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Wow, interesting posts. Let's see. I live in the Shenandoah Valley..almost a suburb of Washington, D. C. The Northern Virginia area has one of the highest cost of living of the US. The summers..if you like swarms of gnats, humidity in the 80% to 90% range throughout the summer (unless you get a hurricane through and it clears it up for a couple days) this is the place for you. I want a place like the PNW. We've been there twice. The air is alot cleaner (I clean my window sills all the time. They get black from the coal pollution in the air here. Streams in areas are so acidic they can't support life. Hmm. Lovely. People are friendly, after a fashion. We are loners by nature so that doesn't weigh on us. Winters can be nice, if you like temps in the 20's and 30's during the day..and teens and single digits at night. And snow. Sometimes lots of it. Nope, I'll take rain any day. Our skies can be cloudy for weeks, and then clear for a couple days. I'll take the Northwest weather any time. And clean air and beautiful scenery to go with it.
The problem with PacNW cities and my hometown Austin are that they became "name-brand cities" for cool. This has two consequences:
1. It creates sometimes unrealistic expectations for people wanting to find their Utopia.
2. It attracts many unoriginal people who want to "become cool" by virtue of their address, thus watering down the elements of originality that made the cities great in the first place.
I would say that 99.9% of people EVERYWHERE are unoriginal - no matter what they may think of themselves. :-)
Yeah, it's completely overrated these days. The region went from pretty underrated for years to being completely overhyped in a span of about 20 years(starting with Seattle in the early 90s and then hitting Portland in the last decade).
Every place that one might think is "underrated" currently or "up and coming", watch out. It could happen to you too... (Looking at you Pittsburgh) Once the NY Times travel section starts writing those "36 hours in" travelogue articles, it's coming...
It's still a beautiful region, and I enjoy the larger cities even though I'm a little bored and accustomed to them, but half the people moving to Portland and Seattle these days seem like they'd be happier somewhere else; they have expectations that seem to have come out of a tourist brochure and seem to still pine for wherever they left behind. There's places that are less hyped in the region, but sadly a lot of those towns are kind of dumpy, many of the nice small towns have mostly been discovered(with the resulting price increases).
Wow, interesting posts. Let's see. I live in the Shenandoah Valley..almost a suburb of Washington, D. C. The Northern Virginia area has one of the highest cost of living of the US. The summers..if you like swarms of gnats, humidity in the 80% to 90% range throughout the summer (unless you get a hurricane through and it clears it up for a couple days) this is the place for you. I want a place like the PNW. We've been there twice. The air is alot cleaner (I clean my window sills all the time. They get black from the coal pollution in the air here. Streams in areas are so acidic they can't support life. Hmm. Lovely. People are friendly, after a fashion. We are loners by nature so that doesn't weigh on us. Winters can be nice, if you like temps in the 20's and 30's during the day..and teens and single digits at night. And snow. Sometimes lots of it. Nope, I'll take rain any day. Our skies can be cloudy for weeks, and then clear for a couple days. I'll take the Northwest weather any time. And clean air and beautiful scenery to go with it.
No argument about the pollution, although I think you have given a rather dramatic portrayal of it. But it does sound like you are depressed because your description of the Shenandoah valley is incredibly bleak. Temperatures in the 20's and 30's during the day? The average daytime winter temperatures are in the mid 40's, like Seattle, but with more sunlight. If you hate summer temperatures in the 80's I suppose that's up to you, but I'd argue that being able to go swimming or tanning with the hot sun beaming on you, and the ability to drive to real beach towns (Virginia Beach) are bonuses that aren't as accessible for the Pacific Northwest. Plus, you still get 3 months or more of the 70's temperatures that Seattlelites get in their "summer". Top this off with way more sunlight year round, and you have a populace who doesn't develop SAD.
Then again, I'm the type who finds wearing shorts and a t-shirt, or going swimming in 85-degree weather much more appealing than trying to do so in 72 degree weather. I've lived in a place where the daytime summer temperatures were in the 70's and half the days you feel cold wearing shorts and a t-shirt. Eating an ice cream or driving with all your windows down makes you cold rather than refreshed. Not my idea of summertime.
You say the cost of living is among the highest in the US, but you don't live in Northern Virginia, you live in the Shenandoah valley where the cost of living is reasonable. The Shenandoah Valley is not a DC suburb, and does not attract the educated liberal types who flood DC. According to this cost of living calculator, housing in Seattle is 60% more expensive, groceries cost 15% more, transportation costs 28% more, and healthcare 29% more. In fact the cost of living is lower in all of Virginia with the exception of the immediate suburbs of DC, where you don't live.
