Interested in moving to Washington, looking for the right place. (Seattle: maintenance, apartments)

[ShadowXOR]

Sounds like a very strange occurrence...I had never heard of that.

[scirocco22]

Originally Posted by ShadowXOR

Sounds like a very strange occurrence...I had never heard of that.

The inversion layer?

Here's some descriptons and definitions:

...in meteorology, the atmospheric layer in which the usual temperature gradient—warm air below cold air—is reversed, preventing the mixing of warm and cold air as the warmer air rises. This traps dangerous concentrations of pollutants in the cool air below, sometimes causing dense smog over urban areas. (from Encyclopedia Britannica)

______________________________

Air usually cools with increasing height in the atmosphere. However, sometimes an upper air layer is warmer than a lower one. This is called an inversion. Inversions often form on clear, calm nights when the ground cools rapidly.

Inversions are important because the upper warmer layer acts like a lid. The inversion layer traps air contaminants underneath.

Inversion layers are usually dispersed by wind or by warm air rising as the ground heats up. But if the inversion layer stays in place for a long time pollutants can build up to high levels.

Inversion layers trap air contaminants which can cause health and nuisance effects. (From NZ govt. weather)

--'rocco

[Winnie1123]

There is always Puyallup, or Lakewood, small suburbs of Tacoma and only 30 miles to Seattle.

[ShadowXOR]

So is the air quality overall much better? How long do the inversion layers last, and how dangerous/bad for you are they? How often do they occur? This won't really affect my move, I'm just curious.

[ShadowXOR]

For some reason I couldn't edit my post, I guess there is some kind of timer on that function? Or I forgot how to use it.

Anyway, I've narrowed it down to Redmond, Bellevue, Kirkland, or Bothell. Any suggestions between these? I would be willing to move to a smaller city with a bit longer commute if it was worth the money, but is there anything near the above cities that is very safe, and relatively inexpensive? Honestly I keep hearing how the above areas are really expensive, but compared to my town I would be saving tons of money. But if I could save even more and live in a nice/safe area near these cities I would be fine with that. Renton had too high of a crime rate and wasn't that much cheaper. If you have any other suggestions (if a town such as I'm discussing even exists) I would love to hear it. If not, one of the four above cities is my choice. I guess the only real way to narrow it down would be to visit them all. Is there are large difference between Redmond, Bellevue, Bothell and Kirkland? Or are they very similar? I already know more about Washington than I do my own area in California... I'm being very picky! This forum rocks.

EDIT: Yup, the edit function is definitely on a timer. Anyway, by looking at a map I'm not seeing any nice places close enough to the four cities I listed above so it looks like those are my choices! Does anyone know any major differences between my final four that may sway my decision?

[scirocco22]

Have you decided "where" you're going to be working? If you are commuting to downtown Seattle, yes, you probably should be staying in one of the closer suburbs. But are you putting the cart before the horse? The reason I ask is that you mentioned "commute." Just where are you going to be commuting to?

Anyway, pertaining to the final four, I think that Bothell (as we discussed before) is the best compromise. Why? Because the other three are DEFINITELY more expensive. With that said, you can find pockets in each of those places where it is more affordable.

I can't remember, did you say you were going to be renting an apartment? ...or a house? If an apartment, there are in fact places in each of those cities where you can find reasonable apartment rentals. It's just that in Bellevue/Redmond/Kirkland, the money you spend for your monthly rent will probably not buy you as much as in the more "working class" suburbs.

I can suggest places you can look in each of those cities where the rents are probably more reasonable. For instance, rents are very high if you are trying to find a place close to downtown Bellevue but more resonable if you start moving out near the Crossroads area. Crossroads used to have crime problems but nowhere near that of areas like Renton, Kent, Federal Way, etc. Same with the Kirkland area; rents are very high in downtown Kirkland but if you look in the Totem Lake/Kingsgate area, they start to become more reasonable. You can see where I'm going here, right? It sounds as if you want to be in the more "well-to-do" suburbs (for lack of better terminology at the moment) so look for the more resonable "areas" in those cities.

Okay, more later.

--'rocco

[ShadowXOR]

Well after checking out Monster.com it looked like there were plenty of jobs for me in Seattle. I could likely find something in any of the other cities as well at places like Microsoft or Nintendo. I do mostly data entry and call center work, which is in demand everywhere. I'm trying to go to college but while working full-time I find it very difficult. I'm in a decent sized town but nowhere near a big city and there are tons of jobs for me here so I don't think Seattle is going to have any shortages (especially after checking out Monster.com). I would prefer living in a neighborhood, not on a main road. We are likely getting an apartment of some sort (that would accept two small dogs). We may go for a small home since one of them tends to bark (not often though, compared to most dogs he's perfect). So we would likely spring for an apartment, but a smaller house would be a possibility. From examing Rent.com it seemed prices were relatively similar in all of the cities, but if Bothell is a nice city and I could save money or live in a nicer place for a similar amount of money, I would likely go to Bothell rather than the others.

[scirocco22]

I keep forgetting that you're coming from an area where the cost of living is probably a bit higher so rents to you will probably seem "reasonable" in Bellevue/Redmond/Kirkland.

I still think you've got to come take a look at these places you're talking about. I don't really think you can go on what folks like me are telling you on a message board. For instance, who knows, you may like Issaquah when you see it, for example ...even though rents may be higher there, you may say "wow! I just gotta live in Issaquah, it's beautiful here!" (it actually is beautiful in Issaquah to those from other places). Or perhaps you might not think Renton or Kent is that bad once you explore them. So, I still think it's worth the "investment" or spending money to take a trip and explore the region a bit. You'll then have a better perspective and then you can once again ask questions here with a better idea of what we're all talking about ...otherwise, it's difficult to picture these places when being described.

huh, did that make any sense?

Okay, more later.

--'rocco

[ShadowXOR]

Yeah I definitely plan on visiting, and I think I've soaked up just about as much information as possible without visiting. Even if we move somewhere we don't love, we're just renting for a while so we can always move to another city. And yes, Seattle seems VERY reasonable to me. The "expensive" areas have nice looking two bedroom, one bathroom apartments going for $800 - $1,000 a month. In my area you can get a not terribly nice apartment (but not horrible) for about $1,300 a month in not very thrilling parts of town. This place is HORRIBLE for cost. I live in a four bedroom, two bathroom with a lot of roommates and the rent is $2,000 a month for the place (for the entire place, not my portion of the rent), and we are near the "crappy" part of town and the house itself is pretty crappy.

[Kathleenh54]

So, will my little girl (19) be safe living in the Lynwood section of Everett? Also, what's the word on Sequim? It's referred to as 'Sunny Sequim' which caught my eye.