Needing advice from those who live in Seattle (rent, movies)

[kannec]

I am wanting to move to Seattle area but want to know exactly what I am getting into (besides a visit to there sometime soon) as far as job opportunities, cost of living, affordable rent, climate, and how long are the daylight hours, etc. Many I have heard have told me about the beauty and the outdoor activities galore to do but mainly from friends who have visited but never actually lived there. I just want the basic information first and that alone will help in further research when I actually visit there. Thank you.

Kimi

[flyingsaucermom]

-job opportunities: great if you can code.
-cost of living: depends on where you're coming from.. we're a bargain compared to San Francisco. If you're from flyover country.... bring your piggy bank.
-affordable rent: what's your definition of affordability? 1 bed for $600 or 1 bed for $1200?
-climate: wonderful!
-daylight hours: striking seasonal differences. Summer you'll have light from 4:45 or 5 (I'm never awake so I really can't tell you for sure) to past 9:30pm. Winter... barely getting light by 8am and it's dark at 4:30pm... it's also our cloudy/rainy season so you don't get much actual sun at the same time you don't get much daylight. It can be hard for some people.

[Seacove]

Has the OP ever even to Seattle before to know if they could handle a Seattle winter? Even once? Moving is expensive and a lot of people find the overcast skies too much.

[Never Shuts Up]

Speaking from personal experience, visit the place before you actually move. Otherwise it will come back to bite you in the ass.

[homesinseattle]

Many people like it, vibrant, beautiful, open minded. Down sides are traffic, increasingly expensive to live. The daylight hours vary with the time of year as you might imagine, short days in winter and gloriously long light in the summer. The weather has been pretty amazing lately (there is talk that we are beneficiaries of global warming) but you need to be prepared for rain, can go on for days. It isn't heavy, think Scotland and drizzly.

[carroll4628]

Originally Posted by Never Shuts Up

Speaking from personal experience, visit the place before you actually move. Otherwise it will come back to bite you in the ass.

Visit in January...when the 10 day forecast calls for 45 degrees, drizzly, and overcast skies. It's easy to live here in the Summer, you really don't need to visit. It's tough on some people to live here in the winters. For me the summer is all outside and the winter is 1/2 outside (gear is everything) and 1/2 inside (reading, games, puzzles, knitting, all the movies I didn't watch during the summer, etc.)

[Hemlock140]

Before moving here, we had visited in mid summer, but then came back in late November when it was cold and wet, and snowed before we left. Since we were looking for a cooler and more interesting climate that helped us decide, but it's not for everyone. When it comes to affordability, it depends on your income and where you are coming from. People that come here from the San Francisco CA or New York NY areas will find it pleasantly less expensive, people from most other areas/states tend to be surprised or even shocked at the high housing cost. We have no state income tax but other taxes tend to be high.

[Never Shuts Up]

Originally Posted by carroll4628

Visit in January...when the 10 day forecast calls for 45 degrees, drizzly, and overcast skies. It's easy to live here in the Summer, you really don't need to visit. It's tough on some people to live here in the winters. For me the summer is all outside and the winter is 1/2 outside (gear is everything) and 1/2 inside (reading, games, puzzles, knitting, all the movies I didn't watch during the summer, etc.)

If you're used to cold weather environments like Idaho, Colorado, Nebraska, Utah, New York, etc. it's going to be pretty easy going in comparison so adapting shouldn't be hard. (I grew up in Oregon, which is pretty close to Seattle weather wise.)

[CrazyDonkey]

What exactly do you mean by "affordable rent"?

[kannec]

Affordable rent is within the $600-$750 studio or one bedroom apt. It is just me so a studio apt would suffice. I don't own but what fits in one room so that is why I am saying a studio apt would work. I currently work in banking (lockbox) so though I have experience in various types of work (warehouse, postal, and clerical) I would prefer to stay in banking.

As far as climate goes, I have lived in many states-so I have experienced all types of climates in the winter time-lived in the desert in California, lived many winters in the Midwest-Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Denver, Florida, and here in Texas. I much prefer cold temperatures than the humid, mild temps of the south. What I haven't experienced is the constant rain that people say Seattle has. Rain for days doesn't bother me-I walk in the rain (umbrella as the accessory) and overcast doesn't bother me as well. With the two months of Seattle like rain and overcast here in the Dallas-Fort Worth area- in April and May of this year, it didn't bother me.