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On a typical January day in Denver, I go out for lunch wearing a down vest over an Oxford shirt and I have to wear sunglasses. I’m in Vancouver BC more than Seattle but it’s the same climate. I’m wearing a Gore Tex shell with the hood popped and it’s drizzling. Personally, I’d rather scrape the ice off the windshield in the morning and have 50F & sunny at noon. The lack of winter sunlight in Seattle would probably trigger SADS unless I surrounded myself with broad spectrum lighting.
Pretty much this. I personally find Denver’s climate more pleasant.
Denver has lots of extreme shifts in weather, but it is very sunny and at a much lower latitude.
If you compare the Seattle CSA to the Front Range (excluding Pueblo and Cheyenne) you get about the same amount of people.
Ft. Collins is as far away as Bremerton and Mt Vernon. Silverdale is further away from Seattle than Colorado Springs is to Denver. So if you look at the general population of both immediate areas, it's much closer in size. Adding Ft. Collins and Colorado Springs metro areas is another 1.1-1.5 million people added to about 4+ million people already in the CSA.
I know that's not how this works but it's a far more honest explanation than Seattle being significantly larger than Denver.
You're going by road, but the water connection from Kitsap County is much closer. And the road connection is much closer from Tacoma via the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. That's why it's in the CSA. Downtown Bremerton is a half-hour walk-on ferry ride from Downtown Seattle, or an hour by car ferry (mostly commuters walk on either way). Bainbridge is a half-hour car ferry. IIRC, from the two combined, something like 5,000 people commute on foot by ferry every morning rush hour, or did in the Before Time. Drivers often to Tacoma or South King County.
As for population, 2019 Census estimates:
--Seattle CSA: 4,903,675 (King/Pierce/Snohomish/Island/Skagit/Kitsap/Thurston/Mason)
--Denver region combined your way: 4,720,617: = Denver CSA 3,617,927 (with Boulder and Greeley), Colorado Springs MSA 745,791, Fort Collins MSA 356,899.
Background: I live in WA and used to live in CO (on both the Front Range and Western Slope). We've enjoyed living in and exploring both.
Preferred Location- tie. Being on the coast has many advantages, but CO is ridiculously centrally located. Everywhere in the country is a relatively short flight. WA just seems that much further, travel takes the whole day. But for everyday living, we felt further from the rest of the country when living in CO.
Brighter Future- My nod goes to WA. Cascadia Urban Corridor>Front Range Urban Corridor. Access to water.
Best Major Cities- WA. Seattle's a bigger, more international city, but Denver hits above its weight as the queen of the entire region. But Spokane is far more of a contrast to Seattle than CO Springs to Denver. And while Vancouver, WA isn't that exciting, bordering Portland gives it some extra points.
Best Secondary Cities- WA, no contest. CO just doesn't have much between the key cities on the Front Range and small (though often charming) towns. It's one of the main reasons that we left- we love smaller cities, like Fort Collins and (old) Boulder, but were tired of living on the plains. I wish there a few cities that size somewhere in the mountains, and GJ wasn't really our speed. WA cities have a broader diversity of scenery. Bellingham, Tri-Cities, Wenatchee, Port Angeles/Olympic Peninsula, Bremerton, Yakima, Walla Walla, Longview, Oak Harbor, etc. - not all of them are my cup of tea, but there's a lot of options.
Topography & Landscapes- WA. There isn't a lot in CO that you can't find in WA. I know that's a big generalization, but there's far more diversity in WA. I can go from ocean to rain forest to alpine to desert in a couple hours, and CO just can't compete there. That said, I truly love a lot of places in Western CO-though many of the urban areas are FAR more scenic in WA.
Economy- see above. Again, Having ports, water, and multiple actual major cities gives the advantage to WA.
Higher Education- WA. I don't feel like there's a huge advantage to WA schools over CO schools, but there is more of a palpable focus on education. WA feels much more intellectual, in general.
Weather- This is a tough one. There's a tendency to just say CO because moderate elevation and low humidity can be very comfortable. And I like snow. But for everyday living, we've found Western WA to be far more comfortable than expected. We miss thunderstorms and powdery snow, but can easily drive to the dry side of the Cascades to get our fill of Rocky Mountain-like weather. The light advantage goes to CO because WA is so far north that the winter days are dark, but the weather itself often gets a bad rap. We are actually outside throughout the year far more than CO's extremes allowed for. Of course, it varies throughout both states, especially WA.
The State I Prefer is?- I'll always love CO and what it did for me at an important stage in my life, but it was kind of a jumping off point before deciding to fully go west. If you love mountain west scenery (and we do), the western half of CO has a lot to offer. That said, in a weird way, we feel like the scenery that we live in and encounter in WA is actually what a lot of people think CO looks like (but generally only exists over about 6,000'-7,000'). Anyway, barring wild, unforeseen changes- I'll take WA.
Portland and Vancouver are just across the state border. Victoria is three hours by ferry. These can be day-trips from Seattle (in theory) to three of the best cities in NA. We're also the closest major US region to Asia, and not much farther to Europe than much of the country due to polar routes. Seattle has better European connections than Denver despite being the smaller airport, and of course far better Asian connections. And Sea-Tac is a hub.
You're going by road, but the water connection from Kitsap County is much closer. And the road connection is much closer from Tacoma via the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. That's why it's in the CSA. Downtown Bremerton is a half-hour walk-on ferry ride from Downtown Seattle, or an hour by car ferry (mostly commuters walk on either way). Bainbridge is a half-hour car ferry. IIRC, from the two combined, something like 5,000 people commute on foot by ferry every morning rush hour, or did in the Before Time. Drivers often to Tacoma or South King County.
As for population, 2019 Census estimates:
--Seattle CSA: 4,903,675 (King/Pierce/Snohomish/Island/Skagit/Kitsap/Thurston/Mason)
--Denver region combined your way: 4,720,617: = Denver CSA 3,617,927 (with Boulder and Greeley), Colorado Springs MSA 745,791, Fort Collins MSA 356,899.
Google maps says that its 1 hour by car, and 1.5 hours by ferry to Seattle. It also says Bainbridge is an hour on the ferry. Is that wrong?
Google maps says that its 1 hour by car, and 1.5 hours by ferry to Seattle. It also says Bainbridge is an hour on the ferry. Is that wrong?
Yep. They're probably counting load/unload time for cars. As a walk-on you can technically show up just before the sailing time, though most people arrive a little early. You pay westbound but not eastbound if you don't have a pass, so factor a potential line westbound.
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