So in other words, I just don't buy your argument that in the Shenandoah Valley the cost of living is higher, or that temperatures are in the 20's during the winter daytime. You have valid points about pollution, even if they are exaggerated (streams that don't support life? c'mon!).
A populace doesn't develop SAD. People have it or they don't.
And according to the American Family Physician website: "About 4 to 6 percent of people may have winter depression." So it's not like we're talking a major concern.
No argument about the pollution, although I think you have given a rather dramatic portrayal of it. But it does sound like you are depressed because your description of the Shenandoah valley is incredibly bleak. Temperatures in the 20's and 30's during the day? The average daytime winter temperatures are in the mid 40's, like Seattle, but with more sunlight. If you hate summer temperatures in the 80's I suppose that's up to you, but I'd argue that being able to go swimming or tanning with the hot sun beaming on you, and the ability to drive to real beach towns (Virginia Beach) are bonuses that aren't as accessible for the Pacific Northwest. Plus, you still get 3 months or more of the 70's temperatures that Seattlelites get in their "summer". Top this off with way more sunlight year round, and you have a populace who doesn't develop SAD.
Then again, I'm the type who finds wearing shorts and a t-shirt, or going swimming in 85-degree weather much more appealing than trying to do so in 72 degree weather. I've lived in a place where the daytime summer temperatures were in the 70's and half the days you feel cold wearing shorts and a t-shirt. Eating an ice cream or driving with all your windows down makes you cold rather than refreshed. Not my idea of summertime.
You say the cost of living is among the highest in the US, but you don't live in Northern Virginia, you live in the Shenandoah valley where the cost of living is reasonable. The Shenandoah Valley is not a DC suburb, and does not attract the educated liberal types who flood DC. According to this cost of living calculator, housing in Seattle is 60% more expensive, groceries cost 15% more, transportation costs 28% more, and healthcare 29% more. In fact the cost of living is lower in all of Virginia with the exception of the immediate suburbs of DC, where you don't live.
So in other words, I just don't buy your argument that in the Shenandoah Valley the cost of living is higher, or that temperatures are in the 20's during the winter daytime. You have valid points about pollution, even if they are exaggerated (streams that don't support life? c'mon!).
I wasn't kidding about the streams. Check it out. And the pollution. Be glad to send you my paper towels that are black with soot. Summers to me are pretty miserable..like cooler weather. And we are considered part of the D.C. metro area, even tho there are mountains between us. Maryland is better by a few clicks. But too flat for me. And they don't get the snow we do. Any how my point is some people do like cooler and cloudy. Especially when they aren't supposed to get in the sun a lot. So it's a personal thing. Everyone is different. I'm not likely to get SAD. Never have. After all, the Scots have the climate to rival the PNW. If you think the temps aren't in the 20's you need to live here. We've had many winters here like that. Tho it does warm eventually, I prefer a temp zone more even and less on the extreme ups and downs. I'll admit our spring can be beautiful and the fall. Summer and winter..not to my taste.
Last edited by windrunner4484; 03-19-2014 at 09:22 AM..
Reason: adding a line
The scenic geography and outdoor activities aren't overated but the people are way to defensive about the area when discussing it. It is a beutiful place but it's not the only one in the country. I really like all of the United States we are all pretty lucky. Every state in the country has excellent outdoor opportunities if you look.
The scenic geography and outdoor activities aren't overated but the people are way to defensive about the area when discussing it. It is a beutiful place but it's not the only one in the country. I really like all of the United States we are all pretty lucky. Every state in the country has excellent outdoor opportunities if you look.
Yes, I've noticed people from the PNW tend to have a love it or leave it attitude, which I think holds back the region from improving. Or they'll say "at least we're not the South" or "at least we're not LA".
Also, it's not like the PNW is the only part of the country that has mountains or forests, but the way people from there talk about it you'd think it is.
Yes, I've noticed people from the PNW tend to have a love it or leave it attitude, which I think holds back the region from improving. Or they'll say "at least we're not the South" or "at least we're not LA".
Also, it's not like the PNW is the only part of the country that has mountains or forests, but the way people from there talk about it you'd think it is.
Also, it's not like the PNW is the only part of the country that has mountains or forests, but the way people from there talk about it you'd think it is.
As for forests, the perception I got was the locals thought their forests were so special. They are special, but it was to the point that some thought lush forests can't be found anywhere else. I suspect it's a western perspective, outside of the Pacific Northwest, lush forests are only found in isolated pockets. But coming from the Northeast, the Pacific Northwest natural landscape resembled back home more than anywhere else in the West.
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