Seattlite looking for a new town to move to (Seattle: real estate, rental)

[Driverside]

Originally Posted by 2ForTheSea

I'll trade places with you. I live in a condo with an outdoor heated pool overlooking the beach and ocean. It might be a tight squeeze since it's only 1 bedroom, but I'm ready to head to Washington.
Seriously though, if you have school age kids Florida is not for you. I really don't know why so many people want to move here. It's a fantastic place to visit and I think people usually see it through vacationer eyes. Once you live here for awhile, it loses it's charms. Quickly.

Having grown up in Hollywood FL(less than 10 minutes south of Ft.Lauderdale) I will concur with this statement. Don't subject your offspring to the horrible south florida public school system.

After graduating from college in Fort Lauderdale I immediately packed my car, drove to california put the car on a boat and moved to Honolulu. After meeting my wife, I moved back to the mainland.Now I have a great career in tech (Bay Area) and a beautiful home in San Jose, but I long for a Queen Anne Georgian Colonial.

[kyra04]

I moved to Seattle for college and stayed for 15 years until an opportunity to move to Ventura County CA came up and our family made the move. We stayed for 4 wonderful years until the pull of our PNW family brought us back. Not a day goes by that we don't regret our decision to move back to Seattle-the chilly weather and people are relentlessly depressing. And I am so tired of people telling me that the summers are worth it- 45 days of sun do not make up for 10 months of grey no matter what circular logic you have used to convince yourself of this 'fact'. The coastal climate of SoCal can't be beat, though I'd take Austin or Santa Fe over Seattle as well. Good luck in your decision making!

[aseattleareanative]

Originally Posted by RustinginSeattle

I am a born and raised native (third generation born in Seattle) and the furthest I've ever lived from Seattle is the 7 years I spent in Bremerton. I've travelled the world and this is one of the most beautiful places to be, but I find I just don't care about that anymore. The older I get, the less tolerant I am of cold and I can't take the cold and lack of sun here anymore (I turned on my gas fireplace today and didn't take off my down vest, indoors, until I was cooking dinner).

I know so many people who feel like this is there ideal climate, but I'm just not one of them. Problem is, I don't know where to go with a husband that loves it here and two young children. And I have to admit, that I'm so used to living in this laid back and liberal area, that I don't know if most areas would be too much culture shock for me (Bellevue is almost too uptight for me).

I think California would be a good place for me, but worry about the high cost of living and the rat race. Hawaii's climate is perfect (love tropical weather!!), but again with the cost of living, plus bad schools and I worry about island fever. I think I could handle cold for the winter months, as long as I could look forward to a long hot summer. I'm interested in Austin, but hubby doesn't like the lack of water. I once thought I never wanted to go to Florida, but have been there twice now and love the climate.

I think I could really handle hot weather (I won't even go into a heated pool unless is 85 degrees out or warmer), but I've never lived anywhere where it's hot for months on end. I know most who live here think I'm crazy, but someone must like living in heat - plenty of people do it.

I haven't been to too many places in the US, but I have really enjoyed Boulder CO, Moab UT, San Diego (love most of southern CA everytime I visit, but San Fran is too cold), New Orleans, Key West, Charleston SC, Kauai.

I've always loved city life, but now that I have small children, I feel like I want a more mellow way of life. I want to want to go biking and I would love to swim in a pool that isn't indoors!

Any ideas? Tell me about places you have loved to live (unless it's Alaska!). Have you moved from Seattle and been pleasantly surprised by the place you've moved to and the people that you've met?

It's funny but when I read that I couldn't stop thinking that sounded exactly like me. I cannot wait to move.

[RustinginSeattle]

Aseattleareanative, do you know where you are going? What's your timeline? The hardest part for me is convincing my husband to leave. Unfortunately, he loves it here. However, I'm seeing signs of hope. He has recently taken up biking to work and is suddenly commenting on how cold it is. Yeah! :-)

[LifesPeachy]

Look into Columbus, Ohio. Cheap, vibrant, warm in summer..

[randevan]

Visit some of the other city forums on city-data and get an idea of what others like/don't about their area. I went to the El Paso site (not sure why) and someone claimed that city had the best climate anywhere. There is something for everyone if you look long enough.

[RustinginSeattle]

I just found out that a friend is moving to Lewes, Delaware. I've been reading a bit about it and I'm very intrigued. Winters aren't too extreme, summer starts early and lasts awhile, beach town, potential to explore many areas of the East coast, and lower cost of living. Now to convince the hubby.... Have you had any experience with that area? I've never been to Delaware.

[Inkpoe]

Originally Posted by RustinginSeattle

I just found out that a friend is moving to Lewes, Delaware. I've been reading a bit about it and I'm very intrigued. Winters aren't too extreme, summer starts early and lasts awhile, beach town, potential to explore many areas of the East coast, and lower cost of living. Now to convince the hubby.... Have you had any experience with that area? I've never been to Delaware.

Why not ask the source directly? Ask away: //www.city-data.com/forum/delaware/

[aseattleareanative]

Originally Posted by RustinginSeattle

Aseattleareanative, do you know where you are going? What's your timeline? The hardest part for me is convincing my husband to leave. Unfortunately, he loves it here. However, I'm seeing signs of hope. He has recently taken up biking to work and is suddenly commenting on how cold it is. Yeah! :-)

Sorry I have not gotten back to you sooner, I just saw that you asked me that. I do a ton of research on places that I would like to move to. I keep coming back to moving to the Phoenix area, I have been there in the middle of the summer and the 100+ heat does not concern me. People say that it keeps them inside and it is miserable, for me, if it was 100+ I would get in my car and drive to a lake. When it's really hot like that be creative don't just sit inside and complain about it. People can say the same thing about this area but the heat is easier to be creative in than the rain and cold. I think that being wet and cold is just miserable, I have tried to beat the rain but I always get wet and cold. I am looking out the window right now and it is 58 and rainy, IT'S JUNE WTF!!! And we get nine months of this!!! My goal is to move next summer. I am really bitter and my attitude keeps getting worse, I am always pointing out the negative things about this area to myself. For my own good I need to go! Good luck to you and again sorry for such a late response. I do hope that you will see this and not think I just ignored you.

[Woof]

While you wait to move, try drinking a little red wine or sherry when you're cold. It's the best thing for opening up circulation in the extremities, plus the high iron content of red wine might alleviate any problem with anemia.