Virginia to Bellevue/Dallas

[flyingsaucermom]

Originally Posted by laxphone

Thanks for all the inputs. spoke to few realtors got few town homes mls listings 290K in Renton/Benson Hi, Sammamish, IssaquahGoogle shows 16 miles = 18 minutes commute on saturday to Bellevue. Wondering how bad will 405 route will be on weekdays for 16 mile commute.

405 just SUCKS.

I avoid it at ALL costs. A couple weeks ago I needed to get to the airport for a 6:30pm arrival. I told the kids to use the bathroom before we left the house because I knew it would take more than an hour to get there. Sure enough, I spent 30 minutes just trying to get on and off the ramp from I-90 to southbound 405. It must be noted that this transit time includes using the HOV lane. If you can plan your life to not include this commute by all means avoid it!

[jbuckin]

So we lived in Virginia (Alexandria) just last year, made a move to Dallas for a short while and are now in Seattle. I'll give you my observations. These two places could not be any more different. Dallas is a massive sprawling suburb. The "urban" areas towards the center feel less urban then most of the suburbs in Seattle. It's not walkable (but is extremely car friendly, parking is a breeze) even in the central areas. Dallas public transport is pretty much a joke, if your gonna use it be by the rail and work downtown. Otherwise it's just not usable. Seattle public transport is decent and heavily used by all walks of life. But it's almost entirely bus based so it has it's problems. Dallas is way cheaper to live in. Rent is half of what Seattle runs, and home prices are jaw droppingly low. If your set on buying a house and living in the suburbs Dallas will be much better. You won't buy a decent house withing spitting distance to seattle or Bellevue for 300k, you'll be an hour commute out or in a less desirable area. That said, a less desirable area around here is way nicer then a bad area in dallas or on the east coast. Speaking of which, both cities have crime but in diferent ways. In Dallas it's segrated to certain neighborhoods with high crime rates, and other neighborhoods with none. Seattle and the surrounding areas all have a pretty steady level of crime and drug use. Certain suburbs are better then others, but it's not that "bad side/good side" of town like you see in the midwest or east. Dallas has a lot of nice looking neighborhoods, with shiny buildings. It also has some of the ugliest dumpiest places I've seen (just south of downtown.) Seattle tends to look a little more worn consistently. The huge number of trees really help rougher areas still look good. Seattle has real, local character to it's neighborhoods and a huge sense of community. Dallas feels a bit like living in a shopping mall. All chains and parking lots, everyone goes home to there mcmansions and hardly participates outside of church or job. And speaking of churches. If your into Christianity you will have so many options in Dallas. Mega churches for every style and belief, although the general lean is conservative evangelicalism. Seattle has a handful of mega churches in the suburbs, and a few churches around town. Evangelicalism isn't as common as mainline Protestantism. Churches are much more liberal up here (as is everything.) Not sure how either city sits with other religions, although seattle does seem to have a large muslim population. As far as things to do surrounding the cities, well Seattle kicks Dallas ass if your into the outdoors. Mountains, water, desert, forest all are just an hour or two away. Dallas pretty much sits in a cornfield. Seattle has way better parks in the city and suburbs as well. Finally there is weather. Dallas is hot as hell. The summers in VA feel like paradise compared to how hot that place gets. By winter it's comfortable. It rarely gets cold enough to be bothersome, usually light jacket weather. Spring brings torrents of rain and hail. Oh, and it rains mud. Seriously, every time it rained my car would be coated in dirt when it dried. Tornadoes are an issue as well. If storms bother you, don't go there. Remember that windstorm that hit DC a year and a half ago and knocked power out for a week? Thats every other day in the Spring. Seattle is grey, and foggy. It's chilly in the winter and the dampness doesn't help. But it's not freezing either. Summers are short, but glorious. It doesn't get hot at all. People were calling 80 degrees a heat wave up here. Granted a lot of places don't have AC so it's a little different. But really nice. Spring and fall alternate between chilly and damp, and cool and clear. What else? Ohh traffic. They both have big city traffic. Nothing as bad as DC or Baltimore (or even Richmond for that matter) though. It backs up in both Seattle and Dallas, but it generally keeps moving. Everyone loves to complain about it, but that's true of every city. Traffic isn't that huge of an issue in either place comparatively speaking.

[azoria]

jbuckin-- cross-eyed I barely got through your post, but as I was able to dig through it, I did think you were right on many points.

May I ask where you went to school and your approximate age?

[Back2Texas]

jbucklin is right on. I also grew up in the DC area, have lived in Dallas for the better part of the last 12 years, and am now relocating to Seattle. (And I've spent a lot of time in Seattle for work over the years, so I'm pretty familiar with it.)

