Seriously considering relocating to the Seattle area - any tips?

[kedrys]

The s.o. and I are in the seriously fed up zone, and looking for a dynamic, hip place to live where people are normal (i.e. liberals and progressives) and where we'll be left the heck alone. One of our good friends moved to Everett last year with his boyfriend, and he loves it.

Any thoughts, leads, suggestions, things to avoid, real estate trends, etc.?

Thanks to rocknation :yourock: for suggesting crossposting this from GD.

[jhrobbins]

1. My aunt used to live there and she loved it....

She did say that it is gray a lot there and that a person given to melancholy might think twice. I visited a lot and it is very beautiful and green. Mt. Ranier is awesome and if you like to ski, it is great for weekenders. I love to ski and this would be the most attractive part for me in that you wouldn't have to plan a major trip to be able to ski and you could run up there for a day or the weekend.

[Sanity Claws]

2. Have you visited here in the winter?

We have very short days and very little sun in the winter months. See if you can take a week of that weather without becoming seriously depressed before you move here.

[kedrys]

3. That's been the bugaboo for me

I grew up in Eastern Canada and remember it being pitch black at 4pm the week before Christmas. The s.o. has been diagnosed with depression, but staying where we are is no longer an option.

[TechBear_Seattle]

4. It won't be as bad as in Canada, seeing as we are farther south

The real problem comes from the jet stream. During much of the winter, the northern jet stream flows right over Washington. When the cool, wet air hits the Cascades, the moisture is pushed out of it, resulting in a thick cloud cover even when there is little to no rain. It is common to go for several weeks without seeing any shadows because not enough light is getting through.

As for seasonal affective disorder, there is a reason why the Pacific northwest is so addicted to espresso :hi: Cocoa is also very popular. SAD is pretty easy to deal with, once you know that it is a problem (speaking as someone who has been dealing with it for a few years.)

On your question: Seattle is a very expensive city to live in. One bedroom condos start about $270,000 while the median prices for a small house is around $340,000. Rent on a one bedroom apartment in a decent area can be around $800 a month; I've seen rents up to $2000.

With that in mind, you might want to look at the Capitol Hill neighborhood (which is where I live.) Costwise, it is above average for Seattle, but there are definite perqs. Broadway is a great commercial street with lots of locally owned restaurants, boutiques and a great grocery store. The neighborhood is a lively mix of gay men and women, goths, young urban professionals and older people who have lived here for years and are open minded enough not to have moved away yet. There are a number of bars (including several gay bars) all within a few blocks. The entire downtown retail core is at the bottom of the hill; I make the walk from my home to the Pacific Place Mall in about 20 minutes. Also downtown in easy walking distance are about a third of the city's movie theaters, most of the live theater venues and two of the city's three venues for big-name performances. And from downtown, you can catch a Metro bus (and in a few years, light rail) to just about anywhere in King County. It is very easy to live here without a car, and when you do need one... http://www.flexcar.com

Other nice neighborhoods are Lower Queen Anne, Wallingford and Fremont but really, if you want to live within the Seattle city limits, you can't really go wrong anywhere.

[Suich]

5. Get a full spectrum light.

LampsUSA.com is where I got mine...$25! Works wonders!

Good luck! :hi:

[janetle]

22. We have lived here 27 years.

First in Seattle and further north in Mukilteo. I have managed the winters with extra melatonin at night and b-complex vitamins during the day--beginning and ending with the time changes. In addition, I try to get outside in natural light every day even in the rain. About the time I start looking at ordering a light, it is March and it's over.

We love it here and wouldn't live anywhere else. We arrived from Kansas and Montana before that and I wouldn't trade those winters for our Puget Sound mistiness ever.

[liberalmuse]

29. I agree!

I've put halogen natural light bulbs all throughout the house and bought a treadmill. Daily exercise really helps with the winter blues. Those coffee stands you see on every corner are the caffeine fuel stops needed to cope with the winter months and rainy days. I rarely need to use an umbrella, though, since the rain is merely a drizzle most of the time.

I moved here in November and didn't think I was prone to the winter blues, but I did get them by February. It's well worth putting up with the cloud cover in the winter months when spring and summer comes. It remains pretty green throughout the winter, and there are even flowers in bloom very early in the year. The winters are supposedly mild, but last winter was unusually nasty, so I'm told.

