Phoenix to Seattle - Input wanted (Tacoma, Bellevue: transplants, apartments, rentals)

[techaz]

A little background on me:
Moved to Phoenix with my wife 5 years ago from the midwest without even visiting here before. The locations to move to were between Seattle and Phoenix. I actually like it here, but I want a change of pace.

My questions regarding Seattle:
1. Phoenix is one huge suburb, not much urban lifestyle/areas around here. Depending on if I can land a job in a very specific field that I have experience in will determine our income. 70k if I can't, 90k if I can...if that makes sense. I might have to settle for a non management/supervisory position.

Am I very restricted in highly walkable, urban neighborhoods with that price point? Basically my ideal rent amount would be 1200-1600 per month for a 2br/2ba.


2. Is craigslist the best place to look for apartments/home rentals? I won't be buying. I've checked out a couple websites to search, but not sure what the locals use.

3. How is Seattle as a sports town? Passionate fans? Attendance/fanbase problems? This is one of the problems I have with Phoenix, albeit a small one. Everyone is from everywhere and it's really hard to get behind the local teams due to the overall lack of interest here.


Those are all the questions I have off the top of my head. I know about the weather there, I've thought about it and I'm fine with the opposite that I have here. It's rained once since December where I live and it gets old.

Thanks for any advice.

[Hemlock140]

Your rent will be at the top of your range but yes, that's quite possible. A friend recently found a nice 2 br 2 ba condo in Ballard for $1,600. Truly, the best way to find a rental home is to be here and drive around, and network. The best are leased without having to go on CL or any other advertising. Word of mouth, a sign in the window, or even seeing people moving out and asking for the owner's number get them rented fast.



The sports fans here are passionate as long as the team is doing fairly well. After two bad years attendance drops off. it's too early to tell if that will happen with the Sounders, who have the most passionate fans, they have done well since they started in the MLS. Despite mediocre seasons the Seahawk fans still have hope, but I would expect Mariner attendance to be really bad this season. Last year it seemed that most people that went were more interested in the big screen hydro races, food, and their smartphones than baseball.

[deckard9080]

$1200 a month will get you a mid level one bedroom in the good areas of Seattle.
I've lived in Phx and Seattle beats it on every level. Even the weather. I would take cold rain sprayed in my face for a week over another Phoenix Summer. Screw that.

1. Seattle has history and culture. Great arts and music scene.
2. Craigslist and Rent.com are good. Also try nwrentals. I haven't tried it myself.
3. I don't care about sports, but it seems to be huge here.

Good luck.

[techaz]

Thanks for the input. The housing costs are so high in Seattle, I guess I'll just have to get used to having less. Currently in a 1700sq 3br/2ba house with a pool for the cost of a nice 1br/1ba apartment in a decent area of Seattle it looks like. I don't miss apartment living and the noise from neighbors. I worry about soundproof places. Don't want to annoy any neighbors from my sometimes loud birds (cockatiels).


I actually do have a question about weather now. I know it rains/mists a lot in Seattle...do people still walk around the neighborhood a lot when it rains, or do they just use their car then?

[Ira500]

Originally Posted by techaz

Thanks for the input. The housing costs are so high in Seattle, I guess I'll just have to get used to having less. Currently in a 1700sq 3br/2ba house with a pool for the cost of a nice 1br/1ba apartment in a decent area of Seattle it looks like. I don't miss apartment living and the noise from neighbors. I worry about soundproof places. Don't want to annoy any neighbors from my sometimes loud birds (cockatiels).


I actually do have a question about weather now. I know it rains/mists a lot in Seattle...do people still walk around the neighborhood a lot when it rains, or do they just use their car then?

Most of the time when it rains here, it's pretty light. So people just continue on, take walks, etc. Yes, there are times it rains too hard to walk in, particularly in November, December, and January. So, it doesn't always rain in Seattle. It might rain for some portion of a day most days(except July, August, and most of September), but more often than not it's simply cloudy.
But today it's mostly sunny and the high will be close to 70 degrees.

[Hawkeye37]

Agreed! I'm from the midwest and moved to Phoenix last April-Aug. and the weather was atrociously hot. The winter was mild compare to what I'm used to in Iowa (I'll take rain over freezing windchills or extreme heat). Phx is a terrible city to navigate around as traffic sucks and everything is so spread out. Here traffic is congested on I-5 (I only have experience on commuting from Tacoma to Seattle), but the public transporatation system rocks (The train or the bus is the way to go for that).

I came to visit my best friend in Seattle in August for a week last year, and after that I was hooked on Seattle. I love the cool, laid-back west coast vibe, the music scene, the spectacular scenery surrounding the sound. I ended up moving here at the end of Sept., to help my friend with his business I liked it so much. He had a place right on the sound in Tacoma and it was awesome. The sports scene is more thriving here than in Phoenix because as Phx native said, everyone is from everywhere all over the U.S. so it's hard to build a following. Here the fans seem loyal to their local teams. I went to a Sounders and a Seahawks game and loved the state of the art Century Link field. Wow! I plan on going to some Mariners games as well this summer and looking forward to seeing Safeco. Now if Seattle can get a pro basketball team here, I'll be set. As far as education goes, Univ. of Washington has an outstandingly beautiful campus and is a great school. I've considered taking some graduate courses there towards my masters. Phoenix is a good place to visit in the winters for most northerners, but settling there was not for me. I wish the new transplants luck and welcome to the city of Seattle. Hope it is a positive experience for you like it has been for me so far!

[pw72]

The biggest difference is the heat and the sunshine. If you need this, then you won't like Seattle. The second biggest difference, as you mentioned, is Phoenix seems like one big suburb. Seattle has a well-defined downtown, though still stuggling to become a residential downtown, but it still exists as a defined center. Bellevue has become a second center of the region, with a skyline that rivals many cities four times bigger. However, coming from the midwest, you may find the Seattle area just right. Think, that absolutely perfect city between Portland and San Francisco. Not geographically, of course, but in general feel.

[deckard9080]

People still walk in the rain. Most people don't even use umbrellas. It's bizarre. Downtown has the most umbrella users, I would say. Probably to protect their expensive suits.

[techaz]

I am thinking about giving up 1 car and just having 1 between the wife and me. I am early 30's in age...I'm sorry if this is kind of a stupid question, but I have only used bus service a couple times in my life and that was in college. Do professionals/regular people use mass transit in Seattle, or is it kind of sketchy with people who really like to talk to themselves?

Anyone else go through this? Give up a vehicle and start taking the bus? Anyone of my age?

[Hemlock140]

I still have 3 vehicles but I only drive 2.5 miles to the transit center and take the bus from the eastside to Seattle, about 23 miles. The suburban commute buses have only professionals and maybe a few students, no sketchy types. Within Seattle you get a mix, everything from lawyers in $1,000 suits to homeless, especially in the ride free downtown area. The free rides end in October, though, and most likely will reduce the number of people talking to themselves, and they are pretty much harmless anyway.