Seattle vs. New Hampshire (living, best, cost, state)

[chickesq]

Hello all! I've been reading these forums for some time and find it very valuable. There was a similar request for a comparison of these two areas but that was a few years ago and I'd like to ask for updated thoughts.

My husband and I are looking to move out of South Florida (bc of increasing crime, poor schools, people are jerks) with our toddler. We've narrowed it down to Seattle/Washington State and New England/New Hampshire. Our reasons are: no state income tax, safer, better schools. My husband is in the technology business, however with his current job he can work remotely from wherever. I am an attorney and both Washington and New Hampshire offer great reciprocity agreements with other states should I take the Bar. We just really want to raise our son in a more wholesome environment, with better culture, educational opportunities and outdoor activities.

We visited Seattle recently and fell in love with the topography, all the green and yes, even the weather. Also, it offers cultural opportunities that just do not exist in South Florida (i.e. musical bands that travel, plays, etc). My husband is from NJ but neither of us have visited New Hampshire. We plan to make that trip at the end of this year.

My questions are to those who have experienced both Seattle and New Hampshire - where is the best place for us to raise our son? What are the young kids like? How is the crime? How are the schools? What is it like on a day to day basis? How friendly are the people (we know virtually no one in either of those areas)? How difficult is it to deal with either the constant rain/drizzle of Seattle or the long and cold winters of New Hampshire?

Also - are there any parts of either state that you would recommend for raising a small family? We spent most of our time in Seattle in the Redmond/Bellevue/Kirkland area and really enjoyed it. Which areas in New Hampshire are not too rural but still offer wholesome living with plenty to do?

Any thoughts are highly appreciated. I think I am going to cross-post this question in the respective state forums as well. Thanks in advance for your discussion.

[LINative]

Originally Posted by chickesq

Hello all! I've been reading these forums for some time and find it very valuable. There was a similar request for a comparison of these two areas but that was a few years ago and I'd like to ask for updated thoughts.

My husband and I are looking to move out of South Florida (bc of increasing crime, poor schools, people are jerks) with our toddler. We've narrowed it down to Seattle/Washington State and New England/New Hampshire. Our reasons are: no state income tax, safer, better schools. My husband is in the technology business, however with his current job he can work remotely from wherever. I am an attorney and both Washington and New Hampshire offer great reciprocity agreements with other states should I take the Bar. We just really want to raise our son in a more wholesome environment, with better culture, educational opportunities and outdoor activities.

We visited Seattle recently and fell in love with the topography, all the green and yes, even the weather. Also, it offers cultural opportunities that just do not exist in South Florida (i.e. musical bands that travel, plays, etc). My husband is from NJ but neither of us have visited New Hampshire. We plan to make that trip at the end of this year.

My questions are to those who have experienced both Seattle and New Hampshire - where is the best place for us to raise our son? What are the young kids like? How is the crime? How are the schools? What is it like on a day to day basis? How friendly are the people (we know virtually no one in either of those areas)? How difficult is it to deal with either the constant rain/drizzle of Seattle or the long and cold winters of New Hampshire?

Also - are there any parts of either state that you would recommend for raising a small family? We spent most of our time in Seattle in the Redmond/Bellevue/Kirkland area and really enjoyed it. Which areas in New Hampshire are not too rural but still offer wholesome living with plenty to do?

Any thoughts are highly appreciated. I think I am going to cross-post this question in the respective state forums as well. Thanks in advance for your discussion.

I am not from Washington or New Hampshire but I thought I would give you a bump so maybe somebody might see this. If I had to take a guess I would say Washington State simply because the New Hampshire winter might be more of a extreme change for Floridians. However, New Hampshire is a beautiful state so you should still check it out.

[Mr. Joshua]

In New Hampshire I would look at the towns closer to the seashore, Exeter, Dover, etc. They are quaint towns and they don't get as cold as the interior.

The nice thing about New Hampshire is that you have quite a lot of culture, history, and a few cosmopolitan cities (Boston, NYC, Montreal) all within 4 hours and Portsmouth is a cool little city right on the water.

[Bill Loney]

I have never lived in NH, but have seen its beauty up close and personal, having worked back there in all seasons over the span of many years.

It's a great place to live with great access to all that New England and the NE has to offer. Which is lots.

It has a slower and much safer pace than Boston. Spectacular Scenery, Beautiful, albeit small coastline, fall colors to die for, nice but sometimes hot and humid summers, and winters that are brutal. And I mean brutal.

WA has even better scenery, far more water and coastline, bigger mountains, 3 National Parks within 60 miles as the crow flies from Seattle, far more things to do in the city (although Boston is close to NH depending on where you live there) including The magnificent Pike Place Market.

Seattle's weather can be a huge barrier for some. It's cooler in the summer (mid 70's, no humidity and no bugs)than NH, MUCH warmer in the winter. Albeit overcast often and rainy during that time.

One would think moving from FL would be an adjustment either place.

This really becomes a choice of lifestyles it seems. Seattle is a big city. And with it come all pros and cons of big cities. Great food, music, art, activities, fairs, concerts, etc...and of course traffic up the gazzooobe.

As a WA native this is an easy choice for me. But I am certainly biased.

[Guineas]

This is a really old thread, but I actually have spent time in both places, might be helpful for future Google searchers. I'm sure the OP has already made their decision.

I would take Seattle (city proper or Eastside suburbs) over New Hampshire without any hesitation with the caveat of being able to afford Seattle housing. New Hampshire is very rural, the largest cities are Manchester ("Manchvegas") and Nashua ("Trashua"), and the two combined have a smaller population than a suburb of Seattle, say Bellevue. They also don't have the best reputations among the NH locals as you can gather from the nicknames. The schools in both these NH cities are subpar, so then you are talking about living in a suburb (say Hollis) of a tiny city (Nashua). This leads to a problem in that New Hampshire has no anchor metropolis to attract a concentration of good jobs. The closest is Boston, which is a 1.5-2.5 hour commute during rush hour with poor public transit options of getting there. When it snows, double that time.

Seattle metro on the other hand has a population of 3 million people. There's no comparison the difference in cultural amenities and job opportunities between Seattle and NH, especially if you're in tech. The city of Seattle itself is a cluster of neighborhoods with a lot of independent stores and flavor, some are very family friendly like Queen Anne on the hill, Ravenna, and Wallingford--all three with excellent neighborhood schools. There is some property crime and homeless in Seattle proper, and if that bothers you, there's also the Eastside suburbs like Kirkland (Costco headquarters), Bellevue, Redmond (Microsoft headquarters) that are very clean, safe and analogous to Orange County California. The Eastside suburbs have some of the best public schools in the entire country. Nothing public in NH comes close.

University of Washington is also a very good public university with a top computer science department, strong medical and business schools, and you have in-state tuition. University of New Hampshire does not compare. Dartmouth is private and recruits nationally, so it's not directly comparable.

Seattle is also currently building a very extensive network of subway and lightrail that will connect the suburbs and neighborhoods all together. It already has a very robust bus network. There is essentially no public transit in NH.

And the outdoors? No contest either. Seattle is surrounded by 3 national parks within 2 hour drive (Mount Rainier, North Cascades, and Olympic). There's also Vancouver and the parks in British Columbia less than 3 hours away. Whistler is 4 hrs away. You can take a ferry to the San Juan islands and feel like you're at the end of the world. NH has good nature, but the surroundings of Seattle is simply in a different league.

[Guineas]

Seattle from the Bainbridge ferry, with the Cascade mountains in the background. Own work.