Is Seattle turning into California? (Issaquah: transplants, 2009, apartments)

[la_fuerza]

I guess what I like about the morphing of Seattle into California as a single guy is having more options. The influx of newcomers has made the women much sexier and more attractive. Gone are the days of women in Washington wearing blue jeans and no makeup. And I'm crazy about the Asian girls!

Another thing we have now is kind of anonimity in our cities. They are not traditional communities anymore. I kind of like the fact that I don't know my neighbors. I think they are Korean. They don't speak English I know that much. I just give them a nod when I see them and that's it. I don't want to be buddies with my neighbors or have them up in my business.

So I say that Seattle is changing for the better and is making great progress. I hope to see the growth continue. The Puget Sound area has fallen short of its potential for too long now. It's time to step things up big time...

[cpaige1038]

Hello again,

It just all depends on the area where you choose to buy. If you want a suburban new development, it's going to look very Cali. However, there are many other still-relatively-close-in options that give you greater space and a more rural setting. You would check out some parts of Issaquah, May Valley, Maple Valley, Carnation, Fall City, Preston, and North Bend, for example. You can still be within the great school districts and within 30-ish minutes of eastside commutes to Bellevue, Redmond, etc. and 40-ish mins to Seattle (this mostly depending on how far from the freeway on-ramp you live).

Moderator cut: soliciting cut

[Kmag2OOO]

That's progress I suppose. Some people just like a lot of space. I am one of those people. I wouldn't say it's becoming California here as much as I would say the aesthetic has more of a plain cookie cutter feel than it used to. Historically the NW had been a lot more of homes designed and built by owner, for what it's worth. It's the steakhouse or grilling some in the yard, I enjoy either one really, so long as I get to eat good. yikes, I'm rambling, bye.

[nomdad4life]

I thought that old houses with charm would include the blissful life that comes along with it. I was so wrong. There is a reason why they "dont build em like they used to"...Two reasons. Costs and convenience. One may think that having plaster walls, 4x4 studs, full basements, vaulted cielings and cedar closets is a good thing. They are until you have to repair them. Having lived in two old houses (built in 1944 and 1928) I am done. Gimme cookie cutter any day as the costs to repair items are extremely economical versus the custom homes of yesterday. Have you ever had to retrofit any older house with modern necessities like central heat and air? Change out oil based heating for gas and seal/abate an oil tank? If you haven't you dont know what you are missing. Maybe my situation is one of the grass is always greener, but I am looking forward to the day when I can have cheap Home Depot doors, cookie cutter landscaping and four bedrooms and a game room. Viva La Suburbs.

[impatient Pete]

I live in Mill Creek and I have to say that as I walked to the store the other day, EVERY person I met greeted me with a smile and a "Good Morning!"

So far, except for the neighbor on one side, people have been very friendly. That neighbor didn't even look up from cleaning her car when I tried to introduce myself....what's up with that!?

Pete

[ArthursChoice]

Originally Posted by jtc

is it just me or is alot of people on here making a bigger deal of this than it really is? I dont think seattle is turning into california at all.....but then again im only 18, what do i know? Lol.

Although i have noticed some people dress as if their straight out of la..lol.

18? Yes what do you know? Nuffin! Lol!

[UrbanQuest]

On the average, Seattle is a decently friendly place. The people tend to be a bit shallow and friendliness is generally short lived, although is usually followed by aloofness than conversion to rude. Seattle is just now becoming a matured metropolis and will need time to digest all the newcomers and morph into whatever it will become. Beautiful place and very bearable to live in. I moved there from the Bay Area and felt like (people interaction) I had just ascended from the seventh level of hell to Shangri-la. The people in Seattle may greet you with kindness then turn around, but in the Bay Area they will outright make it a point to hassel you (if you happen to be part of a group they find undesirable) for no real apparent rational motive. I experienced none of this in Seattle. In Los Angeles............. well, anything goes in Los Angeles so nobody really gives a ****. Say hello, don't say hello, gay midget/mentally challened couples (no joke), let's all be a star, little old lady in Long Beach won't rent to actors unless they are originally from the midwest. Mexico city, Soeul, Hanoi, Tehran and Dudes (who are we?), and the porn industry being headquartered where the Brady Bunch show exemplefied suburban utopia. Oh, and black folks getting out of the ghetto to go to live in the desert with rattlesnakes. California is a big state and I hope to god the rest of America does NOT follow suit. Let California be what it is for itself and itself only....

[nuevaluz]

Part of Seattle's attractiveness is its urban density carved out of the pristine wilderness. There's something hauntingly beautiful, yet eerily fragile, about its existence. Unfortunately, this is also its downside, particularly when spring rains melt snow in the Cascades.

[mateo45]

Originally Posted by la_fuerza

I guess what I like about the morphing of Seattle into California as a single guy is having more options. The influx of newcomers has made the women much sexier and more attractive. Gone are the days of women in Washington wearing blue jeans and no makeup. And I'm crazy about the Asian girls!

Another thing we have now is kind of anonimity in our cities. They are not traditional communities anymore. I kind of like the fact that I don't know my neighbors. I think they are Korean. They don't speak English I know that much. I just give them a nod when I see them and that's it. I don't want to be buddies with my neighbors or have them up in my business.

So I say that Seattle is changing for the better and is making great progress. I hope to see the growth continue. The Puget Sound area has fallen short of its potential for too long now. It's time to step things up big time...

Speaking as a (Southern) Californian who moved to Seattle in the late 70's, and then moved back, now to (Nor)Cal just a couple years ago, agreed that Seattle has seen alot of changes. It has gone from once being "the nation's biggest small town" to becoming an international, technological and economic powerhouse, along with all the growth issues that implies. No question the huge increase of newcomers since the 80's has dramatically changed the culture, and yes, the days of "grunge" dressing are (thankfully) gone now.

And with the highest rates of reading, movie going, and internet connectivity in the country, I'd suggest it is probably now the most sophisticated city in the U.S., even surpassing the Bay Area. Certainly technologically, where most households routinely have several computers, and where knowing how to configure a household LAN seems nearly as common as setting up their cable tv.

But, as with so many other places now, the weather seems to have become more extreme of late, so that the famously gray and chronically drizzly overcast there, has been replaced with serious rain, and lots of it, sometimes relentlessly now for weeks on end! Add a good arctic blast thru there, and it becomes weeks of serious snow. And then depending where you are, flooding is now a very serious concern, even in the city.

Dunno about comparing Cali's "aloofness", since folks in the NW can often just as easily put out the "do not disturb" sign, except usually it's more subtle, mostly in the form of "passive aggression". But everyplace has its differences, and overall, Seattle and the Puget Sound area is still a great place for natural beauty, culture and jobs. Yes, there are those rare and and exquisite days when the sun is out, the sky's blue, the water's gleaming and the city is flanked by gorgeous snow-capped mountains on both the east and the west. But those days are pretty infrequent, and as someone once said, "living in the northwest is like living with a beautiful woman.... who always has a headache!".

[LordBalfor]

Originally Posted by mateo45

"living in the northwest is like living with a beautiful woman.... who always has a headache!".

That is SOOOOOOOOOOO true.

LOL


Ken