Dallas housing prices are definitely lower -- but, where will you be working? The towns with reasonably priced houses and good schools tend to be well north of Dallas proper. If you are working in one of the edge cities to the north (like Plano, Irving/Las Colinas, or north Dallas/Addison), you'll have some good options. But if you're working in downtown Dallas, you may actually have a hard time finding a sub-300k house that's a reasonable size, with reasonable schools and a reasonable commute. You may want to post more details of where you'd be working and what you're looking for in terms of house size on the Dallas forum, to get a better idea of your options.

Also, on schools. Washington schools score better than Texas schools on national benchmark tests. In other words, an "average" school in the Seattle area is better than an "average" school in Dallas.

On weather. Seattle winters are definitely colder than Dallas winters, but Dallas does get cold. People are often surprised to hear that we usually have at least one or two snow/ice storms each winter. We've actually had white Christmases (multiple inches of snow on the ground) for two out of the past four years here. And yes, springs tend to be quite rainy. It's not unusual to have very little good outdoor weather from roughly November till the following September: It's cold from November to February, then it's rainy from March to May, then it's hot from June to September. I personally don't mind the heat so much now that we have a pool in our backyard But when we didn't, it was tough, especially with small kids.

Really, both cities have a totally different "feel" and if there is any way to visit both before making your decision, that would probably help tremendously. Things like housing prices and weather are important, but pretty superficial compared to enjoying where you live. I'm really excited about moving to Seattle -- mostly, I will miss our friends in Dallas, not Dallas itself. But that is me, and someone with different priorities and values might feel exactly the opposite.

[jbuckin]

Originally Posted by azoria

jbuckin-- cross-eyed I barely got through your post, but as I was able to dig through it, I did think you were right on many points.

May I ask where you went to school and your approximate age?

Sorry about the lousy formatting, typed it out with during a bout of insomnia last night and was just shooting from the hip.

Not that it really matters, but I'm 28 and went to IU (but back in school now for a different program.) My wife's work (travel nurse) has kept us traveling for a couple years now though so we've seen a lot of the country. But we've got a kid now, so I think we'll be settling up here for awhile to try and lay down some roots.

[jbuckin]

Originally Posted by Back2Texas

Really, both cities have a totally different "feel" and if there is any way to visit both before making your decision, that would probably help tremendously. Things like housing prices and weather are important, but pretty superficial compared to enjoying where you live. I'm really excited about moving to Seattle -- mostly, I will miss our friends in Dallas, not Dallas itself. But that is me, and someone with different priorities and values might feel exactly the opposite.

This exactly. Dallas didn't really suit us at all, but for many people I know it would be the perfect city. Dallas really suits people who want a big house, go to church, like shopping and chains and nice clean new areas and are generally very into a mainstream/conservative American life. Seattle is very much the opposite. Counter-cultural, local centric, small apartments, compact neighborhoods, and a generally more worn with a huge liberal feel everywhere. Obviously both cities have a diverse population of a lot of people and cultures, but the overriding feel of each is just that. Nothing wrong with either, just depends on what you like.

[Bimmerfanboy]

The cost of housing in Dallas is going to less than out here. Metro Seattle is a great place to live but your dollars go a lot further in the Dallas area. Plus, the weather is better there. But if you are into skiing, boating, and other outdoor activities, Seattle is a better bet. We also have a top-tier public university here, the University of Washington. Texas also has a few good universities.

Metro Dallas reminds me a lot of metro Detroit (where I grew up). The metro area is HUGE and more "separated" from the city. Metro Seattle is, in comparison, very small. Getting from one end of the suburbs to the other takes at most 30-40 minutes without traffic. It doesn't feel at all like big city. Also, the suburbs are a little more "urban" in feel.

[Bimmerfanboy]

Originally Posted by jbuckin

This exactly. Dallas didn't really suit us at all, but for many people I know it would be the perfect city. Dallas really suits people who want a big house, go to church, like shopping and chains and nice clean new areas and are generally very into a mainstream/conservative American life. Seattle is very much the opposite. Counter-cultural, local centric, small apartments, compact neighborhoods, and a generally more worn with a huge liberal feel everywhere. Obviously both cities have a diverse population of a lot of people and cultures, but the overriding feel of each is just that. Nothing wrong with either, just depends on what you like.

I think you are exaggerating just a tad bit. Seattle proper is very liberal, no doubt about that. But I wouldn't say that Bellevue, Redmond, Issaquah, and other suburbs are as "in your face Liberal." It's bearable, and I consider myself a moderate Conservative. But of course, the Dallas area is more conservative overall.