My bittersweet Seattle experience (Edmonds, Starbuck: renting, insurance, employment)

[yaya97]

Originally Posted by NW4me

A very pleasant part of the District, IIRC.

And you've got a Metro station there too. When I lived there, that station hadn't been built.

That’s a huge plus! 5 stops to work. I’m glad to be in urban environment again.

[goferonholiday]

You might not want to hear this, but I think you are lucky things turned out the way they did. Seattle is no longer the town it was when I first moved here thirty years ago. I'm getting out. Your well written piece is evidence to me that any corporation or town would be lucky to have you. Seattle blew it with you and is blowing it in more ways than I care to mention here. The weather is still here, and so are the green trees, but everything else is gone. Our city council is insane. The "freeze" is real. Crime, homeless, and quitting landlords. I'm thinking Wyoming myself. Best of luck in your endeavors, you sir will be fine and better off, I know it.

[Thealpinist]

Originally Posted by goferonholiday

You might not want to hear this, but I think you are lucky things turned out the way they did. Seattle is no longer the town it was when I first moved here thirty years ago. I'm getting out. Your well written piece is evidence to me that any corporation or town would be lucky to have you. Seattle blew it with you and is blowing it in more ways than I care to mention here. The weather is still here, and so are the green trees, but everything else is gone. Our city council is insane. The "freeze" is real. Crime, homeless, and quitting landlords. I'm thinking Wyoming myself. Best of luck in your endeavors, you sir will be fine and better off, I know it.

This right here.

[flyingsaucermom]

Originally Posted by goferonholiday

You might not want to hear this, but I think you are lucky things turned out the way they did. Seattle is no longer the town it was when I first moved here thirty years ago. I'm getting out. Your well written piece is evidence to me that any corporation or town would be lucky to have you. Seattle blew it with you and is blowing it in more ways than I care to mention here. The weather is still here, and so are the green trees, but everything else is gone. Our city council is insane. The "freeze" is real. Crime, homeless, and quitting landlords. I'm thinking Wyoming myself. Best of luck in your endeavors, you sir will be fine and better off, I know it.

Quitting landlords. I guess you're in the loop about king county wanting to force lease renewals and prohibiting credit checks?

Getting rid of credit checks means I will offer a high rent in order to keep a particular quality of the applicant. Or I'll figure something out. Someone, somewhere will figure out a loophole. They always do.

Since our properties are all within 10 miles of each other my husband and I could always move back into any one of them. Unless the county or the state take one's right to live in one's own house away.

I wouldn't be surprised.

The backlash will come at some point. This is just ridiculous.

[yaya97]

Originally Posted by goferonholiday

You might not want to hear this, but I think you are lucky things turned out the way they did. Seattle is no longer the town it was when I first moved here thirty years ago. I'm getting out. Your well written piece is evidence to me that any corporation or town would be lucky to have you. Seattle blew it with you and is blowing it in more ways than I care to mention here. The weather is still here, and so are the green trees, but everything else is gone. Our city council is insane. The "freeze" is real. Crime, homeless, and quitting landlords. I'm thinking Wyoming myself. Best of luck in your endeavors, you sir will be fine and better off, I know it.

Thank you for your words. I like to go by what MLK said" You win or you learn". This was a learn for me.
I was very aware that I was not going to find a "small town feel" or being able to commute from Mercer island to Bellevue or the Pike Place in 20 min max as in the early 80`s but I thought with goodwill and a positive attitude, I would overcome the hurdles. That obviously did not happen and covid added another layer. I am just happy now that I was fortunate to land quickly elsewhere but will never deny my love for Seattle and hope that the issues ( homeless..) will improve over time.

Wyoming is a beautiful state!!!!

[Gaylord_Focker]

Originally Posted by yaya97

Thank you for your words. I like to go by what MLK said" You win or you learn". This was a learn for me.
I was very aware that I was not going to find a "small town feel" or being able to commute from Mercer island to Bellevue or the Pike Place in 20 min max as in the early 80`s but I thought with goodwill and a positive attitude, I would overcome the hurdles. That obviously did not happen and covid added another layer. I am just happy now that I was fortunate to land quickly elsewhere but will never deny my love for Seattle and hope that the issues ( homeless..) will improve over time.

Wyoming is a beautiful state!!!!

Saw you landed in DC. I love both places!!

[yaya97]

Originally Posted by Gaylord_Focker

Saw you landed in DC. I love both places!!

I was very pleased to see you on the DC forum!! Small world!

[yaya97]

Looking back to my thread written a year ago I still have the same thoughts. Seattle sadly did not work for us and
we continue do "enjoy" living in downtown DC with its pros and cons ( like everywhere).
This said, on year later, I still get a jolt when I think about Seattle. The Emerald City just has that "something" that is unique. Perhaps the pain- the feeling of fail - we go away with more time!

[Chilkoot]

I can see why you were so disappointed in Seattle, particularly with your high expectations based on your previous experience. I would feel the same. I haven’t read this entire thread but you came back at the worst possible time. Things have improved and there is very little that is the same as 2020. I walked downtown from Belltown yesterday and there are certainly glimpses of issues but nothing like it was just a couple years ago.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by Chilkoot

I can see why you were so disappointed in Seattle, particularly with your high expectations based on your previous experience. I would feel the same. I haven’t read this entire thread but you came back at the worst possible time. Things have improved and there is very little that is the same as 2020. I walked downtown from Belltown yesterday and there are certainly glimpses of issues but nothing like it was just a couple years ago.

This is the message I got from the OP's narrative. OP, you need to chalk a lot of the problem up to Covid. Still, that doesn't excuse or relate to the cool reception you got on arrival at your new employer. And the choice to live downtown at the worst possible time didn't help. If you'd gotten a place in Edmonds, say, your experience and perspective would have been very different.

I'm wondering: how did your kids do, living in DT, which definitely had its rough side, perhaps being at the peak of its rough side, at the time?