Seattle

[deadohsky]

I know that we have at least a few members from the Seattle region. This is clearly for you. It's also for people that have experience moving to a new state at a younger age (i'm 24). I'm currently in a 'unique' position where i inherited a house and have yet to deal with getting my own apartment/house.

I have recently decided that i would love to move to Seattle. Mind you, it's still a couple years off at the least as i need to get more money saved up.

A while back i started a topic about marriage. I have hit a rough spot with my girlfriend as far as all of that goes. I was originally planning on heading east to New York to be with her but with recent developments i'm not sure if that is the right idea and i am starting to think of other options in case that's not feasible anymore which is starting to look like it's the case. I have always had an interest in the pacific northwest as far as geography and climate go; it all suits me perfectly.

Any tips as far as moving there? I obviously know about the weather but that suits me just fine. I love overcast and rainy days. (Forgive me if that's an ignorant generalization).

I realize this is going to change by the time i'm ready to move as far as availability and such but could you recommend any neighborhoods and such? I did a brief apartment search for the area and i saw prices ranging from $700 to $2,500 a month. I'm sure i could swing at least $1,000 a month by the time i'm ready.

One of my main concerns is the issue of a cosigner. I have no immediate family that could be used for that and due to circumstances following the death of my father i am not very close to my extended family. Can you negotiate with a landlord? Paying a bigger deposit upfront or getting a cheaper unit to avoid a cosigner or is a cosigner essential?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

[Owens187]

I could never deal with the weather. Cali for me, even if it is a communist state. I have a brother stationed up there, he says the weather makes you want to kill yourself, so gloomy....

But then again, by the way things are going out in your area lately, Seattle might be better than your house flying away/going swimming....... ;^P

[Crow]

I could never deal with the weather.

It was 72 degrees yesterday, nice and sunny. It's supposed to be the same; today and tomorrow.

The weather is usually overcast, but I wouldn't call it gloomy. It rains a lot here, but it's seldom heavy (it's usually just a light rain or mist). Personally, I find it soothing.

Spring and Summer is another story. The weather is great this time of year.

I realize this is going to change by the time i'm ready to move as far as availability and such but could you recommend any neighborhoods and such?

There are plenty of great neighborhoods outside of Seattle.

Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond, Renton, and Auburn are a few that come to mind... Issaquah is another one. If you have any questions, let me know.

I look forward to welcoming another Seattleite. You will love it here.

Best of luck to you!

[lxskllr]

Seattle is in my top 5 places to live in the USA, and the only place out west. Cool, dark and damp is perfect for me. I also like New England; specifically Maine

[Condor]

for the love of ****, dont get married.

[Veganpunk]

I would love to visit/ maybe move to Seattle. The weather sounds perfect, heard they have good coffee, and I was a gen X kid.

[deadohsky]

Up here in Nebraska we've had a mild year as far as storms so far. Although there was a pretty strong storm that screwed up my paper shredder last night; no buttons work and it just runs and runs when it's plugged in lol.

Thanks The Seattleite. Hopefully you are still around when the time gets closer or even by the time i get out there. I'm sure there will be more questions.

Lx, you're sounding very similar to me lol. I've had an interest in Maine as well. If i'm ever able to retire i'd like to have a house/cabin on a lake surrounded by trees. My goal is to work my way up British Columbia if i don't just decided to stay out in Seattle. I like the idea of not really staying in one place forever and being able to live in different areas/ countries.

[Owens187]

for the love of ****, dont get married.

Sound, wise advice indeed.

[angrylollipop]

Seattle is in my top 5 places to live in the USA, and the only place out west. Cool, dark and damp is perfect for me. I also like New England; specifically Maine

Maine is depressing. nice place to visit though

[Roo]

If i'm ever able to retire i'd like to have a house/cabin on a lake surrounded by trees.

deadohsky, this too is my primary goal in life. I want enough money to retire in a cabin, on a lake, in the woods, with a dock and a boat. And while I'm not enjoying my dock and boat and cabin on the lake, I'll be traveling the world. Back on topic.... moving to Seattle! Hell yeah brother! I adore the Pacific Northwest, and not just because I'm from here. You will love Seattle. You should have seen the Olympic mountains today hovering out over the Puget Sound, sawing at the sunset sky like teeth nashing at the ether, ferry boats silently cutting through the cold, crisp waters of Elliot Bay... the homeless alcoholics pounding tallboys of Icehouse on the waterfront enjoying the spectacular view... lol. And if you were to walk east up and over the hill you would see the majestic Cascades, cresting the horizon from the monolith that is Mt. Rainier on up to Mt. Baker and Canada beyond... the entire scene a backdrop to the blue waters of Lake Washington which, along with the Sound, creates between them a perfectly narrow strip of hills and valleys and pines and oaks that we call home. In other words, Seattle is the shit!

