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Hello,
Has anyone moved from Seattle to Raleigh in the last few years??? My family and I are considering this, and I would love to ask a few questions about the differences and your experiences.
Thanks!!!!
Location: River's Edge Inn, Todd NC, and Lorgues France
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Originally Posted by elongmoon
Hello,
Has anyone moved from Seattle to Raleigh in the last few years??? My family and I are considering this, and I would love to ask a few questions about the differences and your experiences.
Thanks!!!!
There have been several threads on that topic in recent months. Search this forum for "Seattle" to find them.
We lived in Seattle for 7 years before we moved to North Carolina 5 years ago. We miss downtown Seattle (well... it's mainly my wife missing Nordstrom Headquarters) and good seafood restaurants every once in a while, but we're so glad we made the move. It's hot and humid in the summer, but the rest of the year is more pleasant here without the endless drizzle of Seattle. Houses are much cheaper even in good school districts here. Besides, I don't miss the traffic on I-5 at all. I'd say Seattle is still a better place if you don't have kids and love outdoor activities, but overall, RTP is a great place to raise a family.
Lived in 10 states. Seattle is our favorite city. You will miss Seattle if you move to Raleigh. Less expensive to live in Raleigh. Dining, arts, shows, major league sports, festivals, boating, etc. in Raleigh are pathetic compared to Seattle. But Raleigh is our home by birth so we are back home. Feel free to ask specific questions.
I wanted to bump this post to see if there are people that have moved from Seattle to RDC and can give some insight on their move. I'm not ready to move yet, but have been kind of poking around starting to look at some options. I am mid 40's and no kids. I can work from anywhere with my job so commute and employment is not important. Financially very stable. I'm a huge fan of college sports (esp college basketball) so this is a big draw for me to the RDC area. Another big draw is more sunshine, warmer weather, and cheaper housing. And closer to family in New England area.
Seattle is a really great city and I may stay here. The big downside is 8-9 mos of a ton of overcast gray skies, and chilly temperatures outside of about 3 mos a year. The traffic here is also some of the worst in the nation and rents and house prices and shooting upwards at a rapid clip. Also there are beaches in WA and OR that are very pretty to look at, but they aren't really very usable as they can be frigid cold and very windy even in the dead of summer. Forget about swimming. They aren't the types of beaches you can be in shorts, sandals and hang out and chill with an umbrella for a typical "beachy" day. The hiking, trees, air quality, and the mountain views are very nice here. I also like the PNW culture with the coffee shops, creativity, walkability, local food, eco friendly, etc... It also has kind of a "intelligent" vibe here with all the knowledge based jobs and smart people.
I wanted to bump this post to see if there are people that have moved from Seattle to RDC and can give some insight on their move. I'm not ready to move yet, but have been kind of poking around starting to look at some options. I am mid 40's and no kids. I can work from anywhere with my job so commute and employment is not important. Financially very stable. I'm a huge fan of college sports (esp college basketball) so this is a big draw for me to the RDC area. Another big draw is more sunshine, warmer weather, and cheaper housing. And closer to family in New England area.
Seattle is a really great city and I may stay here. The big downside is 8-9 mos of a ton of overcast gray skies, and chilly temperatures outside of about 3 mos a year. The traffic here is also some of the worst in the nation and rents and house prices and shooting upwards at a rapid clip. Also there are beaches in WA and OR that are very pretty to look at, but they aren't really very usable as they can be frigid cold and very windy even in the dead of summer. Forget about swimming. They aren't the types of beaches you can be in shorts, sandals and hang out and chill with an umbrella for a typical "beachy" day. The hiking, trees, air quality, and the mountain views are very nice here. I also like the PNW culture with the coffee shops, creativity, walkability, local food, eco friendly, etc... It also has kind of a "intelligent" vibe here with all the knowledge based jobs and smart people.
If you're financially very stable and can work from anywhere there are really many better options available to you than Raleigh. Raleigh is more suitable for people trying to raise families in post-housing bubble America who struggle financially in other metropolitan areas. The beach is realistically 2 hours away.
You need to visit if you're serious about it, and believe me, the humidity is something to contend with.
If you're financially very stable and can work from anywhere there are really many better options available to you than Raleigh. Raleigh is more suitable for people trying to raise families in post-housing bubble America who struggle financially in other metropolitan areas. The beach is realistically 2 hours away.
You need to visit if you're serious about it, and believe me, the humidity is something to contend with.
You are right I do have to visit, so I may take back what I say. But there aren't as many better places as you think for someone who can live anywhere. I already mentioned the issues with Seattle and 8-9 mos of overcast skies, horrible traffic, and house prices and rents shooting through the roof. I already lived in Cali for many years and do not want to go back there, as the best parts of that state housing is incredibly expensive + the extremely high state income tax. New England has a bitter cold 6 mos winter. Florida is OK for a few months in winter but way too hot summers, too flat, and many, many other issues. Nothing in the Midwest interests me. Austin has blown up way too much with traffic, prices, and is too hot in summers (longer & hotter summer than RDC) and would not want to live anywhere else in TX. Denver didn't interest me (also has really escalated in price). Not crazy about the Southwest U.S., too hot and dry for me. So North Carolina has some advantages with relatively affordable house prices, rents, and pretty good weather all year, other then maybe July & Aug. It's not on the beach, but it's 2 hours from some very nice coast line (unlike say Austin TX). RDC is also good if one is a college basketball junkie like me (although I imagine good tickets to UNC & Duke are near impossible to come by...but maybe NC State do-able?).
What are some of these "many better options available to you than RDC" you would suggest to me?
For someone who can live anywhere (working from home), the Raleigh area isn't too bad. If I was randomly picking almost anywhere and working from home like you are, I'd probably go for somewhere like the Denver area before Raleigh (I live in a Raleigh suburb), but if you're a college basketball fan this area is pretty good. Although in the actual city of Raleigh you won't see as many fanatical fans as you would out in Chapel Hill or Durham.
For a little background, I moved from Upstate NY a few years ago to here (like about half the people in the Triangle it seems), and I like it much better here than NY. I also recently got a job offer from Amazon in Seattle at about 25% more than what I am making now in the Raleigh area, and I ended up not taking it because that really just about covered the cost of living difference, and didn't really make it worth it for me to pack up my whole family and move. I was strongly considering it though, but I really think I can deal with the summer humidity and occasional huge downpours we get here than I could with extended periods of gray skies and drizzle. If I were making the same $ amount in each city, I would pick Raleigh in a heartbeat over Seattle.
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. The hiking, trees, air quality, and the mountain views are very nice here. I also like the PNW culture with the coffee shops, creativity, walkability, local food, eco friendly, etc... It also has kind of a "intelligent" vibe here with all the knowledge based jobs and smart people.
