Have a fascination with moving to Seattle yet have never been nor know anything about it. (Bellevue: middle-class, homes)

[mrman78]

Ha, this same thing happened to me. However, I think my curiosity was piqued due to the varying topography and just the geography and geology of the PNW in general. Also, I grew up in England and it's a pretty similar climate (other than Summer, where you are usually guaranteed at least a month of warmth and sunshine here). I visited, fell in love, then quit my job and moved with savings four years later. Love it here, even if it does get a little warm inside when it gets into the 90s outside (not that common). But that's what portable AC is for if you are uncomfortable!

[angelenogirl]

I also come from a large city (L.A.) and had the same Seattle fixation, without ever having visited. Now that I've actually been there my fixation has become hardcore obsession. The place is just amazing. I think some people just know when it's going to be the right fit for them.

[bmorefreespirit]

not sure if you made the decision to move or not, but as someone who moved to seattle this year from new jersey, I can totally associate with your sentiment and I say go for it! i had never been to even visit the pacific northwest, just some research on wikipedia and stories from friends who lived there/ visited. but i was fed up living in nj and just bored with life so i found a job on craigslist and got a job offer. my first day in seattle was looking for an apartment.

to be honest, there's no reason not to come. the natural beauty is astounding. there are mountain ranges to the west and east and a 14,000 ft volcano (mt. rainier) to the southeast and all of them can be seen on a clear day. almost any recreational activity from surfing to mountaineering is available year-round. there are a lot of complaints about seattle freeze, but to be honest i find people here to be much friendlier and nicer than the east coast. the summers are just perfect, where it's 75-85 everyday and sunny for 3 months straight. the clouds and rain can be depressing, but honestly you get used to it unless you have SAD. the rain here is often drizzly, and there are many days that are cloudy and not raining or partly cloudy which isn't too bad.

you're too young to live with what ifs. i say you just go for it and start looking for jobs in the seattle area. worst case scenario is that you move back or move somewhere else after a couple years.

[bmorefreespirit]

oh i forgot. bremerton, ballard, and west seattle seem to match your description of a place you're looking for. once you start apt searching, i'd check out those places.

[vsbladz]

Interestingly, I am am moving to Seattle this weekend, and I have NEVER visited Seattle in my life. All I know is that I have a job there. So I packed and moving now. My wife and kids move this coming summer in 2013.
Just hoping for the best that I will like it.

Any advice?

[Ira500]

Originally Posted by vsbladz

Interestingly, I am am moving to Seattle this weekend, and I have NEVER visited Seattle in my life. All I know is that I have a job there. So I packed and moving now. My wife and kids move this coming summer in 2013.
Just hoping for the best that I will like it.

Any advice?

Buy a raincoat with a hood.. Take advantage, whenever you can, of Seattle's natural beauty. Get out of the house, even in crappy, rainy weather. Have the wife and kids visit and have fun in Seattle before they move here.

[Relegate]

Originally Posted by Ira500

For people from big cities like NYC , Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Boston, etc, Seattle is a whole different planet. Many neighborhoods 15-20 minutes from downtown are single family houses with yards, and big trees all over the place. These are neighborhoods within the city. Even the so called " slums" of Seattle are pretty middle class lokking compared to the slums of the cities above.
People do go to the beach in Seattle. Puget Sound is godawful cold to swim in, but some people do swim in it. More frequently, people swim in nearby lakes like Lake Washington, Lake Sammamish, and Beaver Lake. And very few of them have sandy beaches like you find in NY. Mostly grassy lawn leading right up to the water.
But if you don't go to the beach to swim, there are plenty of beaches to walk on, look at, etc. But they're not like the beaches I grew up going to in New Jersey. They tend to be more rocky, with driftwood, but plenty of sea life. And no boardwalk that smells more of sausage sandwiches than the ocean. Alki in West Seattle has more of that "beach town" feel than any other place around here.

"Many neighborhoods 15-20 minutes from downtown are single family houses with yards, and big trees all over the place."

This is exactly right. Moving here from San Francisco -where it's urban, dense, and bustling virtually throughout city limits - I was amazed by how quickly the "Big City" feel seemed to drop off in Seattle. I've learned to love it, though. Neighborhoods like Wallingford, Fremont, Ballard, Columbia City, etc. do not have a big city feel and there are plenty of houses with yards (instead of densely packed rowhouses and corner stores, like SF), but these Seattle neighborhoods are walkble and provide plenty of great amenities, plus close proximity to the urban core. I do miss the big city excitement of living in San Francisco, but I appreciate what Seattle offers.

To the OP: Seattle is so much more mellow than NYC - I'd look into Capitol Hill and Queen Anne first, but if those are not removed enough from the City, try Wallingford, Fremont, Ballard, Columbia City, Beacon Hill, or Roosevelt.

[flyingsaucermom]

Originally Posted by Apathizer

deevel,

That's seems to be surprisingly common. Seattle actually has a very high transatory population; many people seem to live here for less than about 5 yrs, then move. I'm not sure why, but it's probably related to the weather (overcast) and the clique-ish, insular social atmosphere (lots of threads on this, I won't go into detail).

For some nebulous reason, many people harbor a certain mystique for this city. It could be the varied geography, and that we have a good balance of rural amenities and outdoor recreation. For those of us long-term residents, it's sort of difficult to understand.

I might have a partial answer on this one. I just read Class Matters by NYT reporters, about the class structures of the US. It mentions a group called "relos" or the relocating, usually describing upper middle class employees of larger, multinational corporations that get moved around the country every 5-10 years. It mentioned Seattle (Samammish) as one of the communities filled with these "relos". Unfortunately, it appears we'll be part of this statistic (big nod to Microsoft). Again, this is probably just one explaination, but it is obviously significant enough to be mentioned in the book.

[Hemlock140]

True, there are number of people we have met here in Sammamish that relocated and then left in 5-6 years as their job was transferred. We have a high percentage of Microsoft and Boeing people here, but then also many self-employed.

[DP79]

Get ready to be cold, wet, and miserable for 8-9 months out of the year.