considering a move from Charlotte (Seattle, SeaTac: low income, fit in, apartment)
Seattle areaSeattle and King County Suburbs
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I'm currently living in Charlotte, NC working in a coffee shop making minimum wage and looking for a change. I'm wondering how likely/possible it would be to make the jump. I would be living with another person also working a similar type job making minimum wage as well. I was wondering how easy it is to find a job in a bakery/coffee shop and how realistic it would be to live off of those two incomes in the Seattle area. Also if there are any areas surround Seattle that are good for living in and then maybe commute 30 minutes or less into the city to work. I'm worried about cost more than anything. I do also have a dog I'm not sure how that will play into finding an apartment. Just looking for any information that would be helpful from people who have made the move, or that live there and could give some advice. Also ideas for transporting household items would be helpful, u-hauls are so expensive. Also is it important to have a car, or would it be smarter to ditch our cars?
I'm currently living in Charlotte, NC working in a coffee shop making minimum wage and looking for a change. I'm wondering how likely/possible it would be to make the jump. I would be living with another person also working a similar type job making minimum wage as well. I was wondering how easy it is to find a job in a bakery/coffee shop and how realistic it would be to live off of those two incomes in the Seattle area. Also if there are any areas surround Seattle that are good for living in and then maybe commute 30 minutes or less into the city to work. I'm worried about cost more than anything. I do also have a dog I'm not sure how that will play into finding an apartment. Just looking for any information that would be helpful from people who have made the move, or that live there and could give some advice. Also ideas for transporting household items would be helpful, u-hauls are so expensive. Also is it important to have a car, or would it be smarter to ditch our cars?
Whether or not you will feel you need a car in Seattle depends wholly on where you live and where you work.
If you both live and work (relatively) near the city center, you won't need a car much for daily activities and commuting. The problem is, living near the center of Seattle can be somewhat expensive. On the other hand, if you live close enough to be walking/biking distance from work, that saves money.
If you live further out, you can still manage if you live near a bus line that connects you to where you work. This might not be an ideal living situation if you like to be nearer the city, but it is more affordable, generally. You mentioned a 30-minute bus ride... making the assumption you work downtown, there are certainly more affordable areas that are a 30 minute bus ride from downtown.
If you don't have an easy bus (or rail) connection between where you live and work (many transfers, lack of proximity to stops/stations), then odds are you are going to miss having a car.
Having a dog is going to really limit your apartment options. Not make it impossible, but it will make it significantly harder.
I would be somewhat hesitant to move to Seattle in your situation. That said, if you're young and don't mind a bit of a hardscrabble existence for a while, it's certainly not impossible. But my intuition is you're going to have to make a some compromises/sacrifices before you achieve equilibrium here.
Finding an apartment with a dog in downtown Seattle will be pricey. You can check nearby neighborhoods such as Georgetown or Beacon Hill. Finding a coffee position should be pretty easy. One thing to keep in mind - SeaTac just raised minimum wage to $15 per hour. That might be a great place to start.
Do the math on cost of living related to what is relevant to you: rent, food, clothing, taxes Charlotte vs. Seattle. That information is out there on various cost of living comparison sites, was just looking at one this morning. Property prices and various factors are irrelevant in your case. If you think you can work it, go for it. With a couple grand traveling money, or whatever it would take to keep you afloat awhile. That being a couple months, I'm guessing.
I spent half a year in Charlotte not that long ago, and found it nice enough. Wouldn't move from there to Seattle without a lot of resources, doesn't seem like much of a net gain, but hey: that's me.
That sort of labor market, you're in competition with others who are on the ground and have street smarts about the area. You'd better have a local address when looking, too. My buddy's daughter got a job at the local Starbucks at age 17, so it must be "possible" to find such work, with a bit of skill, positive attitude, and persistence. He's pretty well connected, though, and might have pulled favors with buddies. That's part of it, too, something you don't have: local networking.
Animals are a liability and limit your options. I have pets too and the idea of leaving them behind is uncomfortable, to say the least, but we do what we must.
"Areas surrounding Seattle that are good for living in" does not make any sense. There are four million people in the greater Seattle metro area, everyone lives somewhere.
How would goods move across country other than UHaul? They aren't "expensive;" that's one of the cheapest ways to move anything vs. hiring professional movers, right? Unless you can move a pallet, that you deliver at one end and pickup at the other, via rail or truck. A mover charged me $675 to move a condo full of stuff 12 miles, the other year. 2,250 miles, Charlotte-Seattle, LOL: don't ask. I wouldn't move a lot of crap that far with minimal to non-existent resources, but that's me. I moved farther than that out of college with nothing that wouldn't fit in my Ford coupe, some decades ago. If you're young and adventurous, who cares?
I assume you must have a plan for getting off the minimum wage wagon eventually? If its going to school, although I don't live in Washington right now, I assume you are going to be stuck with some high out of state tuition for the years required to establish residence. So I'd take that into considering in making a decision to move now or later.
