People Who REALLY LOVE Seattle- What Prompted Your Move? What Do You Value? (Vancouver: credit, house)

[Kayela]

I thought it didn't really get hot enough for them, that's why they're not prevalent in the area??

Yes and no. I'd say there are usually ~10 days or so where I swear I'm going to go buy one this year. Eh... then things cool off and I forget it til next year. Yes, those days are uncomfortable, but part of me kind of likes being a little overwarm because 1. I know it won't last, and 2. it feels like summer and makes me go lay by the pool with my neighbors, go for a walk to get an ice cream cone in the evening, and just generally get out of the house and be part of the summer activity in my neighborhood (none of whom have AC either). When I have AC, I tend to stay inside, and then I don't feel like we had summer. While I don't generally prefer heat and sunshine, even I have to admit that a little summer is a nice break.

[Shikadance]

When I lived Seattle the summers did get warm enough to be uncomfortable mostly due to the combo of heat and enough humidity..Not the extreme humidity that occurs in the midwest, south and east coast but enough to challenge your comfort level..AC is sometimes needed..

I now live in Denver, Colorado and I must say the climate in Denver is very unique..The elevation where I live is 5500 feet above sea level so the air is thinner and the humidity is low..

So even if summer temps get into the 80's or 90's it does not feel hot because of the low humidity and thinner air...Because of this AC is only needed periodically.

[BATCAT]

Originally Posted by jm31828

I have been here 4 years now, and find this really not to be true- I don't know how so many people tolerate not having AC because with the sun shining, even if the highs are only in the mid to upper 70's it gets uncomfortably warm in the house and won't cool off enough to get a good breeze through the place until after dark

I've lived here for 17 years, in a dozen or so different residences, and never had AC. Even in July and August, even the places that got the hottest weren't THAT bad, and the actual summer is so brief. On the hotter days I set up a few fans and we're good to go. To me it seems kinda silly and extravagent to install AC in a residence here. Especially since the humidity is so moderate in the summer.

The only time I've ever found it truly, miserably hot, was the summer of '09 when we had multiple days over 100. But that was really atypical.

[Seacove]

Originally Posted by Shikadance

When I lived Seattle the summers did get warm enough to be uncomfortable mostly due to the combo of heat and enough humidity..Not the extreme humidity that occurs in the midwest, south and east coast but enough to challenge your comfort level..AC is sometimes needed..

I now live in Denver, Colorado and I must say the climate in Denver is very unique..The elevation where I live is 5500 feet above sea level so the air is thinner and the humidity is low..

So even if summer temps get into the 80's or 90's it does not feel hot because of the low humidity and thinner air...Because of this AC is only needed periodically.

I grew in Denver and it was cooler years ago and has definitely warmed up since. We did not have A/C then but definitely had it when we briefly returned. You're right, it doesn't feel as hot at 90 there as it does here on those (thankfully) rare occasions. But the sunburns in Denver, oooh the sunburns! And that elevation brought tiny red blood spots to my skin if I stayed outside for a couple of hours that would last a week or more.

[Shikadance]

Originally Posted by Seacove

I grew in Denver and it was cooler years ago and has definitely warmed up since. We did not have A/C then but definitely had it when we briefly returned. You're right, it doesn't feel as hot at 90 there as it does here on those (thankfully) rare occasions. But the sunburns in Denver, oooh the sunburns! And that elevation brought tiny red blood spots to my skin if I stayed outside for a couple of hours that would last a week or more.

You are right..the sun in Denver is more intense due to the altitude if you are standing out in it for an extended period of time..

I rarely need to use the AC except for when we get unusually extreme temps like last summer but that is only during the daylight hours..

So far this summer we have had an average summer in terms of temps which I love.

Right now in Denver it's 88 degrees with 26% humidity which is normal and very comfortable!!

Don't get me wrong I love the summer temps in Seattle without the humidity but it would
be very difficult to return to Seattle's climate after living in Denver.

[dc_tiger]

Originally Posted by branh0913

Seattle is more expensive than DC if we're talking rent prices. At the very least it's comparable. Seattle ranks one of the most expensive cities in the country. It is definitely more expensive than Chicago as well.


