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Hi everyone! So I'm looking at university jobs up in Seattle and Portland, but just trying to get a better idea of the areas compared with my native San Francisco Bay/UC Davis area.
People who've lived in or spent a lot of time in both - I like areas where people are outgoing and talk to and interact with strangers, whether they know them or not. Positive, friendly vibes I've heard that Seattle...isn't exactly known for that, polite but prefer not to chat much if they don't already know you or you're not in their circle. In your experience, is this true? How about Portland - is it much different? Are they markedly different from Northern Californians?
Would you say these are overall safe cities i.e. to walk around at night in the downtowns and most parts?
And then, concerning the famous weather - I KNOW it rains a lot more often, and has sun a lot less often than further south. But I know Summer and Fall do have their warm, sunny days too. I'm guessing in the Winter months that would be much less common. Are Seattle and Portland noticeably different weather-wise? The number of rainy/sunny days don't look much different in charts, but I know Portland is a few degrees warmer.
I think it is wrong to lump Seattle/Portland into one category, as the two cities, while less than 170 miles apart, couldn't be more different. However there are plenty of other threads on city-data that go into detail about this.
As far as Seattle vs. Bay Area...well, both areas are expensive, but Bay Area is moreso, especially in the city of San Francisco. Both areas have terrible traffic, and both areas are dense, Seattle less than the Bay, but Seattle is now ranked #10 in densitiy in the U.S.
Weather is certainly better in the Bay, but keep in mind San Francisco is actually cooler in the summer than Seattle (or Portland). However, it only takes several miles to get out of that zone. Winters can be rainy in both, but yes, Seattle is darker and has more cloudy days.
People are actually friendly in Seattle - I moved here from the Bay and people were generally friendlier, although I agree in a way it feels on a more superficial level. The Seattle Freeze is really about how it's hard to make close friends (and it's debatable how true that actually is), but people in everyday interactions are fairly friendly.
As you know, there is actually quite a bit of variation in the Bay Area in terms of friendliness. Silicon Valley and the Peninsula (San Mateo and Santa Clara counties) I find to be unfriendly all around. People generally don't talk to you and it's hard to make friends. San Francisco is friendlier and zanier but you'll definitely find a good chunk of snobbishness. The East Bay is actually pretty friendly and people are more outgoing, I've found. The North Bay, although a few areas of Marin County are a bit snooty, is also generally more friendly.
Seattle isn't as unfriendly as Silicon Valley and the Peninsula, but is also not as friendly as the East Bay. It's also worth noting that the Seattle Metro (The Puget Sound) outside of Seattle proper and the Eastside tends to be more blue collar than the Bay Area. Two of the other larger cities in the region - Tacoma and Everett - are blue collar cities and there are several others in the region. I generally find blue collar areas to be friendlier than white collar areas - people will definitely talk to you in these places although they may not be the nicest people if that makes sense. Seattle proper does have a lot of people who are full of themselves, similar to SF.
I think it is wrong to lump Seattle/Portland into one category, as the two cities, while less than 170 miles apart, couldn't be more different. However there are plenty of other threads on city-data that go into detail about this.
As far as Seattle vs. Bay Area...well, both areas are expensive, but Bay Area is moreso, especially in the city of San Francisco. Both areas have terrible traffic, and both areas are dense, Seattle less than the Bay, but Seattle is now ranked #10 in densitiy in the U.S.
Weather is certainly better in the Bay, but keep in mind San Francisco is actually cooler in the summer than Seattle (or Portland). However, it only takes several miles to get out of that zone. Winters can be rainy in both, but yes, Seattle is darker and has more cloudy days.
San Francisco may be cooler, but the rest of the bay has great, warm summer weather (Bay Area weather varies so much - in the summer SF is cooler, some areas are similar to Seattle (although Seattle stays warmer later into the evening), and some parts of the Bay are warmer in the summer than Seattle.)
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I've heard that Seattle...isn't exactly known for that, polite but prefer not to chat much if they don't already know you or you're not in their circle. In your experience, is this true? How about Portland - is it much different? Are they markedly different from Northern Californians?
