Why move to Seattle? (buying, live, zoned)

[wannabeaTexan]

Originally Posted by pwright1

You are so right FW. I met a Kent associate dt for lunch at Nordstrom. First off he got lost and second, when he finally got there he was amazed at Nordstrom and Pacific Place which he's never been in which opened in 1998. Also I remember at work in Bellevue I went with a couple of co-workers to happy hour. When we sat down everyone was discussing where they live and someone asked me where I live. I said the Central District and no one, not one person knew where I was talking about.

I used to hate driving in dt Seattle and got lost all the time. It's all hills and one-way streets. I'm more used to it now, but still get a little irritated driving around there. Plus, people get REAL impatient when they know where they're going and you don't.

I believe that about the CD...historically, it hasn't been perceived as a great place live, if you don't live there. And I can see where people from Bellevue wouldn't know anything about it.

[Deep_Vee]

Originally Posted by Radek

Thank you. You were completely right with my comment.

I was indeed referring to the fact that the various suburbs and communities are very individualized and attract different people (once they've moved into Seattle and found the community that fits them)

I know nothing about Renton except for Boeing, Fry's and Ikea.

I know just about everything about Edmonds/Lynnwood/Mukilteo.

Exactly, I'm a Northender - when I graduated from the U and was looking to move out of the U district, never did I even consider moving south of the Ship Canal - it's just not where I'm familiar. To me, the south end was always a total mystery...then I met my wife - a Southender. When I started spending time with her in the Federal Way/Puyallup area, it was like I was in another State. When she moved up to Edmonds with me, she was very confused for the first several months.

We tend to live in our own little areas. I've been fortunate (or unfortunate) to work in Downtown Seattle for about 15 years, so that's an area I'm familiar with, but Bellevue is still a bit of a mystery other than the occasional jaunt to Bel-Square.

I assume this type of "suburban-regionalization" is normal in any big city...?

[toughguy]

Originally Posted by Deep_Vee

Exactly, I'm a Northender - when I graduated from the U and was looking to move out of the U district, never did I even consider moving south of the Ship Canal - it's just not where I'm familiar. To me, the south end was always a total mystery...then I met my wife - a Southender. When I started spending time with her in the Federal Way/Puyallup area, it was like I was in another State. When she moved up to Edmonds with me, she was very confused for the first several months.

We tend to live in our own little areas. I've been fortunate (or unfortunate) to work in Downtown Seattle for about 15 years, so that's an area I'm familiar with, but Bellevue is still a bit of a mystery other than the occasional jaunt to Bel-Square.

I assume this type of "suburban-regionalization" is normal in any big city...?

I think it is to a certain extent, but I think growth and planning have a hand in constricting exploration. In a lot of the newer sunbelt cities for example, everything is spread out and the freeway systems are much more intricate and ubiquitous, so you are pretty much forced to become familiar with a much larger swath of the city. Since Seattle is fairly compact and growth is dictated by geography, you get more "localized" communities, where you don't really need to drive across town or hop on the freeway to get access to amenities.

This unfortunately can lead to provincial attitudes and naive assumptions about places people rarely venture into (read: central district).

Of course this is just me talking out of my behind, so let me know if this is way off base.

[Fallingwaters]

Originally Posted by toughguy

I think it is to a certain extent, but I think growth and planning have a hand in constricting exploration. In a lot of the new sunbelt cities, everything is spread out and the freeway systems are much more intricate and ubiquitous, so you are pretty much forced to become familiar with a much larger swath of the city. Since Seattle is fairly compact and growth is dictated by geography, you get more "localized" communities, where you don't really need to drive across town or hop on the freeway to get access to amenities.

This unfortunately can lead to provincial attitudes and naive assumptions about places people rarely venture into (read: central district).

Of course this is just me talking out of my behind, so let me know if this is way off base.

I think you're right on the mark about the localization actually. More rural parts of states don't see a whole lot of residents going to other towns because their own towns are more or less self-contained. In the Puget Sound region, due to less sprawl, this is also seen closer to the larger cities.

[Radek]

Originally Posted by toughguy

I think it is to a certain extent, but I think growth and planning have a hand in constricting exploration. In a lot of the newer sunbelt cities for example, everything is spread out and the freeway systems are much more intricate and ubiquitous, so you are pretty much forced to become familiar with a much larger swath of the city. Since Seattle is fairly compact and growth is dictated by geography, you get more "localized" communities, where you don't really need to drive across town or hop on the freeway to get access to amenities.

This unfortunately can lead to provincial attitudes and naive assumptions about places people rarely venture into (read: central district).

