Phoenix to Seattle - Should I?

[jennieandayla]

I know this is late. but I am doing the EXACT same thing. I am from the seattle area (island county more specfically) grew up there. but then dad retired from the navy, and he decided on phoenix. i was still a minor and had no choice. lol.
13 years later, im 30 years old and tired of phoenix. i hate it here so much. it doesnt get cold enough in the winter. it gets too hot in the summer. there is not enough rain. i LOVE RAIN. and there is NO snow, which i love even more than rain.

I want to move back again. But I am worried about the economy. Im a nurse. a single mom. and i have no problem renting for the rest of my life if thats what it takes to live in 'that perfect corner of the US'


Have you made your move? did it go well? how are things now?

[BATCAT]

Originally Posted by jennieandayla

I know this is late. but I am doing the EXACT same thing. I am from the seattle area (island county more specfically) grew up there. but then dad retired from the navy, and he decided on phoenix. i was still a minor and had no choice. lol.
13 years later, im 30 years old and tired of phoenix. i hate it here so much. it doesnt get cold enough in the winter. it gets too hot in the summer. there is not enough rain. i LOVE RAIN. and there is NO snow, which i love even more than rain.

I want to move back again. But I am worried about the economy. Im a nurse. a single mom. and i have no problem renting for the rest of my life if thats what it takes to live in 'that perfect corner of the US'


Have you made your move? did it go well? how are things now?

The last reply in this thread is six years ago! I don't think the earlier posters are took likely to return at this point. (Though I guess you never know)

Seattle is expensive, but it's not NYC or SF. If I were you I would start by getting a feel for the job listings and apartment listings and doing some rough numbers. When people talk about cost of living in Seattle, they're usually talking mainly about housing. The rest of it is not that different from most other cities around the US.

[DevanXL]

Originally Posted by jennieandayla

I know this is late. but I am doing the EXACT same thing. I am from the seattle area (island county more specfically) grew up there. but then dad retired from the navy, and he decided on phoenix. i was still a minor and had no choice. lol.
13 years later, im 30 years old and tired of phoenix. i hate it here so much. it doesnt get cold enough in the winter. it gets too hot in the summer. there is not enough rain. i LOVE RAIN. and there is NO snow, which i love even more than rain.

I want to move back again. But I am worried about the economy. Im a nurse. a single mom. and i have no problem renting for the rest of my life if thats what it takes to live in 'that perfect corner of the US'


Have you made your move? did it go well? how are things now?

Have you looked at work opportunities? Are you looking to live in seattle or live somewhere else in western washington?

[CrazyDonkey]

Originally Posted by CoastieTX

My situation is quite similar to yours so I thought I would respond.

I grew up in Spokane, graduated from Eastern, and left in '97 to Texas to start my career. To make a long story short, it took me exactly ten years to finally transfer back to my homestate of Washington - Bellingham, specifically. Texas did grow on me, but like you, I grew tired of the heat, the drought, etc. and in the back of my mind, couldn't shake the idea of hopefully getting back up to Washington for all quality of life issues you are mentioning.

I've been here in Bellingham for five months now and have very, very mixed feelings about everything. Although Bellingham isn't "home," it is where all my friends settled and it is the place I've always wanted to end up and settle down.

So why the mixed feelings?

In a nutshell, it's the outrageous cost of living on Washington's west coast. As you get a little older, you are probably going to want to settle down and buy a house and believe me, if you're at this stage, you are going to regret moving back to Washington in a big way. You mentioned you're only 23 so maybe this doesn't apply to you and you're content with just renting.

A hypothetical response:

How much of that is due to fewer employment opportunities and advancement prospects, along with higher housing prices, in Bellingham? I'm pretty familiar with Bellingham, having lived there for about five years (I was, in fact, born there, but did not live there as a child past the age of three), so do see how one could outgrow it - ultimately, it is still largely an overgrown college town, Cheney on steroids, if you will.

The cost-of-living of the Puget Sound basin (Olympia to Bellingham) is only expensive compared to places like Texas or Arizona (which while having a lower cost of living, also tend to have lower wages), but not when compared to the Bay Area or L.A. The reality is that there is no area that is not, to one degree or another, a mixed blessing. It's just a matter of which blessings (or curses) matter more to somebody, and which matter less. You chose to move "where all my friends settled" - that looks to be a "blessing" that turned out to be a "curse". You might consider moving to where either the housing is cheaper or the wages are higher.