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I've never really used a forum like this before, so I'm interested in the outcome.
Next year, I will be finishing my degree in Accounting and have been considering making a move to another part of the country that more aligns with my personality, beliefs and desires. I'm from Spring, TX, the Northwestern of Houston in the middle class suburbs and am earning my degree at Sam Houston State, just 45 minutes north of Houston in Huntsville. I am no by means a typical Texan. At least nothing I believe would identify me as one. No accent or any of the traits that many people in other parts of the country may even use to generalize me as a Southerner. I'm fairly progressive in my thinking, interested in peaceful living in a cooler climate, closer to the mountains, as I would like to do more hiking and also be closer to the ocean, preferably in a mid sized city, as compared to the behemoth that is Houston. I understand the cost of living is higher in Seattle and other regions of Washington, but I am capable of living below my means in order to be somewhere I'd be more happy, even if it is more expensive. I am a 36 year old single male. I have read about it being hard to be single in areas like Seattle, though, I'm willing to take my chances.
So, just on here to get some real, thoughtful, hopefully positive, feedback in regards to any of the above.
I appreciate your consideration and I thank you for your time and any meaningful advice and/or suggestions.
Hi Christopher,
Seattle is a beautiful place for all the reasons you mention plus quite a few more.
A few things to consider:
Cost of living is a real issue. You say you are willing to live below your means, and that is a good start. But being an accountant doesn't necessarily mean great money at first. So your means might be somewhat meager. Be very careful to think about the cost of everything and compare it to all the things you might want to spend money on like hobbies, recreation, dating, social scene etc. Housing can really eat up your income here and then you don't always have the money you would like for all the wonderful and tempting things to do. That having been said, if you are willing to be creative and live in a studio, do microhousing at first (I think you can do super short term leases in microhousing), or live in a suburban area or something, you can make it work.
Traffic is hellacious on the freeways in this region due to the bottleneck caused by two large bodies of water squeezing all the areas of suburban sprawl. It's usually near the top of all the "cities with bad traffic" lists. So you want to plan where you live with regards to where you work and transit availability. Personally, I have always chosen a smaller apartment for a shorter commute because I want to live my life and not be stuck on the freeway. You can definitely get around using transit unless you work in a suburban area. Driving and parking in the city is expensive. You actually can get by without a car here if you live and work in the city (or if you can live, work and get groceries within walking/biking distance). Or if you already own your car free of payments you can just kind of park it and use transit and just use the car on the weekends. That helps you save a lot of money on gas and car maintenance.
You didn't mention bicycling but since you are somewhat outdoorsy/athletic you might consider bicycling as a mode of transportation. The city is doing a lot to create bike lanes and there are very nice urban bike trails (the Burke-Gilman being the most developed and famous one). You can also put your bike on the front of the bus in a rack so people do half bus/half bike commutes. My husband and I own one car, one bike and two bus passes and it works. A lot of employers sponsor bus passes or provide discounted ones. That's a benefit to definitely look for. I've commuted to work by bus for almost 10 years and my husband has done a variety of bus, car, and working from home. Our car doesn't see a lot of use and even though we've had it for three years, it only has about 17K miles on it. Cars tend to last longer here due to the mild weather as well.
Getting to know people is difficult here, especially in your 30s. It's an uphill battle, people flake out, you have to make a ton of efforts to get to know people through formal things like Meetups and stuff. People don't just spontaneously hang out in my experience, and you can even have parties and invite people over and they don't show up but then later act like nothing happened. There is a thread called "Seattle - just another city" that you might want to read where a Southern gentleman is sharing his experiences of moving to Seattle and the contrasts with Southern attitudes toward social interactions. I felt the very same way coming from the Midwest. That having been said, your attitude and personality seems pretty chill and you definitely can make relationships and keep them if you learn to play the game here. It just can get draining.
I've lived in Seattle for 11 years and I am considering a job opportunity in Boise, ID now because I am in my 40s and want to take the next step toward financial stability. That's the one thing I haven't been able to gain in Seattle. Other than my work-mandated retirement savings, I really have no assets. But I have very much enjoyed the 11 years I have lived here (which is part of why I have no money, HA!) and if you do your research and decide to move out here, you can keep it in the back of your mind that you can always move back to Texas or go somewhere else if things don't work out for you here.
