San Francisco to Seattle (Pacific, Sequim: transplants, apartment, condos)

[25million]

Originally Posted by MichaelinWA

SEATTLE TO S.F.: LIGHTEN UP! / Bay Area rain is a drop in the bucket to the Northwest

Article from rainy 2006.

Hi MichaelinWA - the point of this post and my comments, as noted previously, is not to debate whether Seattle is rainier than SF - indeed it is. My comparison between the two was only to highlight the similiarites - I do not recall the exact year that the SF Bay area was dumped on with rain and don't care to spend my time researching.

Good article though!

[25million]

Originally Posted by Neal2009

About the weather, its not cloudy for 9 months straight. November, December, January, Febuary and March are primarily grey and gloomy. Thats 5 months, not 9. Beginning in April til about mid June you have a mix of partly cloudy, sunny and gloomy days. You do start seeing the sun more often in April, I dont care what anyone sais.

That's what others Seattle locals have said - that pattern of weather I am used to, expecting, and can deal with. Also heard that Summer in Seattle is a great time!

Originally Posted by Neal2009

To really love Seattle, you must learn to love the grey days. My first winter was rough, simply because I was not used to seeing the sun.

I suspect my first winter living in Seattle with little to no sun will be tough too. You can prepare mentally but you never know how your emotions/body will actually respond. My appreciation for the grey days is closely linked to work, since I'm more productive when the weather is not so great. This is the case with many. Nice days beckon, and I go "a-runnin."

[MichaelinWA]

Not trying to debate - just refreshing my own memory and sharing the piece with people in the thread. I remember seeing the funny article in the Chronicle back then, when I was kinda in both places, and it was easy to find now.

Believe me, I didn't spend any time researching.

Originally Posted by 25million

Hi MichaelinWA - the point of this post and my comments, as noted previously, is not to debate whether Seattle is rainier than SF - indeed it is. My comparison between the two was only to highlight the similiarites - I do not recall the exact year that the SF Bay area was dumped on with rain and don't care to spend my time researching.

Good article though!

[Botev1912]

Originally Posted by 25million

Also heard that Summer in Seattle is a great time!

Summers in Seattle are much much nicer than summers in SF.

[rmkiefer07]

Originally Posted by 25million

Neither myself nor anyone else thinking of moving to Seattle who reads this post can say that we weren't warned or did not have the facts on the weather - guess that means we will have to "swim with the flow" or drown

Ok one more question regarding the various living areas, it's a bit indulgent of me to ask but - I find that most neighborhoods have their own personalities. For example Pacific Heights in SF is quite established and wealthy; more of an executive choice; not necessarily for young 20 somethings on their way up.

What personalities would you give to the abovementioned places determined to be safe: upper/lower Queen Anne, north/south Lake Union, Green Lake, Mercer Island, Magnolia, Wallingford, Ballard, West Seattle, Fremont, Alki Beach?

It's been years since I lived in Queen Anne and I don't have a lot or experience with other neighborhoods you mentioned except West Seattle/Alki. To me, it's like a city within a city. There are working class areas, affluent areas, and a few blighted areas. The Junction is the downtown of West Seattle and quite vibrant. Alki is at the north end of West Seattle and acts as a nexus for recreation. Here's some links I think will lend some background. Alki Beach Seattle - Review Guide and West Seattle Blog…

[reD2dryout]

Hi 25mil. I lived my first 39 years in CA, 12 of those in SF. I have lived up here for the last 14 years. Seattle and SF are very similar when you are downtown but once you leave that general area, they are 2 different worlds. The main similarities are hills and views but imagine that all the valleys in SF have been filled with water to create lakes and the streets wind around the hills instead of going straight over them. The residential areas have a quieter, more woodsy feel than SF, more like the Berkeley Hills with winding roads and lots of beautiful craftsman bungalows of all shapes and sizes and shady tree lined streets. Actually, it is extremely idyllic. The side by side row houses like you have in SF are basically non-existent so you don't really have any place that feels like Pacific Heights, Russian Hill, the Marina, etc. There are very upscale neighborhoods all around the city, however, but they feel more like St. Francis Woods, Seacliff or the nice neighborhoods in the Berkeley and Oakland Hills. There is more space between houses and a whole lot more vegetation. Some really nice neighborhoods are Laurelhurst, Upper Queen Anne, North Capitol Hill, Mt. Baker and the neighborhoods along Lake Washington. There are beautiful old apartment bldgs. too but they are made of brick, not concrete. The architecture is generally darker and feels a little more like the midwest or east coast or even England than SF does. You don't have that mediterranean feel with the white and pastels and red tile roofs. There is also a lot more modern architecture mixed in as well. The different neighborhoods have a cozy feel, almost like little villages on their own. Fremont, Wallingford, Madrona, Leschi, Greenlake, Ballard, Alki, Ravenna, Queen Anne are all examples (there are more, the list goes on). Many commercial areas in these neighborhoods are made up of bungalows turned commercial and have a nice character, again lots of shady trees and gardens mixed in. More urban neighborhoods with tall apartments and condos are found downtown, Belltown, Lower Queen Anne, South Lake Union, Capitol Hill. Many neighborhoods have great views of mountains and water and city (if your lucky, you can get all three at once, but you'll pay for it too). Hope that gives you some idea. I spent years in Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning and observing these thing comes naturally. You have a good idea as to the weather. I find summers here a lot better than SF. I actually hated the summers there as I grew up down the peninsula and also worked up in Marin and was used to the warm. I'd leave work at 85 degrees and come home to 55 degrees with the wind and fog howling through the streets! Winter in SF is definitely less gloomy, dark, cold and damp. I do enjoy the fall and holiday time up here better. It just feels, well, more "holiday like" and it is fun and pretty when it does snow. Well, I could go on and on....

