Moving back to San Diego after a disasterous 6 months in Seattle (Berkeley: homes, tech jobs)

[kcda]

Originally Posted by Kmag2OOO

I hope you can take this with a grain of salt, I do understand what you've experienced.

Imagine yourself for a moment, wherever it is that you might have lived or someplace where you grew up for a moment, where your family lived and theirs before, and so on. Some place that was nothing special but was special for you because of your life experiences there. Think of your greatest childhood memories, teen memories or stories and stories from your family your grandparents, and again their parents and so on, because that's where I am coming from. A fairly rich history in some place, not world class noteworthy maybe, but it's yours.

Trouble is, now imagine that place having a population explosion, growth, sure at first it's very noticable, but you've got such a good thing you think you are happy to share it, and here the cycle begins. It's not personal, but if you actually look at the numbers on growth for this region over the past 15 years or so, and then imagine that kind of growth coming to your home, you probably would clam up and close up shop too. You probably wouldn't want to be every newcomers best friend anymore, you couldn't possibly anyway, you wouldn't have the time. You might randomly find yourself giving out the wrong directions when strangers passing by ask you how to find something or get somewhere.

Now, imagine so much of what you remember about your hometown and all the neighboring towns, you know, you played all their teams back in school or whatever and wandered off after the game in these little rival towns and stuff. Now go back and see how much of it has been bulldozed and is being marketed online by Real Estate agents who can't even spell or pronounce half the town names right themselves, let alone really desribe what it's like to spend time there. They sure can give you a commute time estimate and describe the mountains or country like setting and that's about it. Check out the neat cookie cutter developements with their plastic, closed into themselves buildings, they look like little dull lego block clusters stuck in the middle of nowhere. They look like military bases or company towns, compounds for the random incoming labor forces of some yet unknown future massive. Soon they start to cluster more and more. Now these great big strip mall sections start floating further and further out into the subsurban areas, more and more of them. Then you go to pay for something. Anything. Rent. Mortgage. Parking. Energy. Maybe just dinner or a movie. Suddenly, and it feels like overnight, you're paying a hundred percent, 200 even up to 500% inflation rates over what you look back as maybe seems like it was 10 years that passed, I swear it's only been about that long too, you scratch your head, perplexed. Yes we've had a larger inflation across the country recently but here it's more an ongoing phenomenon.

You know it's not personal, but as far as I can tell, I probably won't have a lot of free time to get to know a quota of new people at the end of the day. That's not to say if you really bring something, if you really have something to offer, or even if you don't. Who knows? Being a stranger in a new place, it's about 50/50, you get in or you don't right? But being a part of a massive explosion, and that's what this place is like recently, well, it might not be going 50/50. Essentially a casualty of war in a metphoric sense. I'm sorry if it didn't happen for you here but I'm also sorry so many have just come, and honestly, I couldn't really put my finger on the why of it. By that I mean I have talked to people and they were like, I don't know, it just sounded cool, let's go to Seattle. Maybe it's really poorly overmarketed and someone is making bank off of that fact, I don't know.

I don't know all the answers, but when small towns that were once nothing special but were definitely important and home to those that lived and really lived in them become nothing more than dumping grounds for high profit bedroom communities, driven primarily by greed and huge unplanned growth rates I suppose, it does leave behind it's share of mixed feelings.

Maybe some of us just want a breather. As for it being naturally beautiful to look around here. Well some of that is due to for so long noone wanted it except those of us here, and nature sort of took it's course. I suppose those days are really gone now. I know some of the things I enjoyed while growing up are not going to be here for my kids to enjoy. Maybe it's just the eye of the 'caine and eventually things will normalize, but whatever it is, I wanted to try to contribute honestly and perhaps help clarify why the commenting here might be reflecting a variety of different experiences, while hopefully not sounding too negative.

Thank you for taking the time to write all that and share your experiences. I didn't think you came off too negative. While I understand what you are saying, I think what you are describing, "change" happens everywhere. It certainly happened here when everyone and their brother wanted to move to California. It drove up the real estate, changed the landscapes and cities permanently and most everyone I meet is actually not a native of the area. I think in Seattle this has only happend over the past 10-15 years. I don't think the people of Seattle have had enough time to adapt to it.

[Nick682]

Originally Posted by caliguy92832

Thats what my mom was saying a few years back after she visited Seattle. She said the people in WA have attitudes just like here.

San Diego is great, it's so awesome, everyone here is a real brainiac. When I hear them talking they are always discussing such important topics, like the marine layer, and how crowded the beach was today, or how warm and sunny it is.

That's why I'm moving because the level of intelligence is way to high for me here.

I need a lower class of people so I can feel good about myself. It must be something about the surfer dude, beach bro, blonde BMW chick, culture that just draws in all the smarties!

