Seattle alternatives

[tommy64]

Originally Posted by davebarnes

I live in Denver and don't see this at all.
Lots of new construction within city limits: both business and residential.

You must live south of the 70.

Most of what's north of that is a bit ratty. And even east towards Aurora is pretty worn. That old Ralston Purina plant near Pecos looks like it's gonna fall over in a good gust of wind. And the arena near there looks like an old military surplus quonset hut with original 1940 paint.

The roads are horrible, the sidewalks are heaving/cracked - it looks neglected. And I've seen never ending road construction in Denver for the last 15-20 years.

But south of the 70 is another story, much better. (If you can afford it).

[Blondebaerde]

Originally Posted by Bluefox

To be honest... I’m not a huge fan of constant sunlight. I loved it for a long time but then it sorta drove me crazy. I mean, you would think perfect weather, what’s not to like? But I found myself longing for (literally) greener, and grayer, pastures.

I also wanted a more “big city” vibe. San Diego has a lot of vibrant neighborhoods and a lot to like about them but its downtown is not like Seattle’s. Seattle really does anchor its metro area in a way you don’t really see elsewhere on the west coast, besides San Francisco, even though it competes with San Jose. San Diego has an okay downtown, but it’s overall a very decentralized metro area. And SD gets very suburban north of the 8.

San Diego does have light rail for example, but it doesn’t go to the “cool” neighborhoods. You can take the train to Tijuana but you can’t take the light rail to Hillcrest or North Park. In Seattle... they’re really trying to connect all of the major neighborhoods to downtown. Ideally it will be like a Chicago but even better because you have the spokes connecting satellite areas to downtown but also one satellite area to another, like Northgate to Bellevue. San Diego doesn’t really seem be focused on that. It’s very much still a car culture there.

Two things. One, my father felt the same way about "constant sunshine." He lived in greater LA, up around Pasadena, approximately late 1950s for some amount of time, I don't recall specifics. He told me a few times, "the constant sunshine drove me nuts. I could have transferred to the company's Pasadena plant, but turned it down." He ended up East Coast (where he grew up), then Midwest (where he met my mom, where I grew up). Quite different weather, real seasons in both. "What if." Lot less people in LA back then, though still a total car culture too.

Seattle has real seasons. Fall seemed to land with a thud this year after a big rainstorm early Sept. Then it was over, on-schedule, in November. When my old maple tree gives up the last leaves, winter's here arbitrarily of course as this occured about two weeks ago. YMMV! There's lots of water here. Water may be increasingly scarce over time, something to think about, as in "globally."

Two, I consider retiring to a condo in downtown San Diego in maybe ten years. It's an idle consideration, because it's so nice there year round. I may rent there awhile first though, as visiting isn't living. Any Hawaiian will tell you that about their home, too, as an analogy. Plenty of cons to living SD, head over to that part of C-D for tons of details.

I like car culture, rather motorcycle culture. Someday I'll not want to ride anymore I'm sure. I'm 53 and still like it. No place better than SoCal for that, with a few others almost as good. Bay Area was awesome, too, and that was my pretty much "only" hobby for years there, about 10 out of 12 months. Can't do that in Seattle if you have any brains and wish to live. Cold, wet, and darkness do not good motorcycling make.

Good luck to OP. I've lived five places (cities) and Seattle vs. Bay Area has pros and cons as perhaps "best", of those. Think I'll personally visit Austin and the Texas Hill Country for a tour when the plague blows over, see what that's like too.

[Blondebaerde]

Originally Posted by fnh

I love port cities for their history and soul, and there is always an element of grit that comes along with that. Personally I don't mind and rather appreciate it. It's authentic. I bring it up it since you commented specifically you like that Seattle has soul.

(snip).

I too find San Diego unappealing, love Philadelphia. I don't know much about Pittsburgh but it sounds like a place I would like, along with Cleveland and *gasp* even Detroit intrigues.

LOL: I grew up in metro Detroit and got out of there for good in 1990. Long time ago. The grass is always greener!

When I went back a few times in 2011, some things had changed, others not so much. Oakland County is not Detroit, a good friend called where I grew up "Bellevue East" so the apple didn't fall too far from the tree as I'm in Kirkland and pretty happy here all-considered. I looked around back where I grew up, and he was right: I just didn't have the right perspective.

It's flat, not really dull up there around Birmingham, Royal Oak, Troy, and similar though not terribly exciting either. There is real weather, and significant snow and ice yearly though not like Chicago or other points in the Midwest. The so-called "Lake Effect" twists storms around a bit, the weather can be rather unpredictable. Snow doesn't impress me much anymore, maybe that's why I split. My old man dropped dead while shoveling it, so call me superstitious. He'd lived a long and full life, but it was a damn fool thing to do at his advanced age. But hey: sometimes we die as we live, and he died standing up so to speak which was his desire.

All around a "nice" place? Sure 'tis that. And there are other nice parts of metro Detroit, too.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by CirculateRX

I mean nationally <3

Depends on what you can afford. Berkeley, CA, is great for neighborhood restaurants and shops, walkability. Scenically, the neighborhoods in the hills are great for strolling and enjoying the architecture, tree-lined streets, and views of the Bay. Affordability is a challenge, though. Same with north Oakland on all counts.

[Botev1912]

Originally Posted by Blondebaerde

Seattle has real seasons. Fall seemed to land with a thud this year after a big rainstorm early Sept. Then it was over, on-schedule, in November. When my old maple tree gives up the last leaves, winter's here arbitrarily of course as this occured about two weeks ago. YMMV! There's lots of water here. Water may be increasingly scarce over time, something to think about, as in "globally."

Early September this year was as dry as a bone. We had smoke until mid-late September. Are you sure you didn't mistake it for last year?

[rhymeswithcovid]

Originally Posted by 509

The MUCH BETTER alternatives to Seattle WERE Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, BC.


I haven't been in Portland for over a decade, but it use to be a real cool city. I guess these days if you can stay away from the nightly riots downtown it still might be a cool city.


Lived in Vancouver, BC. It is a world class city. Really unfair to Vancouver to compare it to Seattle. Vancouver is in a totally different league.


There are other cities out west.....but they don't need anymore people....so stick to Portland and Vancouver.

I'd take Seattle over portland. No income tax, plenty of social justice losers, but they're worse in Portland. You can look to the antifa mobs getting mad when a family stops paying the mortgage on their second house as evidence.

[ocoilslick]

Eugene OR lots to do. Sorta upscale.