For those who get sick of the rain and winters here... (Seattle: living in, moving)

[BaconBurgerTaco10]

Where have you considered moving?

Have you tried living elsewhere and ended up coming back?

How do you cope with Oct - June? Winter vacations?


I've been here for 23 years.. I'm 27 now. I'm almost at the point of making an impulse move to Denver just to see the sun. Look at the forecast for Seattle right now.. Not only has it been raining for weeks, the next 10 days shows rain every day. This is pure insanity!

[homesinseattle]

Have you thought of Boise? I've had some clients move there and seem to like it.

[Kayela]

For family reasons, we spent 6 months of last year living in Boulder, CO (Sept - March with a few weeks in Seattle here and there). While we enjoyed it, I don't know that I'd want to live there full time. Although we enjoyed it enough that we're toying with the idea of splitting our time between the two places if we can work something out with our jobs. Dunno that I'd want to live there in the summer (heat, bugs, dry, wind), but we did enjoy the winter.


If you want sun then CO has lots of it. Plus, I'm a fan of impulse moves. Even if they don't work out, they can be a lot of fun.


Things to note:

Yes, you do get gorgeous sunshine in the winter. There were days where I was comfortably sitting in the sun on the patio, with no coat, while piles of snow were melting next to me. That was pretty cool.


The snow is fantastic, crunchy, powder. Easy to drive in, a blast to play in.


The sun is really hot at high altitude. The thinner air heats and cools quicker. A sunny day in CO feels much hotter than a sunny day in Seattle. Nights get cold, even in the summer. Pay attention to sunscreen, you can burn at the drop of a hat.


I hope you like snow. A lot. I adore snow, but even I was getting sick of it by March (although to be fair, it was a record year for snow). There were several times where it snowed every day for a week, often many inches a day. Make sure you have a good car and good tires.


All that snow goes away very quickly. It has little moisture and just kinda shrinks. So the roads suck for a bit and then after a day or two of sunshine it's fine. Stock up on washer fluid and give up on having a clean car.


When it's warm, you really need to get up and get going if you're into outdoor recreation. You don't want to be on the top of a hill when an afternoon thunderstorm builds, or really exerting yourself in the heat of the day.


I felt that traffic was better. There are fewer bottlenecks, and more back routes. Not that things never back up or get bad. People seem to drive faster and are less passive than WA drivers. I prefer that.


Green chili!!! I developed a taste for it living in NM, and boy - you just cannot find decent green chili here in Seattle. CO has lots of excellent green chili all over the place. *le happy sigh*


I missed the air in Seattle. The air in CO is hot or cold, and thin. It can feel choking hot and dusty in the summer and it's sharp in the winter. There were plenty of days where I just really missed a cool, misty, drizzly Seattle day. I wanted to feel the moisture against my face and breath it into my lungs. The air here smells awesome too.


I missed the uniqueness of Seattle. There's lots and lots of sprawl in CO and it all looks like the same bunch of chain stores. With few exceptions, one part of town looks just like another. Boulder was definitely more quirky. I'm glad that was where we were living, and I'd definitely pick that over Denver.


Life is short. Try something new if you really feel moved to do so.

[Tim Randal Walker]

Originally Posted by Kayela

I missed the uniqueness of Seattle. There's lots and lots of sprawl in CO and it all looks like the same bunch of chain stores. With few exceptions, one part of town looks just like another. Boulder was definitely more quirky. I'm glad that was where we were living, and I'd definitely pick that over Denver.


Life is short. Try something new if you really feel moved to do so.

The "sprawl"-the suburbs-seem to look much the same wherever you go.

[thedonwind]

Originally Posted by Seattlephil

Where have you considered moving?

Have you tried living elsewhere and ended up coming back?

How do you cope with Oct - June? Winter vacations?


I've been here for 23 years.. I'm 27 now. I'm almost at the point of making an impulse move to Denver just to see the sun. Look at the forecast for Seattle right now.. Not only has it been raining for weeks, the next 10 days shows rain every day. This is pure insanity!

Maybe try Spokane? Texas?

[Botev1912]

I didn't know it's been raining for weeks. Seriously. Last week had 4 sunny days by the way.

[Seacove]

Originally Posted by Botev1912

I didn't know it's been raining for weeks. Seriously. Last week had 4 sunny days by the way.

Shhh, we're being overwhelmed, if someone wants to leave, give them a map. Everyone, it rains constantly here, our golden retriever was doing the backstroke just trying to run in the yard!

[Polymorphist]

I've considered the Southwest (Phoenix and Albuquerque) but not because of the rain. I'm tired of feeling packed-in as well as how expensive it's getting here.

Rain just doesn't bother me because I came from a region where we had a lot of snow, ice and frigid temperatures in the winter. Rain is nothing to me.

[Kayela]

I didn't know it's been raining for weeks. Seriously. Last week had 4 sunny days by the way.

And the few days of rain before that was preceded by more sunny days. Yep. However, I think for some folks, they get to a point where it takes a lot of sunny days to make up for a few rainy ones. By then any rainy days feel like too many. If you've reached that sort of breaking point, then moving isn't the world's worst idea. It may be trading one set of issues for another (because every place has some), but one person's deal-breaker is another person's deal maker.

[PanthersPanthers]

I've been here since June 2012 and I'm moving back to NC this summer. I just can't take the gloom anymore. I suffer from depression, and the rain and darkness make it much, much worse.

I really think if it bothers you a lot, you should consider moving :-/