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I think it's well documented that I'm not a huge fan of Seattle myself. With that said, I never regretted my stay there, and if I had the chance I would move back. There are many things in Seattle that rubbed me the wrong way, but at the end of the day I know there are just worse places I could end up. I also enjoyed what Seattle has done for my career. If it weren't for Seattle, I would have never have been able to come to Silicon Valley where I'm working now. So in terms of career, Seattle has done wonders for me, and probably will do more wonders if I ever had a situation where I had to move back. With that said, Seattle just created a lot of personal annoyances for me, due to it being more of a big city kind of built for nature lovers and all. I think my main point of contention is that I'm not an introvert and I love to go out and do things. As a result, my social life in Seattle kind of suffered, but I did meet a lot of cool people in my stay there as well. Many whom I still communicate with now that I have left Seattle. On the flip side, I did run into annoying people, and sometimes those experiences may have left a bad impression on me overall.
I think Seattle is a place where you kind of have to find your center. Atlanta is very similar in that you really have to find an area that you just vibe well with. For me it was Bellevue. Once I started kind of staying in Bellevue, my experience got much better.
I do think if you want an interesting single lifestyle though, Seattle just falls short. And this is a big issue for me, because I'm a super bachelor. seems like people who enjoy Seattle are typically already married. Which is fine, Seattle seems to really promote a quiet suburban family lifestyle, as they have very few concessions for people who are single.
You fell for the tech-money draw and that's understandable. Your advice is best taken with the added proviso that when people make the visits they should talk to some of the weirdos who live in the neighborhoods, not the offices or downtown or at the shops. That is the best way to discover if the place will work out for them or at least prepare them for the exclusivity they will encounter and give them a head's up on the proper way to speak and the correct views to speak on with the Seattle native.
There is very little to redeem Seattle for its present incarnation as a "World-Class, 1st-rate Global City so full of Charm and Diversity", and the city's past was best known by those who liked living indoors most of the year while composting their gardens. There is very little charm there nor integrated diversity. The people cannot really socialize w/o marijuana doses or liquor shots and these days when they do deign to be social it is parochially or 'informatively' (that is, instructing others how to behave, what to think). There is a reason Seattle was such a magnet for runaway/throwaway youth and homeless adults and why booze and luxury/sin is so taxed and why Heroin use was a staple amongst the younger set there. Who else would go and stay there? Nowadays the lure is money and it's grand!
Now, I expect the usual haters enraptured by the joys of Seattle to descend with the usual rebukes, not that any of that will be successful. Maybe that insecurity and need to bubble, to lie blatantly about their cherished place, is part of the problem?
Haha what a ridiculous post. Why is a comment from someone who loves Seattle somehow a lie, but yours is supposed to be fact? News flash, your comments are just your opinion from your own experience here, absolutely no more valid than what a pro Seattle person would have to say. You make wild generalizations that are just too over the top, because my own experience shows people here being great, with no more trouble getting to know people and hanging out with people than anywhere else I lived. I happen to love it here, it is an amazing place in my opinion. And yes, my opinion on this is every bit as valid as yours!
Families have an entirely different experience than young, single people, so just wanted to caution readers to take the opinions presented on CD in context. For example, married people with kids don't use marijuana or alcohol to socialize, nor do we care about clubs. Seattle is a fantastic place to raise kids, and the positives truly outweigh the negatives (IF you can afford it).
I wish it was sunnier, cheaper, closer to DC and Boston, closer to SE beaches, less congested and with a warmer & more neighborly culture...but no place is perfect. There are so many wonderful things...beautiful scenery, comfortable temperatures almost year long, less materialism and no McMansions, close to BC and Vancouver, close to Portland and Oregon beaches, great walking access to necessities (grocery stores, post office, libraries) in most neighborhoods, polite people who are highly educated and generally aware of human rights and environmental issues, schools filled with generally nice/smart kids who will likely have the ambition to attend college, lots of things to do, a huge array of educational and cultural experiences...etc...
Last edited by west seattle gal; 10-16-2013 at 02:16 PM..
