Moving to San Francisco or Seattle w/ no job, only childish dreams...

[04kL4nD]

I love both cities for different reasons. To me, they are more different than similar

San Francisco is urban, gritty, exciting, fast paced, and energetic. It's the closest thing on the West Coast to an East Coast city, but still very Californian. Public transit is better, but it's also a more expensive city than Seattle. I think the weather in SF is better than Seattle, but it really depends on what part of the city you're talking about. Some parts near the coast are foggy, windy, and cold pretty much every day while others are sunnier and warmer.

Seattle is cleaner, mellower, more laid back, and MUCH slower paced than most cities its size. In some ways I think Seattle is the prettier of the two cities (at least in terms of architecture). On a clear day, there aren't many places in the world as stunning as Seattle with a view of Mt Rainier. The things I don't like about Seattle are the terrible drivers and the aloof nature of its residents.
Seattle is certainly more affordable than SF. You can actually afford to buy a house/condo in one of the nicer areas of the city. Unless you're super rich, you probably won't be able to do the same in SF.

If you haven't visited both places, I would check out SF first then Seattle. You will see what I'm talking about and you'd have room to compare. Pretty sure the job market in the Bay Area is doing better than Seattle right now though.

For a happy medium between both cities with better weather, I live in Oakland. It's cheaper and more laid back than SF, but it's also got some grit to it as well.

[steveoscaro]

Great, thanks for all the responses. It sounds like, at the end of the day, it's a struggle to get a job anywhere and everywhere. Maybe one should just go hide out in grad school, although it seems like an MFA isn't much more applicable than a BA in English!
But really, and maybe it sounds absurd, but if I don't land a decent job, it's not going to be a disaster. I can certainly scrape by until May, then return to Alaska for good money.
I'm going to be in Seattle today and tomorrow, and if it hooks me, I think I'll just simplify my choice by not even looking at SF. But that's a big IF

[sliverbox]

Here's my humble 2-cents worth as someone who also moved out here on a whim. I moved here when the dot-com crashed- which was basically like a recession for the Bay Area. NOBODY was hiring. I gave up looking for a job related to my degree and wound up working in retail for 3 years. I finally got a job and have been working for 7 years in my field. So yes- you can make it here if you're willing to make some choices. The BAD thing in my opinion- and again this is just my opinion is that once you get settled into an area it becomes very difficult to leave it. When I was in my early 20's I didn't care about things like mortgages, long-term careers, and so on. But now that I'm fairly established, married and want to buy a home for ourselves the realization that Holy %$# its expensive here. Its really frustrating because a lot of people like me realize that if we want to have the sort of lifestyle we'd like without breaking the bank we're going to have to move out of the area and probably the state- which means probably starting over, which as mentioned- gets difficult when you're older.

We're saving up in order to move out of here. Its been fun but the cost of living overrides the positives. Seattle sounds like it too is just as costly as it is here. Its funny how that as I get older, cities I would've never thought about sound more appealing- Cities like Austin, Dallas, Atlanta, Raleigh, etc. All very different cities with totally different economic standards.

Good luck with whatever you do.

[ky4444]

I grew up in the Bay Area & got my undergrad and masters there. My husband and I relocated to Seattle in 2004 and love it here. If you can get past the rain and short days (in the winter) I would say hands down Seattle is a better place to live than SF. We are now thinking to move back to the Bay Area only because we have two kids now and both our families are there. However, we always say if we could move all of our family up to this area we would stay here forever.

[415_s2k]

Originally Posted by zitsky

I think Seattle has less of an inferiority complex and less of a need to talk about how good it is as a city. Folks in SF seem to constantly go on about how their city is the best city on the west coast. Many residents of SF think that it rates up there with Paris and New York.

Have you ever actually lived in Seattle?

It has 10x the provincial attitude that SF has, and has way less going on.

[415_s2k]

SF is not a good city to move to if you don't have work lined up. I saved up 6 months worth of living expenses before moving back down here from Seattle and thankfully found a job after about two months... but it was only part time so I still ended up having to dip into my savings to stay afloat before I finally got a stable, salaried job.

