might as well shoot myself now.

Originally Posted by manbehindthecurtain

A lot of this has to do with the breakneck pace at which Austin has been growing. Wages have not grown to meet the cost of living.

Well they haven't in Seattle, either.

And that, folks, is my curmudgeon-ly post of the day. Huzzah!

[GANKS]

I think anyone who is moving to Seattle really needs to make sure they can deal with the winter weather prior to moving. Grey days in and out really can wear you down week after week. My neighbor when I lived east of Seattle who was from Austin was very jealous that we were moving to Austin. We've enjoyed it here so far, in fact I'll have to post a separate thing about that.

[jhwest]

If you're thinking of moving to Portland, one big thing to keep in mind is the lack of sales tax. That adds up fast! It's better weather than Seattle too.

[sberdrow]

Originally Posted by malarkey

just earthquakes that happen without warning, that's all LOL and I think you might want to retract that flash flood statement given what happened last winter.



If they don't outlaw them, which could very likely happen.



If this is what is now "normal" I might as well shoot myself now.



Well they haven't in Seattle, either.

And that, folks, is my curmudgeon-ly post of the day. Huzzah!

speaking for myself, I have only felt one earthquake in the PNW. Oh sure they happen, I know, but I can only remember 1 since 1977. Seattle did not flash flood. Austin has for the most part been clowdy and rain drenched since I got here. PNW has had the best weather in the nation.

[love roses]

I bet by next summer, people will be crying for rain because in the 3 years I've been here, this is the wettest summer I've seen. My sister's been here nearly 15 yrs. and she says the same thing. This rain's been long overdue, but I'm guessing next summer we won't be so lucky.

[jwb123]

I think anyone who is moving to Seattle really needs to make sure they can deal with the winter weather prior to moving.

This is so true, unfortunately, I don't think you can really understand how gloomy and depressing it can get - till you live it. I moved to WA from the DC area, and thought the rain and overcast weather was cozy, novel and different. I loved it for the first handfull of years that I was there - and then, once kids were in the mix, and I was a stay at home mom - and being stuck inside for an entire week, with kids - being so isolated... it was too much.

Re: The "freeze". People aren't rude in Seattle. Not by any stretch of the imagination. It's more like, surface friendly. You can live years by your neighbors and only know their first names, if that sometimes. Though, as you pull your car into the driveway, they will smile and wave. You won't even see them until the summer - other than that pulling into the driveway... for some, (like my in-laws) that's just fine though.

For me, and my family - the weather and lack of meaningful interaction just was too much after awhile. We have more friends, and are more socially active here, in the 9 mths we have lived here - than all of our 10 years in Seattle.

Visting there now, is not representative of what living there for most of the year, is like.

[jwb123]

speaking for myself, I have only felt one earthquake in the PNW. Oh sure they happen, I know, but I can only remember 1 since 1977. Seattle did not flash flood. Austin has for the most part been clowdy and rain drenched since I got here. PNW has had the best weather in the nation.

I know of at least 3 largish earthquakes in the last 12 years of Seattle history.

Last year, North of Seattle - LOTS of flooding. Living in Snohomish county, there are lots of issues with flooding. And windstorms. So much so that people were without power for days and weeks last year. Every year that we lived in Bothell - at least once, we were out of power for at least a 36 hr period.

Yes, this rain in Austin sucks. BUT, from every report - this is NOT the norm. At least we don't have to have our heat on right now. AND, we know this rain will go away at some point. In Seattle, summer is a crap shoot.

[TX-Griff]

Originally Posted by TERRIE

I keep hearing about the heat in the summer...does the weather the rest of the year round make it worth it? I can handle three ugly mos. as long as the rest of the year is pretty decent....

October thru May are to die for they're so wonderful (says the gal from Connecticut... LOL!)... June's iffy but July-September you'll wonder how our pioneer ancestors lived long enough to even THINK of settling here!

The joke is you can play golf nine months outta the year in Austin... and the three months when you can't are July, August & September.

Since 1999, Austin has "closed" twice due to ice... once was 36 hours, the last one (this past January) was three days. Whoooooo-hooo! A snow day! Yippeeee!

I love sending pics of our one day of snow (it's 1/4" covering everything except paved areas) to northener friends & family who're filling their oil tanks for the second & third time in a year, are shoveling their way outta the second or third (or 17th!) blizzard and wonder why I'm prepping Christmas dinner in shorts & a t-shirt.

And this year's rain fall is the worst it's been in 50ish years... average rain fall for Austin is 33.65"... this year we've already had 38.5". Oh, and Austin rain storms are awesome... thunder and lightening and downpour, oh my! No stinkin' grey drizzle here, nosireebob.

TX Griff