I absolutely LOOOOOVE it up here! The people are nice, although introverted and they can get "funny" if you do something that is not politically correct (think about someone going all "Larry David" on your ass, LOL). All you have to do is say 'hi' and people here are genuinely friendly right back. People acted like you were going to rape them if you said 'hi' to them in Salt Lake, or they just ignored you--too few would respond unless they knew you from their Mormon church. It is great living in a place where godless liberals are the majority.

The traffic can be bad, but the drivers, for the most part are very courteous. I am not sure about how they are in really bad traffic jams because I haven't encountered those too much, luckily. People drive kind of slow here, and it takes a month for them to turn a corner or merge in front of you when you make a space for them, LOL. I was lucky enough to find a job where I drive against the traffic.

You cannot beat the beauty of the natural surroundings, and there are so many things to do and see up here it would take you years to get it all in.

If you can move into one of those charming neighborhoods in Seattle, I'd recommend it! It's usually cheaper to live in one of the stepping stone towns up north, but you can't beat the atmosphere of the city. Freemont, Capitol Hill, Wallingford, Green Lake, Queen Anne, etc. are a blast. Even Ballard, which is slightly cheaper. Green Lake park is great for a stroll and a latte any time of year. People are very outdoorsy here.

If you can move up here, do it! I was lucky enough to find an inexpensive duplex with a yard in a really gorgeous, quiet (except for barking dogs once in awhile) neighborhood within walking distance of downtown Bothell, which is charmingly provincial. The city trail is right behind the McDonald's. My rent was dirt cheap in Salt Lake, but it is only $25 more in a place that is much nicer, larger and has a fireplace to boot. Unless you have some $, forget about buying a house up here. It isn't worth it. They're overpriced, though you can find some good deals on town houses or condos in Capitol Hill, or even houses in places like Everett.

Best of luck to you!

[grasswire]

7. seriously, consider something east of the Rocky Mountains

The dryer weather will be better for your state of mind. The land is BEAUTIFUL and real estate is more moderately priced. No big city traffic, less crime, etc.

[fortyfeetunder]

11. Boise area

About as liberal as one can get in Idaho....

[eridani]

30. See if light therapy works for SO before coming out here

A lot of people with seasonal depression have had good luck with it, but that's not universal.

[eridani]

6. That was a hard adaptation for me.

I deal with it by light therapy, which seems to help. Also more physical activity.

[progressivebydesign]

8. I' moved up here 3 years ago.

The good: I was impressed immediately with the green everywhere. It's so lush. The people are polite and pretty friendly. The sights to be seen by just driving a few hours in any direction, are amazing. There are pockets of liberalism. There are lots of cultural events in you're very near Seattle. The summers are beautiful, with long days... There are many great places to live outside of Seattle, if you find the city is too expensive.

The bad: The winters are long. It gets dark at 4:30 in the afternoon for a while in the winter, and it gets to you after a while. Your feet get cold and don't thaw out for months. You must learn to love fleece, as you will be wearing it for at least 1/3 of the year. Downtown Seattle is being changed by giant condo developments, the way they destroyed Vancouver, B.C. Farmer's markets only run from mid-april to early October, you become vegetable and fruit deprived if you're coming from a warmer drier place.

The ugly: While the people can be quite friendly, it's been mentioned here before that it's hard to meet people here and create solid friendships. When I first moved here, many Washington DUers said that, but I didn't agree because people seemed so friendly. I realize now that they're "friendly" but it doesn't necessarily mean you'll make lots of friends (which is unusual for me). So, I would suggest, if you move up here, that you find things to get involved in groups as much as possible, to get to know people. And the other thing is that I have never in my life, of all the places i've lived in California, had so many angry people accosting me (my family and friends have this happen too). There are very nice people here, but there are very angry people here. I'm not sure why??? Just today a man in a pick up truck zoomed past me as I stepped off a curb to cross a parking lot, he could have stopped, most people would have, but he stared at me and just gunned it. Because I figured I'd have to wait to cross, I put my hands on my hips in resignation. The guy started screaming at me after he passed about "who do I think I was?" and things like that.. wierd things have happened to me like that up here, where I"m minding my own business and someone just freaks on me. My friend has had more incidents of rude people like that in her job up here.. and none that she could remember where she lived before. My Mom has been screamed at by people in parking lots if they think she's turning too slow. So, there is that angry thing.... it doesn't cancel out all the NICE people, but if you're used to a more laid back attitude, you'll want to be sure to choose your neighborhood carefully.

