A former boss, years ago, moved his family out of Seattle to a smaller eastside suburb, just about 25 miles away.
He said it seemed like a good idea at the time, but in the first day or two he woke up in the middle of some comparatively dead, dull, listless suburb and he said the first thing that came into his head was what the hell did I just do?
Must have been a long time ago... The eastside suburbs are way nicer in practically every way
Good to know. It was a long time ago. About 1998.
Edit: what he missed in particular were the neighborhood amenities within walking distance of their house, things like the landmark Larsen's Bakery, etc.
This post was edited 3 minutes after it was posted.
If you've lived in Seattle area your whole life, you will definitely regret the move after you've settled in for awhile. The job/career will not makeup for the lifestyle change. You will be surrounded by a completely different culture than you are used to even though you may disagree with the whacko's in King County. You will be overwhelmed by the "closed mindedness" of the Midwest even though you may agree with them in principle. Did I mention F5 tornado activity?
There's a better, more neutral transition but it's not OKC. I write this not because I favor one place over the other but because I have moved across those political, cultural, environmental and geographic lines several times. The first time will be shocking to you and you may truly regret it and possibly not recover from it without a restart which will be much harder if you decide to go back. Look at your companies future and study their potential for growth and your financial security. You may have to reconsider your reconsider while you find something else more secure.
I think you're going to miss the green landscape, the water nearby and the mountains even. I've never been to Oklahoma but isn't that the dust bowl? Assess how much nature matters to you. I am technically in a city but can be in a park that looks like you are lost in the Hunger Games in 10 mins and then a walk down to the beach. Things like that matter.
I’m sorry to say this, but yes, it’s considerably cheaper because OK is one of the worst states in the country for many reasons, quality of life being one of them.
I don’t blame you for wanting to get out of Seattle, but this is a situation where I can guarantee you the grass is not only not greener, but a straight up polluted wasteland compared to WA state.
But yes, quite a bit cheaper…
Yes, okc is a horrible place. Please don’t move here.
Coming from the Northwest, Okc will feel like a dessert. Flat, bare, no real national parks or fun outdoor activities. (Not to mention the tornadoes, etc) It will feel trapped. money isn’t everything if you life in someplace you don’t like. You will just spend $$ on getting away from okc or making your house nice.
One thing that hasn't been mentioned as far as I can tell is that high cost of living areas like Seattle also support higher average wages and perhaps more career opportunities.
I'll admit, originally moving to this area years ago, it was daunting. But I've found that the jobs in the area were fairly plentiful and paid relatively well. I wonder if I would have found the same elsewhere.
Granted, the rental market may skew things and I've always kind of thought that buying a house might be a better long term use one's funds, if possible, but that may not be the case anymore. Housing is admittedly a major obstacle to making ends meet around here. I understand that many find it necessary to live outside the city for that reason.
One thing that hasn't been mentioned as far as I can tell is that high cost of living areas like Seattle also support higher average wages and perhaps more career opportunities.
I think the OP made it clear he would be doing the same job for the same company and pay
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One thing that hasn't been mentioned as far as I can tell is that high cost of living areas like Seattle also support higher average wages and perhaps more career opportunities.
I think the OP made it clear he would be doing the same job for the same company and pay.
I did gloss over that detail, but even though he does say they have an office in OK but doesn't mention if there is a cost of living differential between the two.
One might assume that they don't, and granted, it might be reasonably inferred in that it he doesn't mention it, but I find that a bit surprisingly. I know that in my line of work, there are cost of living differentials for the same position even throughout the state.
With that said, for the purposes of a more general consideration in choosing places of employment, it may be useful consideration.
I think the OP made it clear he would be doing the same job for the same company and pay.
I did gloss over that detail, but even though he does say they have an office in OK but doesn't mention if there is a cost of living differential between the two.
One might assume that they don't, and granted, it might be reasonably inferred in that it he doesn't mention it, but I find that a bit surprisingly. I know that in my line of work, there are cost of living differentials for the same position even throughout the state.
With that said, for the purposes of a more general consideration in choosing places of employment, it may be useful consideration.
Yeah, but but if he took a 20% pay cut, houses are 4x cheaper in places like OKC so his dollar still goes a lot further
A former boss, years ago, moved his family out of Seattle to a smaller eastside suburb, just about 25 miles away.
He said it seemed like a good idea at the time, but in the first day or two he woke up in the middle of some comparatively dead, dull, listless suburb and he said the first thing that came into his head was what the hell did I just do?
Must have been a long time ago... The eastside suburbs are way nicer in practically every way
please explain how the eastern suburbs are way better for music, art, entertainment, bars, restaurants, education, social groups and outings?
I did gloss over that detail, but even though he does say they have an office in OK but doesn't mention if there is a cost of living differential between the two.
One might assume that they don't, and granted, it might be reasonably inferred in that it he doesn't mention it, but I find that a bit surprisingly. I know that in my line of work, there are cost of living differentials for the same position even throughout the state.
With that said, for the purposes of a more general consideration in choosing places of employment, it may be useful consideration.
Yeah, but but if he took a 20% pay cut, houses are 4x cheaper in places like OKC so his dollar still goes a lot further
Ok, fair enough, but it is not a purely economic decision. Most would find the amenities and attractions of some locations worth paying up for, so to speak. Which is not to take away from your point at all. It's just that the things that the more expensive city has to offer may be worth the added expense.
