To Seattle from Orange County, CA? (Mesa: home, schools, live)

[MichaelinWA]

Hardly. The current "urban snowpack" is very unusual. Fortunately.

To the OP: We don't have kids and enjoyed a lot of things about Orange County (particularly its climate, which, especially on the coast, is more pleasant in the summer than places like Sacramento or Fresno - we don't like oppressive heat). But we love the Pacific Northwest, all things considered. Like another post indicated, you really shouldn't overestimate the "culture" of Seattle, if that's what you're looking for. But it's obviously more of a sophisticated "big city" than say, Santa Ana.

Like others have pointed out, the Seattle area isn't cheap, but you won't probably won't think so, coming from CA.

Originally Posted by Woof

I'd recommend taking a week vacation in Seattle, this is actually a good time to do it so that you can see the city as it is most of the year.

[wsugrad03]

You might be crazy wanting to move here.

• Food is more expensive.
• Housing is cheaper compared to Irvine or Laguna Hills/Beach, otherwise it's very hostile.
• No "sunshine tax" so that's a plus.
• Weather stinks. Come and visit right now and multiply it by 9 months.

If you want a bigger home than the one you have in OC, you can probably get that. If you want better schools than in the OC, you'll find no difference. The affluent school districts up here are great, but there's the same exotic drug problems that plague the privledged, yet bored kids in the OC. You still have spoiled kids driving BMW's to school.

The people here are intelligent, more liberal, friendly, but somewhat reserved. People are definitely more down to earth up here and aren't wrapped up in materialstic jargon. You don't see a lot of people driving exotic sport cars in Seattle. More toyota's...less BMW's.

For the most part, you'll probably like Seattle. It's a great city with unsurpassed beauty. However, the weather will defeat you...espicially coming from the OC. I'd give you 3 years before you'll be begging to move back.

We considered moving to CA many times, but we're staying here just for career reasons. Maybe in 5 years we'll reconsider it.

[Botev1912]

Originally Posted by wsugrad03

[*]Weather stinks. Come and visit right now and multiply it by 9 months.

The last 15 days the weather has been unusually cold and snowy. So right now you can't find out what the normal weather is

[wsugrad03]

Originally Posted by Botev1912

The last 15 days the weather has been unusually cold and snowy. So right now you can't find out what the normal weather is

True, but I wasn't referring to the freak snow storm. In a few days the snow will be gone and it'll be back to the regular gray/wet weather that we all hibernate from until July.

[Woof]

Yes, wsugrad, it's not that the weather is really bad usually, it's just that it's overcast and drizzly most days. You can go several months without seeing much of the sun, and it's only really sunny for about 3 months (July, August, and September).

[justhere]

Originally Posted by Woof

Yes, wsugrad, it's not that the weather is really bad usually, it's just that it's overcast and drizzly most days. You can go several months without seeing much of the sun, and it's only really sunny for about 3 months (July, August, and September).

[gscinparis]

Very interesting! I thought for sure everyone on the Seattle post would be telling me to pack my bags and move up there. But it sounds like the weather is a big drawback. Are the Seattle public schools really as bad as some of these posts say? It seems like such an educated city should have pretty good schools. I'm having a hard time believing the cost of Seattle is much more than California - my husband and I make a pretty good salaries and we are barely covering our costs. In most of other parts of the world, we'd be living pretty well. We are also looking for more like minded people - most people's idea of good art is 'Wyland' (yikes!) and most people's life philosophy here is 'surfing, partying... not necessarily in that order'. Maybe we just have a 'grass is greener' mentality but it seems awfully superficial here. I guess we need to research some more.

[Jennibc]

One thing I wish we'd done before we made the decision to move back here is take a week long fact finding trip to check grocery prices, gas prices, cost of dining out and gone on a "house hunting" excursion with a realtor. When I was looking at houses on line, I thought there would be plenty in our price range because at that time all I had was realtor.com to go on and they didn't give addresses out (eight years ago). I saw lots of homes in "Seattle" for 230 to 280 K (remember this WAS 8 years ago) that looked just fine. When we got here, we were shocked to see the neighborhoods they were in AND the SMELL of some of these places! You cannot see water damage in internet photos.

There are lots of great things about Seattle, but make sure you know what you are getting into and get as much ACCURATE information as you can before you make the move. You may or may not decide the trade-offs are worth it. Good luck.

[allforcats]

Originally Posted by gscinparis

it sounds like the weather is a big drawback.

Only if one believes, and practices in daily life, the notion that one's emotions are caused by forces outside oneself...
If rain and clouds, clean air, green growing things all year 'round, lush forests, full bodies of water, and ski lifts an hour away all winter interest you, then try a week's vacation here and see what there is to see.

Are the Seattle public schools really as bad as some of these posts say?
It seems that such an educated city should have pretty good schools.

No, they're not. (Remember that most people assume that everyone is just like them, and their negative or positive expressions will be shared by all or most others, which isn't reality. Please remember to take with a bucket of salt any emotional statements, including mine, you read from anonymous internet contributors.)

There are several excellent individual schools within the school district of the City of Seattle. The Seattle School District as a whole, however, is not the best in the state, largely because the people with more money who had supported that tax base wanted more space, land, trees, house, etc. moved to the surrounding cities, took their tax money with them, and supported those school districts. Several other school districts in western Washington are considered the best. From north to south:
Bellingham
Shoreline
Bainbridge Island
Vashon Island
Lake Washington (Kirkland, Redmond, Sammamish)
Bellevue
Mercer Island
Issaquah (including part of Renton)
Tahoma (Maple Valley)
Olympia
Camas.

I'm having a hard time believing the cost of Seattle is much more than California

You're smart -- it's not. But as with people everywhere, the more materialistic a person is, the less contented they are anywhere.

We are also looking for more like-minded people - most people's life philosophy here is 'surfing, partying...

I'm not certain what exactly you're aiming for in that thought, but we could start with the Seattle Opera, the Ring Cycle productions of which have been praised internationally as "better than" Beyreuth... Or the hundreds (including the islands, thousands?) of art galleries, most of them delicious... Or the scenery which, like Alaska's, makes everyone a great photographer... Or the uncountable philosophical groups, study groups, animal refuges, stream-and-river cleansing groups... Or the foodie culture which has produced restaurant foods, from fancy to dinky, which are experiences of ambrosia... And the huge and growing world of organic foods...

Maybe we just have a 'grass is greener' mentality but it seems awfully superficial here. I guess we need to research some more.

My feeling is that if I feel the grass must be greener someplace where I'm not, then I'm not happy with the greenness where I am, so I should pack my toothbrush and go see what's over the mountain. How will I learn who I am if I don't find out? And research rocks!! Have fun!

[VeronikaW]

I have to disagree with AFC. I'm not sure how recently if ever she lived in CA, but we've only lived here a year, and my whole family is still in Orange County, so I have to think I have better insight into that situation than she does.

We are not materialistic at all, but we find the cost of living in Seattle vs. Orange County to be almost on par. Groceries, gas, and even house prices on the eastside where we live, are more than in Orange County (even when we moved her last year before the market started getting really bad, the condos were on par with prices in OC, which have dropped significantly since we moved here, and not as much up here).

My whole family was just here from Laguna Beach, and they were all commenting on how much gas and groceries are here.

V. =)