Interested in Washington (Seattle, Tacoma, Vancouver: appointed, real estate, apartment)

[queenbee78]

My hubby and I have been thinking of moving to the West Coast in the next few years and my heart is really set on Washington. Some of the cities we have been thinking about are Seattle, Tacoma or Vancouver. We have two kids and a cat. I know I've seen some East Coasters on here move to Washington. What advice can you give us? Are there pages I can join on Facebook to interact with other people from Washington? Thanks all!

[CrazyDonkey]

Why is your heart really set on Washington? Have you visited? Do you have relatives, friends, or acquaintances who live in Washington? What are you going to do for work/career? How much are you prepared to spend on housing? How much of a commute are you willing to accept?

[sll3454]

I went to facebook and entered terms like "Tacoma friends" and "Seattle moms" in the search box. You will find quite a few facebook pages this way. Since I don't know what interests you, and I don't know which pages are well-used, I can't recommend any specific ones.

Look for meetups in those areas, too: meetup.com

[queenbee78]

Originally Posted by CrazyDonkey

Why is your heart really set on Washington? Have you visited? Do you have relatives, friends, or acquaintances who live in Washington? What are you going to do for work/career? How much are you prepared to spend on housing? How much of a commute are you willing to accept?

Hi,
I have friends that live in Washington. I also have family that live out on the West Coast. I have not visited Washington though. My husband and I are looking for a change and we like what Washington has to offer. I also thought about Oregon as well. I work in the medical field right now. I think we would spend up to $1500 on a 2 bdrm. Since I am from Massachusetts, I can deal with an hr or so commute. What's public transportation like out there?

[Hemlock140]

You really must visit. As much as we love it here, I would never recommend moving without experiencing a place first. In King County, which includes Seattle, the average 1 BR apartment is about $1,500 and going up every day.
For 2 bedrooms on that amount, it would be very hard to find without more than an hour commute. Public transportation within the big cities like Seattle is good, from suburbs/smaller towns, and between big cities it's pretty limited to commute times.

[CrazyDonkey]

Originally Posted by queenbee78

Hi,
I have friends that live in Washington. I also have family that live out on the West Coast. I have not visited Washington though. My husband and I are looking for a change and we like what Washington has to offer. I also thought about Oregon as well. I work in the medical field right now. I think we would spend up to $1500 on a 2 bdrm. Since I am from Massachusetts, I can deal with an hr or so commute. What's public transportation like out there?

2 bdrm's for $1,500 are in very short supply in the Seattle/Bellevue area. Five to eight years ago, they would have been in abundance. Be prepared to accept compromises or for heavy competition. Or for that second bedroom to be a "baby bear" bedroom, den, or alcove.

Outside of the Seattle/Bellevue area, your chances of finding desirable housing within your budget are much better. For medical jobs within a reasonable commute of affordable housing, I'd focus on the Tacoma and Everett areas.

Transit is good to very good in Seattle and downtown Bellevue, but much less convenient or frequent further out. Transit is fair in Tacoma and Everett. Traffic is awful, which can slow or disrupt bus service, especially during peak/rush periods. Commuting to Seattle is barely doable from Lynnwood, Auburn, and Issaquah, but tougher further out. Note that most medical/hospital jobs are not in downtown Seattle, but in other neighborhoods (First Hill, aka "Pill Hill", for instance).

I would agree that the Portland/Vancouver area, which has a somewhat lower COL than Seattle/Bellevue, is also worth a look.

[queenbee78]

Originally Posted by CrazyDonkey

2 bdrm's for $1,500 are in very short supply in the Seattle/Bellevue area. Five to eight years ago, they would have been in abundance. Be prepared to accept compromises or for heavy competition. Or for that second bedroom to be a "baby bear" bedroom, den, or alcove.

Outside of the Seattle/Bellevue area, your chances of finding desirable housing within your budget are much better. For medical jobs within a reasonable commute of affordable housing, I'd focus on the Tacoma and Everett areas.