[Kmag2OOO]

Originally Posted by tigerclaws

Change is a way of life, we don't live in the stone age unfortunately. It is such a lame reason to be rude. I don't think there is any justification for bad behavior IMO.

Different people vary greatly in what is considered to be rude or bad behavior. As residents of a community, you may also find you do have the option of accepting or rejecting the behaviors of others around you, rather newcomers or oldtimers. Since the dawn of time acceptance or rejection within a social order can spell out fates far more severe functionally than even death for an individuals or groups actions. It's not lame or wrong, it's just a part of our internal blueprint. And we all know, the more things change...

[stilldirrty]

Excuses, Excuses. LOL
Rude is rude.

Originally Posted by Kmag2OOO

Different people vary greatly in what is considered to be rude or bad behavior. As residents of a community, you may also find you do have the option of accepting or rejecting the behaviors of others around you, rather newcomers or oldtimers. Since the dawn of time acceptance or rejection within a social order can spell out fates far more severe functionally than even death for an individuals or groups actions. It's not lame or wrong, it's just a part of our internal blueprint. And we all know, the more things change...

Seattle is a nice place to visit, but people there do tend to be a lot less social. But a beautiful city

[VeronikaW]

Originally Posted by sdurbanite

I love visiting Seattle, but it's one of the last places I'd ever want to live. The gloominess, cool temps and dampness would kill me.

Hope you make it back to SD!

Thank you. Unfortunately we just found out we're stuck here for another 3 years. At least we'll have money for a house in CA when we come back.

[Nick682]

If Seattle played San Diego in a Chess match, Seattle would win.

If Seattle competed with San Diego on a Math test, Seattle would win.

If Seattle competed with San Diego in a book reading contest Seattle would win.

If Seattle was compared to San Diego's IQ levels Seattle would be 50 points higher on average.

If Seattle was played San Diego in Scrabble, Seattle would win.

If Seattle competed with San Diego in a half-pipe skate boarding contest, San Diego would win.

If Seattle competed with San Diego in a Blond hair dying contest, San Diego would win.

I Seattle competed with San Diego in a "not saying" "LIKE, LIKE, LIKE, every other word contest, Seattle would win.

Final Score= 6 Seattle / 2 San Diego...maybe next time San Diego, probably not though, because we just fired a bunch of teachers.

[kkmcat]

Go to REALTOR.com - Real Estate Listings & Homes For Sale and click on RENTALS ....you will be able to specify area, price etc. I do know a wonderful agent who can help you, Lane with Prudential...email me and I'll give you her contact info.

Kathy
kkmcats@sbcglobal.net

[VeronikaW]

Originally Posted by Nick682

If Seattle played San Diego in a Chess match, Seattle would win.

If Seattle competed with San Diego on a Math test, Seattle would win.

If Seattle competed with San Diego in a book reading contest Seattle would win.

If Seattle was compared to San Diego's IQ levels Seattle would be 50 points higher on average.

If Seattle was played San Diego in Scrabble, Seattle would win.

If Seattle competed with San Diego in a half-pipe skate boarding contest, San Diego would win.

If Seattle competed with San Diego in a Blond hair dying contest, San Diego would win.

I Seattle competed with San Diego in a "not saying" "LIKE, LIKE, LIKE, every other word contest, Seattle would win.

Final Score= 6 Seattle / 2 San Diego...maybe next time San Diego, probably not though, because we just fired a bunch of teachers.

Yes, and if they had an a**hole contest, Seattle would win hands down every time.

[sdurbanite]

Originally Posted by Nick682

If Seattle played San Diego in a Chess match, Seattle would win.

If Seattle competed with San Diego on a Math test, Seattle would win.

If Seattle competed with San Diego in a book reading contest Seattle would win.

If Seattle was compared to San Diego's IQ levels Seattle would be 50 points higher on average.

If Seattle was played San Diego in Scrabble, Seattle would win.

If Seattle competed with San Diego in a half-pipe skate boarding contest, San Diego would win.

If Seattle competed with San Diego in a Blond hair dying contest, San Diego would win.

I Seattle competed with San Diego in a "not saying" "LIKE, LIKE, LIKE, every other word contest, Seattle would win.

Final Score= 6 Seattle / 2 San Diego...maybe next time San Diego, probably not though, because we just fired a bunch of teachers.

As if the social misfits of Seattle would even want to come out of their homes to compete in any of the games you listed above. I bet they'd be more comfortable engaging in serious game of solitaire, instead of having to interact with another human being.

[capoeira]

Originally Posted by Nick682

If Seattle competed with San Diego on a Math test, Seattle would win.

This is absurd since anyone involved in education knows Washington state is well known for its very low math standards. Check out this article.

"Fractions, for example, are taught to Washington fourth-graders, but to second-graders in California."

State math standards too low, new review says | Seattle Times Newspaper

"students in Washington are expected to learn about 25 percent less math than the average of the comparison states"