Housing is expensive as **** though. To give you an idea, I currently live in a 1 bedroom apartment with no dishwasher or washer/dryer for $875/month. I am looking to move, and yesterday I went and checked out a tiny, tiny, rather run down little house for $1375/month. It is almost impossible to purchase a decent place, however small, in a decent neighborhood, for less than $300,000. Now, having said all that, to the best of my knowledge I am the only Seattleite member here who lives in Seattle proper. If you take The Seattleite's suggestions on various suburbs he mentioned, housing is much cheaper. Personally, I work downtown and love living within minutes of everything Seatown has to offer. But before anyone takes offense, that is just my preference, and yeah it comes with a hefty price. I have nothing against living outside of the city other than distance to most things I love about living here. But you can definitely rent a solid place for $1K in town. No problems there. With a dishwasher and W/D lol. That's why I'm looking to move!

So to recap, Seattle has it all for the outdoor enthusiast. You can ski/snowboard 45 minutes from town, boat within city limits (or canoe/kayak), bike your ass off on numerous trails, hike the Cascades, fish all over the place, sail in the Sound, drive 2 hours to a bonafide rain forest on the Olympic Peninsula, see all the best bands, drink beer from all corners of the world, and so much more. The weather ****ing rules from June through October -- it almost literally never rains. the other months definitely make up for it though lol. One thing you'll miss about Nebraska? Lightning. Due to our location between mountain ranges and other geographic/meteorological factors to which I'm not quite privy, we get some weak-ass lightning storms around here. Oh and when it snows 2 inches, the whole town shuts down and everyone gets into a car accident lol.

Anyway, I applaud your choice (if you make it), and you would be a welcome addition to the great pacific northwest. Peace ~ Roo

[Crow]

Now, having said all that, to the best of my knowledge I am the only Seattleite member here who lives in Seattle proper. If you take The Seattleite's suggestions on various suburbs he mentioned, housing is much cheaper.

Yeah, I live outside of Seattle now. I was born in Seattle, and lived right across the floating bridge (I lived less than a mile away from Bill Gates, and Steve Miller used to be my neighbor)

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One of my main concerns is the issue of a cosigner.

You should look into shared housing when you're starting out. Here's a link to shared room ads on Craigslist:

http://seattle.craigslist.org/roo/

Good luck!

[woodster]

I know that we have at least a few members from the Seattle region. This is clearly for you. It's also for people that have experience moving to a new state at a younger age (i'm 24). I'm currently in a 'unique' position where i inherited a house and have yet to deal with getting my own apartment/house.

You inherited a place -- is this place in Seattle, or are you wanting to cash-in and move out here?
I live south of Seattle (the weatherman calls it the SouthSound, aka. south of Puget Sound) - typically housing is much cheaper in this area than in Seattle ($1,300 for a 4 bed 2 bath huge yard). But where you work (assuming you still have to work despite your inheritance), will also dictate where you want to locate to. As mentioned in the previous post, "true" Seattlites seem savvy to shacking up with strangers - which is a bit beyond what I'm willing to do, but hey, if you're into that kind of thing...

Also, consider traffic - if you don't live downtown but want to work there, you're gonna deal with traffic - checkout google earth with the traffic feature on during a weekday between 0530 & 0900 and then again between 1530 & 1800 to get an idea of what I'm talking about. You'll use most of your snus-supply sitting on the freeway. I personally avoid downtown by about 30 miles in all directions.

Finally, the weather. New York gets more rain than the Seattle area - Arizonians are required to spend more time in air conditioned buildings than we are out in the rain, and frankly, Washington can't be beat in the summer - it is absolutely beautiful. By the way, Eastern Washington, which is very different from Western WA, is relatively dry and actually gets all four seasons - hot summer, cold winter etc. And if you're into politics, lets just say Eastern Washington is probably more like Nebraska and Western Washington is more like - well - liberal.

So there it is. G'luck.
Oh, and our tobacco tax is something like 45%.

[deadohsky]

Roo, i was hoping you'd chime in. Your description just further solidifies why i want to move out there. Every picture and video i've ever seen of Seattle just looks wonderful to me. I'd have no issue living in the city itself, i was just thinking suburbs cost wise. Also, i do love beer. If i remember correctly you have posted quite a few times about different beers you have bought or received and looking at the pictures and descriptions they sound great. I can get a fair amount of micro brews here but i've already tried everything here in town.

Thanks for the link The Seattleite, i'll have to keep it for the future.

woodster - welcome to the forum! The inherited place is here in nebraska. I will definitely have to work, the small inheritance i received is pretty much just helping me pay bills and live comfortably for the time being. I'm not worried about 'cashing in' as i wouldn't get much out of it. To be honest, i'm just going for a fresh start. If i can avoid it, i'd rather not have a roommate unless it's my girlfriend. Otherwise i'd much prefer my own place. Politics wise, western Washington would be a better fit from the sounds of it lol.

[Jwalker]

I love it here I grew up here and live with my parents being 20 and all I don't know much on what rent costs where.

[CoderGuy]

Woodster, our tobacco tax is 75%, it's one of the most restrictive places in the country for tobacco use.

All that has been said are all valid points. Yes, traffic is a nightmare, yes, cost of living is high, yes, crime is steadily increasing, yes while it's true many other places get more rain per annum, 9 months out of the year it seems like you can't buy a good weekend (nice during the week, rain on weekends), so if you have a job where you have days off during the week, it's heaven (I don't though). Plus we have several active volcanos and a Japan style subduction zone right on our coast.

All that being said though, every time I try and think of anywhere else to move, I can't find one place that is better. That's why I have been here most of my life and have no plans on leaving.