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Old 04-23-2017, 04:37 PM
 
511 posts, read 616,572 times
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Friday, I started the “You know you’re from the PNW when” thread with good intentions, yet some of the posts have devolved into what they so often do on the Seattle forum.

It took a few years after my moving here to recognize the dysfunction in some of the people and culture around me, in the Seattle Times, Seattle Magazine, my neighbors, new friends, people at the grocery store, the person checking me in at the dentist...

This incessant need to compare, to criticize another, to say what's wrong with any other place, especially California, struck me as odd initially, and then just sad. Seattle, the PNW is so unique that it's almost impossible to compare it to anywhere else. It has its own attributes, but too many people here can't just be grounded in that knowledge and feel good about where they live, what they love. They have to denigrate another to try to seemingly justify what's good about Seattle.

This is basic stuff out of Psych 101 - when you need to put another down in order to say what's right about yourself, it’s because you feel inferior. People who need to put another place down in order to show what’s good about Seattle show either resentment or jealousy or a sense of inferiority, and if that doesn't actually fit you, then know that this is how it looks.


I'd like to share this old post of mine about San Diego and Seattle (PNW)...and if you want to stop here and just throw out a “clever” one-liner, try to refrain from doing so and steel yourself to read all the way to the end. You might learn something you hadn’t thought about before.

I moved to the PNW almost 14 years ago, an hour north of Seattle, and I see dramatic changes, and I don’t even know what Seattle looked like before that. It’s hard when your beloved city becomes so attractive that people flock to it and change it into something different. It wouldn’t be so bad if life didn’t get more difficult with traffic and skyrocketing home prices, but that is what happens, unfortunately.

You know, what a lot of people here in Seattle/PNW don’t understand is that many California natives don’t like it up here, and if they do move up here, they soon leave. In the almost 14 years we’ve lived here, we have not met one California native living here. Not one. But who we have met are people who’ve moved from California…these are the people who moved to California from all over the US, jacked up the home prices and crowded the roads and beaches, made their money, and then when their wild oats were thoroughly sewn, left to find greener pastures (pun intended)… like to Portland and Seattle and the PNW. So those "California transplants" are actually not California transplants because they're originally from some other state. They just passed through California mining for gold and when they filled their coffers, they set their sights on your neck of the woods.

I grew up in San Diego, coming of age in the late 70s, early 80s. I lived close to the beach, and we had such innocent fun – we had bonfires and hung out on the boardwalk till all hours. It was safe, no gangs, just the usual harmless beach bums and tourists. Then as I got older, things got “tighter.” No more fires allowed on the beach, no bottles, no, no, no – all due to density, too many people. More and more restrictions. Rents started to climb, and when I moved out of my parents’ house, I couldn’t afford to pay beach rents, so I had to move into an eastern neighborhood.

In 1991, my husband and I were able to buy a starter home for $170K. It was in a very working class neighborhood, safe, but, well, just OK. It was all we could afford even though we both had good jobs. We lived in the house for 12 years until 2003 when we moved to Washington, which I’d long wanted. When I was growing up, my father would take 6 weeks off every summer, and he’d take us on long road trips all over the US, so by the time I was 12, I knew what was out there, and I knew I loved wet, green, cool, ferns, trees, and fallen logs in dense forests. I never forgot that, and everything lined up in 2003, and we made the move onto acreage, in our own little forest about an hour north of Seattle. All our family and friends thought we were nuts, our family all being native Californians. They visited once, twice and never returned. They thought we’d be back in a few years, but no, we loved the PNW.

Anyway… It’s hard when so many people seem to invade. The people who bought our house were from Bremerton, just a short ferry ride to Seattle. The wife said she’d always wanted to live in San Diego. We found it amusing that we were essentially exchanging locations. They bought our house for $340K. In 12 years the price had doubled. 16 months later a friend called and told me our house was up for sale. I was surprised as I thought the young Seattle couple had liked the house. When I went looking online, I saw it was selling for $520K. OMG! Half a million dollars for that poorly constructed starter home built in 1950-something?! Well, in a few weeks it sold for an exact half a million dollars - $500,000. I wondered what that Bremerton/Seattle couple did with their $160,000 profit made in 16 months. Did they buy up in San Diego, making it even harder for the natives yet again? Did they move back home to Seattle and buy something really nice there – you know…the “Californians” jacking up Seattle prices? I never found out.

In San Diego, my husband had a coworker from Seattle. He still calls us a few times a year and rages about the hideous hell of San Diego – the traffic, the rude people, the heat, the crowds, the hell of this place… He says when he went to graduate school in San Diego in the early 80s, it was nothing like this. He said there was never any traffic, people were laid back and friendly, and the weather out of this world. He loved San Diego so much he decided to stay. He runs marathons and does long-distance street biking, and he said it was a joy in San Diego then, loving what it had to offer. I tell him I know, I was there, too, I was born there… But now it’s a hell hole, he says. He can’t wait to get back to Seattle, and when we ask why he doesn’t just come back now, he says he’ll never find a job in his specialty in Seattle like he’s got now in San Diego, so he’s waiting until he retires. He’s single, no kids, and has been making a six-figure salary for at least 20 years, probably longer, so he’s going to return to Seattle with one heck of a retirement nest egg. Wow! Lucky guy.