For each to decide for themselves.
Edit: about 6 or so years ago, when house prices here started booming, quite a few people I knew and worked with started selling and retiring to elsewhere in the state, like Ellensburg, Tri-CIties, etc. Every one of them told me how much of palatially bigger home they could afford with just a fraction of the proceeds from selling their homes in the Puget Sound. So yeah, that is a thing.
This post was edited 3 minutes after it was posted.
Must have been a long time ago... The eastside suburbs are way nicer in practically every way
please explain how the eastern suburbs are way better for music, art, entertainment, bars, restaurants, education, social groups and outings?
Plenty of new restaurants and microbreweries in eastside cities. Public schools are a lot better. Parks/bike paths are better and they haven't permanently closed the public bathrooms due to drugs. Easy enough to get to TMobile and Lumen field. I assume live music would be better in Seattle, though.
Yeah, but but if he took a 20% pay cut, houses are 4x cheaper in places like OKC so his dollar still goes a lot further
Ok, fair enough, but it is not a purely economic decision. Most would find the amenities and attractions of some locations worth paying up for, so to speak. Which is not to take away from your point at all. It's just that the things that the more expensive city has to offer may be worth the added expense.
For each to decide for themselves.
Many people essentially cannot afford even a starter home in the Seattle area. So unless they want to live in a small apartment forever, it's not much of a choice. The OP sounds like he might be in that position.
Ok, fair enough, but it is not a purely economic decision. Most would find the amenities and attractions of some locations worth paying up for, so to speak. Which is not to take away from your point at all. It's just that the things that the more expensive city has to offer may be worth the added expense.
For each to decide for themselves.
Many people essentially cannot afford even a starter home in the Seattle area. So unless they want to live in a small apartment forever, it's not much of a choice. The OP sounds like he might be in that position.
Good point, and that may be the case. That's why I said (i think) about living on the outskirts, which is fairly common thing to do in that case.
But I wouldn't overlook how many good paying jobs there are in an area like this, and I seriously doubt that is the case in less affluent cities. That is a major benefit on the middle to upper end of the pay scale jobs. I would imagine in less affluent cities, the availability would be much less and the competition for them to be prohibitive.
Net effect is yes, higher cost of living but many more opportunities to land a job which could make that lifestyle feasible.
Many people essentially cannot afford even a starter home in the Seattle area. So unless they want to live in a small apartment forever, it's not much of a choice. The OP sounds like he might be in that position.
Good point, and that may be the case. That's why I said (i think) about living on the outskirts, which is fairly common thing to do in that case.
But I wouldn't overlook how many good paying jobs there are in an area like this, and I seriously doubt that is the case in less affluent cities. That is a major benefit on the middle to upper end of the pay scale jobs. I would imagine in less affluent cities, the availability would be much less and the competition for them to be prohibitive.
Net effect is yes, higher cost of living but many more opportunities to land a job which could make that lifestyle feasible.
Interesting development in terms of moderate income housing (rental) initiative that passed in the last local election - I-135, and very much with the intention of alleviating the housing problems in the area.
Good point, and that may be the case. That's why I said (i think) about living on the outskirts, which is fairly common thing to do in that case.
But I wouldn't overlook how many good paying jobs there are in an area like this, and I seriously doubt that is the case in less affluent cities. That is a major benefit on the middle to upper end of the pay scale jobs. I would imagine in less affluent cities, the availability would be much less and the competition for them to be prohibitive.
Net effect is yes, higher cost of living but many more opportunities to land a job which could make that lifestyle feasible.
Interesting development in terms of moderate income housing (rental) initiative that passed in the last local election - I-135, and very much with the intention of alleviating the housing problems in the area.
That would supposedly provide a few apartments for rent, but would do absolutely nothing for housing costs. Most people want to eventually purchase a home, not rent public apartments.
Interesting development in terms of moderate income housing (rental) initiative that passed in the last local election - I-135, and very much with the intention of alleviating the housing problems in the area.
That would supposedly provide a few apartments for rent, but would do absolutely nothing for housing costs. Most people want to eventually purchase a home, not rent public apartments.
Definitely a problem. and clearly seattle has loosened up housing regulations in the last decade or so as evidenced by more lenient rules regarding detached accessory dwelling units (DADUs) as one attempt to deal with this.
Just an anecdote, but mom told me a story about my sister's brother-in-law (both sister's family and her in-laws are Asian), who live in Orange County, CA. My sister is a churchgoer and unfortunately seemed to get really wacky ideas during the pandemic despite her higher education (graduate degree from a fancy college), probably through her church, church friends, and Orange County community. Apparently her brother-in-law (an even bigger churchgoer) loves Trump, something I wouldn't necessarily predicted from interactions years ago.
He was so mad that his work required vaccination during the pandemic that he quit his job. He made plans to leave CA and move to OKC. He was getting ready to buy a house sight-unseen, which is crazy, why not visit and shop in person? But he was in a rage and wanted to move ASAP. Then he found out a pipeline (not sure oil or gas) ran through that house's back yard. That was the last I heard, so I'm not sure if he went through with it.