Places comparable to Washington? (Seattle, Vancouver: how much, schools, tornado)

[ShadowXOR]

I'm 99% sure I'm moving to Washington but I want to make an educated move the first time. Is there anywhere as green and beautiful that is also educated and developed like Washington. I enjoy overcast and rain (usually harder rain) but people have me somewhat nervous about S.A.D. Is there a place that gets more sun (but still nice rain)? I know Oregon is comparable but I think it's almost too similar, Washington seems like a more developed Oregon, which is preferable seems to be based on taste and I think I'm more of a Washington guy.

I don't want a lot of snow so I think Washington is my only choice, which I'm fine with, but I just want to make sure.

The only other place I can think of is Ireland and that is way out of the question obviously. Sorry for all my threads I've been starting but I really want to get this nailed down! I've even started packing.

[escapetacoma]

Originally Posted by ShadowXOR

I'm 99% sure I'm moving to Washington but I want to make an educated move the first time. Is there anywhere as green and beautiful that is also educated and developed like Washington. I enjoy overcast and rain (usually harder rain) but people have me somewhat nervous about S.A.D. Is there a place that gets more sun (but still nice rain)? I know Oregon is comparable but I think it's almost too similar, Washington seems like a more developed Oregon, which is preferable seems to be based on taste and I think I'm more of a Washington guy.

Hmmm.... We were shocked at how much greener southern Wisconsin is than western Washington. Part of the reason is that most of the rain out there falls in the summer when the grass needs it whereas most of it in western Washington falls in the winter when the grass is already dormant. If you want harder rains the midwest in general is probably better - western Washington rains are usually just heavy drizzle that goes on, and on, and then on some more. Note that all of this applies to both Washington and Oregon west of the Cascades. East of the mountains is much drier, much sunnier, browner, more rural, etc....

I don't want a lot of snow so I think Washington is my only choice, which I'm fine with, but I just want to make sure.

Could be When we get snow, though, it tends to bring everything to a standstill - the road crews are at the very least underequipped to handle it and I frequently think that they're clueless as well

[jwb123]

Austin, TX is a lot like Seattle in vibe and culture.

We do get rain - we have had a lot of it in the last couple of days, hard downpours... rains mainly in the fall, winter and spring (it's spring now. We have a couple of weeks of winter) but we do have extended summers where there is NO rain for a significant amount of time.


We just moved here from living in the Seattle area - we love it.

[chris]

I'll toss in Greenville,SC / Ashville,NC (G'Ville moreso)

Great vibe, education level not quite as high as Seattle, better temperate weather (way more sun), low cost of living, above average music/arts scene, great outdoors activities in all directions.

[Ben Around]

Have you considered Vancouver or Victoria BC?

[ShadowXOR]

I believe BC is British Columbia which is Canada right? I was interested in going but it seemed to be a difficult transition with schools/work/citizenship and so on. I would be curious to hear more details but I think that would be too complicated for this stage in my life.

[jwb123]

You said you were in phone customer service... check out Dell. It's in Round Rock, which is north of Austin by about 20ish miles. They are hiring all the time, and as I mentioned, Austin would be comparable to Seattle - with better weather.

[AZ_singlemother]

Round Rock just had a horrible tornado and is dealing with flooding...but oh well, I would consider checking it out.

[Blindtom]

Originally Posted by Jenbar

You said you were in phone customer service... check out Dell. It's in Round Rock, which is north of Austin by about 20ish miles. They are hiring all the time, and as I mentioned, Austin would be comparable to Seattle - with better weather.

The summers are nicer in Seattle.

[jwb123]

Er, I live in Round Rock now.

No flooding - and definitely NO TORNADO. There hasn't been a tornado since my sister has lived here, and that's been 14 years.

Other areas of Texas does have flooding and tornados - not Round Rock.

Lots of areas in WA get flooding too. Most of Sno County for example...