Interested in moving to Washington, looking for the right place. (Seattle: Home Depot, university)

[7.3 Liters]

Shadow,
I just moved up here from Ventura and know exactly what you're going through. Don't move unless you've got a job lined up already. The wages here are a lot lower than in Cali but then so is the cost of living. Did you consider East of Seattle? I'm in Leavenworth and the area is just beautiful, currently snowing but not that cold. The coastal side of Washington is just too cloudy and damp for me.
The Wenatchee area is a thriving and growing area with just around 40-50,000 people in it and plenty of room with cheap housing. For $1300 a month you could rent a 4 bedroom house with acreage - real elbow room! Seattle is only an hour an a half away if you desire it but stay away from the I-5, it's just like the 405 in L.A.
Good luck!!

[compltlyme]

Originally Posted by 7.3 Liters

Shadow,
I just moved up here from Ventura and know exactly what you're going through. Don't move unless you've got a job lined up already. The wages here are a lot lower than in Cali but then so is the cost of living. Did you consider East of Seattle? I'm in Leavenworth and the area is just beautiful, currently snowing but not that cold. The coastal side of Washington is just too cloudy and damp for me.
The Wenatchee area is a thriving and growing area with just around 40-50,000 people in it and plenty of room with cheap housing. For $1300 a month you could rent a 4 bedroom house with acreage - real elbow room! Seattle is only an hour an a half away if you desire it but stay away from the I-5, it's just like the 405 in L.A.
Good luck!!

Hey 7.3... I find the cost of living equal to So Ca but then I was from the Palm Springs area. Some utilities are cheaper up here and some more. Food here is much more expensive... at least here on our hill.

How wonderful Leavenworth is but if you want any kind of night/social life that isn't the place to be. I personally would love it but all my guys wouldn't. They want city living so we settled on the suburbs.

How is Seattle only half an hour from Wenatchee??? Seattle is almost half an hour from here on the Plateau. By my map Wenatchee and Seattle are about 2.5 hours apart.

Oh and have you noticed that Washingtonians don't like us Transplants calling the freeways "THE?" For example we call it The 405... here they call it I-405... Just an observation. I have been told that they can tell we are from CA because of that and the fact that we call "pop", soda...

[7.3 Liters]

Comp,
Did you ever notice how slow people drive up here? I got my first speeding ticket since '88 and the officer told me "In Washington the speed limit signs are not just a guideline". I have never seen such a police presence before.
Still feel the need for speed!!!
The kids love it here, especially the low price of "soda".

[Kathleenh54]

In NY it's called 'soda' also. 'Pop' may be a Canadian thing.

We just returned from Everett from Ashland, Oregon. We moved from Thousand Oaks, CA to Ashland in July, leaving our daughter to finish out her first semester at Moorpark College. She will be attending Everett Community and working for Verizon. We found her a reasonable apartment in Lynnwood (sp?). For $685 she'll have a one BR with a fireplace overlooking a golf course right around the corner from the Boeing facility and museum.

Now that we've committed to the area, I want to know as much as possible about it. I've read there's a high rate of car theft but the murder rate is less than Seattle's. The rate of rape is twice the national average which is worrying.

Will she be safe?

We spent some time a few summers ago on Salt Spring Island in BC. Are the San Juan Islands as nice? We might consider buying something there in the future, but... where?

Any replies/help/response are appreciated!

[compltlyme]

Originally Posted by 7.3 Liters

Comp,
Did you ever notice how slow people drive up here? I got my first speeding ticket since '88 and the officer told me "In Washington the speed limit signs are not just a guideline". I have never seen such a police presence before.
Still feel the need for speed!!!
The kids love it here, especially the low price of "soda".

Yes I did notice how people drive up here and although I feel the need for speed.. I have to LOVE the courteous drivers. Use Blinker... it works!!! Unlike in CA...see blinker...speed up because you CAN'T let anyone in front of you!!! You might be 3 seconds late! They do drive slower but I feel so much safer on the freeways. I got a call from a friend in San Diego a couple of days ago to complain that he was driving down his neighborhood (Sunset Cliffs) and there was a WA driver in front of him going 5 MPH... I had to laugh and explain to him that getting upset won't help and there was nothing I could do from up here. And to realize that not all of us are blessed to live in such an area that we take it for granted and to let the poor guy from WA enjoy the view!!!! Sorry if you disagree...but I like the way the people drive up here. Unless I am in a real hurry!

Have you been back to Ca lately.. I was there not too long ago and driving the OC freeways.... The traffic is worse than horrible.. and I have to say being cut off so many times in a 5 min duration was making me a bit nervous. But then after a day or two I was back to my old CA Driver self... then had to pull in the reins when I got back here. Yeah... lots of cops on the roads and they drive so many different vehicles... can't spot them like you can in CA.. Guess we will just have to learn to drive slower.

And "soda" here is the same price as where I came from...but then we don't drink it much so no big deal.

[7.3 Liters]

Comp, Yeah, I must admit, that I did get acclimated to Washington driving after that ticket....can't really be a speed demon in a 7000 lb. truck, anyway, it's the wife whose having the real problems.
Funny that you mention it, but we're headed back to Cali for Christmas, my son just got out of boot camp and is getting married on the 24th. Well, there goes our first white Christmas. Luckily, we'll be in Ventura and not have to go down to the OC, although traffic is getting bad there too.

[ShadowXOR]

A lot of great commentary in this thread! I'm loving the forums!

Have any of you read this thread:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/seatt...ng-moving.html

The crime rate definitely has me concerned! They say it's rising all the time too, but that may or may not be true. This really appears like a perfect place to live as long as I can make enough money and the crime isn't out of control. Are the people in that thread making the problem seem bigger than it is? I'm not sure if some of you from here posted in that thread, I hadn't checked. I don't want to move to a crime ridden area, Ventura is pretty peaceful. We have gangs but I've never really seen them do much.

[compltlyme]

What I am seeing is much So of Seattle has trouble with crime but then to be honest there is crime where ever you go. We live in a good area with great neighbors and we have had mail stolen and cars gone through in this area. They caught the mail theives. Not from this area... so where ever you go you may have to deal. However... it was the same in CA. I find less crime up here compared to what we heard about on the news down there. I still get the online paper and watch what is going on and compared to there...this is nothing.

I find reading the community papers helped me know what areas had what kinds of crime..

[scirocco22]

yeah, I agee. c'mon, no matter what metropolitan area you're in, there's going to be crime. You just want to choose the one with less crime. *laughs*

Bottom line is that anywhere you go, there'll be some amount of crime.

Perhaps we (those of us who don't "like" crime) can form our own little utopia somewhere?

--'rocco

[ShadowXOR]

Yeah I'm sure there will be some amount of crime, I just wanted to make sure it wasn't rampant or over the top. In my town I don't think I've ever witnessed any crime, but I know plenty has been committed. Wow...I'm pretty sure this is where I want to live. Now I just need to decide between Redmond, Bothell, Bellevue, and Kirkland. Any other low crime areas you folks can think of? You guys have been an amazing help. Now I just need to pay off a few bills and start saving! Too bad I don't drink coffee. I can't wait to see the Seattle Underground though, I'm a total sucker for places like that.

EDIT: Also I'm a very BLUE (politically) person. Will the Seattle area hate me, love me, or remain indifferent to my political preferences?