Moving from Florida to Washington. Help? (Spokane, Graham: 2013, living, sunny)

[Seacove]

Originally Posted by daniek

I have a traveling job, meaning I work from home. We found many jobs for my husband actually, far north of Seattle.

Bellingham is quite nice.

Originally Posted by norman_w

Everybody moving in for the nature ruins the nature. And they all want the door closed after them. The 500 people before you today said the same thing.

So true.

[Trigger-f]

Originally Posted by Seacove

Actually - your OP says you do like to hike. And the hiking is just one example because it's in the paper today. Those people that have moved to Florida would likely echo exactly what you're saying. And we are definitely feeling the pressure from so many people moving to Washington. While this focus on cities, Washington and Florida seem to be within less than 1% of each other in population growth.

Seattle, Wash. - In Photos: America's Fastest-Growing Cities 2015 - Forbes

From a cities perspective, Seattle is #5, Orlando is only #13 and Tampa isn't even in the top 20.

Top 10 fastest-growing states - CBS News

Washington #9 1.1% growth
Florida #7 1.2% growth

Understand, I'm not picking on you specifically at all, it's just that you mentioned the frustration of so many people moving to Florida, which is a particular source of pain we Washington locals are feeling - and your OP says you want to bring friends.

At least you aren't interested in the Seattle metro*

* Many come here saying they aren't interested in Seattle, then find that's where the jobs are so they come to Seattle anyway, making traffic more impossible. So glad you're not doing that.

From my experience, some people want to move to FL, some to WA. Those tired of the heat/humidity in FL, want a cooler environment. Those who are tired of the overcast skies/dreariness and lower temps in WA, want some warm weather/warm water etc.. I'm always amazed at how many FL license plates I see at the rental car facility at SeaTac when I visit. I also spot WA licence plates often here in Tampa.

Of course most jobs are in Seattle. I remember the city in the 90's and it was a lot less crowded, cleaner, with overall less headaches. The same applies for FL cities. Miami is the respective Seattle of FL. Tampa has growth but nowhere near Miami(traffic wise both Seattle and Miami are top 10 in traffic.)

At any rate, no place is perfect (there's pros and cons). However, some of the stuff people write in these forums are simply 'exaggerations'.

[daniek]

Originally Posted by Trigger-f

From my experience, some people want to move to FL, some to WA. Those tired of the heat/humidity in FL, want a cooler environment. Those who are tired of the overcast skies/dreariness and lower temps in WA, want some warm weather/warm water etc.. I'm always amazed at how many FL license plates I see at the rental car facility at SeaTac when I visit. I also spot WA licence plates often here in Tampa.

Of course most jobs are in Seattle. I remember the city in the 90's and it was a lot less crowded, cleaner, with overall less headaches. The same applies for FL cities. Miami is the respective Seattle of FL. Tampa has growth but nowhere near Miami(traffic wise both Seattle and Miami are top 10 in traffic.)

At any rate, no place is perfect (there's pros and cons). However, some of the stuff people write in these forums are simply 'exaggerations'.

Yup! Sick of the heat and humidity! It's all about what a person or in our case, people want. We want to check out Washington. We have our reasons. I just wanted suggestions on cities, cost of living, fun things to do, options you know.... Not a debate over who has it worse. Although, the facts show we have wayyyyy more people here in FL than there are in Washington. The math doesn't lie. We know road ways and freeways may be different and cause more of a headache, but that is why we're going to visit first. And yes, pros and cons. That is why we're taking a trip to Washington in May during a work week to see this awesome traffic everyone keeps warning us of, places to see, things to do, places to live, etc.. This way we can compare for ourselves. The thing is my husband has already lived there before so he knows the traffic patterns and any aggravation there may be to living there and even he says it's no where near as bad as here. That is his opinion and I have to trust my husband's opinion. However, it has been a bit since he's been there and he doesn't know how much it has changed. So, we'll see.

[Seacove]

I don't think the traffic in Bellingham is so bad so you guys should be fine there.

[Trigger-f]

Originally Posted by daniek

Yup! Sick of the heat and humidity! It's all about what a person or in our case, people want. We want to check out Washington. We have our reasons. I just wanted suggestions on cities, cost of living, fun things to do, options you know.... Not a debate over who has it worse. Although, the facts show we have wayyyyy more people here in FL than there are in Washington. The math doesn't lie. We know road ways and freeways may be different and cause more of a headache, but that is why we're going to visit first. And yes, pros and cons. That is why we're taking a trip to Washington in May during a work week to see this awesome traffic everyone keeps warning us of, places to see, things to do, places to live, etc.. This way we can compare for ourselves. The thing is my husband has already lived there before so he knows the traffic patterns and any aggravation there may be to living there and even he says it's no where near as bad as here. That is his opinion and I have to trust my husband's opinion. However, it has been a bit since he's been there and he doesn't know how much it has changed. So, we'll see.

