First Impressions of Seattle and Eastside after 30 days living here. (Bellevue: transplants, neighborhoods)

[Wilson502]

I had posted a thread about a month an a half ago stating that I accepted a job offer up here (working as a Microsoft vendor/contractor) and that I ended up relocating to Bothell. It was my first step to making the big jump in life after just graduating college from Cal State Fresno, having grown up in the central valley of California all my life. I had been talking for a number of years that after college I would relocate to one of the big cities on the west coast, but Seattle was one of the places I wanted to perhaps live in long term, now that I'm here ill share a few thoughts of my initial impression.

First off, I have never been north of Mt. Shasta, so I have never visited the PNW prior to moving here. But driving up here, the scenery here is really spectacular, its such a nice change from the flat, hot, polluted and brown semi-desert region of central California. The amount of trees and greenery really blew me away given what I was used to(I love when Mt. Rainier is visible). You couldn't ask for better weather this time of year, (given my hometown is just getting baked from this heatwave) so that was definitely a positive change for being used to sitting in 90+ weather for 5 months out of the year.

Being that I live on the Eastside (just across the street from the Kirkland city limits and Kenmore), its not the life that perhaps downtown Seattle is, but for what it is, I can see the Eastside (especially Bellevue rising up and becoming an attract-er for businesses to that area) becoming its own happening place. I have a pretty optimistic view so far of this area and the Seattle Metro area, but ill post a couple pet peeves that I noticed

On the negative side, as others have posted, yes the traffic sucks hard if you work during rush hour. However, since I'm working at Microsoft as a vendor, they offer transit passes, so luckily I have taken advantage of the park and ride system near where i live to counter the hassle of having to deal with rush hour traffic. The transit system is far better than the central valley ever will be, but being I've been to San Francisco several times its probably a step down from that, but the transit system is decent here and usable, (they are making upgrades to it). There are quite a few transplants here as I have talked to various people throughout the day I've heard quite a few people say they are either from Sacramento, SF Bay area, or San Diego. I've read several threads and looked at some quite hilarious definitions of the "Seattle Freeze" on here and urban dictionary. In my own view so far, there's a little bit of evidence of this, (especially on the route to work, people playing on their phone or reading a book is most common). However, if you wanted to socialize there are sociable people if you really look for it.

Overall I have a positive impression so far on this area, no place is perfect which I understand, and I can accept the positive qualities this area has to offer over where I came from (and California in general). I will probably write another post in the winter or spring months, and see how I endure the winters here given that I am so used to it being sunny 300+ days a year.

[texastrigirl]

Welcome! Enjoy the summer!! Best in the nation

[west seattle gal]

The "freeze" only exists in the dreary days of winter and early Spring. This place comes to life in the summer, people and scenery!

[JasR30]

Originally Posted by west seattle gal

The "freeze" only exists in the dreary days of winter and early Spring. This place comes to life in the summer, people and scenery!

I agree. People become more sociable when the sun is shining and it is warm outside.

[Wilson502]

I noticed this as well, i see everyone on their bikes and walking. Ppl biked and walked out of necessity in Clovis/fresno, not cause they wanted to.

[beautifulseattlehomes]

Make all your new friends in the summer and you will have plenty to do during the winter : )

[orzo]

Originally Posted by Wilson502

I had posted a thread about a month an a half ago stating that I accepted a job offer up here (working as a Microsoft vendor/contractor) and that I ended up relocating to Bothell. It was my first step to making the big jump in life after just graduating college from Cal State Fresno, having grown up in the central valley of California all my life. I had been talking for a number of years that after college I would relocate to one of the big cities on the west coast, but Seattle was one of the places I wanted to perhaps live in long term, now that I'm here ill share a few thoughts of my initial impression.

First off, I have never been north of Mt. Shasta, so I have never visited the PNW prior to moving here. But driving up here, the scenery here is really spectacular, its such a nice change from the flat, hot, polluted and brown semi-desert region of central California. The amount of trees and greenery really blew me away given what I was used to(I love when Mt. Rainier is visible). You couldn't ask for better weather this time of year, (given my hometown is just getting baked from this heatwave) so that was definitely a positive change for being used to sitting in 90+ weather for 5 months out of the year.

Being that I live on the Eastside (just across the street from the Kirkland city limits and Kenmore), its not the life that perhaps downtown Seattle is, but for what it is, I can see the Eastside (especially Bellevue rising up and becoming an attract-er for businesses to that area) becoming its own happening place. I have a pretty optimistic view so far of this area and the Seattle Metro area, but ill post a couple pet peeves that I noticed

On the negative side, as others have posted, yes the traffic sucks hard if you work during rush hour. However, since I'm working at Microsoft as a vendor, they offer transit passes, so luckily I have taken advantage of the park and ride system near where i live to counter the hassle of having to deal with rush hour traffic. The transit system is far better than the central valley ever will be, but being I've been to San Francisco several times its probably a step down from that, but the transit system is decent here and usable, (they are making upgrades to it). There are quite a few transplants here as I have talked to various people throughout the day I've heard quite a few people say they are either from Sacramento, SF Bay area, or San Diego. I've read several threads and looked at some quite hilarious definitions of the "Seattle Freeze" on here and urban dictionary. In my own view so far, there's a little bit of evidence of this, (especially on the route to work, people playing on their phone or reading a book is most common). However, if you wanted to socialize there are sociable people if you really look for it.

Overall I have a positive impression so far on this area, no place is perfect which I understand, and I can accept the positive qualities this area has to offer over where I came from (and California in general). I will probably write another post in the winter or spring months, and see how I endure the winters here given that I am so used to it being sunny 300+ days a year.

Welcome to the area!

Your transit complaint is a fair one overall - it definitely could be better across the region and hopefully a number of the new projects in the works will improve it. Although, I'm not sure it's fair to compare transit in San Francisco proper to transit in the Eastside suburbs.

I'd definitely recommend exploring some of Seattle's neighborhoods outside of Downtown, too. Seattle isn't as dense or urban as San Francisco, but there are a lot of distinct, walkable neighborhoods with great amenities, like Capitol Hill, Lower and Upper Queen Anne, Ballard, Fremont, University District, Columbia City, and many others. The Eastside is a very nice place to live and visit, but it doesn't have those types of urban neighborhoods (save maybe downtown Kirkland).

[Wilson502]

Yea ive strolled down downtown seattle, it did bear some resemblance to SF, but your right it isnt as dense as SF. And i was comparing transit from seattle to SF city proper. City Proper has more options than the east side suburbs, but that will change in the future (hopefully)

[la_fuerza]

Welcome to the area. Thanks for sharing your impressions!