Feeling of tech influence in Seattle (for sale, neighborhoods, tenants)

[Commonproject]

I stayed in Seattle for a while ~3 years ago, and back then, I didn't really feel like Tech was that dominant of a part of the city's general feel. It still had that big city but small town feel throughout with a diverse set of industries. Now that Google/FB/Twitter/other SF tech companies are expanding their office sizes here, is there a feeling of "tech taking over town"?

I personally have nothing against tech, but one of the reasons I didn't like SF was because the city felt very one-dimensional in terms of the people you met - they either work at a tech giant or at a startup, which resulted in the same conversations over and over.

Just trying to gauge how diverse the economy and feel of the city is today if you lived in one of the core neighborhoods (Belltown/Downtown/Cap Hill/Queen Anne, etc.)

[Oh Me]

Commonproject-I really don’t notice a difference between people in Seattle and San Francisco, except people in CA tend to be a little more open. That might be a little “Seattle Freeze.” Overall, I find people in both areas to be tech/industry heavy. Because they spend a lot of hours at work it’s natural that’s a big part of what they focus on.

Have you tried bringing up different topics when in social situations? People usually enjoy talking about things they like to do and there’s a wealth of activities in both locations so that might be a starting point

[Flightoficarus87]

Originally Posted by Oh Me

Commonproject-I really don’t notice a difference between people in Seattle and San Francisco, except people in CA tend to be a little more open. That might be a little “Seattle Freeze.” Overall, I find people in both areas to be tech/industry heavy. Because they spend a lot of hours at work it’s natural that’s a big part of what they focus on.

Have you tried bringing up different topics when in social situations? People usually enjoy talking about things they like to do and there’s a wealth of activities in both locations so that might be a starting point

Pretty spot on IMO.

OP, the influence of tech on Seattle has definitely increased in just the past 3 years (Amazon alone has grown exponentially in that time). But I'm with Oh Me - both cities are pretty "techie", but there are still plenty of non-tech people who like to talk about non-tech things - and I'm pretty sure even the techies like to take a break from their work and talk about other things too.

Come to think of it, when I was in SF last summer, I don't think tech came up more than once in all the conversations I had with locals. I came across plenty of down-to-earth folks.

[Bluefox]

It’s not as overwhelming as I had thought it to be. Where I live, tech workers are far outnumbered by healthcare industry workers due to all the hospitals and medical offices in First Hill. I would say the majority of tenants in my building work in the medical field.

While Seattle is expensive, there is still enough room to accommodate plenty of non-tech people. It’s not quite on the same level as San Francisco. For now at least.

[myname_isborat]

Originally Posted by Commonproject

I stayed in Seattle for a while ~3 years ago, and back then, I didn't really feel like Tech was that dominant of a part of the city's general feel. It still had that big city but small town feel throughout with a diverse set of industries. Now that Google/FB/Twitter/other SF tech companies are expanding their office sizes here, is there a feeling of "tech taking over town"?

I personally have nothing against tech, but one of the reasons I didn't like SF was because the city felt very one-dimensional in terms of the people you met - they either work at a tech giant or at a startup, which resulted in the same conversations over and over.

Just trying to gauge how diverse the economy and feel of the city is today if you lived in one of the core neighborhoods (Belltown/Downtown/Cap Hill/Queen Anne, etc.)

A couple who are both doctors bought our house. I know my neighbors sold to docs as well last summer. My other former neighbors came from SF and work for Salesforce. They were already talking about moving back due to the weather a year in. Haha.

[Flightoficarus87]

Originally Posted by myname_isborat

They were already talking about moving back due to the weather a year in. Haha.

Wait, which weather?

The 80/90-something and smoke of August? Or the wet doom and gloom of January?

[eugene_b]

Our family is very diverse: I am a software engineer working for a startup and my wife is a software engineer working for a big company. But no worries, if startups is not your thing, I can talk about big companies too; worked for one back in NYC.
If seriously though: my wife and I are very excited about our work and all that stuff but we really get enough of the tech talk at work. And on those occasional days when we don’t, we can always compensate by talking about tech between ourselves during dinner. If you ever meet us, we’d much rather talk about travel, mountains, your favorite micro brewery or some other random topic you feel passionate about. I mostly cover the mountains and such topics and my wife can do opera and other culture talk with you.