FL can accommodate 19 million or more(it's flat and pretty much empty in the middle or in the Panhandle). Not that we need more people, but in a way it's inevitable. WA is mountainous, not enough area to expand.

I wouldn't take a trip in May up there. If you want to know what it's like(weather wise at least), go in Dec/Jan/Feb. B'ham is colder than Seattle(temps are usually pegged at upper 30's for low to mid/upper 40's for high), with the occasional low 20's (on some clear days). Their rain is a bone chillin' rain(feels a lot colder).

Not my cup of tea, but of course everyone is different.

Traffic won't be an issue in B'ham(if you end up there), but you may get tired seeing Canadians from Vancouver on a shopping spree every day. Seattle is a different story(feels like Miami. TB traffic is a joke compared to Seattle). For ex. it took me 1 1/2 hrs last Dec to do 30 miles on I-5 (Seattle to Everett). That's with mass transit in place.

COL is higher in Seattle, similar to FL in B'ham. Housing/rent are more expensive. I believe housing in Seattle is 20% more than Miami and 50% than Tampa. Wages are higher but not in B'ham, so.. of course there's no income tax as in FL, which helps.

[bartonizer]

I grew up in the Tampa Bay area, made my way to North Carolina- then Colorado, and finally made it to Bellingham last year. So far, my wife and I love it here. It's far milder in the winter than, say, Western CO, but chilly to a Floridian. The thing that affects you the most may be the variation in the amount of light per day, as it stays light forever in the summer but gets dark very early in the winter.

I'm not supposed to encourage people to move out here (per local desire to keep growth manageable and not have this place turn into Seattle). But I'd be glad to answer any questions. What else would you like to know?

[GoodBeer]

Originally Posted by bartonizer

I grew up in the Tampa Bay area, made my way to North Carolina- then Colorado, and finally made it to Bellingham last year. So far, my wife and I love it here. It's far milder in the winter than, say, Western CO, but chilly to a Floridian. The thing that affects you the most may be the variation in the amount of light per day, as it stays light forever in the summer but gets dark very early in the winter.

I'm not supposed to encourage people to move out here (per local desire to keep growth manageable and not have this place turn into Seattle). But I'd be glad to answer any questions. What else would you like to know?

I'm also grew up in Tampa Bay, I live here now and I still hate it. I'm looking at the Bellingham area, specifically Blaine. I can't stand the narrow-minded, racist, self-centered, passive-aggressive idiots down here anymore. It's like there's so few decent people left it's not even worth trying to make friends anymore. No one here can drive decently, and everyone drives with their phone in front of their face; if it's not their phone, it's food - often it's both. This new generation of overnight "rednecks" is growing like fire and it's getting ridiculous. Everyone is so rude - the old people forgot what manners were and the young generation wasn't raised with any. This state is crawling with STD's and pill heads. It's great if you stay out on the beach and don't come inland - everyone there is nice because you're there to spend your money on some of the best beaches in the country. But living here is a different story. The standards of living have gotten so low and the level of human decency is almost non-existent. I've been to the Bellingham area several times, and spent some time in Blaine. Sure, there's crappy people in every town, but the proportions are so much better in WA. Weather's better, (sure I like the sunshine but it's too hot in FL), people are better, food and agriculture is better... for me it's a win all the way around. I'm starting the process to sell my house and leave FL within the next year.

[Dirtysouthjay]

Just was curious if the OP made the move out to Washington yet??

[GoodBeer]

Originally Posted by Dirtysouthjay

Just was curious if the OP made the move out to Washington yet??

Not yet, still thinking about it/planning though!

[deb8997]

I'm from jersey and was just out in WA visiting my sister in Darrington. she works at Boeing in Everett so her job is pretty secure,we were thinking on moving out there as well. Jersey is just so congested and I cant stand it anymore.. really the only think holding me here is a good job for now..I'm in real estate. I have extensive mortgage u/processing and closing experience so im sure me finding a job would not be that hard,husband is disabled, the only think I would really not like is the traffic there. when we were there we went to Rainier on a weekday early and the traffic from Everett to Seattle and beyond was killer....as far as housing my sister who is alone and has 2.5 acres of land with a small cabin on it says we can possibly build a house on her land and obviously add us to the deed of course with us paying our share of taxes and other expenses..
But what we saw of the state was absolutely beautiful.. weather doesn't bother us.. coming from jersey we get it all. we actually don't mind cold and rainy.. we found drivers out there were not bad either, my sister had told us drivers in WA are terrible.. not in my opinion think they were way better than here.. while we were in Seattle at a light a guy came up to us on a motorcycle and asked if he could get in front of us... I thought I was dreaming.. here they give you the finger and cut you off... lol.. we only spent a week but every person and worker and even a cop we got pulled over by was no nice... I hope to make that state my home one day..