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Depends. Are you white? Are you Asian? Are you something else? What kind of job are you thinking? What's your tolerance for grey weather?
I really like Seattle. It is kind of like clean SF. There are lots of similar amenities. They Bay Area metro is much bigger, and more diverse. You can also find areas where there is a lot of intermixing. Not so much in Seattle. And there isn't much diversity in the city center.
The Bay Area has much better weather in my book. It is a lot greyer in Seattle. The Bay Area has rainy winter, but there are sunny days mixed in. And it is rarely grey more than 2 or 3 days in a row, even during rainy season (unless you are in SF or Daly City or Pacifica in the summer). Seattle, the grey sets in around October and doesn't really lift until May or June.
There really isn't anything to go on; criteria, etc.
Offhand I think you'd be happy in both. If you had two jobs, both paying the same, you'd have way more left over in Seattle because housing costs are high but not the astronomical ridiculousness that is SF. So for COL Seattle beats the pants off SF, again assuming the same job for the same pay. You'd have to get paid at least $100k to scrape by in SF.
Both cities have good food scenes.
I find Seattle to be cleaner than SF. If that matters.
Seattle is less diverse ethnically but the smaller sizes doesn't mean their presence isn't felt here. There's definite varied asian and middle eastern vibes here. I would say that there's no Italian neighborhood in Seattle, so they lose out on that but that's basically it IMO.
Seattle IS cloudy a lot of the year... SF can have cold summer days, which seems odd to me.
Both are pretty close to amazing natural heritage. Seattle has more native american cultural impact if that matters to you. Seattle also has amazing mountains nearby and everything you could possibly want is literally within at most an hour's drive.
If you want urbanity without loss of density, diversity of public (and a lot of free transportation), uniqueness, a vibrant arts scene, and low cost of living, the choice is obvious ...
Portland! Heck they're even more liberal than Seattleites if that's what you want. Some of the things that SF and Portland do make Seattleites kinda make them turn circles besides their head and go "coo-coo!"
I like the liberal politics and big city feel of SF, but I also like the rain and closeness to Canada in Seattle. Not to mention it's cheaper. Which one should I move to?
Also, I won't have a car and will rely on public transportation.
I would say Frisco they are always looking for a few more.
I would choose Seattle because it's not as expensive and not as much of a hassle.
I'm a fan of metros in the 2-4 million range. When they get bigger than that, the hassles of living there often make it impossible to take advantage of what the city offers even offers on a regular basic do to cost, traffic etc.
Last edited by kcmo; 08-07-2011 at 11:58 AM..
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Heck they're even more liberal than Seattleites if that's what you want. Some of the things that SF and Portland do make Seattleites kinda make them turn circles besides their head and go "coo-coo!"