Another progressive who wants to move to Seattle to fix things.. Lovely! Oh, don't worry about Southern accent, G-d forbid we think you are a conservative! We always attract the best kind of people here..
Sorry, I am just feeling a bit grumpy today.. Don't mind me..
Fix things? Oh, no. Not at all. That's not what I'm looking to do. As far as being progressive or not having an accent, that's just in reference to a lot of what I have read about Seattle being a far more liberal culture, which I'm sure there are areas with similar mindsets and plenty that are mixed as well. I have noticed a number of comments on sites talking about Southerners moving up there and being looked down upon and treated poorly because of how they sound and come across. That was the only reason I mentioned it.
I don't mind you being grumpy. I hope things perk up for you! I am known to be grumpy at times too.
I am curious, though, why you thought I wanted to fix things. What things are people moving up there to fix exactly??
I can tell you this; Seattle is a horrible town for recent college grads to get started in (lots of highly-qualified and season vets up here). An accounting degree will carry a lot more weight in other parts of the country than it does in Seattle. Not a money town, it's a tech town. You'll likely have FAR more job offers with FAR better pay in TX with your accounting degree than you would in Seattle, a negative considering how much more expensive it is up here. Many companies want a master or MBA+CPA+multiple years of experience (7+ seems to be the norm) in the accounting industry up here just to get an ENTRY-level job with a low hourly wage and horrible benefits.
You'd be much better off staying there and getting the ball rolling with some experience down there, moving to Seattle and being broke will be a whole lot worse than staying in TX and being around people you don't like. Take a look at indeed.com for accounting/finance jobs up here and you'll see what I mean.
Just a word of warning, the economy in TX is far better than it is in Seattle, especially in the accounting industry. Being broke but being around like-minded people is probably going to be a lot worse than being around non-like-minded people but but actually having a positive net worth.
Hi Christopher,
Seattle is a beautiful place for all the reasons you mention plus quite a few more.
A few things to consider:
Cost of living is a real issue. You say you are willing to live below your means, and that is a good start. But being an accountant doesn't necessarily mean great money at first. So your means might be somewhat meager. Be very careful to think about the cost of everything and compare it to all the things you might want to spend money on like hobbies, recreation, dating, social scene etc. Housing can really eat up your income here and then you don't always have the money you would like for all the wonderful and tempting things to do. That having been said, if you are willing to be creative and live in a studio, do microhousing at first (I think you can do super short term leases in microhousing), or live in a suburban area or something, you can make it work.
Traffic is hellacious on the freeways in this region due to the bottleneck caused by two large bodies of water squeezing all the areas of suburban sprawl. It's usually near the top of all the "cities with bad traffic" lists. So you want to plan where you live with regards to where you work and transit availability. Personally, I have always chosen a smaller apartment for a shorter commute because I want to live my life and not be stuck on the freeway. You can definitely get around using transit unless you work in a suburban area. Driving and parking in the city is expensive. You actually can get by without a car here if you live and work in the city (or if you can live, work and get groceries within walking/biking distance). Or if you already own your car free of payments you can just kind of park it and use transit and just use the car on the weekends. That helps you save a lot of money on gas and car maintenance.
You didn't mention bicycling but since you are somewhat outdoorsy/athletic you might consider bicycling as a mode of transportation. The city is doing a lot to create bike lanes and there are very nice urban bike trails (the Burke-Gilman being the most developed and famous one). You can also put your bike on the front of the bus in a rack so people do half bus/half bike commutes. My husband and I own one car, one bike and two bus passes and it works. A lot of employers sponsor bus passes or provide discounted ones. That's a benefit to definitely look for. I've commuted to work by bus for almost 10 years and my husband has done a variety of bus, car, and working from home. Our car doesn't see a lot of use and even though we've had it for three years, it only has about 17K miles on it. Cars tend to last longer here due to the mild weather as well.
Getting to know people is difficult here, especially in your 30s. It's an uphill battle, people flake out, you have to make a ton of efforts to get to know people through formal things like Meetups and stuff. People don't just spontaneously hang out in my experience, and you can even have parties and invite people over and they don't show up but then later act like nothing happened. There is a thread called "Seattle - just another city" that you might want to read where a Southern gentleman is sharing his experiences of moving to Seattle and the contrasts with Southern attitudes toward social interactions. I felt the very same way coming from the Midwest. That having been said, your attitude and personality seems pretty chill and you definitely can make relationships and keep them if you learn to play the game here. It just can get draining.
