I MUST leave Portland :( (Beaverton, Hillsboro: co-op, house, neighborhoods)

[LuisaV]

Hello, I'm very concern because I need to move to Seattle after 4.5 years of living in PDX... I'm insanely in love with this city... people often say that PDX and Seattle are kind of the same but I visited Seattle for a couple of times and just don't find that "click" that I already have with Portland...

Does anyone have the experience of living in both cities?
Are there any "good news" for me switching PDX for Seattle?

Thanks! :S

[HonuMan]

I've lived in both. I moved to Portland a year after moving to Seattle from Atlanta because Seattle's entry-level housing prices were just outside of my budget (Portland's were cheaper), and because Seattle's traffic and sprawl were too much like what I'd left behind in Atlanta. I liked Portland's small-city vibe, lack of sprawl, and lower cost of living. That said, if I'd been able to afford a house in Seattle, I probably would have stayed, because Seattle is a great city, with much to offer. Portland's setting is beautiful, but Seattle's is stunning. I miss being near Puget Sound and seeing the Olympic Mountains to the West and the high Cascades to the east. If the right financial opportunity came along, I'd live there again.

My advice is to give Seattle a chance. Any new place takes at least a year to get used to, so it will be perfectly normal to feel homesick for a while. Do you know what neighborhood you'll be living or working in? There's a lot of difference between neighborhoods in Seattle, just as there is in Portland. I lived in Renton, which was okay but not particularly charming. I loved the neighborhoods from downtown northward and past U of W (especially Queen Anne). There are some cool neighborhoods around Lake Washington. West Seattle is also nice. East of Lake Washington, you get into newer suburbs in the high-tech corridor. They're like newer suburbs anywhere (i.e., lacking in character).

[LuisaV]

Thank you so much for your response, we are moving to the "Microsoft area", so I think around Redmond, Bellevue, Kirkland... so not sure if one of this is better than the other, I'm sure living in Seattle's downtown area would be super nice but our budget wouldn't help :S besides, working in Microsoft I think would be better to live near due I have heard so many stories about Seattle's traffic jams...
Any suggestions about this areas?... thank you THANK YOU )

Anyhow, I wish I can come back to Portland someday... yes, I know, I should stop thinking about it... :S

[HonuMan]

Nothing need be forever -- you can always move back to Portland someday if you want to, and it's an easy 3-hour drive to visit.

I don't recall there being a lot of difference between Redmond, Bellevue, and Kirkland, but I didn't spend much time there because, when I wasn't working (I telecommuted and worked from home), I'd either go into downtown Seattle or out into the country for fun. I remember the high-tech suburbs being like Beaverton, Hillsboro, etc. You can ask people on the Seattle forum for their opinions, but because of traffic, you'll probably want to live as close to where you work as possible.

You'll have plenty of new areas to explore. I used to enjoy taking day trips to Snoqualmie Falls (where they shot parts of the show Twin Peaks), Stephens Pass, Mt. Rainier, Bellingham, Deception Pass, and so on. In the city, Pike Street Market was always fun, and I liked Gasworks Park near U of W. Good luck to you!

[sylvanarrow]

What are you into, Luisa?

I like Redmond, though it doesn't have the history and character of the older suburbs in the Seattle area. If I could afford a decent house there, I'd probably move there instead of eyeballing stuff in Portland, heh.

If you have dogs, Marymoor has probably the largest dog park in the Pacific Northwest. There's a nice paved bike trail that runs through the area and can take you all the way to the UW and Ballard. For a suburb, it's a pretty bike-able place. You're close to the mountains, too, and Snoqualmie Pass and hiking and skiing are less than an hour away.

Plenty of restaurants and shopping if that's your bag (though Bellevue is much larger and has more in that capacity). There's a PCC and Whole Foods for your natural food fix (PCC is our Seattle-area grocery co-op and tends to have more vegan and wheat-free offerings than Whole Foods). Woodinville has quite a few wineries and tasting rooms, and there's the Red Hook Brewery on the bike trail there if you want to do a day trip and stop for lunch.

[LuisaV]

Thank you guys!

I don't have a dog and don't planning to have one, but love to have parks and trails close to my home... Is Kirkland or any other suburb "better" than the other? or it's quite the same thing?

Now I'm living in SW Portland in the Beaverton boundaries, it's a nice, safe and... hmmm... quiet place to live and despite I have a shopping center and a MAX station very close, it's not the same feeling like living in an interesting place with more history and taller trees

I used to live in Sellwood in Portland which is a great old neighborhood not too close to downtown but not too far neither, with a lovely park with great old trees and a pathway, great dining and shopping streets around and nice coffee shops, a small public library and a community center nearby... I would love something like that!

[Spec 1]

I moved from Seattle to Portland 3 years ago after being in Seattle for 4 years. I must say, Seattle is beautiful and has nice features, but it is a much worse place to live. Traffic is literally a nightmare and people are socially inept. Nobody will say hello to you when you walk down the street, and they will look at you funny if you say it to them, in a "Who the heck are you?" sort of way.

I know some great folks up there, but it took a long time to develop friendships as you'll find most of your friends will come through other friends. It's very difficult to come in from the outside.

After all that, I'll always have a place in my heart for Seattle. I love downtown on weekends.