Contemplating Move from Central California to Seattle's Eastside suburbs....... Thoughts..... (Bellevue: hotel, homes)

[Wilson502]

Ive been reading these boards for a few days and have found some insightful information, even been reading the boards in my own state. Just to give a brief background, Im a 25 year old, White, Educated Male, I was originally born in phoenix but family moved to central cal and i grew up in Fresno. I consider the central cal the "armpit" of california. The air is dirty, its a ag/farm community (very conservative, and low paying jobs), unemployment is always high, (right now its at 17%).

I was laid off from my job as an IT manager for a medical office (Electronic medical records by GE) I have about 4-5 years experience in the IT field, and i got readmitted back to Cal State Fresno, to finish my B.S. In Business administration with a Focus in Information Systems, I plan on going back for my masters shortly after finishing my Bachelors Degree. If i do move to the state it would be with a girlfriend most likely. Anyway, Im really attracted to the east side seattle area, the unemployment rate seems low, the populace seems educated, and i also have a friend who lives up in Redmond, who grew up where i did, and enjoys it very much living there. I actually want to take a vacation and drive up the coast and eventually visit WA for myself. Anyway, I would like some suggestions from you folks, I find Orange County and the bay area far too expensive (these r the only places with any sort of IT work right now). I really like the kirkland, redmond, snowammish area from what i can gather, but id like to hear real input if all the things i read about this area are true, or just another fallacy. Any input is appreciated!

[scirocco22]

Just out of curiosity since I'm not familiar with "Snowammish," is that your friend's description of the area between Snoqualmie and Sammamish?

[Hemlock140]

Originally Posted by scirocco22

Just out of curiosity since I'm not familiar with "Snowammish," is that your friend's description of the area between Snoqualmie and Sammamish?

OK, so we have some odd names to our cities. I live in Sammamish, and we have been very happy here since we moved from the Bay Area in 1993. Our neighbor across the street, next door on one side, and a few doors down are all from the Bay Area. Aside from the rain and trees, it seems like the Walnut Creek/Lafayette/San Ramon area. With Amazon, Microsoft and others there always seem to be IT jobs available. We're still a lot less expensive than the Bay Area, though not as big a gap as before the economy flopped. A lot of small businesses have gone under in this area,
and some of the cities have had to lay off staff, but for the most part it
doesn't seem as bad as many other areas of the country.

Where I work we have had several IT openings recently, the last was for a software developer starting at $70k.

[Wilson502]

Thank you for the responses. My apologies, scirocco22 i meant Sammamish (Thank you for putting this in the right forum). I noticed this was a nice area just outside the east side, and found some reasonably priced properties in the area. Bjsjoe, thats great to hear some real input to the area and the culture. The Central Valley of this state just doesnt fit my goals in life, and i cant stand a lot of the close minded people here, the dirty air, the ridiculously hot summers, and the outrageously high energy costs, and low paying jobs in this area, and the flood of illegal immigrants coming to this state. And thats great to hear that the seattle area has rode this out much better than a lot of other places thats for sure. One question I do have is this. How well are California State University Bachelors Degrees looked at in terms of Employers? Positive? Negative? or It really doesnt matter?

[wsugrad03]

I live in Sammamish (Pine Lake area) and work as a software engineer. We considered moving to the Bay Area and Monterey, but just couldn't find any financial common sense in the move. Also considered a move to Orange County, but backed out for similar reasons. Overall, we really like Sammamish. Great schools, very safe, nice parks, nice community and amenities. Homes are pricy (~550k), but there's smaller homes in the mid-400s. The commute to Bellevue and Seattle are not bad at all. I find the commute to be easier the closer you live to the I-90 corridor.

The IT/Software jobs in Seattle is probably the only market that's hiring right now, so there's plenty of opportunity on the east side. Plenty of these folks live in Sammamish.

The people in Sammamish are down to earth and lean more conservative than neighboring Seattle. People are generally upper middle class, but there are some surprisingly wealthy and affluent families that live here. If you're a car metaphor person, the typical car in Sammamish is an Acura MDX. The only negative I would say about the greater Puget Sound area is the weather. The constant gray weather is a buzz kill, and you have to learn to live with it. My wife is from SoCal, so we have to take regular vacations to California to get some sun during the long gray season.

[Wilson502]

wsugrad03, thank you for the input that really puts things into prospective. And thats perfectly ok if the area leans more conservative, (Im an independent). I just cant tolerate ignorance and outright stupidity, (doesnt really matter really which party). Yes Im a big domestic car enthusiast, I drive a 2006 Chrsyler 300c with the 5.7 Hemi v8 (averages about 26 mpg on the highway). The cylinder shutoff is nice, but if i moved here, i would like to get a car like a volt as a daily driver (since most of my driving would be in town and slower speeds, an keep a car like my 300 as a weekend warrior/pleasure vehicle and modify to my vehicle to my hearts content (turbocharger).

[Hemlock140]

Originally Posted by Wilson502

One question I do have is this. How well are California State University Bachelors Degrees looked at in terms of Employers? Positive? Negative? or It really doesnt matter?

Boeing seems to like UW for engineers, other than that it doesn't matter.
My BA is from Cal State Hayward (and I live in Sammamish near Sahalee).

I agree with wsugrad03 about the people here, the only real bad part is that many of them by their kid a brand new car when they turn 16. Still nice people though, and they are not all rich. My neighborhood for example has two self employed, a teacher/coach, floor salesman, truck driver, a few Boeing people, and probably the rest work at Microsoft. And as for cars, 8 of 10 are silver. You do see a few classics running around in summer.

[Wilson502]

Well, ill definintely have to plan a road trip to the PNW this summer and see it all for myself and make the ultimate judgement for myself if this is the right place for me or not.

[Wilson502]

Ive been lookin at prices for flights/hotel/car for a 5-7 day trip, an the prices arent as bad as i thought...... Since I have never visited the Pacific Northwest or Seattle at all....... Any suggestions to some cool places to go hang out, cool food joints, etc, or any sort of popular attractions in the area? I like to hear feedback from locals as i find this to be the best indicators.