Moving to Seattle - never been there before. Tell me what I'm in for?

The Anwar Mosque?

jahmin wrote:

Only about a two hour drive from the legal pot in Canada. Maybe you can jamin could road trip up there for it at some point.

Pot is legal in Washington.

Theoniongoat wrote:

Moving2Seattle wrote:

What's the running like?

How do you like the city?

Good food? Etc..

OP, are you the430miler? Are you moving to Seattle because you have always wondered what it would be like to live in the West after a lifetime of living in the South?

I haven't lived in the south in several years since I moved to Texas, which is 100 percent in the western United states.

Seattle is more Canada than it is United states. It's not in the west either. The old west does not get 100 inches of rain per year

PNW is amazingly beautiful

Live on the east side (Bellevue, Redmond, etc.). Clean and normal.

Not enough sunshine, but when the sun is shining it's amazing. No joke.

It rains, but usually not a "legit" rain. Scattered sprinkles. But it's always scattered sprinkles.

I LOVE to visit, but I could not live there given the lack of sun over the course of an entire year. I dig cloudy days as much as the next guy, but not every single day from October through March-April. That's just me though. The upside in the weather is that it's really not that cold in the winter relative to other northern US cities.

There's some good advice here, and a lot of crap.

It's grey and damp for the winter, but you get some gems, and it's always short tights weather at the worst.

Before committing to the commute from the Eastside it's worth exploring housing within Seattle in every direction around downtown. North of the city; Magnolia- Queen Anne- Eastlake- Madrona; then north of the cut Ballard- Phinney Ridge- Greenwood- NW Seattle- Ravenna- Wedgwood- NE Seattle etc. I've heard good things about West Seattle as well but can't speak from experience.

A main driver of the high cost of housing here is that the housing stock is primarily single family residences. As a result, you can live in a nice standalone house in a quiet neighborhood within a few blocks of the bus and usually a handful of restaurants, and a few miles of the Burke Gilman, Lake Union, Green Lake, and the various parks around town. A bonus up north is the seemingly endless grid of architecturally interesting homes with extravagant landscaping- you won't find that to the same extent on the Eastside.

kibitzer wrote:

Not widely known, but still true: In a typical year Seattle gets less rain than NYC.

That may not be a myth, but NYC might get a couple inches of rain for one day about 3 times a month, whereas, Seatle will get less than an inch per day just about everyday.

It’s nothing but transplants and microsofties now. Seattle has lost its soul. It was a much cooler place in the 60s, 70s, 80s. Most of the people who are cool and grew up there have moved to somewhere sunnier. Arizona, Colorado, California etc.

But you’ll be another transplant so you’ll fit right in.

TrackCoach wrote:

kibitzer wrote:

Not widely known, but still true: In a typical year Seattle gets less rain than NYC.

That may not be a myth, but NYC might get a couple inches of rain for one day about 3 times a month, whereas, Seatle will get less than an inch per day just about everyday.

Seattle- 36 inches of rain per year

Okc- 37 inches of rain per year

Can any of you guys weigh in on Issaquah, WA?

It looks like a super nice area.. close to some great trails/parks. Houses are pricy there, but think I could swing it.

I love running on trails and looking for like a ~30-45 min commute to downtown. Do you think this would be a good spot for me?

Issaquah could work well if you're commuting at off times. It'll quickly (slowly) become an hour plus each way if you and everyone else who had the idea is trying to go over the bridge at the same time.

FL resident wrote:

Is it true that in Seattle you can go several weeks at a time without seeing the sun during the winter and spring months?

YES! That is what gets me - MUCH more than the rain. You can go LONG periods of time between November and April with nothing but grey sky . I can handle some rain, handle some cold, but where is the blue sky?

(BTW everything said about high housing costs, homeless, and drug problems are very true.)

Banana Bread wrote:

No your literally 2.5 miles of

My 2.5 miles of what?

tacomafan wrote:

FL resident wrote:

Is it true that in Seattle you can go several weeks at a time without seeing the sun during the winter and spring months?

YES! That is what gets me - MUCH more than the rain. You can go LONG periods of time between November and April with nothing but grey sky . I can handle some rain, handle some cold, but where is the blue sky?

(BTW everything said about high housing costs, homeless, and drug problems are very true.)

No sun for MONTHS at a time? Nope, not for me.

Moving2Seattle wrote:

Can any of you guys weigh in on Issaquah, WA?

