North Atlanta to Seattle - Thumbs up/down ? (Vancouver, Edmonds: for sale, apartment)

[bimmerfest]

Howdy folks !

Need your expert option to weigh in on my decision to move from Atlanta to Seattle.

Some of these are specific to North Atlanta, so I would greatly appreciate if anyone with recent experience can comment on my questions below.

Current Situation :
Living in Cumming, GA
4200 sft home ( 500-600k)
Working prof in mid 30's
3 Yr old and one more on the way

Seattle Move :
Downtown job ( spouse is looking to find one)
35% Pay raise and good prospects ( needed a change from the 'southern' style)
Willing to spend upto 650-700k for 3500 sft home , planning to rent initially

The Dilemma :

Although we haven't been in Atlanta for very long, we like it here for the decent cost of living and the warm weather. Both of us being Tech workers, so see lot of potential in moving to Seattle but are kind of struggling to make up our minds on the following fronts :

- Is schooling generally better, when we compare Northshore or Washington district to North Forsyth schools. This is key, as our kids will start entering the schools system in 2 yrs or so.

- Based on the above and my budget , which areas do you recommend we look for SF homes?

- Is Traffic good, bad when you compare between North Suburbs to Seattle Downtown and similar commute to Atlanta downtown ? My current commute between Cumming - ATL is about 50 mins , 3 -4 days a week.

-I am hoping that the WA no state tax will offset some of the increase in expenses like groceries, gas etc. Is that fair call ? or are the general cost of living ( outside of homes) much higher ?

[leastprime]

DS lives near 23 and Yesler. New construction townhouses will run $600-700k, 1200-1400sqft, 1 car garage.
He can get to Pikes Place in 15-25 minutes via bus. Also tech worker. He can walk to work in under 30. This area is rapidly gentrifing. Paul Allen is putting up a 570 unit apartment/retail complex on 23 and Jackson.

No idea on public schools. As this area becomes more gentrified and more expensive, schools tend to become better. We have a rental in Eastlake which is pretty much gentrified. Eastlake is located between Udub and Southlake (Amazon, Google, bio companies).

Food is inexpensive along Jackson St (parallel to Yesler), Asian markets. We find that the prices are Dramatically less $$ than Safeway, Krogers, WholeFoods, etc.

You will want to take public transportation if you work DT.

[CrazyDonkey]

Look at Bothell (Northshore SD) - commute (park-n-ride) should take around 50 minutes, depending on location. Lower your square footage to 3,000-2,500 to find houses within your budget, or raise your budget.

Bothell WA Single Family Homes For Sale - 56 Homes | Zillow

[tobester]

You mention you like Atlanta's "warm weather" - you do realize Seattle's weather is not anything close to "warm" weather. Are you prepared for predominately grey cool skies 8 to 9 months of the year? One thing you will save on is electricity - no A/C in most homes.

[perigee]

Second tobester, if you actually like the weather in Atlanta you will probably be miserable up here. Remember we are extremely north and in winter the days are short, dark and while I would say cool, you will probably think they are dank and cold. Yesterday was in the 60's with low dark clouds that made me turn on the lights early, personally it was a welcomed relief from the hot weather we had for two days and by hot, I mean in the 80's.

Traffic is terrible and is projected to continue to get worse. It is not just the bumper to bumper freeway commute, it is also the last/first mile getting to the freeway, there have been some great posts on the topic.

Yes, we are income tax free, but our sale tax is almost 10%, it is a regressive tax so for your family it will probably be a nonissue, that being said, yes things are more expensive. While you might save money on not needing A/C, you will have to offset that by heating costs, remember the more square footage the higher the bill. If you like a home in the low 60's it probably won't be too bad (depending on many factors), if you like a home in the 70's make sure the insulation/windows/furnace is up to snuff.

Your post was heavy on the pros of your situation, light on any negatives and coupled that with an underwhelming desire to move up here, I would advice caution. There are a lot of negatives to this area, but the positives outweigh them for the people that put up with a tooth grinding commute.

A fall/winter visit would be better to give you an idea of how bad the weather can get, but come for a visit, do a dry run of potential commutes during rush hour.

