Anyone else in Washington? (Seattle, Vancouver: new home, school district, to live)

[eugencluj]

HELOO! my name is eugen in Romania. can anyone to help me with few washington postcards? also i want to know about tv in USA, my satelite dish receive as pay tv here in Romania in europe HBO and cinemax tv chanels.what chanels is cinemax because have old movies as TCM?
my home email is boldoreugen@yahoo.com
thanks

[compltlyme]

Originally Posted by night owl

It's so wonderful to see all the positive posts about living in Washington. I particularly enjoy the ones from people who moved from California, like this last one! We are moving to Washington from California pretty soon and are very excited about it.

I have been researching online with the help of Google for a long time. There is so much information online if you just dig.

night owl

What area of CA are you moving up here from? And have you found an area yet. I see that you were researching Bellingham.

[richkat]

I've always had a love/hate relationship with the Pacific Northwest. I grew up in the "OC" and my family moved to Portland when I was a teen-ager. As soon as I could, I went back to CA - but in what is now called "Silicon Valley". After 20 years, dh and I moved back to Portland until the high-tech bust in '02. Now we're in Florida but keep thinking about the Pacific NW. There is so much to love about the NW but I have such a hard time with the grey days. Tempted to try again, it's nice to read that other southern Californians are loving it in Seattle - which is where we're tempted to go. This time of year the weather is perfect in Florida but dreading summer - heat, humidity, bugs, and hurricanes. If only I could get over my dread of grey, rainy days.

- R&K

[compltlyme]

I have lived in OC and in Florida... and I have to say WA State is by far better! Orange County is so crowded and over priced and has little to offer anymore. One can't even get to the store with out knowing you will be in traffic... and it is right down the street! Granted the So CA weather is some of the best anywhere but when everything else is miserable, you forget to notice. The smog is so bad now that even the Palm Springs area is getting it! And when they don't the Santa Ana's are so bad that you can't enjoy being outside!

Florida is another story! HUMID is right! And you have the biggest bugs I have ever seen! And you can keep those hurricanes!!

I guess no place is perfect. But the Pacific Northwest is darn near! I love the green and yes the skies can be gray but when the sun shines you actually appreciate it. And did you know it rains more in Louisiana, New York and Hawaii and even Portland than it does in the Seattle area? I found that to be interesting.

[richkat]

Originally Posted by compltlyme

I have lived in OC and in Florida... and I have to say WA State is by far better! Orange County is so crowded and over priced and has little to offer anymore. One can't even get to the store with out knowing you will be in traffic... and it is right down the street! Granted the So CA weather is some of the best anywhere but when everything else is miserable, you forget to notice. The smog is so bad now that even the Palm Springs area is getting it! And when they don't the Santa Ana's are so bad that you can't enjoy being outside!

Florida is another story! HUMID is right! And you have the biggest bugs I have ever seen! And you can keep those hurricanes!!

I guess no place is perfect. But the Pacific Northwest is darn near! I love the green and yes the skies can be gray but when the sun shines you actually appreciate it. And did you know it rains more in Louisiana, New York and Hawaii and even Portland than it does in the Seattle area? I found that to be interesting.

I think we're slowly coming around. But it isn't about the inches of rain - you're right - it rains more in Florida and a lot of places. It's the greyness I find depressing. But, doing my research, Seattle has a lot higher brightness factor than does Portland due to it being coastal instead of inland so I might be just fine there.

So great to read all of the positive responses. I do miss the friendliness of the people living up there. We may be back.

[Asti]

I live in WA. I have all my life. :P

[teeandgee]

