If working at MS, where to live? How bad, really, are clouds? (Seattle: apartment, house)

[scirocco22]

I'm thinking you've described it fairly well, allforcats. Yes, central Kirkland or "old" Kirkland is definitely more established than most Redmond neighborhoods. In fact, old Redmond has very few of its old homes left in the downtown area.

The property values in old Kirkland, Houghton, and the Highlands areas are higher. You're right when you referred to north Kirkland neighborhoods being closer in value to Redmond. Juanita, Finn Hill, Totem Lake, Kingsgate, Rose Hill, and North Rose Hill will have lower values than central Kirkland, Houghton or the Highlands. However, I believe that having the "Kirkland" address will add a slight value to any property within the city limits.

[tada]

Originally Posted by jenlion

I'm concerned about the weather. We had a tropical storm sit on top of us for a couple of weeks and my husband wasn't so cheerful by the end of it. I've read that Seattle actually gets less rainfall than Houston, but that that the real problem is that it is cloudy non-stop for months on end. How do people deal with that?

We look forward to the day we're done with college and can move out of here.

...well, that's how I deal with it at least.

[silas777]

I still dont know how people make the transition from living some place warm and sunny to living in western wash! Every year the 6 months of grey and rain seem to get longer and longer.

[scirocco22]

Yup, silas, by the time I left, it "seemed" to me to be about 11 months and 2 weeks. Summer equals the last week of July and the first week of August.

[silas777]

Originally Posted by scirocco22

Yup, silas, by the time I left, it "seemed" to me to be about 11 months and 2 weeks. Summer equals the last week of July and the first week of August.

yeah, roger that, I always tell people that washington in the summer is the greatest place in the country, but if your out of town for those two weeks your out a luck!

[scirocco22]

Originally Posted by silas777

yeah, roger that, I always tell people that washington in the summer is the greatest place in the country, but if your out of town for those two weeks your out a luck!

...too funny.

[Botev1912]

Originally Posted by scirocco22

Yup, silas, by the time I left, it "seemed" to me to be about 11 months and 2 weeks. Summer equals the last week of July and the first week of August.

September is very nice, May also. The last week of May we had high temperatures - 80-85 degrees. July 4th and 11th it was 90 and 98 degrees. I don't understand why people like to exaggerate so much?

[LMB]

Originally Posted by silas777

I still dont know how people make the transition from living some place warm and sunny to living in western wash! Every year the 6 months of grey and rain seem to get longer and longer.

I'll let you know how our transition is going in a few more years--so far, it's been easy. My husband and I moved to western WA in July after spending the past 15 years in sunny & tropical central FL. We couldn't wait to get here, and were so looking forward to the cool summer weather. We thought it must be some kind of cruel joke during our cross-country move--that after driving in hot weather for a week, when we arrived in Poulsbo it was 98 degrees! Thankfully after two days of that heat, the weather turned beautiful, and we had a glorious summer and fall. Well, except for that one week in mid-July when our son brought his fiance from FL to impress her with the beautiful summer weather up here--and it was chilly and rainy ALL that week. Oops! Other than that, we've been pleasantly surprised by the weather. It may not be the best climate in the country, but it's mild and quite livable. Even cloudy days generally have had at least a few hours of sunshine. Then again, we're newbies and haven't had time to become tired of it yet.

Lynn

[scirocco22]

Originally Posted by Botev1912

September is very nice, May also. The last week of May we had high temperatures - 80-85 degrees. July 4th and 11th it was 90 and 98 degrees. I don't understand why people like to exaggerate so much?

I hope you saw the quotation marks, botev. That's the way it "seemed" to me. Obviously it isn't reality. It was bad enough for me that I finally moved after living in Washington over 50 years.

[jenlion]

Thanks all for the responses. Looks like some people don't mind the weather and others, especially after years or decades of it, do. Opposite of down here in TX -- at first the summers just overwhelm you with 100+ degree days on end, but after a few years, you're used to it and don't care. (Well, you still CARE, because it's too hot to be outside. But there's not much nice to see outside here anyway, so you're not missing much).

Glad to hear that cloudy days generally get some sun here and there. That's a good thing -- even an hour with sunlight makes a big difference!!

I have been looking at pictures of houses at mlsonline and oh, it looks SO pretty up there. It's so far away from family... so different from anywhere we've lived... but it looks so so pretty. I want to pitch a tent in these houses' backyards and just stay. Guess that's a good sign. Can't wait to get up there to scout it out in the next couple weeks. Guess since it's December, it should be smack in the middle of the grayest/darkest part of year, so we'll see it at its worst....

Seems strange to me that it can get up to the high 90s, but the houses don't usually have AC? Even if it's just two weeks out of the year... it's not THAT expensive to have AC, seems to me?? (Unless the heating systems are different and there's no actual ductwork already in the house?).

Sir, if you don't mind me asking, where did you move and how did it help you??

Thanks everybody!
Jen