Might be Moving to Seattle: The Good, the Bad, the Ugly?

Hi gang.

I am potentially taking a new job in Seattle, so I am seeking info from folks who know the area. The job itself is located right on the waterfront near the ferry terminal. I was thinking the fam and I would probably rent something for a while and then maybe buy if things work out.

What are some good/cheap-ish/not too long commute areas near Seattle. I can do a 30 min commute no problem (coming from SoCal). How is the car culture up there? What other advice can someone give a poor schlub from LA about moving to the Pacific NW?

Thanks!!

Buy an umbrella, you'll need it .

The commute will probably be worse. Seattle has some bad traffic in its downtown core.

Try to take mass transit and save your car stuff for the weekends.

For most, the place to live is in the Tacoma area.

For car stuff, there's tons of active clubs and tracks.

Pacific Raceways (SIR)

The Ridge Motorsports Park

Spokane Raceway Park

Oregon Raceway Park

Portland International Raceway.

The SCCA national tour stops in Packwood, WA

Tons of clubs and classics.

turboswede wrote: For car stuff, there's tons of active clubs and tracks. Pacific Raceways (SIR) The Ridge Motorsports Park Spokane Raceway Park Oregon Raceway Park Portland International Raceway.

Whoa! I knew about PIR but had no idea about the rest of those. I am planning a move to the PNW(Bend, OR specifically) and was thinking PIR was it until you head to California. Cool man.

OP, Good luck with your move, I am envious.

In reply to Anti-stance:

Thanks! We will see. I think I am much more enthused about it than the Mrs.

ChumpCar, LeMons, Rat Race, SCCA, CSCC, ICSCC, TC are just some of the clubs/sanctioning bodies that run events at those tracks.

Cool about the tracks! I knew about Portland and Pacific, but that was it. Nice.

BoxheadTim wrote: Buy an umbrella, you'll need it .

Actually, in my (limited) experience Seattlites don't use umbrellas. It's more of a drizzle, so they just deal with it.

In reply to Keith:

That's been my experience too the few times I have been there.

We can always tell the Californians - they bring umbrellas.

If you are looking for a 30 minute commute to the ferry terminal - depending on your hours of work - you will probably be limited to about 15 miles from the terminal. My 18 mile drive would take about 40 minutes at 6 AM. The later in the day you go, the less distance you can get. I can also tell you, that if you can make over the Snohomish county line you will probably see a decrease in taxes and an increase in public school quality.

A previous poster suggested Tacoma. My few forays into Tacoma have convinced my I would rather live north of Seattle. I will also mention that when buying tires, wet traction is more useful than dry in this neck of the woods.

Keith wrote: Actually, in my (limited) experience Seattlites don't use umbrellas. It's more of a drizzle, so they just deal with it.

Yep, native PNW folks don't usually use umbrellas unless it is coming in sideways :)

Or the sun is out and we're worried about getting burned. HA!

Of course without the rain, we'd look more like LA and be living in a desert that only survives by stealing other people's water.

One word of caution, don't let too many people know you're from Cali, that's not a popular place to be from ;) LOL

turboswede wrote:

Keith wrote: Actually, in my (limited) experience Seattlites don't use umbrellas. It's more of a drizzle, so they just deal with it.

Yep, native PNW folks don't usually use umbrellas unless it is coming in sideways :) Or the sun is out and we're worried about getting burned. HA! Of course without the rain, we'd look more like LA and be living in a desert that only survives by stealing other people's water. One word of caution, don't let too many people know you're from Cali, that's not a popular place to be from ;) LOL

My sister's from Georgia. My bro-in-law is from Tennessee. They get absolutely no guff about it because folks grumble about Californians instead. Of course, they've been there dang near 20yrs now, maybe they're considered "locals" by now..

Enjoy it. I love the area, but I lived across the sound and only ventured into Seattle for Mariner's games.

Nobody like Californians, including me. I'm a native and it seems that all the other states send us their crazies. Oh, and Mexico sends us everyone. The less like California a place is, the better.

Rain doesn't bother me in the slightest.

So, yeah, traffic's not as bad as LA, but, um, it's pretty bad. Just so ya know.

+1 on taking the bus. Even though the people from LA I know think that's crazy, lots of people do it here; your company would probably pay for it, too.

First, rule out anything east of Lake Washington and/or anything requiring driving on 405, and the 520 bridge. For cheap-ish, you could try West Seattle, but it's somewhat like an island and one of the main routes that conveys traffic from it is being replaced (big tunnel), so it could get crazy soon.

