I love Seattle
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9/24/2007
I was born and raised in Seattle and pretty much continuously lived there up until '96 when I married and moved out of state. I fully intend to move back. I visit at least once a year so I have been keeping up with the situation there. In thinking about the pros and cons:
Pros: Your starter house may have to be a condo instead of a house, but there are still places to buy for less than 200K. Real estate values in the area are steadily appreciating. If you’re willing to live in some of the outlying areas possibly south of Seattle you can still find something and later upgrade to closer in or bigger just depending on your values. Property taxes as a percentage of the home values are much lower than where we are currently living in the South. Seattle City Light is a municipal utility so your power bills are very inexpensive compared to power companies in other parts of the country. Also there is zero state income tax in WA state. The bus system Metro transit has reasonable fares and you can go anywhere you need to go in town so you don’t have to drive everywhere. Also the town is very walkable and bikeable. Some of my co-workers biked to work. Socially I had great friendships with people there that I saw on a day to day basis usually through work or church. I met my husband at church and he was a CA transplant. People that live in Seattle are pretty committed to sticking around so it’s not transient. It's clean it's pretty and it's arty.
Cons: Real estate values in Seattle are always appreciating. So it’s harder to find a place to buy. Socially plan on taking about a year to develop friendships. Just be patient, keep a good attitude and stay hopeful.
Linda | Houston, TX