job opportunity in tacoma, unsure of whether to live in seattle or tacoma? (Puyallup: living)

[kiran]

Hi all,

Have never been to Washington state, but have always wanted to. Just got a job opportunity to work for 3 months in either Puyallup or Tacoma starting in October, but was wondering if it made sense (transportation wise) to live in Seattle and commute? How long, in your experience, would the am/pm commute from Seattle to Tacoma or Puyallup take? I think it is going against traffic - also saw that Sounder rail doesn't offer Tacoma to Seattle in am or other direction in pm. Also, how bad would it be to have a car in Seattle vs. relying on public transportation (live in Chicago now, which is v. public transportation friendly)? And how bad is the weather from Oct to Jan?

Thanks!,
Kiran

[Tony1790]

Originally Posted by kiran

Hi all,

Have never been to Washington state, but have always wanted to. Just got a job opportunity to work for 3 months in either Puyallup or Tacoma starting in October, but was wondering if it made sense (transportation wise) to live in Seattle and commute? How long, in your experience, would the am/pm commute from Seattle to Tacoma or Puyallup take? I think it is going against traffic - also saw that Sounder rail doesn't offer Tacoma to Seattle in am or other direction in pm. Also, how bad would it be to have a car in Seattle vs. relying on public transportation (live in Chicago now, which is v. public transportation friendly)? And how bad is the weather from Oct to Jan?

Thanks!,
Kiran

I'd recommend that if you are not going to have a car here, live as close as you can to you temporary job and use mass transit or a bicycle, etc. To answer your commute question, you could not pay me to commute anywhere in the Puget sound area anymore, I'd recommend living near your job and visiting downtown Seattle if the need arises, but that's just me.

Good luck on your job, the area is beautiful, more so except for all of the people that moved there :-)

Tony

[pw72]

I grew up in Seattle, and spent some time in Chicagoland. DO NOT expect a public transportation system similar to Chicagoland. It simply doesn't exist, although they are trying. The auto still rules in this area. (and really, there is no "going against traffic" in Seattle/Tacoma anymore. Too many drivers going too many different directions. Driving from Seattle to Tacoma can be anywhere from 30 minutes to 1 hour and 30 minutes, anytime of the day.

Tacoma is more affordable than Seattle. Puyallup isn't too bad, price-wise.

Weather during the winter is wet, cloudy, but rarely snows.

[scootertrash61]

well, this is a little different situation..... if you're into central districts of larger cities, seattle has a great, thriving downtown with alot going on. BUT IT'S EXPENSIVE. traffic would not be quite as bad because you would be going against the flow, but i agree with pw72, it still would be a motha of a commute. oldtown/downtown puyallup is pretty cool imo. it has a nice feel to it. steer clear of the south hill [just south of puyallup] if possible though. it's suburban hell and traffic in and out of there is terrible gl kiran