If you can’t get laid in Seattle, not sure what to tell you. There is plenty of nightlife to have a great time in Seattle.
If you can’t get laid in Seattle, not sure what to tell you. There is plenty of nightlife to have a great time in Seattle.
To the question: "Two job offers: $135K in bay area... or $160K in Seattle - what would you go with?"
Answer: Which city would your [up and coming] super model girl like to live in and where can you best train to get below your nasty plateau of 13:30 for 5000m?
Born-bred Seattle commentary FWIW:
It's always funny to watch people fall into the conventional wisdom that it's rainy in Seattle 24/7, blah blah blah. If the rain really ruins it for you, obviously the Western PNW is not your place. In reality, it doesn't rain that much, the rain doesnt really affect your life/running/opportunities, and there's considerably better/warmer weather during the "nicer" months compared to 20yrs ago. Sure the smoke sucks, but that's a newer phenomenon. Unfortunately, climate change affects almost all of us in some way.
It's also funny that the OP seems so opposed to Seattle, but is clearly looking to be convinced. Thousands of people are flocking there, real estate is crazy, and (despite Jamin's butthurt whining) there are a lot of good cultural things blossoming there. Once again - it's way better than 20 years ago in many aspects. If you don't like good food, good beer, good music, or cultural diversity, maybe neither city are your best bet?
With my Seattle bias I think there is a wider variety of things to do and better access to the outdoors than SF. Sure there's popular trails and busy weekends, but there's also huge, lesser-known areas to explore within 2hrs of the city.
For financial and character-building reasons, choose Seattle. If you want to settle and just be another SF bro at the bottom of the food chain, choose the option that may not have much of a future. It's easier to survive in Seattle and you can always leave. I'm not sure the same can be said about SF. Everyone I know who lived in San Francisco (and was not from there) still references it as if they've never left. Do you want to be THAT guy, guy?
I went to grad school at Stanford (very near Mountain View), and I have been living in the Seattle area for 14 years. I LOVED the Bay Area. You will love it too if you are outdoorsy but don't mind sharing the outdoors with other people and enjoy and appreciate nerdiness and diversity, as there is a lot of both. However, I wouldn't even consider moving back at this point, and my family income is over 300K. Why not? Finances. CA taxes are nuts. We'd be paying %13 on the margin in state income taxes. Then there's property tax. Property tax is around 1% is both Seattle and Bay Area, but since property costs two to three times as much as SF as Seattle, you're going to be paying lots of property tax in addition to income tax and your exorbitant mortgage. And everything else is more expensive in the bay too, from eating out to housecleaning to whatever else you can think of.
Seattle on the other hand does have its rain. I run outside year-round. In the summer, temperatures are perfect in the morning - 50s to 60s. It's wonderful. In winter, you're looking at around 40 degrees with about a 50% chance of light rain on any given morning. With a brimmed hat and a high-end rain jacket, it honestly doesn't bother me that much. My weekday runs are no longer than an hour and fifteen, and for weekend long runs, I schedule around the rain and rarely end up running in the rain. I think it's a lot better than most of the country with its ice and snow, but I'm sure the SF would be much nicer.
To me, it comes down to your life goals and earning potential. If you want to marry and have a family in the next 5 years, and your earning potential is under 200 to 250K, definitely move to Seattle. If on the other hand you're under 25 and you've got 500K earning potential, then go to the SF. Or if you don't care about having kids, maybe go to SF if you've got 250K earning potential.
Also, if you're one of those people who gets depressed when it's cloudy, go to SF. I have gotten used to the clouds and have started to like them. Too much sun annoys me at this point, as do temperatures above 80. I wasn't like this 15 years ago.
Wise old coach8 wrote:
Neither.
Move to the Midwest. Your family will thank you.
They might even send postcards.
I'm a San Francisco native. If you move to the Bay Area don't call it Frisco or San Fran, you'll come across as a hick. Call it San Francisco or 'The City.'
