Glad I at least checked it out
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4/8/2018
In 1990, I visited Seattle for the first time and I fell in love with it. Seattle was a different town back then as I have quickly figured out being here now for the past 6 months. I am in my late 40s and I'm a techie. Finding a tech job here was pretty easy if you got skills, but don't expect 6 figures right off the bat for sure unless you code.
OK, I always try to leave as unbiased of an opinion as I can when I post on these sites. I have lived in several different cities in my years and so far here are my observations:
1. Traffic and commute is absolutely miserable. I live on the east side of Lynnwood, north of town, and my commute to Fremont can range anywhere from an hour to an hour-and-thirty depending on the day, the weather, the number of car crashes. It's almost impossible to plan your commute sometimes because it can change at the drop of a hat. Roads were not built to handle the influx of all the other migrants coming to town looking for a sweet job. It's a true shame honestly. Seattle also missed the boat on building out its light rail system, shame for a metropolitan area that is supposed to be so progressive. Drivers here are miserable and reckless. Side roads are two lanes, most with no curb and gutter. Weirdest and most disjunct street grid throughout most of Seattle proper with confusing backed up stop sign intersections (no one knows how to work a 4 way stop!!!) and dangerous in the slick winter weather. If it snows here, stay home! I am not kidding.
2. I deal with some social anxieties, so the whole Seattle Freeze thing hasn't been a big deal to me. But, yes, I can see how people here can be cold and indifferent. However, I think that might speak to the whole millenial culture and the tech scene here. Most software engineers have no social skills.
3. Weather. So, yeah, it rains. Oh well. You get used to it. Sometimes the sun will even come out in between those clouds even if it's just for an hour. The temperature rarely has wide fluctuations. Meaning that it stays like 45 degrees for weeks and weeks at a time in winter. It's damp and boring and predictable, too bad that doesn't carry over to the traffic situation. But if you really like sun, you wont find it here during the winter and early spring.
4. Cost of living sucks here. Like seriously. Gas, electric, food, clothing, pretty much everything is more expensive. Like a plate of spaghetti and meatballs: $17. Seriously? A steak $35 bucks!
5. Housing and Rent. I am renting a two bedroom townhouse right now for $1900 in the suburbs. Most cheaply built housing I've ever lived in. Apartments are being built everywhere, but with a premium. Don't expect to find anything that's cheap here or affordable unless you want to live in Tukwila; which most people don't want to live there. If you're looking for a new build to buy expect to pay over $500k in the outlying suburbs. If you want a short commute, expect to pay $750k on average in Seattle or Bellevue. You may be able to get yourself something close to affordable in Puyallup or Covington, but your commute will be obscene. You think I'm kidding, just look at realtor.com. Also, the existing housing stock is garbage here unless you're right in Seattle's inner ring suburbs, outside of that, you'll find nasty dirty ranch houses made from inferior materials, siding falling apart and roofs covered in layers and layers of moss. In areas like Mountlake Terrace garbage homes sell for $720k. Most get torn down and subdivided to allow 10-12 cookie cutter homes with shared driveways all pouring out onto country roads that haven't been upgraded since they were built. You can easily see the disconnect between those that had and those that did not during Seattle's pre-Amazon days. This town was mostly blue collar and just middle class, it shows all over as you drive around different neighborhoods. There's certainly money here, don't get me wrong, there are mansions well hidden in all those trees.
6. Scenery. Holy sh*t, it's beautiful here. Snow capped mountain peaks, gorgeous coastline, tree lined streets in some neighborhoods that are amazing. Everything grows here. Definitely a gardeners paradise. There are breathtaking vistas all over the city. Oh and Canada is a short drive to the north if you wanna check out Vancouver BC or Victoria BC, both great cities.
7. Culture. I haven't really been out yet to experience the concerts or plays, but I can see that culture is important here. So are the Seahawks, "12" plastered everywhere all over town.
8. I need to experience summer here. Oh, hopefully it doesn't get hot, because almost no apartments here have AC. This should be interesting when the apartments here are built like crap. I might need one of those mobile AC units.
9. Why am I here then? If you read my review, you're probably like WTF, why don't you move you whiny SOB! I got here rather in a convoluted way, but I am glad I finally got here (I should've moved here when I was in my early 20s). Will I stay? I don't think so. Once I graduate and get the certs I need, I'm pretty much out of here. There are plenty of more affordable cities in this country. Will they be as beautiful, maybe not, but beauty is only skin deep they say. When everything else sucks, no amount of greenery or cloud covered mountain top or shimmering blue water will fix it.
Rob | Mill Creek, WA