Moving to San Francisco or Seattle w/ no job, only childish dreams... (best city, apartments)

[steveoscaro]

Hi all, been scouring these forums over the last few days, but finally must give in and post my issues for all to comment on, as unoriginal as they may be.

I'm a 25 yr old recent college grad with a writing degree (yeah... I know. So vague.). I've lived in Colorado most of my life, except for a year working in Alaska. I've always wanted to live in the northwest, so here I am in Portland, having arrived yesterday, to check out these cities and hopefully find a place. My first and probably lasting impression of Portland is that it's not quite big enough, too much like Boulder, lacking the energy of a real city. I grew up in small towns, which I loved, but want to experience living in a vibrant city.

So now it's between Seattle and San Francisco. I have traveled through both areas, but not spent much time in either. Which city do you prefer?? If you were 25, and single, which place would you rather live? Kodiak, AK is probably more rainy than Seattle, so I can handle the gloom.
I actually have a somewhat varied resume and will will take whatever decent day job I can get while I whittle away at my writing in the wee hours of the night. Which city has better job prospects (not including service industry jobs)? Is San Francisco really so unaffordable for someone who's just renting? Seems like both cities have a good literary scene.

Thanks for your two cents!

[gone down south]

It's going to be tough to get started in San Francisco without a job already in place, but it's going to be easier to do it at 25 than at 35! If you're willing to bust your hump and make significant sacrifices, better to do it while you're still young.

[Ceece]

It's hard to say since even you you land in SF you will most likely live outside the city so what do you really gain? Hmm..you just got to Portland so give that a go and try to build up a PROFESSIONAL resume, as opposed to "whatever" jobs, so you can look for work before you make another move.

[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.

[steveoscaro]

Thanks for the input everyone. And yeah, I actually spent about 1/4 of my day in Powell's Books

As to the post about living in Portland or somewhere cheaper first, building a real resume, etc., this isn't really a make it or break it career move. It's more about wanting to experience living in a big city. I have enough money to last until the beginning of summer. If I end up with a good job and am liking the city, then great, I'll stay, but if not, I have well-paying summer job as a fallback. My top priority is just to have this experience and to get some writing done. If it actually works out financially, that's just a bonus!

[mayorhaggar]

Wherever you can get a job is probably the best choice, the job market sucks pretty much everywhere including in San Francisco. I have no idea whether it's better in Seattle. I would try and get a job anywhere you can. If you can't get a job in SF then try Portland and Seattle. At least they are all about an hour's flight away so you can visit other cities easily if you end up with a good job somewhere.

I know this is pretty vague advice but it doesn't sound like your work and college credentials will make it easy to find work, I would focus on just getting a job first instead of worrying about whether you're in a city you're 100% happy with.

[steveoscaro]

Just for the record, besides my specifically useless, though generally useful?, degree, I have two years experience as an energy analyst (generally useless, but specifically useful). So, like, mathematically speaking those two things should combine into a solid something, right? And hey, if not, maybe four years experience in commercial fishing will get me a menial job in Seattle. Add to this colorful background 2 weeks spent in a coal mine and one week as the guy that hires those people to give out free samples in grocery stores, and I basically can't fail.
Right?

[zitsky]

Originally Posted by steveoscaro

Just for the record, besides my specifically useless, though generally useful?, degree, I have two years experience as an energy analyst (generally useless, but specifically useful). So, like, mathematically speaking those two things should combine into a solid something, right? And hey, if not, maybe four years experience in commercial fishing will get me a menial job in Seattle. Add to this colorful background 2 weeks spent in a coal mine and one week as the guy that hires those people to give out free samples in grocery stores, and I basically can't fail.
Right?

When you mention that background Portland (and Vestas) immediately comes to mind. Vestas is slimming down but they are still a big player in the renewable energy space. I have a friend working for them in their corporate HQ in Denmark.

I know you said you don't like Portland. I imagine Seattle has other companies in the energy sector. San Francisco is all excited about renewable energy but a lot of the work is happening outside the city. I don't see many solar panels being installed on SF rooftops. You could also look at working for Chevron. They are not in SF, but their offices are not too far away.

[gizmo980]

Originally Posted by steveoscaro

Just for the record, besides my specifically useless, though generally useful?, degree, I have two years experience as an energy analyst (generally useless, but specifically useful). So, like, mathematically speaking those two things should combine into a solid something, right? And hey, if not, maybe four years experience in commercial fishing will get me a menial job in Seattle. Add to this colorful background 2 weeks spent in a coal mine and one week as the guy that hires those people to give out free samples in grocery stores, and I basically can't fail.
Right?

Ask the millions of currently unemployed folks, many of whom have degrees and experience. I had multiple job offers 4-6 weeks out of grad school, back in 2006... now I've got 4 years under my belt, and have been looking for a new job since July (with zero luck). It's not easy for ANYONE right now, so don't count on finding something immediately.

Personally, I think your "resume" sounds more suitable to Seattle - not to mention it's much much cheaper than SF, so you could survive there on less. I love SF to death, but even I dream of escaping to Portland or Seattle one day (possibly soon).

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by steveoscaro

Hi all, been scouring these forums over the last few days, but finally must give in and post my issues for all to comment on, as unoriginal as they may be.

I'm a 25 yr old recent college grad with a writing degree (yeah... I know. So vague.). I've lived in Colorado most of my life, except for a year working in Alaska. I've always wanted to live in the northwest, so here I am in Portland, having arrived yesterday, to check out these cities and hopefully find a place. My first and probably lasting impression of Portland is that it's not quite big enough, too much like Boulder, lacking the energy of a real city. I grew up in small towns, which I loved, but want to experience living in a vibrant city.

So now it's between Seattle and San Francisco. I have traveled through both areas, but not spent much time in either. Which city do you prefer?? If you were 25, and single, which place would you rather live? Kodiak, AK is probably more rainy than Seattle, so I can handle the gloom.
I actually have a somewhat varied resume and will will take whatever decent day job I can get while I whittle away at my writing in the wee hours of the night. Which city has better job prospects (not including service industry jobs)? Is San Francisco really so unaffordable for someone who's just renting? Seems like both cities have a good literary scene.

Thanks for your two cents!

Let's just put it this way and you can judge: I have a good friend in Ca who's son graduated from UCLA with an accounting degree. He was hired right out of college by a major company that went belly up. From there he was hired by a company in Seattle but eventually they had to do lay offs. Here he is, more than a year later and hasn't found a job in L..A or Seattle. His parents are paying his student loans and helping him with his rent.

Good luck, but don't count on getting a job soon.

Nita