He's my bottom line problem. . . (Seattle: best neighborhoods, houses, neighborhoods)

[Alicia64]

I keep getting advice to visit Seattle several times before moving. My problem is that if my husband gets the job, they'll likely have him in Seattle by mid-September. Maybe late Sept.

I say I'd like to go along and visit at the in person job interview -- and my husband keeps saying, "what's the point? The weather will be beautiful and you won't know what a long winter is like there anyway. Waste of money."

So the dude wants me to move there sight unseen. (I visited briefly in Sept. about twelve years ago.)

What do you think? He has a great point, but the idea of just moving to a region I've been in all of four days when it was unbelievably sunny and California-like totally freaks me out.

Oh, and we'd be moving from Sacramento, Ca. I was born and raised in No. Cal.

Thanks,

Alicia

[jwb123]

Well, when we moved from Seattle to Austin, my husband had only visited once, for like, 4 days or so. I had been (because I have family here) many times through out a 16 year period.

It took a lot of discussion, but it was obvious, for us, the positives on our list were so far outweighing the negatives - even though it WAS a huge leap of faith for him to just trust me that it was the right thing to do for our family & life. It worked for us.

However, he didn't have any problems with heat, sun and such a drastic change in weather. In fact, he wanted that, after living in Seattle, SO MUCH.... so that may be part of why it worked.

It's true, you won't know how a winter will affect you till you live it - and it may actually be fine for even the first few years. I loved it when I first moved to Seattle. Everything seems great when you visit a place, even if it's gray and drizzley - it will seem novel, romantic, cozy... I don't know that a visit will really give you any more clarity.

[CityGirl72]

I'm worried about you losing equity on your Fair Oaks home - (Hey want me to buy it? We can trade houses)

It really needs to be a kick a$$ deal to move. Really. You are setting yourself up in a place I'm pretty sure is that is going to be rough for you. But great for him? Like I said it has to be kick a$$. We are moving back after 4 years...nothing in this economy makes me want to stay, and yes it's all about the weather.

So he is right - you will like it when you are here - this is April/May Sacramento weather in Seattle's August. It's everyone's favorite time of year. But it's not anything like Sept through June - nothing like it. So yes, as he says it is a bit useless. Unless - you are coming up and looking at areas to see which you guys like.

[Alicia64]

Hi City Girl ~ You have me totally freaked out! And, believe me, you wouldn't want my house. We're in one of the best neighborhoods of Fair Oaks in a shack of a house. I'm not sure what the developer was thinking.

But we always remind ourselves that if the developer wasn't a dufus we couldn't have afforded to move here in the first place.

If there's anything I can do at all to help, please just let me know. Feel free to email me and we can talk specifics: wirvinemft at calweb.com.

I just keep hoping that if worse comes to worse I won't have your reaction to the weather!!!

[cobolt]

It really is all about the weather. First few years are nice, novel, interesting. Then reality sets in. It's too bad you can't visit for a week or so during winter. Knowing what I do now, I personally wouldn't make the move. It was great for my career but quality of life means more than $$$.

[mrman78]

I agree quality of life DOES mean more than $$$, which is why I'm trying to get out of Houston and move to Seattle. Houston is super cheap and you get a lot more for your money. BUT you have to sacrifice a whole lot of things for that $$$ savings.

Quit freaking this poor woman out purely based on the weather!

I have decided to move to Seattle for many reasons, and yes I have visited when it was gloomy and when it was sunny. To me, the ONLY negative in Seattle IS the weather compared to where I am now. So to me, that seems like a decent sacrifice for all the amazing things you do get. Don't even get me started on the negatives of Houston... Personally, I am a temperature guy. I can still get out and about in cloudy weather, even drizzly weather, but April to September in Houston? THAT is a whole other story. That DOES force you to stay indoors due to possible heat exhaustion. I'm not saying that the weather won't bug me eventually at times up there, but it's all in how you choose to handle those feelings. I'd rather go out hiking in cloudy weather, than not do it at all...

Basically, everyone has their preferences and how they handle them, but to say that the weather there is EVERYTHING in your choice to move there is your personal opinion and how you choose to let the weather affect you. I would never put my life on hold for weather, but temperature is a whole other issue

[Pittgal]

I moved here sight unseen. Hubby had one interview here, here was here for 24 hours so he saw nothing. We had no children when we did the move so we knew that we could stay anywhere until we got settled. We were put in temp housing and then found somewhere to live.

Personally, I hate the weather except for the few sunny weeks we get in summer, but knowing we were only here for 4 years I can handle anything without liking it. I wouldn't live here forever...even though it is the most beautiful place on earth when the sky is blue!

Also, ask a thousand questions before you get here. I used this board alot before we got here and it helped so much! Good luck!

[jwb123]

Quit freaking this poor woman out purely based on the weather!

In several of her posts previously, she has mentioned really being affected by the weather in No. Cal and is concerned about SAD. THAT'S why we are focused on the weather for our responses to her.

[70Ford]

How You Know You're A Mom In Seattle

Speaking of weather.....heh heh heh..... I wonder whether she'd like to read this link.....

[jenlion]

My husband's offer came in late November 2007. I had never been here either. We flew up for a long weekend with our then 7-month-old in early December. I wanted so see firsthand what this gloomy, rainy, awful Seattle winter was like.

Guess what? on Saturday, it was BEAUTIFUL. Clear blue skies. Clean crisp air. We drove over to the Olympic Pensisula and couldn't believe how amazing it was.

On Sunday, it snowed. Big fat wet flakes stuck to the trees and a little to the grass. Like a perfect Christmas.

Sold!

We joked about Microsoft having the power to do the bait-and-switch even on the weather, but we moved up end of January, and I had no issues with the weather, coming from sunny Dallas. The only part I didn't like was the first two weeks of June, because they were more flat-gray consistently cloudy until sometimes in the evening when it would clear up. Then mid-June somebody flipped the switch and it was summer. Amazing. :-D