I think it's well documented that I'm not a huge fan of Seattle myself. With that said, I never regretted my stay there, and if I had the chance I would move back. There are many things in Seattle that rubbed me the wrong way, but at the end of the day I know there are just worse places I could end up. I also enjoyed what Seattle has done for my career. If it weren't for Seattle, I would have never have been able to come to Silicon Valley where I'm working now. So in terms of career, Seattle has done wonders for me, and probably will do more wonders if I ever had a situation where I had to move back. With that said, Seattle just created a lot of personal annoyances for me, due to it being more of a big city kind of built for nature lovers and all. I think my main point of contention is that I'm not an introvert and I love to go out and do things. As a result, my social life in Seattle kind of suffered, but I did meet a lot of cool people in my stay there as well. Many whom I still communicate with now that I have left Seattle. On the flip side, I did run into annoying people, and sometimes those experiences may have left a bad impression on me overall.
I think Seattle is a place where you kind of have to find your center. Atlanta is very similar in that you really have to find an area that you just vibe well with. For me it was Bellevue. Once I started kind of staying in Bellevue, my experience got much better.
I do think if you want an interesting single lifestyle though, Seattle just falls short. And this is a big issue for me, because I'm a super bachelor. seems like people who enjoy Seattle are typically already married. Which is fine, Seattle seems to really promote a quiet suburban family lifestyle, as they have very few concessions for people who are single.
I agree. This has been my experience too, as a bachelorette. I guess my biggest disappointment and shock was being told (by statistics and from what I could gather from those who've lived in Seattle) that Seattle is a mecca for singles in their 20's and that this city has tons of social gathering venues and a strong sense of arts & culture. So far, it's been really hard to even make friends my own age and way harder to date. Haven't had much luck at all with Meetup.com events. I heard of Seattle Freeze before I came, but I thought that was just regarding the way people interact with each other (passive aggressive, flakey, etc.). I didn't know it also meant that people just don't go out and they stay at home in the winter. It really does seem to me that people rarely move out here without a significant other or an existing network of friends or family. And they pretty much seem to want to stick to that network exclusively.
Don't get me wrong, I've still experienced more excitement being in this big city compared to the Midwestern suburb where I'm from. It's just that now when I assess the cost of living here and how much I've sacrificed to live here, I don't really think it's worth it.
Seattle is an over-rated green fungus pit. The only reason anyone bothers with it is for the tech money- period. If it weren't for tech-money, only runaways and professional bums would move there and that's that. What is the best experience when hob-nobbing downtown? Evading the gunshots and the beggars and the open-air drug dealing. Could Amsterdam be so unique and evolved as that?
You can love it all you want, it doesn't change the fact that it has little to offer outside of money and resume-building unless one is homeless or a recent immigrant. If you find insulated, exclusive grey cloud-lovers appreciating every little thing in a very little universe to be great, coddle on! The Seattle mind is small and only by pretending to know all about things thru incessant reading can they bear the drab depressiveness of their town. They are like Alaskans with running water and toilets in their homes, that's it. The neighborhoods are dull, the people are dull and sneering, so precious in being so 'smart'. Those who leave and return do so because they can't hack it anywhere else.
So people should go into the neighborhoods when they visit and get to see what sort of misery they will encounter before they move there for tech-money. Pasty faces, doughy skin, a dull fashion sense all look-alike worn by people afraid of having the special delusion broken, that's the real Seattle, the vociferous BS of their views expressed meant to keep up appearances and mental fences in place.
Sure your opinion is 'valid' and so are you. So what? Now why justify all that misery with such an 'informed' opinion? Swaddling cloud-blankets are just so much condensed vapor floating around and not too warm.
So how do you explain all of us who are loving it here but not in any way tied to the tech money? I love the natural scenery, the countless beautiful places to go, and even the climate. I know a lot of people here who feel as I do, and very few of them have anything to do with the tech money. So I guess you are again making gross generalizations, and trying to project your single opinion on everyone else.
So how do you explain all of us who are loving it here but not in any way tied to the tech money? I love the natural scenery, the countless beautiful places to go, and even the climate. I know a lot of people here who feel as I do, and very few of them have anything to do with the tech money. So I guess you are again making gross generalizations, and trying to project your single opinion on everyone else.
Explain? Trolls don't feel the need to explain. They just make ridiculous, flaming statements in the hopes of getting attention. Not really worth arguing with...
I just recently moved here from the Northeast Bos-Wash corridor...
Isolation: Seattle, Portland, and Vancouver is pretty much all you as as far as urban experience. I love the nature here but I do miss the ability to drive to different cities and states for an afternoon or day trip.