Our current next door neighbors spent some time in San Diego, too. They’re also native Seattlites, but they attended college in San Diego, where they met. They said they really enjoyed their time there, especially since they would never have been able to get away with some of the stuff they did as young adults in Seattle, like living together and partying. They said they could never have done this stuff with their parents close by. Then they told us, with a slight nose sniff, that they moved back home because they wanted to start a family, and they wanted to raise their children in a more wholesome environment.

So yes, I totally understand the dismay PNW natives feel when they see their homes overrun with too many people who take the bounty that their cities have to offer and then either stay to further impact density or move away with the spoils after they’ve directly contributed to negatively impacting the overall environment for the people who grew up there. It’s hard when growing populations flock to the attractive cities and change them so dramatically. I understand because it happened in my native San Diego, and these five people I know from Seattle are just a raindrop in the ocean of all who have contributed to San Diego’s overcrowding and “hell-hole” status, according to my husband’s old coworker who remains to continue cashing in on his 6-figure income and job that he won’t be able to get in his native Seattle. But he’ll be bringing it back to the PNW when he returns to Seattle to buy a house after 30+ years in California.

I’m genuinely sorry to see the same thing happening in Seattle/PNW that happened to San Diego…but know that the people who are changing Seattle are the people who are mostly from everywhere but California who first spoiled it for the California natives and then moved up your way with the money they made in California. Like the 6-figure guy from Seattle. Like our next-door neighbors from Seattle. Like the people who bought our house, all from the PNW. And now, my 30-yr old San Diego native son and wife are completely priced out of affording a house within the city limits of San Diego, and even the outlying communities will tax them tremendously, and they’ll be living next door to crack houses because that’s all they can afford.

I was directly affected by a couple Seattle transplants when they bought my house in San Diego. One of the major reasons I left San Diego was because it was getting so crowded…by people from all over, including Seattle, the PNW. It goes both ways, people. You know, if you think about it, YOU-all came to California first. Most California natives had little desire to move north until YOU-all changed our cities beyond recognition. I’ve never resented this migration; I understand it’s how the world works, but when I hear such ignorance spew about the “Californians,” sometimes it makes me feel so sad to know I’m surrounded by such ignorance. Ignorance by choice – because if YOU-all thought about it a bit, you’d realize why the “Californians” are moving up your way. But then YOU-all would have to blame your friends, family, co-workers, and/or the burgeoning world population, and that's just not as much fun, nor as easy, as blaming the "Californians," now, is it
?

If you've read this far, thank you, great! Now I can move on with a light heart knowing I've done my part.
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Old 04-23-2017, 05:42 PM
 
Location: Seattle
8,154 posts, read 8,199,744 times
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Algiz, really good post.
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Old 04-23-2017, 05:47 PM
 
387 posts, read 352,147 times
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I've noticed a lot more Texas than California people here lately. Texas plates, Cowboys logos. I wonder what makes them want to move here. Also, I might just be imagining this, but I think I can tell who's not a native by the way they drive. Much more aggressive. Tailgating. Sudden, jerky lane changes. Constantly vying to race ahead of everyone else and basically all-around being the hugest jerks on the planet. Most of them drive gigantic trucks, Acuras, Chevys, or Hyundais for some reason.
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Old 04-23-2017, 06:41 PM
 
21,988 posts, read 15,605,133 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CharlesRamon View Post
I've noticed a lot more Texas than California people here lately. Texas plates, Cowboys logos. I wonder what makes them want to move here. Also, I might just be imagining this, but I think I can tell who's not a native by the way they drive. Much more aggressive. Tailgating. Sudden, jerky lane changes. Constantly vying to race ahead of everyone else and basically all-around being the hugest jerks on the planet. Most of them drive gigantic trucks, Acuras, Chevys, or Hyundais for some reason.
Same here. I've never lived in California so I had no impact on it's growth or density. While Seattle's growth is very worrying, I think Californians are probably a good social fit. Texans on the other hand make no sense to me and I don't understand why they would choose the Seattle metro considering we could not possibly be more different than Texas. They love to talk about how great Texas is, why don't they stay home? According to this, Texas is #2 after California. Newcomers arriving in record numbers, but from where? | The Seattle Times

What does annoy is someone moving to Seattle and complaining about the liberal politics or the rain. A simple search will show Seattle's politics and one would think that would the least of efforts taken before moving. As for the weather, we are so upfront about the weather, the low clouds, the short winter days, etc. that we are accused of trying to warn people off. The truth is obvious and logical; a place this green and lush gets a lot of rain or it would not be so green and lush. Go down the Pacific coast and it gets progressively less green. Choose the level of green (or lack thereof) and move there. But moving to Seattle and complaining about the rain and clouds is like moving to Alaska and complaining about the snow.