Of course this is just me talking out of my behind, so let me know if this is way off base.

Yeah, I still have no clue where you're talking about with that :P

And hell, anything north of Everett, except for Bellingham, I don't have a clue.



I hate driving in downtown. The sheer number of people, cars, one-ways, wrong-ways, reverse-ways, upside-down ways and straightways, not to mention the curves and hills, frustrates me. Particularly since I now drive a SUV. I bus if I ever have to interview or work down there. Its just worthless to drive.

And Wannabe, try driving from Mukilteo to Gig Harbor. That one always got to me when I'd make that drive.

Traffic at: Bellevue. Renton. Tacoma. Bridge. Yeah, it could be a LOOONG drive.

[chris]

To the OP: Ditto to what 95% of fallingwaters said. One exception being education, which generally speaking, needs a lot of help here... While people seem to agree education is important, they don't want to spend any money on it, and the intensity level of learning here is subpar.

The only other things I'd add as an east coast transplant is that, things do move slower here, and expect things to generally take a little longer to get done. It takes about a year to "wind down".

If family is your main priority (quality of life issues), and you can find jobs in Portland, I'd focus your search on there.

good luck!

[Fallingwaters]

Originally Posted by Radek

Yeah, I still have no clue where you're talking about with that :P

And hell, anything north of Everett, except for Bellingham, I don't have a clue.



I hate driving in downtown. The sheer number of people, cars, one-ways, wrong-ways, reverse-ways, upside-down ways and straightways, not to mention the curves and hills, frustrates me. Particularly since I now drive a SUV. I bus if I ever have to interview or work down there. Its just worthless to drive.

And Wannabe, try driving from Mukilteo to Gig Harbor. That one always got to me when I'd make that drive.

Traffic at: Bellevue. Renton. Tacoma. Bridge. Yeah, it could be a LOOONG drive.

What gets me about driving downtown is that every time you need to make a left turn on a street with a crosswalk, your green light is synched with the "walk" sign. It seems like people will hurry up to get into the crosswalk; so you can't turn, and then they slow down, making you wait. As this happens in waves of pedetrians, it seems to take forever.

[wannabeaTexan]

Originally Posted by Radek

I hate driving in downtown. The sheer number of people, cars, one-ways, wrong-ways, reverse-ways, upside-down ways and straightways, not to mention the curves and hills, frustrates me. Particularly since I now drive a SUV. I bus if I ever have to interview or work down there. Its just worthless to drive.

And Wannabe, try driving from Mukilteo to Gig Harbor. That one always got to me when I'd make that drive.

Traffic at: Bellevue. Renton. Tacoma. Bridge. Yeah, it could be a LOOONG drive.

I think it's easier to take the bus downtown too. I had to go to a child support hearing a little over a year ago and was so confused (and about to be late), I got pulled over by a motorcycle cop who was standing in the street, pulling us over one by one. He just points and tells you to pull over.

I missed the sign that says only transit is allowed on that street between 8 am and 3 pm or whatever it was because I was concentrating on how to get to the place. I think it was 3rd? I don't know, but that was highly irritating. My last moving violation before that was in 1996! But I really wished I had just taken the bus that day...not sure why I decided not to.

I feel your pain on the Mukilteo/Gig Harbor drive. I have relatives in Concrete, by Sedrow Woolley, and have driven there, so not sure why I thought going to Everett took so long.

[seattlerain]

Originally Posted by pwright1

You are so right FW. I met a Kent associate dt for lunch at Nordstrom. First off he got lost and second, when he finally got there he was amazed at Nordstrom and Pacific Place which he's never been in which opened in 1998. Also I remember at work in Bellevue I went with a couple of co-workers to happy hour. When we sat down everyone was discussing where they live and someone asked me where I live. I said the Central District and no one, not one person knew where I was talking about.

I know several people in Bellevue that rarely ever go to Seattle. They have a sort of "the world begins and ends with Bellevue" mentality.

I live on the eastside, (Woodinville/Duvall), but I try to avoid Bellevue at all costs...

[toughguy]

Originally Posted by Fallingwaters

What gets me about driving downtown is that every time you need to make a left turn on a street with a crosswalk, your green light is synched with the "walk" sign. It seems like people will hurry up to get into the crosswalk; so you can't turn, and then they slow down, making you wait. As this happens in waves of pedetrians, it seems to take forever.

It's called driving in a city. Pedestrians aren't beholden to automobile traffic - it is in fact the other way around. Many larger cities in Europe have avenues in their densest districts that are entirely off limits to automobiles.