How would goods move across country other than UHaul? They aren't "expensive;" that's one of the cheapest ways to move anything vs. hiring professional movers, right? Unless you can move a pallet, that you deliver at one end and pickup at the other, via rail or truck. A mover charged me $675 to move a condo full of stuff 12 miles, the other year. 2,250 miles, Charlotte-Seattle, LOL: don't ask. I wouldn't move a lot of crap that far with minimal to non-existent resources, but that's me. I moved farther than that out of college with nothing that wouldn't fit in my Ford coupe, some decades ago. If you're young and adventurous, who cares?
When I moved to Seattle from the Midwest without a car, I shipped a few large boxes of stuff with FedEx Ground for about $250. This is far cheaper than any other option as far as I can tell. It only works if you don't have much stuff - I shipped 5 boxes each weighing about 30-40 pounds and brought the rest with me on the plane.
To answer the OP's question about having a car - living here without a car can be quite convenient. The problem arises when you don't know where you'll be working when you move here. There are plenty of commutes around the region that require a car. There are a lot of jobs around downtown Seattle, and those are very accessible by transit. With jobs in other areas, it really just depends on where you're coming from and what buses go there. Biking can work to fill in some of those gaps, but the convenience of biking also varies.
Again, to the OP - I'm not sure I'd make this move if I were you. The Seattle area is no more hospitable to minimum wage earners than any other part of the country, perhaps even less hospitable due to the high cost of renting here. Being young and having a low income is hard, and it can be downright depressing if you don't have your network of family and friends to help you. I would highly, highly, highly recommend focusing your energy on education or other training to get a job that you enjoy and pays well. It's best to do this in the state where you already live, where you qualify for in-state tuition. Making that kind of investment in your future is the best "change" you could make in your life right now. I apologize if this sounds like moral preaching, but I really believe that you have a lot to lose by moving here and not much to gain.
I used to live in NC (Raleigh) and would not recommend moving here with few savings and no job secured. Housing is MUCH more expensive here. It will be difficult to find an affordable place that allows a dog and is only a 30 minute commute to Seattle. Why not just save and then take a vacation here? If you are really considering the move, visit in February, a month representative of our worst weather, and see if you can take it. Also, I heard on NPR that 2/3 of recent college grads nationwide are underemployed and competing for minimum wage jobs, since their fields are saturated -- you may have competition. I miss NC weather (though not summer humidity).
I used to live in NC (Raleigh) and would not recommend moving here with few savings and no job secured. Housing is MUCH more expensive here. It will be difficult to find an affordable place that allows a dog and is only a 30 minute commute to Seattle. Why not just save and then take a vacation here? If you are really considering the move, visit in February, a month representative of our worst weather, and see if you can take it. Also, I heard on NPR that 2/3 of recent college grads nationwide are underemployed and competing for minimum wage jobs, since their fields are saturated -- you may have competition. I miss NC weather (though not summer humidity).
I moved here from Charlotte in 2012. I don't think the weather is too horrible (granted I have lived in OH and MI before). I miss the sun, but I don't miss the heat and humidity of summer. I agree that the cost of living in crazy high here. On minimum wage, you'll never be able to move up. You need some kind of an education or a lucky break to make it here long term.
I definitely think you should visit. I visited Seattle before I decided to move here. My husband came looking for work (he works at Microsoft now) but no way would I move here if it wasn't for a job. As lovely as Seattle is, it's expensive as hell, and the weather isn't that great. You have to have a reason to be here, unless you're independently wealthy
I feel like a broken record repeating this so much on here, but here I go again: Weather is the absolute dead last thing to consider if you're a young unskilled worker. I don't care how much you love clouds and drizzle and moderate temperatures or hate heat, sun, and humidity. These things are not important enough to uproot yourself and move to a new area where you have no connections and may or may not be able to find a job. People over the age of 30 who have good job prospects can care about weather. Young people like the OP are facing an incredibly tough job market and don't have that luxury.
My nephew is 20, works in a bakery and shares a small house with his best friend. He has a gi-normous pooch! That's why he rented a house with a yard...anyway, I don't know how much he makes but I can't think it's super high. He also doesn't have a car.
From what I can tell and my conversations with him, he's doing pretty darn well. Sure, he could be doing better, but he has goals and is moving up. He lives in an area he and my brother (his dad) consider "ghetto" but honestly, after visiting in October, I really don't consider that to be so.
I live in the very large Dallas metroplex and have seen far worse areas than Ranier Avenue. FAR WORSE. However, I know what he means because it isn't the most desirable area. But if I move there, I was actually thinking about Columbia City as an option and it's only three or so miles down the road from there and it looks great. Maybe it's just my perspective but I think with a roommate, your situation is perfectly doable.
I'm also of the opinion that if you're young, some things just don't matter as much and you can really make it work for you. As for a car? Why not stuff it to the gills with your stuff and your dog and drive it across country and leave or sell everything else? You'll save money on moving, just pay for gas and lodging and then have a vehicle to get you around to find that place you're going to work and live!
Good luck.
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