Another annoyance are those that find Seattle too insular, too polite, too cerebral, too introverted and combined with the weather, decide it is not for them. Great! Happy trails! But the obsession to keep coming back and complaining about it is probably the most boring things about the Seattle forum.* One would think they would be happy in their new location, but they are obsessed with such repeated complaints even though they no longer live here. Such repeated posts are indicative of someone that is perpetually unhappy but the mystery is why they need to keep telling us.

*Also the oft-repeated request of an affordable, safe, walkable neighborhood with coffee shops and shopping, good schools and a short commute followed by shock at what "affordable" means. The more popular a place becomes, the faster the growth and the more expensive it is. This kind of growth logically means it's going to get more expensive because we have geographic constraints like Puget Sound, Lake Washington and the Cascade mountains. Whether the growth comes from Californians (and they are the highest) Texas or anywhere else, that limited land results in a finite resource with ever-increasing competition.
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Old 04-23-2017, 06:50 PM
 
Location: Malibu CA in Summer, Key Largo FL in Winter
3,596 posts, read 2,855,442 times
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I was in San Diego last week. Its awesome not the city itself but how close it is to the Zona Norte in Tijuana. Wow everyone open minded should see it once. 2 bars there are straight out of the movie Dusk to Dawn. TJ please don't ever become as sterile as Main St USA.
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Old 04-23-2017, 06:51 PM
 
Location: Seattle
8,154 posts, read 8,199,744 times
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Seacove, my first cousin lives in Austin and it is quite liberal. That's also a tech hub and seems to be where relocating Texans are often coming from. The ones I've talked with seem to fit in pretty well here.
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Old 04-23-2017, 07:00 PM
 
21,988 posts, read 15,605,133 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 87112 View Post
I was in San Diego last week. Its awesome not the city itself but how close it is to the Zona Norte in Tijuana. Wow everyone open minded should see it once. 2 bars there are straight out of the movie Dusk to Dawn. TJ please don't ever become as sterile as Main St USA.
I've been to San Diego a lot and the flatness bothers me. Driving north on 405 and seeing the Bothell valley, looking east at the Cascades, west to the Olympics, there's just so much to look at and combined with the lush trees and water, San Diego can't compete IMO. But that's why we don't all live in one place. Some places are better to vacation than actually live. Our sons wear basketball shorts to school in the winter and open the windows when it's raining because they like the sound and smell. We laugh and say they are true Seattle boys.
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Old 04-23-2017, 07:32 PM
 
Location: Hollywood and Vine
2,074 posts, read 2,001,641 times
Reputation: 4938
Quote:
Originally Posted by CharlesRamon View Post
I've noticed a lot more Texas than California people here lately. Texas plates, Cowboys logos. I wonder what makes them want to move here. Also, I might just be imagining this, but I think I can tell who's not a native by the way they drive. Much more aggressive. Tailgating. Sudden, jerky lane changes. Constantly vying to race ahead of everyone else and basically all-around being the hugest jerks on the planet. Most of them drive gigantic trucks, Acuras, Chevys, or Hyundais for some reason.
The heat and the archaic Bible based laws .Although we were specifically called here for a job , I was happy to be here . Texas is where I was born and where I came from although I have lived all over the world . I am SO not conservative and very colorful ..I was always called alot of crazy, ignorant, hurtful names back home by adults ...where here I fit in fine . I have only been here 10 years but the last 5-6 have been intense .So much change that it's overwhelming .

OP your post was great . I am sad that I will have to leave completely , I really have no clue which of several places we are considering but I still don't want to leave. Not going back to Texas though , I don't want to fill my day eating and going to church . Alot of the folks Charles talks about will go to Spokane or leave altogether . My husband has noticed a lot of Texans too .

Quote:
Originally Posted by homesinseattle View Post
Seacove, my first cousin lives in Austin and it is quite liberal. That's also a tech hub and seems to be where relocating Texans are often coming from. The ones I've talked with seem to fit in pretty well here.
Austin is not so liberal or affordable anymore that place is packed full and the whole vibe has completely changed .Stevie Ray is turning in his grave .
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Old 04-23-2017, 09:18 PM
 
436 posts, read 565,407 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DutchessCottonPuff View Post
Austin is not so liberal or affordable anymore that place is packed full and the whole vibe has completely changed .Stevie Ray is turning in his grave .
Sadly all of what you said is true. Austin does not feel like Austin any more, at least to us. One of the many reasons we are leaving.

Sorry Seacove, we are invading your lands soon ourselves. Not to Seattle, but likely the outskirts or Olympia. Trading heat for rain.
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Old 04-24-2017, 02:39 AM
 
1,054 posts, read 1,034,862 times
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I find the complaints about other people's political and/or religious leanings to be a bit annoying. Im not really down with the bland assurance that everyone else is a liberal just because some people are.

I'm mainly a centrist, leaning left on some issues and right on others, so any assumptions that I've written this because of my own political views would be wrong. No, I'm just tired of seeing swipes and snarks at Christians and Republicans on an ongoing basis.
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