Possible move to Seattle... (Rainier: places to live, cost, moving)

[lcoasterchix]

So.. i submitted my paperwork to be sent to the children's hospital in Seattle. It will be a week or two of waiting before I know if I'm moving there next or not, but a time to get a feel for the area just the same.

I've NEVER been to Washington- and I fear rain (sorry I know it is mostly overcast..) but I've lived in AZ and CA (though CA has been MAy Gray and June Gloom lately)... and I'm afraid of overcast going into weather caused depression.. but I heard that summer is the best time to go! I would be in Seattle End of July-mid-october. Is this good time? should be beautiful right? (if you're wodnering... the correct answer is YES haha.. no honesty is good)

I'm very much into the outdoors, and hear that I def. need to go to Seattle as well- is the city aspect pretty close to the outdoors? What can I expect? what are the people like? Here in CA has been not fun in many ways- with people being very superficial.. how close is Seattle to the ocean? I'm from the east coast- is it similar at all? What are good places to live?

Just any advice would be great and much appreciated! I'm excited yet nervous... the anxiety of the unknown is always the worst!

Hope to hear back from some people!
Thanks

[gallo]

July through mid-October is just about the best weather here. It should be absolutely beautiful out. You might, however, run into some rain around mid-October, but it shouldn’t be a big deal.

If you are into the outdoors, I can’t think of a better place for you than Seattle. Seattle is surrounded by old-growth-evergreen forests, water, and snow-capped mountains. In fact, there are 3 national parks with 2-3 hours of downtown. And depending on which way you are headed, you can get out into nature as quickly as 30 minutes.

People are friendly, but they can be reserved. There is certainly a superficial side to Seattle, and it seems to be steadily increasing. More than half of all of our new residents come from California. As such, you hear many long-time residents complaining about the Californians taking over. Don’t let this stop you from visiting. In reality, we have all different types of people here.

Seattle sits on the Puget Sound, but it is about 3 hours from the actual ocean. The beaches are stunning, but rocky rather than sandy.

I’ve lived on the east cost (NYC, Philly, Miami) and in the SE (Atlanta & New Orleans) and Seattle is nothing like them. Wait until you see Mt. Rainier hovering over the city on a clear day. It is truly an awesome sight.

I generally consider the best places to live as downtown Seattle, Queen Anne, or maybe Fremont. If you are looking for suburbs, the eastern ones are usually regarded as the nicest.

Hope that helps, I’m sure others will pop in with some more suggestions.

[scirocco22]

gallo did an excellent job of summarizing ...I'm not going to add much.

Pertaining to weather-related depression (you might have already seen our conversations on previous threads about this), you may not feel it for a few years. But the continuous winters of reduced brightness, short days, and damp weather, can take its toll on some people. I'm one of them. I lived in the Seattle area for more than 50 years and it just got too much for me. I was born and raised there but I just got too depressed during the long, wet, cold winters. Sure it doesn't snow that much but to me, the cold rain is much more miserable than snow.

With that said, it may not bother you at all. Some it doesn't. As I grew older, it just became more difficult to take. I now crave warm weather and sun. Seattle always has a cool undercurrent ...even during the summer.

If you do decide to move there, hopefully the gray skies, dampness and the long dark winters won't bother you. If it doesn't, you'll love Seattle. I love Seattle, I just don't like its weather.