Planning a move from Spokane to Seattle or Oympia area (Tacoma: wages, living in)

[raison_d'etre]

My wife and I are tired of living in Spokane, The job opportunities are terrible unless you want to work in fast food, and city transportation needs work.

We are planning on moving to Seattle, Fremont, Federal Way, Tacoma, or Olympia. We aren't too familiar with those cities and would like to know the areas to look for work and a place to live? Any advice other than don't do it, would be nice and welcome.

[spotown11]

What industry do you work in? What kind of area would you like? In general, the further away from Seattle you get, the cheaper it gets, but the fewer the economic opportunities (this is VERY general). Fremont is funky and expensive. Federal Way would be more like Spokane Valley as far as built environment with slightly better public transport. Tacoma would probably be the cheapest, but more blue collar for job opportunities.

Message me if you have any specific questions, as I am a Spokane native living in the Puget sound area.

[NWbyNW]

Drive out here and spend some time in the area. See what you enjoy. I would honestly say look north of Seattle in and around Snohomish County and elsewhere. The areas you listed are not exactly the best in most circumstances.

Seattle - It is a very big city and lots of different hoods. Fremont is pretty eclectic and it certainly does not suit everyone. Very little parking and lots of hippies... unless you like that. It is a fairly urban area and has lots of restaurants to try out as well.

Federal Way is nothing but sprawl. A big wide avenue of parking lots and questionable people around bus stops. There are many plans in the works to try and improve the city core, which currently is big box stores and an underperforming shopping mall. Jobs here will vary from service sector, to a few high paying jobs with maybe Weyerhauser.

Tacoma is a very gritty working class city. The waterfront is mostly industrial and the jobs in this area are mostly blue collar and service sector. Not sure you want to move to this area... but don't get me wrong, there are some nice areas.

Olympia is alright, but check out Tumwater or Lacey. They are more suburban, and less filled with hipster folks and bums in downtown Olympia. But overall, it is a pretty decent area. Jobs vary from service, government, and some other higher paying jobs.

As mentioned above, if you want a "stable" good paying job, check out Snohomish County. You got Boeing as a big employer there, and people can live very comfortably with their wages and benefits. North of Seattle is less urban, more trees, more mountain views and water, but still close to all the big shopping centers like Lynnwood, Everett, and Tulalip. The eastside of Seattle is very nice too, but a lot more spendy. Lots of high end jobs.