Is Seattle good city? (Bellevue, Redmond: real estate, 2014, low crime)

[ropper111]

Is Seattle good city to live in please?

I am wondering, is it nice to live there in suburbs too or only the city? You hear so much about the 'coolness' of the city of Seattle. Is it nice place in suburb to live (even if you don't have family).

Also, is the economy good in Seattle now? Thanks in advance

[jm31828]

Yes, the suburbs around Seattle are great for the most part. I am still fairly new to the area (I have lived here 4 and a half years) and really am impressed with how nice most of the suburban areas are. Nice housing developments, lots of trees, low crime in most areas with a few exceptions, etc. The list of suburbs that my wife and I just love is so long- Edmonds, Mill Creek, Bothell, Woodinville, Redmond, Issaquah (our absolute favorite, we'd live there if we could possibly afford it lol), Kirkland, just to name a few. Seattle is definitely a cool, nice city- and that really pertains to the entire metro area in my mind- not just the urban core.

And yes, the economy in the Seattle metro area is quite good at this time- strong job growth, low unemployment at 5%, lots of construction going on- both business and residential.

[Blondebaerde]

Cool in what respect?

Suburbs, if we want to call Bellevue (more a "satellite city" than suburb) and the rest of eastside that, can be a great place to live IF many things gel for you: income, schools, commute, more. Discussed elsewhere in C-D Seattle at great length.

The economy of what, exactly? What do you do, where are you targeting your career search? US BLS has occupational trend data for pretty much every major metro area the U.S., hundreds of career paths.

"They" say...they being mostly C-D...that it's great if you're a tech worker in Seattle metro. Guess I'm a bit sheltered, I don't know how the other major industries are doing other than Boeing keeps building large aircraft and Microsoft, Google, and Amazon are on a hiring spree. As are all the peripheral businesses that support them.

Microsoft, e.g., has 40K or so direct employee in Seattle metro, so wild guess: that impacts 100K people, including the families, plus another 300K people in peripheral, support businesses. Real estate, retail, service sector, much more. People are hired at good money, and demand services, which trickles down. Classic virtuous economic cycle.

(Seattle Times, May 22, 2014):

"What’s the reason for Seattle’s population boom? The Census Bureau offers no interpretation of its data, but surely the city’s healthy economy is responsible for attracting many new residents. According to Seattle’s Office of Economic Development, the city added nearly 15,000 new jobs between 2012 and 2013."

[flyingsaucermom]

Originally Posted by ropper111

Is Seattle good city to live in please?

I am wondering, is it nice to live there in suburbs too or only the city? You hear so much about the 'coolness' of the city of Seattle. Is it nice place in suburb to live (even if you don't have family).

Also, is the economy good in Seattle now? Thanks in advance

Are you good with high technology? If the answer is yes then you might think it's a pretty good economy here. Yes the city is "cool" but that is subjective. What is your definition of cool??? Everybody has a different answer...

[FivePercenter]

Yes it's a good city. Good weather, good food, and some of the best most courteous drivers in the U.S. It can be a little racist sometimes, but if you're not a person of color you don't have to worry about that.

[deckard9080]

There's a reason it's so expensive to live here. Kiplinger - Interstitial <--- top cities to live in. That's like asking if NYC, LA or SF are good cities. Yes. The answer is yes.

[bad apples]

Lukewarm

[DP79]

No. Half the people that move there hate it.

[GatsbyGatz]

Seattle's great as long as you can afford the better parts.