Drivers: I'm not going to explain it in detail but I'm sure most of you know what I'm talking about.
Traffic: See above
Weather: I'm sorry but I like being in shorts and sandals in July.... not hoodies and jeans.
Pretty much sums it up. I do like it here. I occasionally get homesick but for what Seattle is and has, it's a nice place to live.... at least for a few years.
I agree. This has been my experience too, as a bachelorette. I guess my biggest disappointment and shock was being told (by statistics and from what I could gather from those who've lived in Seattle) that Seattle is a mecca for singles in their 20's and that this city has tons of social gathering venues and a strong sense of arts & culture. So far, it's been really hard to even make friends my own age and way harder to date. Haven't had much luck at all with Meetup.com events. I heard of Seattle Freeze before I came, but I thought that was just regarding the way people interact with each other (passive aggressive, flakey, etc.). I didn't know it also meant that people just don't go out and they stay at home in the winter. It really does seem to me that people rarely move out here without a significant other or an existing network of friends or family. And they pretty much seem to want to stick to that network exclusively.
Don't get me wrong, I've still experienced more excitement being in this big city compared to the Midwestern suburb where I'm from. It's just that now when I assess the cost of living here and how much I've sacrificed to live here, I don't really think it's worth it.
Seattle altogether isn't too bad. But yes, I agree there isn't so much for a single person. It seems like most people here are just absorbed in their work and won't date, very socially awkward, or already taken. It's probably worth it to travel around the USA more. Though you may never find what you're looking for anywhere on the West Coast. For the most part the West Coast is just full of sleepy towns that has a very surburban feel to them overall. If you want something that is more blatantly "urban", then many East Coast cities would fit the bill more. Seattle is just more or less a city because it has a huge population, but a lot of metropolitan vibe just isn't there in Seattle. There is stuff to do, don't get me wrong, but it's kind of just there, and many people don't flock to the more urban amenities as much. Moreover Seattle is just far more cliquish, so people don't wander outside of their social networks. A lot of people I've met here in Seattle still have circles that go as far back as high school, or even elementary school for some.
So as a result Seattle doesn't have as much of a "transplant" culture. Seattle is for people who "get it", and it's not a city that is trying to "get people". Once again, places like Houston, Atlanta, NYC, or maybe Chicago just have a more transplant friendly culture. However there are some pretty transplant friendly pockets in Seattle. Downtown goes without saying, but also Bellevue is a fairly transplant friendly place. A lot of people come and go through Bellevue on business, so the cliquish feel isn't there are much. Also the culture is distinctively different than Seattle, because the vibe is less casual and just a little more classy overall. I personally liked the vibe of Bellevue, and the friends I did make in Seattle were usually from there. I heard people down on the South Side and Tacoma are also a lot more down to earth. Again, I think it's more about finding where you fit in. I know I have never liked the vibe of North Seattle, which is the neighborhoods people suggest the most to outsiders.
I agree. This has been my experience too, as a bachelorette. I guess my biggest disappointment and shock was being told (by statistics and from what I could gather from those who've lived in Seattle) that Seattle is a mecca for singles in their 20's and that this city has tons of social gathering venues and a strong sense of arts & culture. So far, it's been really hard to even make friends my own age and way harder to date. Haven't had much luck at all with Meetup.com events. I heard of Seattle Freeze before I came, but I thought that was just regarding the way people interact with each other (passive aggressive, flakey, etc.). I didn't know it also meant that people just don't go out and they stay at home in the winter. It really does seem to me that people rarely move out here without a significant other or an existing network of friends or family. And they pretty much seem to want to stick to that network exclusively.
Don't get me wrong, I've still experienced more excitement being in this big city compared to the Midwestern suburb where I'm from. It's just that now when I assess the cost of living here and how much I've sacrificed to live here, I don't really think it's worth it.
Basically you moved to Seattle expecting New York City, which understandably would leave a lot to be desired.
I am originally from the east coast, but I really want to live in Seattle. I keep hearing about the Seattle Freeze and how it is hard to make friends and even get dates. I am getting discouraged because I want to live in a place where I can easily make friends and go on dates. I don't want to live in a city where people are cold and anti social. I guess Seattle isn't a good place for young adults?
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