SF, Portland OR Seattle Living? (Oakland, Hayward: school, college, tornado)

[MLarma]

Hi all,

My husband and I will be deciding on our next relocation and need advice. We went to school in NOLA (loved it) and have since lived in Balitmore, MD, Cincinnati and Columbus, OH. He's a midwesterner (Omaha) and I am a Jersey native.

We'd like to try to West Coast given access to nature, better weather and slower pace of living. I am a Peace Corps type who is into social work, yoga, theology and he is a doc. He likes more fast paced urban settings and I am more laid back and thinking more future oriented (no children yet).

I like diversity but have gotten used to the midwest.... thoughts?? We recently visited SF and loved it also. Very much dig the European roots, ability to walk places and sunshine in Feb! But, is it safe...earthquakes I mean and are people as flighty as everyone makes them out to be?

thanks.

[jade408]

Earthquakes are infrequent. I have lived in CA for 25+ years. I have experiences one major quake (89). One medium quake (86, limited damage). And a few mini quakes (10 or so where absolutely nothing happened other than papers shifting. The mini quakes feel like a train going by in a building next to the train tracks. The medium quake was enough shaking for a couple of things to fall down.

Major quakes are more like a once every 40 year occurrence. Yo are more likely to be affected by a tornado or hurricane in everyday life.

[mayorhaggar]

Seattle has earthquake risks too, it's just less frequent there and I don't think they've had any high-profile quakes like the Bay Area. I seem to remember a quake hit there somewhat recently that shut down a bridge or tunnel that they had to reinforce, though I don't really remember well. There's some fault there that has been very quiet there but could create a truly massive quake, but apparently they hit super rarely, like every 2000 years or something. Portland I don't know, it might be on the same fault.

Yes quakes happen in the Bay Area pretty frequently but they're still super rare. We are due for a quake on the Hayward fault which could be destructive but from what I've read it wouldn't have the potential for strength and damage that the San Andreas fault or that fault in Seattle have...it could still be bad, but it could also lay dormant for another 50 or 100 years. Honestly I don't think you should worry about it much, they very rarely happen and can't be predicted. There has been a lot of building and housing reinforcement here in about the last 40 years to reduce quake damage, it's not foolproof but at least it's been done. Hurricanes, tornados, lighting storms and snowstorms are definitely more deadly if you live somewhere that experiences them, and you don't really get them at all in the Bay Area.

[sliverbox]

I'd say if you're coming from the Midwest " slower pace of life" is most definitely not what SF is all about. Its an extremely expensive, highly competitive city. As a result its pretty much go-go all the time. If you want slower pace of life- you might want to head to the South- Like NC, etc.

[MLarma]

Thank you,

I feel relieved about those statistics and yes, we have fled flood/hurricanes in the south so I understand every region has its risks. I am sorry if anyone was offended by the "flighty" comment-- not my impressions at all, just warnings.

Only region we both agree on is N.California/ Pacific Northwest so trying to discover what's best for both of us. Thank you again!

[mayorhaggar]

Keep in mind though that there's a lot of areas and cities and so on in the Bay Area. SF is definitely pretty hectic and dense and noisy and a little chaotic, and there's a lot of highway traffic in the area, but the suburbs are a lot quieter plus they have sunnier weather. I live in Rockridge in Oakland which is pretty quiet and peaceful compared to SF, but it is pretty walkable because of all the shops on College Ave and the grocery stores nearby.

I've never been to Portland or Seattle but I'd like to go sometime, so I can't really comment on them compared with SF, but sounds like they are smaller and more suburban places in terms of urban layout. I've been to Vancouver which I liked, it's definitely very laid back and feels quieter and more peaceful than SF, but I don't think I'd like the weather there year-round and while I liked the West End a lot the rest of the city was kind of blah.

You can't really beat the access to nature on the West Coast if you're comparing it to the major urban areas on the East Coast. There's lots of parks and undeveloped land in or near the Bay Area, and Tahoe is just 4 hours away. I would imagine Seattle and Portland are even better for that because they are smaller urban areas surrounded by even more undeveloped land.

[mayorhaggar]

As for the people here, it really depends on you I think and how outgoing you are. I grew up in Florida and lived in Chicago for a bit, and I think people in SF are a lot friendlier to strangers than people back East, especially somewhere like Chicago or other big northern cities where people barely acknowledge you or look you in the eye when you're shopping or asking a stranger for info--in SF people smile and really help you out. In FL where I grew up there are a lot of people from NYC and they are really loud and honestly they can really irritate me when I go home, people in the Bay Area just deal with one another without being obnoxious, though that can mean they're maybe passive-aggressive more than aggressive-aggressive. And Southerners can be annoying too, they're not so loud but they can be really judgmental and nosy in ways people in CA aren't--I find Midwesterners to be nosy and judgmental too.

I think people can be kind of hard to get to know here, lots of people work or commute a lot so they feel tired all the time or don't have time to do much. And people aren't super outgoing here, but I find that in Rockridge strangers on the street will say hi while in SF they ignore you unless you ask them something, but SF is a big city after all. But there are about 7 million people in the whole Bay Area so there's lots of different people in the area. I think people can be a little snobby but it's never bothered me too much and I hate snobby people, you find snobs anywhere. SF is too full of yuppies now who can be annoying but Oakland at least isn't that bad in that regard.