New England vs Pacific Northwest - which is a better place to live? (insurance, vacation home)
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Both are probably my favorite parts of North America. I would probably go PNW. More striking mountains, more temperate temperature and three major metro areas instead of just one. New England has some nice small towns though.
As an European who has never been to the USA, I would vote for New England. Although the scenery is less dramatic than the PNW, it has a better climate (TRUE 4 seasons which a lot of people adore around here, because we unfortunately don't get it) and a nice atmosphere with the villages and it just resembles Europe just a bit more. I would have more trouble feeling at home on the West Coast. I'm also really fond (at least form pictures) of the Adirondacks region, which borders New England.
Depends on the states. Washington state and NH have no income taxes. However WA state has high sales taxes. Property taxes in NH are ridiculously high while property tax rates in WA state is about same as MA. MA has moderate rates of sales tax and income tax.
OR has high income taxes but no sales tax. This is why all the good paying jobs are in Seattle and not Portland.
If you're a high income homeowner in Seattle, you will likely pay significantly less taxes than a high income homeowner in Boston.
I have actually compared property taxes on comparable homes in Seattle and one of its suburbs (Issaquah) to taxes in Massachusetts and Connecticut and found that they are not very much different. In fact in some cases taxes were lower in Connecticut.
Where Washington has lower property taxes is in unincorporated areas that don’t have municipal governments and services to support. Neither Connecticut or Massachusetts have those areas so of course overall property taxes are higher.
Surprisingly too is that property taxes in Boston are lower than Seattle. As the links below show, a larger home on Boston has lower taxes than a smaller home in Seattle. Jay
For stunning scenery, recreational and outdoors I’d pick the the PNW.
Seattle, Vancouver and PDX have unparalleled access to real mountains, forests, and cool water ways. Year around snow skiing for those that backcountry tour, hiking, snowshoeing, climbing, and some of the most amazing outdoor wonders.
In the summer you can literally stand on a glacier, go hiking, than be back in the city. You just can’t do that in New England.
New England does best from an architectural stand point and small towns with a rich history. Outside of the major metros the PNW just doesn’t have as many cute towns imho.
Honestly not sure how you can compare the two. The PNW is much larger and very different.
As an European who has never been to the USA, I would vote for New England. Although the scenery is less dramatic than the PNW, it has a better climate (TRUE 4 seasons which a lot of people adore around here, because we unfortunately don't get it) and a nice atmosphere with the villages and it just resembles Europe just a bit more. I would have more trouble feeling at home on the West Coast. I'm also really fond (at least form pictures) of the Adirondacks region, which borders New England.
Heh interesting. In my opinion, most of Western Europe has superior climate to majority of the US. Humid continental might be my least favorite climate zone.
Tacoma is a way cooler city than Worcester in both amenities and looks. Just Point Defiance alone blows away anything in Worcester. Stick with places you've actually been to man.
Homeless is a bigger issues on the West Coast because the winters are milder, they can survive outside without shelter in the winters. There's also a federal circuit court ruling that prohibits criminalizing the homeless or banning overnight camping for the western states. There is no such restrictions on the East Coast.
Tacoma, own photo
Agreed. I don't get posters that attack cities they've never even been to. I have no opinion of Syracuse or Buffalo because I've never been there.
I have actually compared property taxes on comparable homes in Seattle and one of its suburbs (Issaquah) to taxes in Massachusetts and Connecticut and found that they are not very much different. In fact in some cases taxes were lower in Connecticut.
Where Washington has lower property taxes is in unincorporated areas that don’t have municipal governments and services to support. Neither Connecticut or Massachusetts have those areas so of course overall property taxes are higher.
Surprisingly too is that property taxes in Boston are lower than Seattle. As the links below show, a larger home on Boston has lower taxes than a smaller home in Seattle. Jay
Yeah property taxes are similar, often a tad lower in Boston because of homestead exemptions too. Where the real tax advantage comes in for Seattle is that there is no income tax in WA state. If you have two high income earners in the household (which is not uncommon in the land of Amazon and MSFT), the tax savings annually is a hell lot more than a 0.25 percentage point rate difference in property taxes.
Yeah it's not for everyone and Seattle's charms mostly come from the neighborhoods outside downtown and for people who like outdoor recreation. I don't like Portland OR at all. I wasn't impressed by Boston either. Winter sucked, especially if you street parked, and the city was mostly old, felt old, and needed a complete remodel. Traffic bottlenecks in Boston rivaled LA (especially if you live anywhere north or south of the city), drivers are some of the worst in the country (my car insurance premiums dropped by 65% after leaving Boston) and the public transit was on par with third world countries in reliability and speed. And you really need the public transit because driving and parking were so horrendous. At least many other cities have better car transportation and parking to make up for unreliable public transit.
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