Why move to Seattle? (Vancouver, Bellevue: sales, amusement park, low crime)

[ImmuneSortOf]

Hello everyone! My husband and I are in our 30s and a bit tired of the ridiculous, fast pace of the East Coast. We are seriously entertaining the idea of moving to a new place and starting fresh. Seattle is very high on our list for the obvious reasons: opposite coast, gorgeous area, outdoor activities, decent colleges... But, why else? We know -with proper planning- we'd have no problems in finding new jobs (we are both in the IT field) and we'd like to start having children in a place that is not insane! Any ideas on why or why not Seattle? Totally open to brutal honesty.

[jwb123]

Seattle is very much a part of the rat race that you find in other major metropolitan cities.

[Fallingwaters]

I'm from back East and have been here for 3 years, I'll lay out the good, the bad, and what surprised me:

The good:
1. The organic food -- especially the produce, here is better in the regard of freshness and quality (like fruits, vegetables, and seafood).

2. Less sprawl: as mentioned in another thread, you can live 15 miles from the city and be in what feels like a rural area or small town.

3. Less bureaucracy: things like registering your car, getting your license, etc, are pretty quick and easy here. No state income tax (see the con to this, though).

4. Relatively low crime -- other threads talk about particulars, but, overall, lower crime than many areas of the country.

5. Scenic: see pwright1 and some other people's photos (or pinned WA forum photo thread).

6. Close to Canada -- so it's a short drive to go sightseeing in another country. Vancouver, BC is a nice place to visit.

7. Good public schools (in the right area): high value on education in general.

8. Attempt at good government (see below) -- I think WA has one of the best intentioned governors right now; I'm not sure about Seattle's mayor, though.

9. Less expensive than much of the East Coast (talking DC to NY and Miami).

10. Mild temperatures (relatively).

The bad (and what surprised me):

1. People are less talkative (subjective bad) -- if you're outgoing and enjoy conversation as recreation, and think you're witty or funny (emphasis on think), you might find people too reserved and kind of "humorless" here. This isn't everyone, but my experience. People complain about it being hard to make friends here in particular, but then others say it was no problem. Okay, I think people also tend to drag their feet a little more here -- doesn't seem that industrious of a place.

2. Well, no secret that it rains a lot but if you have or think you might be susceptible to something called Seasonal Affective Disorder, this could be a big negative.

3. Food: you're going to have to let go of some of the food you like back East -- the West Coasters observe that we tend to reminisce a lot about what food we can't get here.

4. Traffic: depends on where you're coming from. Traffic and lack of light rail, in my opinion, are downers.

5. Higher excise and sales tax (gas is high, for example).

6. Local government: as well intentioned as they may be, they don't seem very efficient. Lots of muddling (IMO) and things left broken or unresolved. Maybe too many public referenda as well (sorry, bitter about prop 1).

7. Unless you are into the outdoors, it just seems like there is less to do. Seattle seems provincial compared to a lot of the larger East Coast cities. They have plenty of restaurants, theater, arts, etc, but it just seems like an amusement park where you can do everything in a month and then you feel like you've done all there really is to do here.

Surprises:
I somehow pictured more proverbial tree-huggers and zen philosophers. Instead I run into more urban professionals and pickup truck driving rural types (this is up in the suburbs, though). I also thought the "laid back" reputation meant people were more approachable. I think the polite but distant description that gets stamped on people here (locals and non-locals alike -- it's actually hard to tell who's a real native and who isn't because the natives are outnumbered) fits.

The Space Needle is not that tall (it's the 8th tallest structure in Seattle, I think, maybe the 6th, I forget)! It's just on the other side of town from the skyscrapers and appears to tower over them because of the camera angle and being in the foreground about a mile away from them. I didn't move here for the observation decks, though.

More homeless (shouldn't have been a surprise; I could have researched that one) than I was used to.

The news makes it look like we're crime infested -- however, the statistics don't show that. I just think that they need to report something. Crime was down significantly last year though, in general, here.

Conformity: again, I thought laid back, individualistic. To me, at least, this seems like a conformist area where people prefer that everyone just follow the rules, keep an even keel, and not stand out so much.

[Radek]

fallingwaters has a pretty good summary.

The thing about Seattle that people don't seem to understand is that its not one big melting pot of people, we're so spread out that I don't ever really come into contact with people from Renton, and the east-side folks don't see a lot of Everett, etc.