My favorite areas are Bainbridge Island (very liberal, and lots of cool artsy things). It's a slower pace than Seattle, but many people choose to commute to Seattle from there. I like Downtown Edmonds, though the traffic issues as you get near the 5 are ugly.

Hope that helps. I know many people who live up here and really like it a lot.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

9. Come to Everett!

:) We need more liberals and progressives adn best of all, you can tune into a GREAT comunity radio station, 90.7,fm, KSER or go to www.kser.org to listen for yourself.

:)

[The empressof all]

19. I think Everett is gonna get really hot in the next few years

Downtown is seeing some revitilization. I drove through a few weeks ago and there even seemed to be some Night life going on. The Event's Center is bringing traffic in to resturants and bars. There is quite a bit of Theater happening. (Mikado Opens tonight) And there are a few good music joints. It will be interesting to see how this area evolves in the next few years.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

20. There is some of that happening

along with some development on the water. If you have a 50 foot yacht then you'll be glad for that :)
But Everett is trying and also in the process of really encouraging the arts.

[LisaM]

10. What are your interests?

It's a good city if you like plays, for example, and bookstores....what do you like to do?

[uppityperson]

12. If you want a medium sized progressive city try Bellingham

It is a college town, boating town, has lots of music stuff, lakes mountains and ocean nearby. Progressives live there. Everett has never impressed me, rather armpit of Puget Sound with military and less progressive overall though there are some good people everywhere. Small town come to Port Townsend. Seattle is a good place to be, too big for me though and I like Bellingham.

[pscot]

18. Port Townsend gets so damned cold in the winter

MY wife and I went to the chamber music festival a few years back. It was February and a cold front came down out of Canada. It was positively arctic. We passed through last may on our way to some halibut fishing and I didn't recognize the place. The developers really seem to have the bit in their teeth.

[geniph]

23. Um, he said he grew up in Eastern Canada

I don't think an occasional cold snap in Port Townsend is going to be overly arctic for him. ;-)

[pscot]

25. I grew up in the rural midwest

and I have actually seen a reading of minus 31 degrees farenheit on a thermometer. But cold is in some measure relative. We get old and teepee livin' makes us soft. Port Townsend in February seemed pretty chilly at the time.

[flamingyouth]

26. It's the dampness here.

My mom says the same thing. She came here from Wyoming when she was about 13 and said she'd never been so cold in her life (well, she'd lived through -40 degree winters, so that seems a little weird). :D

[uppityperson]

28. It does get windy here, but seems Bellingham is the Canada cold front place

Bellingham is much colder than here due to Fraiser River valley channeling cold air down. We get winds here and yes, it can be cold as can anywhere. I always wish for snow and have gotten it rarely recently while it seems to snow all around us here. I came from midwest too and appreciate it NOT getting that cold here.

[maxsolomon]

13. horrendously overpriced

even portland is more reasonable.

[pscot]

14. Tacoma is nice too

You get used to the rats after awhile.

[Quantess]

15. Tacoma is nice if you enjoy

endless, sprawling, suburbs and big-box mall stores.

[progressivebydesign]

16. I live near the north end of Tacoma.. now that part I like!

Tacoma has changed for the worst even in the past three years. I used to feel safe driving around most places there, but it's gotten so damn violent! I LOVE the Proctor District on the north end. Very liberal, very neighborhoody.

I love Port Townsend, but some may find it a bit isolated.

[Quantess]

17. The old town part of Tacoma is great.

Like, the North end, and, Ruston would be nice if it weren't for the superfund cleanup.
I wish I lived in the old part of town, and not a suburb. The inner city proper of Tacoma has character, at least. From here, northward, we're just a characterless suburb of Seattle.

[upi402]

21. Bothell is churchy, maybe Fremont if you have good income

or Wallingford. Queen Anne is good if you really have good income and like to be close to the city action.

[TruthDetector]

24. Fremont

It is the perfect place for you.

[Norrin Radd]

31. Conservative yuppies are overrunning Fremont.

And they are building too many fugly condos, instead of space for useful locally-owned businesses.

[Matariki]

27. yeah. don't come here.

just kidding ;-) (that was an Emmett Watson referrence for my fellow long time Seattleites.)


But seriously, you know people who love Everett? You must come from a bad place.