Seattle or San Diego: Relocation Advice (Tacoma, Bellevue: apartments, for rent, high crime)

[Mrs.SnowBunny]

Hi guys!

I live in Long Beach CA. And personally Im not a huge fan of CA. Summers are too warm for me. Long Beach is a decent place to live but not the best area. Kind of pricey for how run down/high crime it is.

I work in customer service, have lots of experience in that, make decent money doing it, but would like to advance in my career.

I want to get my associates degree and also a certificate in Medical Billing, Paralegal, or something along those lines that is decent pay and in demand.

I really want to move to WA. I love the weather there, I think its so beautiful, and recently Seattle was named the best ecomony in the nation. I think its expensive in some parts of WA but in CA Im used to things being expensive. WA is where I would like to end up. However school is pretty expensive there compared to some parts of CA.

I could move to San Diego and pay $800 to $1000/month for rent and school would be only $26 per credit. San Diego has decent climate for what I like but its still not WA.

Should I pay more for school to live in WA? Or just move where its affordable like San Diego? Should I go to school in San Diego and move to WA after Im done with school?

Also anything you can tell me about WA I would appreciate it. Thanks

Did you ever visit Washington/Seattle before?lol

I like both Washington state and California a lot. Both in my top 5 for favorite states in the USA and I like the San Francisco bay area, the Seattle area, LA area, and San Diego area.

I do like things about Los Angeles and the LA metro area, but it honestly seems like the vast majority of the LA area is kind of overpriced and dumpy like Long Beach. Is this true?
Other than Santa Monica and Venice Beach what other areas of Los Angeles itself are nice?

What type of weather do you love particularly?

It sounds like for you it is worth it to go to school in WA and try it out.
Im going to school in Seattle particularly for school soon and I like Seattle.
Im not sure what to say about WA that you would appreciate lol. What more do you want to know about Seattle/Washington state?

[Inkpoe]

Honestly, that's a big question that you need to ask yourself and figure what is worth more to you in the long run.

If you do decide to move and live here, you would only be stuck with paying out-of-state resident fees only the first year. But yes, $26 per credit sounds really cheap, I'm almost tempted to ask if you have that information correct, LOL. And if you decide to move to SD (with the intention of moving to Seattle afterwards), just remember: Seattle is around the corner and will still be here when you're finished with school.

[CityGirl72]

HMMMM - Hard Choice. I was born/grew up in Santa Monica, and have family in Long Beach so I'm there regularly.

Seattle and Long Beach (and San Diego) are world's apart in culture and weather.

Right now even though you don't like the heat (which in Long Beach is quite mild really) you don't realize that the majority of the country has massive fluxuations in temperatures and daylight hours.

If you are like me, you've lived in Calif your whole life and the adjustment outside of Calif was massive for me.

I only could take it for 5 years (actually less) until I needed out of Seattle and back to Calif.

But like I've said before - I have kids and it's a different set of priorities and needs in a city then a single college person, you'll have more time and ease to get to know any city you move to.

[happyhunting]

I am moving to Seattle and looked into in-state tuition. You just need to stay a year, establish the drivers license, a residence, job or other proof of residency. You can also not take a full load at the university/college, something like 6 credits or less, anymore than that and you do not qualify for the one year mark of not being enrolled. In that meantime you could get a job in customer service, take language classes or something else to make you marketable. Good luck!

[Mrs.SnowBunny]

When I was comparing prices I actually was comparing resident to resident cost. If I went to WA I would wait the year and go to school as a resident instead of paying the extra money. In San Diego and Orange County areas school is only $26 a credit (about $90 a class since most classes are 3 credits). When I looked at community colleges in WA I think the cost was about $300 for a resident. So I would still be saving $200 by going through school in San Diego. If anyone knows of colleges in WA that are about $30 per credit/$90 per class please let me know.

I actually prefer overcast days, rain showers, cooler weather. I hate when its 90 degrees or more. Anything over 80 degrees is hot to me. Yesterday it was 55 degrees and everyone was saying they were cold and I was loving it. I have never lived in snow before but I dont think WA snows a lot compared to other states like UT or CO or WY. I might actually enjoy the snow. I like 35 to 80 degree temps. And I love when the land is lush and green. Its pretty dry here in CA.

In San Diego I can get a 1 bedroom for $850. Its cheaper since its farther away from the OC. I cant stand the LA area. And Long Beach is almost just as bad. Its made to look great on TV. But most parts are run down with a lot of crime. Aside from being near the beach I dont think there is many good things about Long Beach. Its just not for me.

I think WA would be a good fit for me long term. But I would like to know more about the Seattle area from anyone who already lives there. The good and the bad.

