Seattle Transplants: Love It or Hate It? (Bellevue, Rainier: fit in, job market)

[thatguy950]

Originally Posted by Tall Traveler

Seems like liberals love Seattle and conservatives not so much. I would add I'm Libertarian and I would say that Seattle is Liberal/Libertarian. I wuld prefer Libertarian/Conservative say like what you have in Arizona myself and have considered moving there many times. But I do support the recent legalization of pot and marriage equality. I just don't agree with the liberal attitude about conficating an ever increasing portion of your personal income to give to non-workers. Paradoxically, Washington state has no state income tax and Arizona does....so opposite of what one would expect.

I agree completely, and do find it somewhat odd AZ has income tax and WA does not, but the costs of living are still exponentially higher up here as a whole.

I have to agree with you on marriage and marijuana legalization as well, as I do consider myself more libertarian than conservative. I do not believe the government should tell us what to do, when to do it, and how much we can do; that especially applies to the 2A in my opinion. I definitely am not a liberal, I want to be left alone by the government and wish it would operate in a minimalistic nature. That attitude, however, is not commonplace around here I have found, this area seems to embrace a "tax and ban" mindset with ever-increasing reach in the government (both state and fed.). One thing I hear here more than anywhere else, and makes my ears hurt, are the "fair share" ramblings, ugh. That's for another thread though.

[Seacove]

Originally Posted by Tall Traveler

Seems like liberals love Seattle and conservatives not so much. I would add I'm Libertarian and I would say that Seattle is Liberal/Libertarian. I wuld prefer Libertarian/Conservative say like what you have in Arizona myself and have considered moving there many times. But I do support the recent legalization of pot and marriage equality. I just don't agree with the liberal attitude about conficating an ever increasing portion of your personal income to give to non-workers. Paradoxically, Washington state has no state income tax and Arizona does....so opposite of what one would expect.

Well, let's do this. As you can see below, the example you cite, Arizona, is ranked far higher at #19 in total taxes while Washington State is ranked at #32. We have no state income tax but we also support programs that assist the less fortunate. We also fund a very expensive ferry system that is integral to how we live and we need to replace a beautiful bridge that actually floats on Lake Washington. We do this while also supporting same sex marriage (freedom!) and marijuana (freedom!).

At the same time, on another thread, someone is looking for an education program for their son that compares to a private program they have now with only nine kids in the class. I would like that for every child but the cost would be in the stratosphere. Arizona tends to have a lot of retirees who are not inclined to fund education initiatives. This will slowly hurt them because it self-perpetuates as fewer companies move there because it is not family friendly, the overall population ages, their dependence on tourism increases, etc. That aside, I don't want to discourage anyone from moving there as all moves to Arizona, or any other state, help our local traffic.

Anyone could find fault with the way the state spends money because everyone's priorities are going to be different, but we are uniquely located in a geography that requires us to be very protective of the surrounding water, provide transportation over that water, provide education that allows our economy to grow, provides support for those less fortunate, is open to creative people and is broadly welcoming, including same sex marriage (which may provide another cottage industry of its own).

While I don't necessarily want to encourage everyone to come, (traffic ) and am grateful for the rain that helps to marginally limit growth, I'll defend it all day. Arizona (or any other state) waits for you.

CNN/Money: Taxes state by state

[Adrian71]

I lived the first 32 years of my life in Michigan. Lost my job and ended up moving to metro D.C., where we stayed for seven years. We've been in Seattle now for nearly two and a half years. I don't think we'll be moving again. We're pretty happy here. Seattle was love at first sight for us, and it feels like I'm finally home, after feeling like I was in constant limbo in D.C. Michigan was a great state in its own way, but I have no desire to ever go back.

I love the climate and the natural beauty here (I've always loved clouds and rain; I miss the big summer thunderstorms in the Midwest, but I'm glad to be done with the bitter cold Michigan winters AND the sticky hot D.C. summers), and I appreciate that people tend to leave you alone. I don't care for the political scene here, but I've checked out from politics almost completely, so that part is fairly irrelevant to me.

[seattleskier]

My significant other and I grew up in New England and moved here 2.5 years ago. We love it and plan to stay for a long time. The excellent skiing, mountain biking and hiking in the area is a huge attraction. We both also like the city and have found very good jobs in the area. The temperate climate is also really nice. No chipping ice off your windshield every morning or sweltering summer humidity. The winter days are short and cloudy, but it is pretty close to heaven for me.

[Tall Traveler]

Originally Posted by Seacove

Well, let's do this. As you can see below, the example you cite, Arizona, is ranked far higher at #19 in total taxes while Washington State is ranked at #32. We have no state income tax but we also support programs that assist the less fortunate. We also fund a very expensive ferry system that is integral to how we live and we need to replace a beautiful bridge that actually floats on Lake Washington. We do this while also supporting same sex marriage (freedom!) and marijuana (freedom!).

At the same time, on another thread, someone is looking for an education program for their son that compares to a private program they have now with only nine kids in the class. I would like that for every child but the cost would be in the stratosphere. Arizona tends to have a lot of retirees who are not inclined to fund education initiatives. This will slowly hurt them because it self-perpetuates as fewer companies move there because it is not family friendly, the overall population ages, their dependence on tourism increases, etc. That aside, I don't want to discourage anyone from moving there as all moves to Arizona, or any other state, help our local traffic.

Anyone could find fault with the way the state spends money because everyone's priorities are going to be different, but we are uniquely located in a geography that requires us to be very protective of the surrounding water, provide transportation over that water, provide education that allows our economy to grow, provides support for those less fortunate, is open to creative people and is broadly welcoming, including same sex marriage (which may provide another cottage industry of its own).

While I don't necessarily want to encourage everyone to come, (traffic ) and am grateful for the rain that helps to marginally limit growth, I'll defend it all day. Arizona (or any other state) waits for you.

CNN/Money: Taxes state by state

I don't really disagree with any of your comments and I'm amazed at how well our state functions given no state income tax and reasonable property taxes. But I question that CNN/Money ratings for state taxes. I moved from Oregon to Washington and saved about $20K/year in state income taxes and had lower property taxes...and according to that article, Oregon pays less state taxes per $1K than Washington. Wyming has no state income taxes but is rated 3rd highest taxes overall by CNN...no freaking way.

[DisRunR]

All this talk about taxes, rain, clouds, grey gloomy skies, no wonder Mary Jo Wanna is legal
Kidding.....

[Hemlock140]

Originally Posted by DisRunR

All this talk about taxes, rain, clouds, grey gloomy skies, no wonder Mary Jo Wanna is legal
Kidding.....

Actually, I would attribute that to the fact that the Hempfest held every year in Seattle has been so welcomed by the local politicians, with 150,000 people over 3 days. Many are coming in from other states,
but they have done a good job promoting the initiative that passed. Again, while this is considered a very liberal area, there are a lot of libertarian tendencies.

[hardtostarboard]

Interested to see where this thread goes. I think a person's enjoyment/contentment of an area (and life in general) have much more to do with the person in question than the area in question (e.g. - that evergray user on this site).

[Rotollo]

Originally Posted by thatguy950

2A

What does 2A mean?

Thanks.

[nowitsshowtime]

I've visited Seattle area 3 times already. First two times I liked it, this past time I didn't. The weather was constant clear, sprinkles, clear, sprinkles. I started to get excited thinking how great the weather would be to go on some long bike rides, and then realized how unpleasant it would be as it rains midway through the ride.

Same thing for climbing outdoors. It just seems to be too much hit or miss.