It looks like a super nice area.. close to some great trails/parks. Houses are pricy there, but think I could swing it.

I love running on trails and looking for like a ~30-45 min commute to downtown. Do you think this would be a good spot for me?

Issaquah is farther out then what you're seeing on a map - I would not want to commute from there. Try to live somewhere close enough in where you can take public transit - Seattle traffic is no joke...

HahaRiiiiiiight wrote:

Moving2Seattle wrote:

Can any of you guys weigh in on Issaquah, WA?

It looks like a super nice area.. close to some great trails/parks. Houses are pricy there, but think I could swing it.

I love running on trails and looking for like a ~30-45 min commute to downtown. Do you think this would be a good spot for me?

Issaquah is farther out then what you're seeing on a map - I would not want to commute from there. Try to live somewhere close enough in where you can take public transit - Seattle traffic is no joke...

Hmm - weird. Google maps says 20-45 min during rush hour, but I guess it could be wrong.

Hey, welcome to Seattle, soon. I've been here two years and like it. Lots. Things you need to know:

- Location: get a place that's bus-able or on the light rail. If at all possible, you don't want a car - to have one downtown is 300 in parking, plus 600 registration annually. That's before your payment and insurance, gas, maintenance. Issaquah is too far. Bellvue, Kirkland, Redmond are all nice, and sterile. Live in-city, or if out of city, Woodinville or Edmonds. Both are nice. Don't even think about Pioneer Square. If yo u want to legit trail run, though, you'll need transportation.

- I live downtown, it's nice - lots of action. The food's awesome. The market is awesome. My view is unparalleled. Most buildings have a gym and treadmills, bike storage, plus rooftops for social, etc. Rent is pretty insane, but housing is worse - it's expensive. For your $350-400K, you'll be 45 minutes away in a shack - anyplace bus-able or walkable will be $750K for a 1BR. Easier to rent.

- The homeless is a thing, fo sho. They're concentrated in 3 places, all downtown-ish: Belltown, the waterfront, and Pioneer Square. I live in Belltown, it's safe enough, wouldn't want to be a single gal, tho. You just gotta know what blocks to avoid, and then, avoid. No worse than PDX or SFO, though.

- The rain is real, but not a big deal. Last year it didn't rain a single day between March 15 and October 20, ish. Don't bring an umbrella, you'll use a raincoat, just because. Seattle's the only city where it can be raining and you won't get wet. you'll see the sun, but it will likely be raining. Summers are gorgeous. Plan a vacation to someplace sunny in February. Every February.

- The running is outstanding. So many awesome parks, trails, etc. You can run on trails forever. Downtown it's burke-gilman, on the waterfront, or around lake union. Bring your hill shoes; Seattle isn't flat, and in some cases, hilly enough you can't run it.

- Seattle has incredible live music. The Moore, the Crocodile, Highway 99, The Edgewater, D'metrious Jazz Alley, and Tulas - 6 places with live music / Jazz within 10 blocks of my apartment. Awesome.

- List of places to eat/drink downtown: Buckley's, Tavolata, Taylor Shellfish, Brooklyn, Rob Roy, the 6/7, m-Bar to watch the Seaplanes land in Lake Union, Purple, Duke's for chowder, Elliott's, anyplace Tom Douglas, a million places on Cap Hill. Buckleys for sports. Also google happy hours, lots of $1/oyster deals.

- Grow a beard, get a raincoat, drink Rainier, have a few types of flannel - everyday, dress, etc., e-Bikes with headlights, taillights, flashing lights, all the lights. Don't sweat the cruise ship season, get a #12 Seahawks jersey, go watch the rugby team, they're awesome, and enjoy.

Ask anything else you like. Enjoy.

Forgot. The amount of dope smoked in seattle is off the charts. It was normal here before it was normal, anywhere. No one cares.

You guys.. thanks so much for the awesome responses. It's great to hear intel from the local Seattle folks.

I plan on doing lots of ultras there & traveling, so its sounding like perhaps the suburan route is the way to go.

i.e. While downtown is super attractive, it's very expensive and not feasible having a car there

Good, Bad, Ugly wrote:

Good: food, Rainier, Whistler, Olympic NP, Cascades, Victoria, markets, coffee, short flight to Kauai

Bad: bums, the "freeze" hard to make new friends

Ugly: traffic, cost of housing, constant drizzle

What is the "freeze"?