Seattle, Washington Location • Page 3

This guy is the real MVP

 

I'm about 90% sure I'm moving to Seattle in May after graduation, and it's all I'm thinking about. Is there anything an outsider should know before living there? Coming from central Jersey.

 

It doesn't rain as much as people say it does, that's just a myth to keep outsiders away. However, it does threaten to rain quite often. It's usually not that bad when it does.

Also get ready for the worst traffic/drivers in the world.

 

I'm trying my hardest to move out to the area this year. Will probably end up in Tacoma for the time being.

I also refute anyone who says anywhere has the worst drivers until they've lived in Florida, DC, or LA.

 

My belief is that everywhere has the worst drivers according to the residents that live there but yeah, LA is pretty terrible

 

That is also very true haha

 

there's a lot of california transplants here in seattle, so thats my reasoning on why we have such terrible drivers here.

 

listening to people whom moved here from other cities, it's much harder to make friends here than a lot of other places. seattle freeze and all that. but if you don't mind being lonely at first, then it's great. that's the only the real complaint people have about seattle. it's a beautiful city.

 

The CA thing is totally true. I'm from San Diego and my wife is from the Redding area. I have friends here from OCeanside, Poway, Chula Vista, El Centro, etc. It's crazy.

 

Well, you'll be getting some Florida transplants at the end of the year haha. I've heard about the PNW freeze (Portland from what I've heard is just as bad) and that doesn't concern me really. I actually like how that sounds haha.

 

I did not experience the Seattle Freeze and plugged into a great friend circle but I've seen others go through it and it can be awful trying to get to know people. However I am the nicest person ever so fuck that.

 

Yeah, I've got an outstanding amount of social anxiety so there will be no adjustment for me or anything haha.

 

Just spent a week and a half near Seattle and it's the worst traffic I've ever seen, even in small towns across the sound

 

Was also just in the area last week and was pretty shocked at the horrific drivers. I came in expecting aggressive but attentive drivers in the vein of big cities on the east coast, but instead found mainly the same clueless slowpokes I'm accustomed to in Oklahoma - just a lot more of them. You guys have the "cruise at 5 under in the left lane" shtick down as well as us flyover state bumpkins! And man, those small towns well outside the Seattle metro - Trump signs abound, and truly some of the worst drivers I've ever encountered.

In all seriousness, the PNW is probably the most beautiful area of the country, at least at this time of year. Seattle is a phenomenal city. I was just taken aback (and a bit disappointed?) by how rural WA and OR felt culturally indistinguishable from rural middle America.

 

Do you mind elaborating on that last point a bit? I'm curious as to what you mean.

 

First, as a disclaimer, this is only based on ~10 days of driving between National Parks and other hiking spots in the PNW without a lot of long stops in civilization (other than Seattle).

But quite a few of the small towns in rural areas (even including the Olympic peninsula and Oregon coast) had lots of big Trump signs, lots of rudely-slow drivers in beat up pickups, and just felt kind of sketchy and run down. This is all stuff I'm totally accustomed to seeing in small towns here in the Great Plains where the population has been aging and shrinking for decades. For whatever reason, I had the impression that at least west of the Cascades, the rural PNW would be a fair bit more cosmopolitan. If nothing else, I expected the vibe to be more "hippie" and less "Duck Dynasty." But that's probably a slight exaggeration and based on my ignorance as an outsider - kinda like an American traveling to Paris and being shocked to find they have some racists there too.

 

I had the same experience and thoughts haha

 

Oh okay, yeah I knew that haha. Oregon is real fucked up outside of the north and south borders and if you're outside of the Sound the same is true for Washington. But on the other end of that spectrum, everything you described sounds like the entirety of the south except we have MUCH more dangerous drivers. The only solace with the PNW shitheads is that I can at least pretend that those small towns exist because the cities tolerate it less. We embrace it here.

 

yeah, everywhere outside of seattle is pretty conservative. it's like night and day when you travel to eastern washington.

 

Eastern Washington? You mean western Idaho? There is no eastern Washington.

That's my dad joke for the day.

 

OK yes I'm bringing this thread back to life because I didn't know it existed.
I have wanted to move to seattle for a very long time and finally got the chance to visit over the summer.
It was a brief visit but it was the best 4 days of my life and I can't wait to live there some day. I need to live there. I know it's expensive as hell but I need to find a way to make it happen because it was unreal.

 

I put everything I owned into my car and drove to Seattle 4 years ago. I didn't have a job and I only had a place to stay for about a month. I had also never been north of Riverside, CA so I didn't even know if I'd like the PNW.

It's safe to say I liked it. Enough to stay and find a wife and a job (and a dog)! We live about 20 minutes north of Seattle where it's much cheaper. I'd recommend looking a little north, if you're serious about wanting to move here.

 

Would you say it is cheaper than West Seattle while still being comparably walkable/non-car friendly?

 

Same literally to all of this lol except we just moved to Burien cause we bought a house by my commute is so short into the city.

 

oooo i wouldn't say west seattle is walkable/non-car friendly. it's completely doable, we have a good transit system but when it's late it's hard to get a direct bus to west seattle. although easily solvable with services like uber. i personally think it's a hassle during rush hour, it gets really backed up. i have a lot of friends in west seattle; it's super nice and up and coming, alki beach is right there, but it's better with a car in west seattle imo. ballard, beacon hill, central district, columbia city are good options too. i just moved to magnolia and love it so far. again, it's hard to get a bus when it's last call, but i uber anyway when i'm tipsy.

oh and 20 mins north of seattle is cheaper than west seattle. west seattle is becoming hipster central