Rule out Everett (to the north). I can't understand how anyone would want to do that commute every day...

North of town is probably nicest; you might find affordable digs in Greenwood, Crown Hill, Wedgwood, maybe Ballard (it's getting spendy). Depends on what you're looking for and who you want to live around, I guess. If you live in Ballard, Phinney, Greenwood, or even Shoreline (first town north of Seattle), then your commute to the water could be fairly straightforward (down 15th Ave NW). South of town, there are a number of nice places to live, but they tend to be patchworks of decent streets contrasting with other patches that are a bit rough.

If you ride a bicycle, the N-S route from Ballard-ish is fantastic: right on the water (google Myrtle Edwards Park or look at the City's website for bicycling).

If you want to get away from the city, you could commute by ferry and live over on Bainbridge Island, but I think it'd be tough to get to car-related stuff.

You could potentially live in Tacoma and take the train to Seattle, but I doubt you'd dig that, and while I like Tacoma, some people really don't like Tacoma.

Renton, to the south, isn't too spendy, but you'd want to look into the commute -- I think it's tough (usually includes 405, IIRC).

Maybe you've heard about the weather. Here's how it works: from July 5th through October (sometimes into November a bit), the weather is epic: not much rain, dry air, not too hot (though we periodically get heat waves, usually lasting only a couple days). Then you enter what my buddy calls "the long, dark tunnel": dark, wet days, low cloud ceiling, gray. Suckers use umbrellas. Smart people escape mid-winter to go looking for sunshine.

Procainestart has it right...without knowing your budget, North of town (Ballard, Phinney, Greenwood, Shoreline, Etc) is your best bet- wide range of prices. If you only have to go downtown, Ballard is an excellent choice- neat town, lots to do and see and eat. Ballard is not too convenient to get to from I5, but again, if you are just going downtown then that is not an issue. Think real hard about doing that on a bike- it is possibly the best bike commute in town. Commuting from Tacoma is just plain crazy talk. Seriously.

Almost forgot- related to car culture: driving on the highways in WA is a great experience. The right lanes are always wide open because EVERYONE goes straight for the left lane. It is amazing.

Mezzanine wrote: Almost forgot- related to car culture: driving on the highways in WA is a great experience. The right lanes are always wide open because EVERYONE goes straight for the left lane. It is amazing.

Quite true. Keep right except to pass is posted everywhere and has a pretty good fine attached - they never give it out around here though.

I liked working in Ballard; living there probably wouldn't be bad either. Shoreline is great too but it may be outside of the range you are looking for.

Johnboyjjb wrote: Quite true. Keep right except to pass is posted everywhere and has a pretty good fine attached - they never give it out around here though.

I joke that the law is "keep left except to exit" since the majority of cars adhere to that mantra.

Nice, thanks for the suggestions. I am not entirely sure what my budget is as of yet, so this is all good info. What about Bremerton or Port Orchard? I know nothing of these neighborhoods, nor do I know a thing about commuitng via ferry either...

Please Google Tacoma and lahar. Not to be alarmist, but you should know what is eventually going to happen.

In reply to Geekspeed:

I lived in Silverdale for 5 years. I usually went over on the Bainbridge Ferry instead of the Bremerton Ferry becuase the Bremerton ferry leaves from Bremerton and the ferry ride is quite a bit longer. I would think commuting by ferry would only be a good solution if you could walk on or ride a bike on. If you had to drive on the other side it would not appeal to me. The Kington-Edmonds ferry was usually a good one for less traffic, but it doesn't put you in downtown Seattle. Depends where you are headed.

As I learned on my first ever trip to Seattle last week, don't ride city bus route 351. It is truly an experience that must be had in person. Literally cannot be put into words.

Geekspeed wrote: What about Bremerton or Port Orchard? I know nothing of these neighborhoods, nor do I know a thing about commuitng via ferry either...

If you're on a bicycle or motorcycle, the ferry commute is not too bad-1hr boat ride to Bremerton though. If you have to drive, you'll likely want to kill yourself. I did the ferry commute for about a year and a half.

In reply to Jeff, you are indeed being very alarmist. I work on the tide flats in Tacoma, so I'll be one of the first to go, but seriously. He is moving from CA which everyone threatens is about to calve off into the pacific with the next earthquake. You've got some natural disaster awaiting you most anywhere you live. Not a disqualifier to me.

Yeah we have tornados in Ohio. You can't escape it.