My brother lives in Bellevue and works at Microsoft. Works great for him.
I have an ex-coworker who lives in Everett and works in Redmond at AT&T. Works well for him.
Etc.

Its not that we get a lot of rain.
Its that we get a lot of days of rain. Or 'mizzle' as it is sometimes referred to. I'd recommend visiting before you decide to move, and determine if this is the right place for you, because a lot of people can't handle it.

[pwright1]

Originally Posted by Radek

fallingwaters has a pretty good summary.

The thing about Seattle that people don't seem to understand is that its not one big melting pot of people, we're so spread out that I don't ever really come into contact with people from Renton, and the east-side folks don't see a lot of Everett, etc.

My brother lives in Bellevue and works at Microsoft. Works great for him.
I have an ex-coworker who lives in Everett and works in Redmond at AT&T. Works well for him.
Etc.

I have to disagree. Seattle is definately a big melting pot, especially in recent years. I work with the public and meet Seattle area residents from around the world. I can say my friends in Seattle are more of a melting pot of people than any city I ever lived in.

About the contact thing, don't people tend to gravitate to the communities in which they live? I know tons of people in Seattle but don't really know many in the suburban communities except for the people I work with.

[Fallingwaters]

Originally Posted by pwright1

I have to disagree. Seattle is definately a big melting pot, especially in recent years. I work with the public and meet Seattle area residents from around the world. I can say my friends in Seattle are more of a melting pot of people than any city I ever lived in.

About the contact thing, don't people tend to gravitate to the communities in which they live? I know tons of people in Seattle but don't really know many in the suburban communities except for the people I work with.

You hit it on the head with that comment. I think one thing people overlook when generically thinking about moving to Seattle is, if they're literally going to live in the city, which neighborhood best suits them. People tend to stick with their communities, like you said. West Seattle, Ballard, Capitol Hill, Queen Anne, SoDo, Belltown, etc, are what the city-dwellers tend to identify with.

I think by "melting pot," though, if I read it correctly, Radek wasn't talking about cultural diversity, just how people in Bellevue hang around Bellevue, Everett sticks to Everett, etc -- the folks in the burbs are pretty much tourists to Seattle when they visit; there's not much interconnection between towns (unlike other metro areas with more sprawl, where the towns just run into each other anyway).

[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.

[Fallingwaters]

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 hear you, I've been here 3 years, live up in Woodinville, and the only places I don't use GPS in the city are going to Seattle Center and Pike Place Market. When I talk to people fromt the city, it seems they know everything about where they live -- those of us who don't spend as much time there are really pretty clueless. Likewise, I get the impression that, unless they have friends, family, or business out in the suburbs, people living downtown don't venture out here as much, either (really, you have pretty much what you need right where you live).

Anecdotal, but in Las Vegas, a cab driver told me he used to live in West Seattle. He could tell me everything about it -- when I said Woodinville, his response was "is that up near Bellingham?" I just said "nah, in between Everett and Seattle"

[Radek]

Originally Posted by Fallingwaters

I hear you, I've been here 3 years, live up in Woodinville, and the only places I don't use GPS in the city are going to Seattle Center and Pike Place Market. When I talk to people fromt the city, it seems they know everything about where they live -- those of us who don't spend as much time there are really pretty clueless. Likewise, I get the impression that, unless they have friends, family, or business out in the suburbs, people living downtown don't venture out here as much, either (really, you have pretty much what you need right where you live).

Anecdotal, but in Las Vegas, a cab driver told me he used to live in West Seattle. He could tell me everything about it -- when I said Woodinville, his response was "is that up near Bellingham?" I just said "nah, in between Everett and Seattle"

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.

[wannabeaTexan]

Originally Posted by Radek

The thing about Seattle that people don't seem to understand is that its not one big melting pot of people, we're so spread out that I don't ever really come into contact with people from Renton, and the east-side folks don't see a lot of Everett, etc.

This is so true. Anywhere north of Seattle is pretty foreign to me and I grew up mostly in South King County. I have a friend who grew up in Mill Creek and rarely goes farther south than Bellevue. We call it "north-challenged" and "south-challenged".

I remember one time driving to her house, still in Mill Creek/Everett area, and feeling like I was driving forever. When I got there, I said, man, I think I saw a moose on the way here!