If it's trails you're looking for there are miles in Golden Gate Park. The perimeter is 9 miles miles with lots of trails in the interior. You don't even need to leave the City. If you're willing to drive for 30 minutes you have Mt Tam in Marin County. The South Bay has a lot of large parks. If your job is in Mt View though you'll probably live down the peninsula. (Woodside is great)
I lived in the Seattle area for a year years ago. What I remember is rain. Not heavy just consistent. When you run in the woods it's always wet even if it isn't raining. It is beautiful though.
When a 1,100 sqft "house" built in the 60's sells for more than $1M, $135K doesn't mean much for sure.
Some people have no qualms borrowing $700K to buy a house. Others prefer to sleep without a sword hanging above their head, in a place were earthquakes are not uncommon.
factsonwheels wrote:
When a 1,100 sqft "house" built in the 60's sells for more than $1M.
Most around here were built in the 20's
son of a jamin wrote:
If you like the smell of urine and feces move to SF. If you like to be depressed by the lack of sun and bad weather move to Seattle.
With Seattle's homeless crisis there is a lot of public urination and feces all over. RV's and barely able to run RV's clog many of the residential neighborhoods that the upscale homeless live in as well.
Urine and feces are the new face of the American landscape.
all of this wrote:
SLC is experiencing the same thing. The smoke from the CA wildfires is adding to our already unsustainable air quality problem. Now we have inversions in the winter and smoke in the summer. Don't underestimate how detrimental poor air quality can have on not only your running, but your mood on a day-to-day basis.[/quote] Back when I used to live in the SLC/Provo area Utah used to get these nasty temperature inversions in the winter time. A perpetual ground fog with particulate matter hanging in the air for weeks on end during January and February. Blocked the sun out and was really depressing. To get any sunshine you would have to drive up to Park City to get above it.
Who says he is white? Who says he is priveledged? Maybe he worked to get those offers!
JobAdvice1
Go on... why is that? You love being in a place where it rains 24/7/365 outside of the summer months?
How many days do you think there are in a year?
crete wrote:
JobAdvice1
Go on... why is that? You love being in a place where it rains 24/7/365 outside of the summer months?
How many days do you think there are in a year?
It depends on the year.
Bay and Seattle are about the same qol for runners. I'd put the bay ahead by a nose. That said, I'd chose Seattle. Decent running community and better coffee. Congrats bro, you are successful at life. I live on the other coast and make half what you do, if that.
benefits?
I live in Cupertino. I wouldn't trade it for anyplace I've been to in the world. Not SF and no way Seattle. Take the Mountain View job and join us here in paradise. Run the mountains right outside your door and partake in the best road race and ultra scene anywhere. USATF-PA can only be rivaled by Socal and NE, and their weather sucks.
Trapped Behind The Zion Curtain wrote:
all of this wrote:
SLC is experiencing the same thing. The smoke from the CA wildfires is adding to our already unsustainable air quality problem. Now we have inversions in the winter and smoke in the summer. Don't underestimate how detrimental poor air quality can have on not only your running, but your mood on a day-to-day basis.
Back when I used to live in the SLC/Provo area Utah used to get these nasty temperature inversions in the winter time. A perpetual ground fog with particulate matter hanging in the air for weeks on end during January and February. Blocked the sun out and was really depressing. To get any sunshine you would have to drive up to Park City to get above it.[/quote]
Breaks my heart. I went home to SL this spring. We came over the point of the mountain and we couldn’t see the valley for the smog. I was coughing the whole week we were there. I don’t remember it being so bad on the worst inversion days growing up, and I’ve only been gone a little over a decade.
I think I understand why you are still single and don’t date.
I live in the Bay Area now. My husband and I are both physicians. I’m practicing but he is still finishing his residency. We love it here. We’re both runners and the trail options are endless. The food is great (in the city). It’s really easy to visit other places (Napa, Tahoe, Santa Barbara, LA, etc).
BUT we feel like we’re barely saving any money because it’s so damn expensive. Right now we’re making ~$160k but we’re expecting that will increase to $450k when he’s done with residency. And sadly, we still feel like we can’t afford to stay here. So we will be moving back o the east coast next summer. It’s freaking insane out here - you can’t buy a house/condo/townhome anywhere in the peninsula for less than 1 million.
Oh and the traffic is a nightmare (it takes me 60 mins to get home every day.. and I live 15 miles away). And the people are weird.