Are there any California transplants who are glad they moved to Seattle? (apartment, rentals)

[frkun]

It's the gray sky and almost constant humidity, not so much the rain and it affects some people more than others, for sure. I lived most of my life in one sunny place or another before moving here. Firstly I thought that gray, almost monochromatic, Seattle landscape won't get to me especially because I would be spending most of my time in the office anyway. Who cares, right? But, year after year, it wears you down. I totally get it that people love the place they live in and so they should, it's a natural coping mechanism. But the reality is that, on a bad year, and I would recall 3 out of last 5 to be such, you would be lucky to get one sunny weekend from March to July and one sunny day a week from October to March.

From 4th July till end of September is absolutely fabulous weather though and I would rate it even better than Australian east coast or Mediterranean coast. Sadly it's only three months of the year.

[oping00]

Originally Posted by frkun

It's the gray sky and almost constant humidity, not so much the rain and it affects some people more than others, for sure. I lived most of my life in one sunny place or another before moving here. Firstly I thought that gray, almost monochromatic, Seattle landscape won't get to me especially because I would be spending most of my time in the office anyway. Who cares, right? But, year after year, it wears you down. I totally get it that people love the place they live in and so they should, it's a natural coping mechanism. But the reality is that, on a bad year, and I would recall 3 out of last 5 to be such, you would be lucky to get one sunny weekend from March to July and one sunny day a week from October to March.

From 4th July till end of September is absolutely fabulous weather though and I would rate it even better than Australian east coast or Mediterranean coast. Sadly it's only three months of the year.

Only 3 months? Thats hard to take. For someone like me thats never been. I will definitely need to visit before making any type of move.

[Botev1912]

The glass is either half full or half empty.

[Tim Randal Walker]

I think that before moving, you should visit Seattle during the winter. See how you react to the gloom.

[cmswazey]

Originally Posted by frkun

It's the gray sky and almost constant humidity, not so much the rain and it affects some people more than others, for sure. I lived most of my life in one sunny place or another before moving here. Firstly I thought that gray, almost monochromatic, Seattle landscape won't get to me especially because I would be spending most of my time in the office anyway. Who cares, right? But, year after year, it wears you down. I totally get it that people love the place they live in and so they should, it's a natural coping mechanism. But the reality is that, on a bad year, and I would recall 3 out of last 5 to be such, you would be lucky to get one sunny weekend from March to July and one sunny day a week from October to March.

From 4th July till end of September is absolutely fabulous weather though and I would rate it even better than Australian east coast or Mediterranean coast. Sadly it's only three months of the year.

I'm from NY and have lived in TN and I'll tell you that Seattle's just not that humid.

The sunny days often last to mid October. We also get lots of sun breaks on winter days.

[Hemlock140]

Originally Posted by cmswazey

I'm from NY and have lived in TN and I'll tell you that Seattle's just not that humid.

The sunny days often last to mid October. We also get lots of sun breaks on winter days.

Such as yesterday, and right now!

This winter has had far more sunny days than I can remember in our 23 years here, yet the rain has been more than normal, thanks to more actual heavy rain as opposed to the light, constant drizzle that is more normal.

[annonymous0381]

At almost a year of living in Seattle still very glad I made the move from LA,CA to Seattle.

[Thom52]

We transplanted from CA to Seattle area over 30 years ago.
Paid a whole $70k for our Kirkland house (Unincorporated county back then), after being priced out of the Bay Area when trying to find a place to raise our freshly minted kids.

We couldn't have been happier. Traffic was easy, my hiking trails had no crowds, and the gray misty weather was a nice change of pace from the Bay area 2 seasons, with boring blue sky for months on end.
All was awesome for decades.

But I will have to admit, after 30 years the gray skies and drizzle are wearing thin, and the winters are starting to seem very dark. Our oldest daughter, now in her 30's, suffers severely from SAD, although she doesn't plan to move, and our younger daughter moved to sunnier climes.

Traffic and trail crowding are off the charts compared to back in the '80's. COL is skyrocketing.

I was kicked into forced early retirement by high tech companies that want younger or imported labor that works for much cheaper, even though I kept my skills up.
We are turning the lemons into lemonade and moving on again, this time to become desert rats for the next few decades, in a high desert place known for outdoor recreation.

Its an entirely different type of person that enjoys the Seattle area now. We are the boring, outdoorsy, fleece and casual types of the bygone era. Its a more urban and styled out crew, that need their fancy cars and flashy image that are taking over now, with a quiet exodus by the Old Style Seattle people.

Weather is actually much milder than when we moved to Seattle. We used to count how many snowstorms hit every year, but now its how many years between snowstorms.

Different world, not better, not worse. But you really need to like 9 months of gray skies and very dark winters. It sure is green though.

[annonymous0381]

This winter of 2016 wasn't so bad. The everyday rain didn't bother me.

[thatguy950]

No. That's why I spend as much time in Honolulu or Irvine, and as little time in Seattle as possible.