[Gardyloo]

I would also have a look at Issaquah (east) and Edmonds (NW) as well as areas in Seattle itself.

Commute and traffic issues are very popular topics of conversation, but - as is the case in the Atlanta region - it's VERY much a matter of specifics. For single-occupant car commuters, both regions are basically awful; however the Seattle metro area does have lots of bus, heavy rail, light rail, and van pool options that can reduce commute times, or at least make them tolerable. Live close to a park-and-ride lot, and badda bing, problem solved. Or work-based van pools are plentiful... it's all in the details.

On the cost of living front, yes, sales tax is 9.5%, but you're paying 7% in Cumming, and have a 6% state income tax on top of that. Almost nobody here has central air conditioning, and electricity is almost 50% cheaper here compared to there. Houses tend to be a little smaller, and newer homes are well insulated, so my hunch is that overall cost of living isn't going to be much higher - if any - than you currently enjoy.

The weather is... well, it's the weather. Yes, a fair number of days from Nov-April can be gray and wet, but we have virtually no summer thunderstorms, summer days when humidity is over 50% are few and far between, and the days in summer are longer.

You can be skiing in an hour, in marvelous Vancouver or Portland in three. You have three national parks that you can see from many homes, and more boats per capita than anywhere else (friends-with-boats is the way to go.) And arts, culture, entertainment options that are world-class.

[leastprime]

And a quick escape to Canada.

[leastprime]

DS is supposedly skiing this weekend. Next weekend he may do ski or climbing. In two weeks he is going to do climbing.
Last weekend when we visited, we did SouthLake boat and walk. Mt Baker walk and Colman Park. Quick bike ride through Judkins Park to Mercer Island via bike path and another quick ride around Central looking for a unusual restaurants.
Lots to do with and without kids.

[homesinseattle]

Absolutely Northshore school district, might want to explore Edmonds and/or Mukilteo schools too. My half sister lives in Roswell (NE Atlanta as I'm sure you know) and fantasizes about moving here every time she visits. She doesn't like humidity, we don't really have it here.

[Mtn. States Resident]

Originally Posted by bimmerfest

Howdy folks !

Need your expert option to weigh in on my decision to move from Atlanta to Seattle.

Some of these are specific to North Atlanta, so I would greatly appreciate if anyone with recent experience can comment on my questions below.

Current Situation :
Living in Cumming, GA
4200 sft home ( 500-600k)
Working prof in mid 30's
3 Yr old and one more on the way

Seattle Move :
Downtown job ( spouse is looking to find one)
35% Pay raise and good prospects ( needed a change from the 'southern' style)
Willing to spend upto 650-700k for 3500 sft home , planning to rent initially

The Dilemma :

Although we haven't been in Atlanta for very long, we like it here for the decent cost of living and the warm weather. Both of us being Tech workers, so see lot of potential in moving to Seattle but are kind of struggling to make up our minds on the following fronts :

- Is schooling generally better, when we compare Northshore or Washington district to North Forsyth schools. This is key, as our kids will start entering the schools system in 2 yrs or so.

- Based on the above and my budget , which areas do you recommend we look for SF homes?

- Is Traffic good, bad when you compare between North Suburbs to Seattle Downtown and similar commute to Atlanta downtown ? My current commute between Cumming - ATL is about 50 mins , 3 -4 days a week.

-I am hoping that the WA no state tax will offset some of the increase in expenses like groceries, gas etc. Is that fair call ? or are the general cost of living ( outside of homes) much higher ?

Have you ever visited the PNW? You've been in ATL metro for three years. What is causing this question to arise now? Do you have a solid job offer?

Where is "home" for you and your spouse? I ask that given a long post in the Birmingham, AL thread from a professional in Seattle who wonders if they should move back for family to be involved with children they hope to have. You might want to search for that thread.

I've had family live six months/year in Marietta and six months/year in the PNW for more than five years. The areas offer very different natural settings. Part of "success" in moving depends on where one has lived previously and expects in a location across the U.S.

If you had to pick your top three criteria for moving, what would they be?

MSR