Relocating to Washington

[Ultrarunner]

Originally Posted by ST CRoix To Seattle

I don't believe there is anywhere in the United States where the population is split evenly among all represented races for the particular area,but if you anyone knows of such a place let me know.

I recently read that the racial makeup Oakland CA is very integrated...

[PlanetMars]

From what I've read, it seems like Tacoma would be right for you. It's diverse, and has a lot of money being thrown into it right now. There are definitely bad areas, but there are good areas as well. Look at this thread for more info: http://www.city-data.com/forum/washi...hy-people.html
It gets a bad reputation, but it's starting to become a nice, diverse area. And it's only 40 minutes from Seattle. Here's a picture.

[ST CRoix To Seattle]

Originally Posted by naty30

Hey St. Croix,

What neigborhoods would you recommend to live, work and play in?
Naty

I would stay stick to a place that has everything you need within 35 min drive,,,For me it has to be near the beach or I have to be able to see the sound. I can tell you I read so much negative stuff on this forum about Washington that I almost second guessed my decision to move,but I visited for 3-4 days at a time in every season of the year except summer,this will be my first summer and i just can't imagine how beautiful it will be,only thing I that it lacks is the ability to drive my convertibles year round,but something had to give...

[Meerteekah]

Hi, Naty.

I couldn't tell you which church (ie, the name). Christian of the evangelical sort. Hubby and I have attended primarily So Bapt churches, but I have no problem with a non-denominational or other denomination, as long as I can get a clear statement of faith and, after attending, get a feel for it we fit in terms of matters of faith and practice. And as far as practice, we're kind of flexible--I don't mind some high ritual liturgy, and I don't mind more freeform worship. I do prefer casual and modern in terms of music, but orthodox in terms of doctrine, and concerned both with good teaching and theology mixed with social justice and global sense of faith family. (Our recent church here had ties with South Africa and I do prefer a multicultural aspect to the congregation's makeup, neither all white or all black or all Hispanic, etc.)

Why interested? Well, truth be told, I wanna stay here. I like South Florida and my kin are here. If I had my druthers, I wouldn't leave. But hubby got laid-off, and he has to go where he gets the best job offer, and right now, that's Seattle. We're not rich and able to blow off a good job, even if it means relocating.

But I've lived here 34 years, and my heart hurts to think of leaving. Sigh.

Just in case, I have been googling up churches, and found at least one that looks very interesting in the Redmond area. Whether it would ultimately suit us, who knows? But their doctrine is cool with us and they seem very community-minded.

I do tend to agree with St. Croix to Seattle that all of us have "prejudices", though it may not be specifically "race-related." It could be politics related (demo hates repub, repub hates demo) or ideology in some other area (vegan holds meat-eater in contempt, conservationist spits at SUV driver, atheist shuns fundmentalist, fundamentalist denigrates atheist, etc), or class structure related (big bucks person looks down on working class, working class person has prejudices against big bucks person). And on it goes. I highly doubt any of us escapes that particular weakness of thinking ourselves superior to some other group/class/category of persons or prefer to hang with "our own kind," however that "kind" is defined (politics/religion/culture/ethnicity/lifestyle/economic class/educational level/color/sexual orientation/etc).

Just listen to a "tolerant" person talk long enough and their intolerance rears its head. Human nature, I think, to be this way.

Mirtika

[Puffywaun]

Mirtika - I am a Washington State native. I have lived in both Western Washington and Eastern Washington. My mother, has medium olive skin and dark eyes. In summer months, she has been mistaken for being Hispanic or Native American. I understand your concerns.
Yakima is a very good area for ethnic diversity and "tolerance". When you are in Washington State - it is more about tolerance than acceptance. The really wonderful accepting people are from California or Oregon and moved here in the last 15 yrs or so due to cheap housing prices. You could face racial discrimination here but, it is more likely you would be viewed as an "outsider" due to your accent than skin color.
Seattle is also very diverse! I dislike Seattle for many reasons which including - getting stuck on I-5 for hours during rush hour, housing prices, earthquakes, and of course the constant rain! However, Seattle has culture! Seattle has fabulous restaurants. They have great schools. There are many flavors of Baptist to choose from including the African based Episcopal Baptist, the Southern Baptist, and the Orthodox Baptist churches to name a few.
I agree with everyone else that moving just outside the Seattle area and commuting everyday is a good idea but, they do not mention depending upon how far out you move - you may need to leave 3 hours early due to traffic. I also noticed no one mentioned the spectacular landscapes that the active volcano's and ocean provide! The mountains are absolutely beautiful. Mt. St. Helen's is still in an eruption period that is worth seeing.
The Seattle "chill" is nothing more than indifference. There are a lot of people that have moved into Seattle from other major cities like NY or DC where being warm and fuzzy is not acceptable. It is not a dislike so much as polite "I do not care". There are also a lot of people in Washington that suffer from "classicism" - rather elite, middle, or lower classes. The Seattle area is primarily a Democratic voting area where Eastern Washington has been in the past more Conservative Republican in their ideals. I would recommend to you however, stay out of Eastern Washington. Although, we do have some racial diversity on this side of the state - and it is getting better all the time - let's just say that we are 30 yrs behind the times, have rednecks that could be mistaken for residents of Virgina and, our economy on this side of the State is terrible.

[mateo45]

As a former Seattle-ite, would tend to agree that the Tacoma area might be a good fit. As noted previous, east of the mountains is more religiously conservative and you're much more apt to find like-minded christian evangelicals there. But it's also very predominantly a "white culture", with the exception of the large hispanic population (due to all the agriculture), but which tends to stay at the margins.

West of the mountains/Puget Sound area has a much better economy, with more and better-paying jobs, and the Seattle/Bellevue area is generally very liberal and racially diverse. But that also means you'll be less likely to encounter many evangelical folks, although they are around.

But the South Sound/Tacoma area also has a pretty good economy, and a diverse racial & ethnic makeup, yet overall, traditionally tends to have more conservative "blue-collar" values, and is also more religiously conservative as well.