I've lived in Seattle for 11 years and I am considering a job opportunity in Boise, ID now because I am in my 40s and want to take the next step toward financial stability. That's the one thing I haven't been able to gain in Seattle. Other than my work-mandated retirement savings, I really have no assets. But I have very much enjoyed the 11 years I have lived here (which is part of why I have no money, HA!) and if you do your research and decide to move out here, you can keep it in the back of your mind that you can always move back to Texas or go somewhere else if things don't work out for you here.
That is a lot of awesome information to consider. Thank you!! That microhousing sounds interesting, will have to do some more research into that. Don't really do much bicycling, but I would be interested in the public transit, provided its a little safer than in Houston. I understand what you're saying about finances and dating and everything. Much thought would be invested in all of that. I think I did read that thread you speak of with the Southern gentleman, but hey, different people with different backgrounds will definitely have different experiences. Anyways, your response was well thought out and worded and I really do appreciate the time you put into. Christopher
I am curious, though, why you thought I wanted to fix things. What things are people moving up there to fix exactly??
You'll find out when you get here.. We get transplants/immigrants from all over the country who are escaping the things they hate back home that may or may not be considered problematic to many Northwestern people. It seems we get a lot of these "Progressive" people escaping the Progressive hells they came from or perhaps they are running away from all those "whackjob " conservatives where they live and think of Washington as a liberal utopia and want to make sure that all Washingtonians and NOrthwestern people think exactly the way they do and be progressive as they are. Basically, it is the immigrants who are seeking to ban our guns, raise our taxes, allow endless illegal immigration (of foreigners), chase out the successful businesses that have thrived here for years and try to change and fix all of our problems according to what they see is ideal.
Washington and Oregon were just fine before all the "Progressives" came here to make us backwards, gun-toting, rednecks, conservatives, G-d believers, into the type of society you "Progressives" think is best for us. A good number of the funky liberal weirdos people keep talking about of Seattle are not even from Seattle or even Washington state, but transplants!
You will find that only Seattle and surrounding cities are as Progressive as you think and you or more or less at war with the rest of us native Northwesterners. Welcome, most of us (outside of Seattle) don't want you, but you will find this island/city-state called Seattle welcoming to your kind. Keep trying to strip us of our freedoms and turn Washington into a third world craphole like California, New Jersey, Houston or any of the "Progressive" places you came from.
Yeah, this is my attitude, no offense to you. I am just tired of every bleeding heart liberal in the USA coming to Seattle. Our state was great and has attracted so many thanks to the conservatives/libertarian types who help build its foundations. The liberals in the Northwest back in the day were much more moderate and almost like the Red Democrat types you would have had in Montana. But, as with California and all the other "Progressive" places it's time to fix things. Let's start with this Indian immigrant, Kshama Sawant, who now is forcing everyone to redistribute the wealth and wants to officially ban "Capitalism". Another wonderful contribution to the Northwest.
OP, you can always arrive, try applying to some accounting firms (there's some turnover in the newbie/support-accountant positions, the people who do the prep work for the senior accountants), and if it doesn't work out, try Portland or Olympia (probably more accounting jobs there, due to all the gov't work). Also, in Seattle look at the job listings at the universities; the U of WA, and Seattle University. A university gig can be very pleasant. I think you should give your dream a try, before you roll over and die. Take some of the negativity here with a grain of salt. Though it can definitely be difficult to make friends, in your age range, you should be beyond the "flaking" thing--the not showing up for invitations to events, etc.
Lol, never thought I would see Houston included in a pejorative list of progressive third world crapholes.
OP, as a fellow Houstonian I think you should go for it. You're an adult and perfectly capable of considering the pros and cons of such a move. I adore Seattle and my only "warning" to you would be that, if you are seeking a mid-size city, Seattle effectively 'feels' like a much bigger city than Houston. I put "warning" in quotes because I think that is actually a positive, but it may not be what you want. You can't at all compare Seattle and Houston by looking at their populations and land areas.
mrman78 is another poster here who moved from Houston under circumstances similar to yours (single guy, mid-30s I think.) Look him up. I'm also happy to answer any questions you have comparing Seattle to Houston.
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Thank You So Much For This Reply
thanks