I could go to school in San Diego and then move to WA afterwards. Its not a bad idea. I would just have to pay for 2 moves instead of 1 and moving can be pricey.

How much are nice/decent apartments in or around the Seattle area? Are there any fun things to do? I dont go to bars and clubs but I like other things (like in CA we have Disneyland, Seaworld, the Wild Animal Park...stuff like that). What do people in Seattle do for fun? How is the crime there? Is it safe for the most part? Or is it like LA?

Thanks everyone!

[happyhunting]

In San Diego and Orange County areas school is only $26 a credit (about $90 a class since most classes are 3 credits). When I looked at community colleges in WA I think the cost was about $300 for a resident. So I would still be saving $200 by going through school in San Diego. If anyone knows of colleges in WA that are about $30 per credit/$90 per class please let me know.

I actually prefer overcast days, rain showers, cooler weather. I hate when its 90 degrees or more. Anything over 80 degrees is hot to me.

Oh ok, well I can't believe how cheap that is in CA. In Vegas, it was 50 a credit or 150 a class for community college (4 credit language classes were about 250) and double that at UNLV. We are moving next summer, before our kids start the new school year (I have teenagers). Just one of the many reasons is for the schools. I want them to attend UW and don't want to pay out of state tuition. Of course throw in the weather (I know about HOT here in Vegas) and the culture, diversity, lifestyle and a million other things........we were there this summer and now we are just dying to get back.

[Inkpoe]

Originally Posted by Mrs.SnowBunny

When I was comparing prices I actually was comparing resident to resident cost. If I went to WA I would wait the year and go to school as a resident instead of paying the extra money. In San Diego and Orange County areas school is only $26 a credit (about $90 a class since most classes are 3 credits). When I looked at community colleges in WA I think the cost was about $300 for a resident. So I would still be saving $200 by going through school in San Diego. If anyone knows of colleges in WA that are about $30 per credit/$90 per class please let me know.

I actually just looked up a lot of colleges (Seattle Central CC, Bellevue College, South Seattle CC, Tacoma CC, Olympic CC, Highline CC), it seems the average is actually more 87-89 per credit-- and the more you have, the cheaper it gets. So a full-time student would be paying under 1K. At least luckily for these students, not only are there opportunity for pell grants and those kinds of things, but also you can pay in increments to help break it down.

If you rather save money, then stay down there and come up when you're finish with college. But is that really what you want? Honestly, I don't know many students here who were bothered by the high costs-- it is what it is. They were here to live and learn.

To Bunny: It sounds like Seattle/Washington state is a good fit for you for the weather/climate reasons, greener landscapes.

I also like 35-80 degrees and the PCNW seems great for that. There are about 15 days per year in Seattle that might get below 35 or above 80 in total, but it still seems like a good fit for you if you like moderate temperatures like that.

Ironically, Seattle doesn’t get much snow(sometimes almost no snow per year because it is at a lower elevation), but a few hours away in the higher elevations is one of the snowiest places in the USA and has national/world snow records! What a difference elevation makes. There are even some glaciers there and it can snow in April, May, June, September, October etc. in the highest elevations.

Personally, I love Seattle just like I like San Francisco bay area and many places have its positives and negatives.
Im surprised to hear how dumpy so much of Los Angeles is, especially for some of the great things about that metro area! It sounds like 98% of Los Angele sucks, and that the only decent areas within city limits is Santa Monica, Venice Beach, and maybe a few other neighborhoods.

Seattle is a bit more affordable than San Francisco , Los Angeles, and maybe roughly equal to San Diego. There are great 1bedrooms apartment deals here for as cheap as $600-800 a month.
Personally, I do think Seattle has many fun things to do for many different types of lifestyles. Just like in many different places, different people have different tastes for how to look for fun.
Most of Seattle is relatively safe. Definitely seems safer than most of San Francisco and LA but actually its not as safe as most of San Diego!

Overall, it seems like you a Californian that would like the PCNW a lot and there are other Californians that like it too. But of course there are others from there that feel the opposite about that for the PCNW such as City girl.

[Mrs.SnowBunny]

To happy hunting: Yes Vegas is way too hot. My friend just moved there. She got a 3 bedroom for $500 a month. However she hasnt found a good job and she says it's over 90 degrees by 6am. Not worth that heat to me! If you are looking at affordable schools just check out some schools in San Diego. Some of them advertise that the rate is $26 per credit (around $90 per class) even for out of state residents. There is several school options and they all seemed affordable. I dont know how many bedrooms you would need but rent starts at about $700 on apartments I looked at. There is also pricey places too. School prices is the only reason I want to live in San Diego. Well, and there is a lot of family-fun things to do there too. If I wasnt going to go to school I would head to WA right now.