I lived in WA all my life until 92 then to NoCal for 2 years, then to SoCal (San Diego) from then until now. I missed it sooooooo much and I must say, its the most beautiful state in the union! My husband is from Iowa (where we will be moving soon, but our original choice was WA had it not been for his aging parents needing our assistance) and its also gorgeous but cant hold a candle (okay maybe a tealite haha) to WA!! My sis lives there, in a converted ww2 bunker that hangs over the straights of juan de fuca near pt angeles and its got to be the most breathtaking area in WA. RAINFOREST!! the only one in North America in fact! I love the weather hear in SoCal I admit, because I cannot stand cold... but I love love love the late late days of summer in WA. Theres also a reason why its SO green in WA... its the rain! I love the rain and yall who dont care for it up there... you MISS it when you leave (well I did anyway haha). We dont have any seasons here except late spring... its always in the 70's to 80's unless its the hot summertime then we have "fire season" ... eek! There are other things I miss. People talk about the smog here in CA but in reality, believe it or not, its harder to breath in areas of WA than it is here because here they have emissions control, which they should have there, all those beater cars would simply GO AWAY!! The only truly smoggy areas are where there are congested freeways and thats like in LA and maybe a bit in SF but not much from what I remember. Air seems pretty good here in SD too. But NOTHING beats WA air once you get away from streets... i just hated walking in downtown Seattle and some beater car driving by and pouring out engine fumes. Here in CA they get reported for being "gross polluters" and you simply cant register cars that do that! Maybe someday WA will jump on that bandwagon and get those nasties off the road and keep their air as sweet as it is.... the other thing that I recall is how wonderful the water is right from the tap at my moms... Here I dont even like to brush with this water! NOBODY drinks it that I know of. Everyone gets bottled water from a cooler that you rent. Even that doesnt compare to that nice cold tap water that actually tasted sweet to me when I went back for a visit!

[compltlyme]

Originally Posted by teeandgee

I lived in WA all my life until 92 then to NoCal for 2 years, then to SoCal (San Diego) from then until now. I missed it sooooooo much and I must say, its the most beautiful state in the union! My husband is from Iowa (where we will be moving soon, but our original choice was WA had it not been for his aging parents needing our assistance) and its also gorgeous but cant hold a candle (okay maybe a tealite haha) to WA!! My sis lives there, in a converted ww2 bunker that hangs over the straights of juan de fuca near pt angeles and its got to be the most breathtaking area in WA. RAINFOREST!! the only one in North America in fact! I love the weather hear in SoCal I admit, because I cannot stand cold... but I love love love the late late days of summer in WA. Theres also a reason why its SO green in WA... its the rain! I love the rain and yall who dont care for it up there... you MISS it when you leave (well I did anyway haha). We dont have any seasons here except late spring... its always in the 70's to 80's unless its the hot summertime then we have "fire season" ... eek! There are other things I miss. People talk about the smog here in CA but in reality, believe it or not, its harder to breath in areas of WA than it is here because here they have emissions control, which they should have there, all those beater cars would simply GO AWAY!! The only truly smoggy areas are where there are congested freeways and thats like in LA and maybe a bit in SF but not much from what I remember. Air seems pretty good here in SD too. But NOTHING beats WA air once you get away from streets... i just hated walking in downtown Seattle and some beater car driving by and pouring out engine fumes. Here in CA they get reported for being "gross polluters" and you simply cant register cars that do that! Maybe someday WA will jump on that bandwagon and get those nasties off the road and keep their air as sweet as it is.... the other thing that I recall is how wonderful the water is right from the tap at my moms... Here I dont even like to brush with this water! NOBODY drinks it that I know of. Everyone gets bottled water from a cooler that you rent. Even that doesnt compare to that nice cold tap water that actually tasted sweet to me when I went back for a visit!

I love San Diego... but come on.. would you walk around down town with a girlfriend alone at midnight? I think NOT! In Seattle there is a buzz.. a life and it feels safe to walk around. Not that we aren't careful but there are so many people out. I have to say... after living most of my life in So CA... I have seen the skys that dirty brown one too many times. Something I have yet to see here. If I could afford to go back to OB/Point Loma..over looking the ocean.. I would live there in a heart beat. It is home... but since I can't...there isn't a place I would rather be than here in WA.

[Andy]

Originally Posted by Alcon

Any other folks out there in the Evergreen State? If so, where?

I live in Olympia and work out of offices in Fife, Puyallup, and Lacey. I moved to Olympia from Seattle in 2000. Olympia is a bargain compared with Seattle.

[CP2N]

I live in Bremerton. There's something to be said for those early morning drives around the different inlets and bays with the mountains coming in and out of view behind the evergreens - seeing those big Navy ships up close - and getting fresh oysters from the beach at my mom's house, yum!