Anyone from Hawaii Relocated to Seattle? (to rent, insurance, house)

[rk262]

We currently live on Oahu and are starting to get island fever. I'm interested in Seattle because of its cool climate, opportunities for outdoor activities, and strong tech industry, and I think Seattle would be a better place to raise my child.

I was wondering if there's anyone who relocated there from Hawaii and am interested in what they like and dislike about Seattle.

This is a big decision for me because I would have to sell my house and give up a web development job I really like. This island has just become too small for me. I cringe at the thought of how congested the west side of Oahu will be in the next 5 to 10 years.

Thanks!

[blesstd]

We relocated from HI two years ago. Our primary reasons were better job opportunities and quality of life (from our perspective). We visited here numerous times throughout the years before deciding to relocate. It's only been two years since we've been here so I would still consider us to be "newcomers".

The greatest challenge has been missing my family who are all in HI. Other than that, Seattle is truly a beautiful place to live, people are friendly and helpful. I know others complain about the weather but (so far) we're actually enjoying the new experience of seasons considering we lived in a place that was warm and sunny all the time (a little boring). We have, however, found health care to be costly here when compared to the insurance coverage we had in HI.

Being the high-tech city that Seattle is, I would guess there would be no problem with job opportunities for your line of work. If possible, you may want to rent your home in HI, relocate and rent here until you're familiar with the areas and have a better idea of what you're looking for and know where you'll be working. That way you can keep that door open should you change your mind for some reason.

It's a life changing decision and definitely takes some planning and research. You'll find a wealth of information on this site. I still visit here to learn about this city we live in! Good Luck!

[texastrigirl]

Friends of our relocated from Hawaii to Seattle for a job promotion with Hawaiian Airlines and a better public school system. He flies back 3x a week so he has the best of both worlds and couldn't be happier in Seattle. She rarely gets back to Hawaii and has really suffered with the clouds here. Outside of weather, I think they would both tell you it's a fine place to live with good opportunities for their kids to enjoy.