Interested in moving to Washington, looking for the right place. (Seattle: real estate, rentals)

[ShadowXOR]

I was born in CA, and I'm 22 now. This place is way too expensive, and I don't care for the beach or California lifestyle/attitude/traffic. I narrowed the places I would consider moving to down until I was only left with a better part of California, Oregon, and Washington. Washington is currently my top choice.

I'm looking for a nice area that is in a decently sized city. Probably between 40,000 - 100,000 would be nice.I wouldn't mind living close but no way I want to live in a big city like Seattle. Right now I mainly do customer service, typing on a computer/telephones but I'm heavily into technology and am hoping for a job in that field later on. I want something reasonably priced (like Olympia). Redmond sounded good but appears to be very expensive. I currently live in Ventura, California if you want to compare costs. Redmond is still cheaper than where I love, but I was hoping for even lower. I would prefer a place with little to no snow. I love the rain but I'm from California so I don't want a place that gets REALLY cold. But I know most of Washington is much colder than CA and I'm ready for that.

I've heard very good things about Olympia, Bellevue, and Redmond. Any comments on these places, or others I haven't listed? Thank you!

[FistFightingHairdresser]

Originally Posted by ShadowXOR

I was born in CA, and I'm 22 now. This place is way too expensive, and I don't care for the beach or California lifestyle/attitude/traffic. I narrowed the places I would consider moving to down until I was only left with a better part of California, Oregon, and Washington. Washington is currently my top choice.

I'm looking for a nice area that is in a decently sized city. Probably between 40,000 - 100,000 would be nice.I wouldn't mind living close but no way I want to live in a big city like Seattle. Right now I mainly do customer service, typing on a computer/telephones but I'm heavily into technology and am hoping for a job in that field later on. I want something reasonably priced (like Olympia). Redmond sounded good but appears to be very expensive. I currently live in Ventura, California if you want to compare costs. Redmond is still cheaper than where I love, but I was hoping for even lower. I would prefer a place with little to no snow. I love the rain but I'm from California so I don't want a place that gets REALLY cold. But I know most of Washington is much colder than CA and I'm ready for that.

I've heard very good things about Olympia, Bellevue, and Redmond. Any comments on these places, or others I haven't listed? Thank you!

Oly's a nice town. Bellevue & Redmond are too, but they're expensive and being a 22yr old, would you want to live in suburbia?

Then there's Oregon: maybe Eugene?

[compltlyme]

Bellevue and Redmond are pretty expensive to move to if you are on your own and have a budget. As for getting into the technology field, this is a great place for that but I have noticed that they don't pay as well as they do in So CA...UNLESS you have some kind of degree. This area is one of the most educated areas in all the US and for getting work the competition is great. My son (now 24) is back in school because he felt out of place in his age group as everyone has either graduated or is still in school. I am not trying to discourage you but want you to know a bit what to expect. It is a wonderful place to live and the people are wonderful.

Best of luck to you.

[ShadowXOR]

Honestly I don't think I would mind living in a place like that too much but I doubt I could afford it. Are the areas surrounding them expensive too? Any places closeby that are cheaper? Also, do you know anything about Olympia? It's the capital but seems VERY affordable. I'm not sure how the jobs are though. I am engaged (and have been for five years, no rush to get married) so we will have two incomes. Just so you have an idea I'm making roughly $30,000/yr and she makes roughly $15,000/yr. One of the big draws is lower expenses so I don't prefer to move to an expensive place, but I must live in a nice city/place. If it's kind of small that's O.K. but I don't want to pay a fortune and I don't want to live in a dump.

[compltlyme]

Not sure too much about Olympia... other than they have a bit higher crime rate. It is just as pretty down there. Renton is near Bellevue but you do have to be careful about where in Renton you live. It has some wonderful areas and some really bad ones. But then I guess that can be said for pretty much anywhere.

I am sure you will get tons of info on here from people who have been here a lot longer than I have.

Again...Best of Luck

[scirocco22]

Hi Shadow ...Bellevue and Redmond are nice suburbs but more expensive than others around the Seattle area. As Hairdresser asked, are you looking to be in a suburb of Seattle or a town the size you mentioned that's not considered part of the greater Seattle area?

If you are looking for suburbs, there are plenty of suburban towns in the greater Seattle area that are much lower in their living costs than the Eastside burbs of Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond, Issaquah. Look to the south for the most reasonable places to rent or own ...Renton (as compltlyme mentioned) is on the "upswing" and is a good place to start but rentals and places to buy get more reasonable as you continue south --Kent, Auburn, Federal Way, etc. Of course, with the more "reasonable" rents and real estate prices come slightly higher crime rates, etc.

If you are looking for places away from the greater Seattle area, then there are other places about the size you are looking for or a bit smaller which are in western Washington or even in the Puget Sound area that are "reasonable" in their cost of living but ammenities may get more scarce as you move further from metropolitan areas. Olympia is not really considered a bedroom community of Seattle but it's still close enough to come into the city every now and then to take advantage of the "big city" cultural activities.

--'rocco

[ShadowXOR]

I really need to ask my girlfriend about it, but do you guys find Seattle nice? If so I probably wouldn't mind living in a city near Seattle with a population of 50,000 - 100,000. It would be nice to be near the city to experience all it has to offer. How's the weather and jobs? What kind of prices should I be expecting? Ideally I would be looking for a two-bedroom, one bathroom place. Either a townhome or house of some sort. We have two (small) dogs. In my area right now you would be lucky to find a "decent" place like that (not great) for $1,300+.

[ShadowXOR]

I just checked the main site, and according to the median housing prices, Seattle and Olympia are both WAY more affordable than Bellevue and Redmond. I could save those for when I'm making more money. I'm very interested in Seattle. How is it? I hated Los Angeles with lots of traffic and busy, plus it was run down. Is Seattle anything like that? Are there nice cities closeby? I appreciate all of your guys help!

[scirocco22]

Seattle proper is not "run down" like one might observe LA as being. It's what I'd consider a vibrant city.

It's the only city of that size that doesn't have a rail system in place. Sure, one's being built now but decades too late. Because of this, you can imagine the traffic congestion. The freeway system was built without any foresight ...like the SR520 bridge, gimme-a-break! c'mon, what were they thinking??! Residents voted down freeway expansion in the 60s, voted down rail in the 80s --now the area is showing that lack of foresight.

Because of the hourglass shape of the city proper, I-5 going through the city is generally gridlocked the majority of the time now. I believe the suburbs are just as congested as the ones in LA. Again, to me, the Seattle area traffic is a nightmare that I don't wish going back to. Unlike the suburbs of LA or Las Vegas, the streets aren't wide to handle traffic. I'm amazed at the size of the streets in the burbs of Las Vegas or the Henderson area! Seattle's suburbs have nothing like that and can't handle the same volume of traffic.

So, if you want less traffic, get out of the greater Seattle/Tacoma/Everett area ...you'll just be back to the same kind of congestion you're used to in the LA burbs. Olympia might be nice (or nicer), then.

--'rocco

[ShadowXOR]

I'll keep that in mind...I hate traffic. Where do you live now?