Cost of Living Difference: Personal Story (From Midwest)

[victorianpunk]

Originally Posted by jm31828

Great comment regarding Snohomish County. This is very true- people throw the figures of $400K around for minimum house costs, but that is only if you are going to be in the city itself or in most of the east side suburbs. My wife and I moved here from Nebraska 3 years ago and were very concerned about housing costs. So what we did was focus on the Lynnwood/Mountlake Terrace area, and found a great new construction home in Lynnwood for around $235K. Similar homes now are around $250K, so still far cheaper than most down in King county.
We have found that our everyday/monthly expenses are very similar to what they were back home in Nebraska, the only things that are noticeably higher here are gas at about 20 cents per gallon more on a regular basis, and of course housing being higher.

I do get a kick out of people who write off Snohomish county thinking "it's too far from the city!" only to pay more money and end up living in...Issaquah

Twice the snow and further from Seattle than most towns in southern Snohomish, plus it costs more.

Granted, for a younger person with no kids it could be boring, but if I was raising a family I would pick the Edmonds/Lynwood area any day.

[Inkpoe]

Originally Posted by victorianpunk

I do get a kick out of people who write off Snohomish county thinking "it's too far from the city!" only to pay more money and end up living in...Issaquah

Twice the snow and further from Seattle than most towns in southern Snohomish, plus it costs more.

Granted, for a younger person with no kids it could be boring, but if I was raising a family I would pick the Edmonds/Lynwood area any day.

Uhm... What? I don't know anyone who moves to Issaquah because it's closer to the city.

The kind of person who would thoroughly enjoy Issaquah would not enjoy Edmonds/Lynnwood. Perhaps the Edmonds Bowl, sure... but of course that cost a good deal of money. Woodway would've been a better choice for that person; maybe even Shoreline's Highland Estates area. Besides, Lynnwood/Edmonds has the PSCZ over it, so it doesn't really have the better weather than the Eastside (which of course is subjective and the differences between the two are pretty much negligible).

[jm31828]

Originally Posted by west seattle gal

It's true that home prices can be cheaper outside of the city. However, I didn't move across country to live in the burbs, even Lynnwood or Bellevue. The burbs here are like the burbs anywhere, just my opinion. We have decided to move back to our prior state where we can get a much nicer house and still make the same salaries, yet live close to universities and culture. I just don't find areas outside of Seattle interesting enough to plant roots, despite some of the natural beauty. I know many don't agree with me.

True, burbs are similar everywhere, but at least here in the burbs you are just 15-20 minutes from downtown Seattle, and still right in or close to the world class natural beauty this area has to offer. That makes burb living here far different than burb living in places such as the Midwest. In the Midwest you live in the burbs you may get excited about going to a movie on a Saturday or going shopping- but here you can do those things or you can go down to Pike Place Market, can go to Mount Rainier, out to the Olympics, or one of the many places this area has to offer. That makes it worth the higher cost of burb living IMO.

[RunTheDistance476]

No culture on the eastside.....really?

You know they got that whole Microsoft/Expedia/T-Mobile/Nintendo thing going on over there....right? And 30% of the population is Asian...

What is your definition of "culture"?