Why do people keep sayinng Seattle is as expensive as SoCal? (Vancouver: for rent, insurance)

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by lrmsd

Perhaps coming from venture or OC/LA,seattle is less. but i'd bet San Diego is on par,hence the 'as expensive'. SD is bigger than venture,in terms of options,though.

Absolutely not! I live in SD and when I was in Seattle, I looked at rents and the overall cost of things. Even in the downtown area of Seattle, things were still cheaper than they are in SD. I actually saw decent apartments near downtown Seattle for around 1000 dollars. No way you'd find anything decent near downtown SD for less the 1500 and if it's a loft no less than 2000. All the food in the tourist areas was a bit cheaper than comparable areas in San Diego. The public transit in Seattle is cheaper. Even the 7-11's were a bit cheaper overall.

Seattle is expensive to most US standards but to California standards it's actually really nice!

[packet]

Originally Posted by TaJasMi

Seattle is almost the same price as California...TRUST ME...here is an example...I moved here two years ago..My apartment(1 bed/1 bath) was 950$ now...it is 1600$ parking is an extra 200$...oh and trying to find a NICE,at least 3 bedroom house here is out of the question unless you have a million or two to spare..I thought it would be better too but eh whatever.(I am actually talking about Seattle and NOT the suburbs..)

Seattle is nowhere near as expensive as the populated areas of California. Where exactly are you renting that a 1 bedroom goes for $1600/mo? I have a 1200sq ft 2bdr/2ba on lake union for that.

[iskray917]

Seattle is expensive compared to most of the country, but not even close to as expensive as San Diego.

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by iskray917

Seattle is expensive compared to most of the country, but not even close to as expensive as San Diego.

Exactly! I made direct comparisons where I was in Seattle and continued with much the same habits. Took public transportation, ate out went to non tourist areas just like I would here. Read and watched ads on TV and even those showed cheaper prices. If I could make in Seattle what I make here, I'd be living pretty well.

[packet]

Originally Posted by iskray917

Seattle is expensive compared to most of the country, but not even close to as expensive as San Diego.

Outside of the entire northeast, california, parts of florida, chicago, and the entire dc metro area, yeah I guess.

The lack of income tax offsets a good amount of the price difference though.

[burlshoe114]

Its a bit like comparing an apple to an orange....
It is two completely different lifestyles, two completely different cities.
And YES!! Any part of California is more expensive than Washington!!
But it is still a really cool state!!!

[VeronikaW]

I moved here from San Diego. Our cost of living is almost exactly the same. The only difference is we have a slightly bigger place that we rent than we could get in CA. Our car insurance went up when we moved here, our grocery bills went up when we moved here, our water bill went up when we moved here. Electric/gas stayed the same, gas for the car stayed about the same. The housing market in CA is more hard hit than in WA so right now, in certain areas, homes are cheaper there than in the Seattle area.

We moved here thinking we'd be so much better off financially, and really, it's just not true. Not for my family of 4 at least.

V. =)

[gotigers123]

Originally Posted by guylocke

To be honest, I think Seattle has no business being compared with places like NYC or Chicago or LA etc.

The fact that some people believe Seattle "isn't that bad" because "just look at NYC" is a bit crazy. NYC is the "end-all" city of the United States. Seattle, as absolutely WONDERFUL and charming and booming as it is or might be...


it's not even in the same ball park as NYC or a lot of other cities people try to use to defend the cost of living in Seattle.

Chicago is actually quite inexpensive compared to other large cities. Chicago is certainly less expensive than Seattle. The only cities that are more expensive than Seattle in the states (most expensive to least):

New York
San Francisco
Boston
LA
San Diego
DC

[gotigers123]

Originally Posted by TaJasMi

Seattle is almost the same price as California...TRUST ME...here is an example...I moved here two years ago..My apartment(1 bed/1 bath) was 950$ now...it is 1600$ parking is an extra 200$...oh and trying to find a NICE,at least 3 bedroom house here is out of the question unless you have a million or two to spare..I thought it would be better too but eh whatever.(I am actually talking about Seattle and NOT the suburbs..)


PS-Seattle is a fine city..I think it is a bit overpriced though.... that is my opinion.

Seattle is not as expensive as SF or desirable parts of LA and SD.

You're overpaying for that apartment. You can get a nice 1BR in a good Seattle neighborhood for ~$1000.

[Ira500]

The median price for a home in Seattle is now slightly above the median price for a home in San Diego, but that doesn't really mean anything. The median is the number where there are an equal number of homes above and below that number. It doesn't really compare equivalent homes. My guess is that for a comparable home, San Diego is still more expensive, but that to have a lower median, they must have a fair amount of crummy, slummy, low cost housing not anywhere near the water. Help me out here, former San Diegans. Is that right? You never hear about the slums of San Diego, but they do exist, don't they?