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I cannot live in either of these cities ,but I did live in Seattle for 6 years. I'd definitely take Seattle over Boston.. First of all, Seattle has the best scenery of any city in the lower 48 (Mt Rainier and Mt Baker are immaculate!), more outdoor recreation and the most beautiful and majestic mountains just 30 miles from the city limit. The Puget Sound has even more majestic beauty with the Olympic mountains in the backdrop. No matter how nice Boston's harbor or waterfront can look, it doesn't hold a candle to the Puget Sound. Seattle is cheaper than Boston (ouch, because Seattle is expensive), has better weather (ouch again, because Seattle's weather isn't so good) and I don't think either has worse traffic than the other (both places,again, have bad traffic). Washington state has no income tax and "Taxachusetts" (as they call it) has in additional to larger living cost even higher taxes than Washington. I can imagine the schools are better in Massachusetts being its an area with the best higher learning institutions in the country, if not world. You will have to deal with the drug and homeless epidemic living in Seattle, but if you got cash and can live in a nice suburb like Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond, Issaquah, Sammamish, etc you can avoid the worst of it and be in some of the safest places in the country. Actually, it's getting cheaper to live in these extravagant suburbs on the Eastside than even Seattle proper anymore. Even millionaires find dead bodies outside of their luxury homes in inner city Seattle these days. I cannot imagine Boston doesn't have its share of crime though, but don't know all the details about that issue over there.
Crime is significantly worse in Boston but I don’t think that will affects OP in either city given the income bracket
I saw this documentary and it was part of the reason I started this thread. Although to be honest, when I visited Seattle the number of homeless people and drug addicts I saw did not strike me as significantly greater than Boston. So I am not entirely sure how much of this is sensationalized. I wasn't around I-5 much though. What's more concerning is the feeling that the Seattle Police Dept has given up.
Boston and New England in general have a big heroin problem too, I think way worse than the PNW, and it's very visible in certain parts of the city and Cambridge along the red line. Go further out of Boston into the South Shore, South Coast and North Shore, and it's basically epidemic. Transit stations in Quincy, Weymouth, Revere, Lynn, Peabody, Taunton, Brockton etc etc are full of junkies nodding off in broad daylight.
It’s not basically epidemic. It’s a full blown epidemic.
When I go back to the Boston area it’s kind of disturbing the drug problem and development patterns. Good portions of Eastern MA seem to be in various form of slow decline.
Well that’s a little harsh. I doubt the kids will suffer if they’re forced to grow up in a 400k household.
That having been said, I still think the OP should make the move. The income difference is huge, and they can always move back if they really hate it (which would surprise me; everyone I know who’s moved to Seattle has lived it)
I knew it was harsh when I typed it but it’s not untrue. You can live extremely well at 400k but you can live with muuuuuch better options for college/employment/internships/vacations when you’re parents have been racking up an extra 400k for a decade or so... let’s be blunt about it.
Well that’s a little harsh. I doubt the kids will suffer if they’re forced to grow up in a 400k household.
That having been said, I still think the OP should make the move. The income difference is huge, and they can always move back if they really hate it (which would surprise me; everyone I know who’s moved to Seattle has lived it)
LOL I was thinking the same! A $400k income is wealthy by most people's standards in the US.
That's $33k before taxes a month.
No one's suffering financially on that, unless you have an addiction to spending $.
I knew it was harsh when I typed it but it’s not untrue. You can live extremely well at 400k but you can live with muuuuuch better options for college/employment/internships/vacations when you’re parents have been racking up an extra 400k for a decade or so... let’s be blunt about it.
Yes. The money is impactful. It’s not just living in a nicer house. Who cares about that? It’s retiring earlier, being able to invest more, etc
The homeless and small-crime issue in greater Downtown Seattle is a problem, but nothing like the hype. The worst I see on my 10-minute morning walk to work is a couple spots with frequent smokers (outside a union hall and a low-income building). We've been kicking camps out of core areas, so much of that issue is outside the core. The main problem is probably the thieves around Third & Pike who live off the nearby stores, and the lack of a real crackdown, though that area is increasingly developed.
The U District is a smaller version of Kendall Square. Downtown Bellevue is a highrise node in suburbia. South Lake Union is a larger version of the Seaport. Capitol Hill is the Back Bay. All sketchy comparisons. Boston is generally much denser and more vibrant but Seattle is catching up at a furious pace.
precisely. Im thinking wealth/equity/future not immediate things.
Yes and all this talk about crime adn some documentary about some city, it's all noise and a distraction. You'd have to really hate a city to let that influence you. Even at 200k, you get to avoid scenes like that. same with the gangs in Chicago and the poopers in SF. when you're rich, you don't concern yourself with that.
Walkability, transit, etc., are important to a lot of people, and that doesn't automatically change with a high-level professional salary.
There's a lot of that here in Seattle. Obviously not on Boston's level, but Seattle has a lot of walkable spots. I live in downtown Bellevue. Don't need a car at all. And yes, it's kind of sterile, but it is really safe out here and great schools. This is not NYC to Shreveport, but at those figures, I think that's a move that can be made. Do it till the kids are out of school and then move back?
I could buy 3 houses in Texas for the price of one out here, but I like it enough to stay.
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