Granted, it's not much different in Seattle. All things considered, I'd stay in Portland for awhile - long enough to save up enough to make a comfortable move. I'd shoot for San Francisco between the two; I've lived in both cities over the last couple years and IMHO, SF wins, hands-down. But don't make a rash decision...

[gotigers123]

Originally Posted by zitsky

I love Seattle and have friends from grad school who live there. Folks do complain about having to live in the suburbs and traffic. I think those are the people who insist on having 3,000 sq ft homes. There are lots of cute little houses and great apartments in the city proper.

You're right, Portland is kind of sleepy. I went to school in Eugene, OR. Every time I went up to Portland I was ready to head back to sleepy Eugene in about 15 minutes. (Don't forget to check out Powell's Books though.)

San Francisco is an interesting place. I think it's really overrated, and I lived in the area for 14 years. It's the place where everyone else goes to when they get tired of their own sleepy little towns. I never really liked SF. Like you I grew up in a small town, then moved to Chicago. I know what a big city should feel like. SF isn't a big city. You will most likely have to live outside of the city proper, down on the peninsula to be able to afford living there.

If you can deal with the doom and gloom of winter, and don't care about surfing (or good wine), then I say move to Seattle. I wish I could live there someday. I think Seattle has less of an inferiority complex and less of a need to talk about how good it is as a city. Folks in SF seem to constantly go on about how their city is the best city on the west coast. Many residents of SF think that it rates up there with Paris and New York.

What exactly makes a "big city"? You do realize San Francisco is denser than Chicago, correct? Sounds like you lived in the burbs and then you complain that SF is "overrated". That's like living in Naperville and complaining about Chicago.

And yes, SF is the best city on the west coast, by a large margin. It's not a New York or Paris by any means, but it certainly isn't trying to be either.

[Radical347]

Originally Posted by gotigers123

What exactly makes a "big city"? You do realize San Francisco is denser than Chicago, correct? Sounds like you lived in the burbs and then you complain that SF is "overrated". That's like living in Naperville and complaining about Chicago.

And yes, SF is the best city on the west coast, by a large margin. It's not a New York or Paris by any means, but it certainly isn't trying to be either.

zitsky's point proven.

[steveoscaro]

Thanks for the suggestions. Having finally made it to San Francisco after visiting Portland and Seattle for a few days, I have to say that for me, San Francisco wins hands down (just my opinion). That's an interesting point you make Silverbox about it being a great city to live in, but an impossibly expensive one to settle down in. But for a younger single person looking for an interesting place to live for about four months, I don't see how this city could be topped in the States.

I currently make my living as a commercial fisherman and want a place to live and write in between the winter and summer fishing seasons, and I'm glad to report that this place is giving me exactly the feeling that I was hoping to get from one of these places--just being totally enchanted. And if I happen to find a salaried job while I'm here, then great. But if not, back to the boat.

Rent is more expensive in here than in Seattle, but that just means getting a room in a shared apartment, rather than a studio. No big sacrifice for me.

So the debate is settled for me - San Francisco

[EdJS]

Originally Posted by steveoscaro

Great, thanks for all the responses. It sounds like, at the end of the day, it's a struggle to get a job anywhere and everywhere. Maybe one should just go hide out in grad school, although it seems like an MFA isn't much more applicable than a BA in English!
But really, and maybe it sounds absurd, but if I don't land a decent job, it's not going to be a disaster. I can certainly scrape by until May, then return to Alaska for good money.
I'm going to be in Seattle today and tomorrow, and if it hooks me, I think I'll just simplify my choice by not even looking at SF. But that's a big IF

Actually, that's sort of what I did. I originally came to the Bay Area to go to graduate school at Stanford. So I got to experience life in the San Francisco area while still living quite cheaply. (Shared housing, common cooking, etc.)

Slowly, over many years, I was able to keep my lifestyle in pace with my financial level as I left grad school, started my profession, and worked my way up the career ladder. So now I am one of those people who could afford to buy a house here (in fact, it is paid off).