[25million]

reD2dryout - what a nice, story-like post! Thanks for writing; your descriptions are super specific and help to paint good pictures. More space between houses is good; vegetation, lakes - all good; as well as warmer Summers. Guess there are trade-offs everywhere and it's just a matter of which benefits suit a person better.

Just getting your name by the way. . .ready to dry out -
Thanks again for taking the time to write and publish your post.

[SeattleGirl26]

upper Queen Anne - lots of SPU students, other than that, lots of expensive craftsman style older homes. One of the most expensive neighborhoods in Seattle, and people seem to love it. Kind of a wealthy artistic vibe. Beautiful tree-lined streets. It's cute, but I think it's overrated (mostly because it's too expensive). You may disagree.
lower Queen Anne - Probably the most urban of all the neighborhoods listed here. Very convenient to the downtown core. I honestly don't go here a lot but it's pretty popular. More of a transient population than the other neighborhoods, more nightlife, more things to do, more city-loving urban professionals, less green space.
north/south Lake Union - don't really have much insight here. Has been pretty deserted for quite some time while major renovations were taking place. Has the potential to be a nice urban and convenient area...
Mercer Island - Wealthy suburbs. Honestly, I feel like I'm too poor to even get out of my car here. So I don't
Magnolia - pretty isolated, very nice and known for its wealthy neighborhood feel. Very quiet. Even if you don't live here you must frequent Discovery park.
Green Lake - A runner's mecca. Has an outdoorsy/active professional feel. Check out the Tangletown area that borders Wallingford. I used to live in that area and LOVED it. It's close enough to walk to greenlake and close enough to walk to the shops in Wallingford.
Wallingford - Fantastic neighborhood with great freeway access. Close to Greenlake and the UW. Downtown core (along 45th between Stone & I-5) has kind of a small-town feel and is incredibly walkable. It's a relatively quiet neighborhood with it's fair share of student and young professional renters thrown in for good measure.
Ballard - forever competing with Capitol Hill for the top vote-getter for hippest neighborhood in Seattle. Probably because it's easier to find cheaper rent in Ballard than many other neighborhoods, which in turn draws younger creative types. The neighborhood actually takes up a fair amount of space, with more residential/suburban neighborhoods to the north, industrial waterfront to the south, and the more popular Old Town Ballard along Market just north of the industrial areas. The area along Market has probably the best nightlife north of the downtown area.
Fremont - known for its quirk and traditionally a hippie/artist/liberal haven (self-proclaimed "center of the universe") but has become much more gentrified recently with the opening of offices for Google, Ghetty and other tech companies.
Fair disclosure, I live in the nebulous area between Ballard and Fremont and am partial to both neighborhoods.
West Seattle - All of West Seattle has more of a suburban feel but with much more character. It's kind of a city within a city. You have everything you need here, cute restaurants, shops, grocery stores, library and farmers market...but it's almost an island as essentially the only way to get anywhere else (except south through White Center/Burien) is the West Seattle bridge. I like this neighborhood a lot, but it's inconvient location keeps me from living here.
Alki Beach - Part of West Seattle. Has more of a beach town feel than anywhere else in Seattle. Traffic along the beach during the summer is terrible, but if you just roll your windows down and go with the flow it's quite pleasant with amazing views and happy people.

[brandyrun]

Would you be aware of a link for this same type of information on major Oregon cities as well? Thx

[ElektroDragon]

Originally Posted by rmkiefer07

The days in summer on the other hand are very long. For a lot of people, this makes up for winter.

So long that I have seen rays of a setting sun on the clouds as late as 10PM at night. Incredibly spooky coming from the east coast, let me tell you!