Transit is good to very good in Seattle and downtown Bellevue, but much less convenient or frequent further out. Transit is fair in Tacoma and Everett. Traffic is awful, which can slow or disrupt bus service, especially during peak/rush periods. Commuting to Seattle is barely doable from Lynnwood, Auburn, and Issaquah, but tougher further out. Note that most medical/hospital jobs are not in downtown Seattle, but in other neighborhoods (First Hill, aka "Pill Hill", for instance).

I would agree that the Portland/Vancouver area, which has a somewhat lower COL than Seattle/Bellevue, is also worth a look.

Thank you for this information. It's very helpful!

[Mark S.]

Originally Posted by queenbee78

My hubby and I have been thinking of moving to the West Coast in the next few years and my heart is really set on Washington. Some of the cities we have been thinking about are Seattle, Tacoma or Vancouver. We have two kids and a cat.

I would not move to Seattle or Tacoma unless I was rich enough to live in a very affluent neighborhood. Even "middle class" neighborhoods are crime-ridden. Tacoma is often called Tacompton for a reason.

Vancouver is okay, but it is basically a bedroom community for Portland, OR.

You really ought to visit before pulling up stakes and moving. We lived in the Seattle/Tacoma area for a little over 10 years and absolutely hated it. Outrageously priced real estate. We were making pretty decent money and moved 4 times but couldn't seem to make it out of the 'hood. Public transportation is basically non-existent outside of the downtown metro areas. There is no rail service; just buses. Traffic is some of the worst in the nation. I had an 18 miles commute, and on a good day I could make it in 45-50 minutes. Most days it was over an hour. More than a few times, it was well over 2 hours.

Crime is bad and getting worse. I had a cop tell me that they have basically given up trying to fight crime. The police exist to help you fill out your insurance forms and hand out parking tickets. But when it comes to things like car theft, burglaries, property crime, or domestic violence, they hesitate to even make an arrest because the judges just bounce people out again. Maybe the cop was just taking out his frustration in a rare moment of honesty, but the Crips across the street from us were openly selling drugs in broad daylight and the cops wouldn't do anything about it.

If you think Seattle is like living in an episode of Frasier, you're going to be disappointed. Seattle can be a great place to live if you are rich. If you're middle class or below, look elsewhere.

[queenbee78]

Originally Posted by Mark S.

I would not move to Seattle or Tacoma unless I was rich enough to live in a very affluent neighborhood. Even "middle class" neighborhoods are crime-ridden. Tacoma is often called Tacompton for a reason.

Vancouver is okay, but it is basically a bedroom community for Portland, OR.

You really ought to visit before pulling up stakes and moving. We lived in the Seattle/Tacoma area for a little over 10 years and absolutely hated it. Outrageously priced real estate. We were making pretty decent money and moved 4 times but couldn't seem to make it out of the 'hood. Public transportation is basically non-existent outside of the downtown metro areas. There is no rail service; just buses. Traffic is some of the worst in the nation. I had an 18 miles commute, and on a good day I could make it in 45-50 minutes. Most days it was over an hour. More than a few times, it was well over 2 hours.

Crime is bad and getting worse. I had a cop tell me that they have basically given up trying to fight crime. The police exist to help you fill out your insurance forms and hand out parking tickets. But when it comes to things like car theft, burglaries, property crime, or domestic violence, they hesitate to even make an arrest because the judges just bounce people out again. Maybe the cop was just taking out his frustration in a rare moment of honesty, but the Crips across the street from us were openly selling drugs in broad daylight and the cops wouldn't do anything about it.

If you think Seattle is like living in an episode of Frasier, you're going to be disappointed. Seattle can be a great place to live if you are rich. If you're middle class or below, look elsewhere.

Jeez, this bums me out alot.

[Mark S.]

Originally Posted by queenbee78

Jeez, this bums me out alot.

Sorry to hear that. But hey, better to find out some of this now until after you move there, like we did.

There are some nice places to live in Washington. I just don't think the Seattle/Tacoma area is one of them. You might like some of the areas out on the Peninsula.

Definitely visit before you move though. No matter where you decide.