Beautiful place, but not for everyone
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10/15/2009
After many years of living a variety of places around the country, most recently in California, we moved to the Seattle area a little more than two years ago. We'd been here many times before on vacation or passing through on the way to Canada, and we'd always wondered what it would be like to live here. We loved the water, mountains, and trees; we also liked the educated population and lower (relatively) housing costs.
Well, after two years, we're ready to leave. Yes, it's still beautiful, and yes, the housing costs are lower than in California, but the weather can be really hard to take. This year was actually a good one--lots of sun from May-September, but the two preceding years were awful. Day after day of gray, rain, and snow. No summer in 2008--just a few weeks of sun in July.
Plus, since moving here, we've been shocked by how many people come down with various serious diseases (MS, cancer, etc.)--the rates are extremely high. I'm convinced it's because there's almost no sun here--hence, no Vitamin D. We take supplements every day now, but I still think living here is a health risk.
If endless gray, cold weather gets you down, don't move here--it can feel like a prison sentence. What's worse, much of the population seems affected by the weather--we barely see our neighbors for most of the year until they resurface during the summer months. It's depressing. You should look forward to getting up every day and interacting with the world; here, you wake up and just wish you could leave. I'm counting the days till we move again--scenic beauty isn't enough.
Planner | Edmonds, WA