Seattle or San Francisco Bay area : To live and Start up a business (rent)

[vmee]

Which one would you pick to live and open a restaurant , or any businesses?

[eightiesfan]

I prefer the Bay Area as a place to live but that's just my opinion.

The rest. biz in both towns is tough, I'd assume Seattle is probably easier for a start up but both are fairly competitive. Both are extremely expensive places for a startup and the costs associated with running a business.

If you give us an idea of the type of business we could probably give you better advice.

[Jonotastic]

Seattle hands down...I love San Francisco, but I would NEVER want to do business there. My family and I are in the restaurant industry, we've owned 4 so far and would NEVER open one in San Francisco. The laws make it so you either have to work there 7 days a week to prevent you from having what is it 15 or more employees than you have to provide health insurance. On top of that all the taxes and regulations and competition and high rent and restrictions on what type of kitchen the list goes on. I love the city, I loved living there, but it's better to have a job their vs your own business. I've lived in Seattle as well, if you move there, buy a spice mix called "green magic" from the Pike Street Market, we put that on everything and people love it.

[US-Traveller]

Seattle and Washington offer a much better business climate. San Francisco is like Chicago or New York, the restaurant market is very competitive, very costly, and very difficult to make a profit.

I like both cities equally, but owning your own business is much better in Washington. Washington has no income tax, nuff said. Go to Seattle.

[Ultrarunner]

Doesn't WA have a Gross Receipts Business Tax?

This kind of tax makes it very hard for some small businesses because you pay tax on the money the business takes in irregardless of profit or loss.

[vmee]

We got some good replies here.
I think both cities are good for restaurant business. Both are urban area, people eat out more than cook at home. SF bay has higher ratio of restaurant per capita, which means more competitors. But it also means it is the better place for this kind of business.
Also, since owning a business , you got to live in the area. The bay is more expensive to live in while Seattle is relatively afforable.
I used to live in SF bay and love it. I could move back right away if I have a job that I work for somebody else.
But if I want to work for myself , open up my own business, I tend to pick Seattle, though I never live there.