Seattle really is cheaper than a handful of cities, that being L.A., NYC, the Bay Area, and maybe some other So Cal cities. Let's not get it twisted, $1700 for one bedroom apartments is not cheap no matter how much you slice it. Considering the media income for the entire country is under $30,000 per year. The average prices for an apartment in Seattle is going to be $1300 and up in a decent neighborhood.

The good thing about Seattle IMO is the weather. I personally hate hot weather. I lived in Atlanta nearly 20 years, and never adjusted to the harsh summers. IMO, Seattle winters are about as bad as Atlanta's worst (which about 30 degrees on average). I like Seattle's climate over Atlanta's hands down. I hate Atlanta's schizophrenic weather changes. "4 seasons in a day". Yeah, I love Seattle's boring predictability in terms of weather.

Ummm...I just moved here from DC in May. I lived there for 5 years and I can 100% say that Seattle is NOT more expensive than DC for rent. DC is at least a few hundred more per month for a comparable apartment.

[mrman78]

I think my problem is that I spent 12 years in Houston and I'm just still so used to AC. So when it gets 80+ here, the inside of my apartment gets toasty enough where I find it uncomfortable and it doesn't cool off enough inside when it's time to sleep. It also mostly faces south so the sun is beaming in most of the day, which doesn't help. I also don't want to live in a cave, so only close the blinds and curtains facing south. I keep the blinds lowered, but partially open, for windows facing east and west. If we get those occasionally muggy days (like recently) it just doesn't cool down much at night even with venting the apartment air out with a fan. I bought a portable AC in February and only paid $199 for it, so I don't feel it's a waste of money nor extravagant. It works well enough to cool down my bedroom for those upper 80s+ days so I can sleep. It may only be a few weeks a year, but it's worth it to me. But yeah, overall I'm more sensitive to heat I guess. It usually feels OK outside, just not inside.

[jm31828]

Originally Posted by mrman78

I think my problem is that I spent 12 years in Houston and I'm just still so used to AC. So when it gets 80+ here, the inside of my apartment gets toasty enough where I find it uncomfortable and it doesn't cool off enough inside when it's time to sleep. It also mostly faces south so the sun is beaming in most of the day, which doesn't help. I also don't want to live in a cave, so only close the blinds and curtains facing south. I keep the blinds lowered, but partially open, for windows facing east and west. If we get those occasionally muggy days (like recently) it just doesn't cool down much at night even with venting the apartment air out with a fan. I bought a portable AC in February and only paid $199 for it, so I don't feel it's a waste of money nor extravagant. It works well enough to cool down my bedroom for those upper 80s+ days so I can sleep. It may only be a few weeks a year, but it's worth it to me. But yeah, overall I'm more sensitive to heat I guess. It usually feels OK outside, just not inside.

Same situation here. Where I came from everyone had central AC, and so it was the norm to never have the house get above a certain temperature no matter how hot it was outside. Add to that my terrible intolerance to heat, I could never stand an indoor temperature above about 72 degrees. Here, even on a moderately warm summer day it will get warmer than that in the house without the AC on, much warmer if I let it, so we run our AC quite a bit. It's not worth suffering in an uncomfortably warm house during the day or evening waiting for nightfall when Windows can finally be opened to get a cool breeze blowing through to make the place more comfortable.
It's all about what people are used to, I think. Here people are just used to their homes getting warm or hot in summer, it is how they expect summer to be since the warm weather period is relatively short, so AC is seen as extravagant. However in most of the rest of the country it is a standard part of a home and we would just set a temperature and never think of the house getting warmer than that at any time.

It does vary here, though. Even with my very low heat tolerance, there were only two weeks last year I needed to use AC, but this year has been consistently warm, it has run to keep our place at 72 degrees almost every day over the last month and a half.

Sent from my ADR6350 using Tapatalk 2

[pwright1]

In 13 years in Seattle and several locations including the home I purchased I never had ac. Never wanted it. Never asked for it. Simply did not need it. I had ac in DC all the time because of the heat and humidity. Seattle's humidity seemed like it was at 0% in comparison.

[Orlando2Seattle]

I'm a 20something from Jacksonville Florida who has moved to the great city of Seattle & has been here for roughly a year & loves it! It's a breath of fresh air from the flat hot & humid swamplands of the sunshine state. I've visited other cities on the east coast before I made my decision (dc, new york, Atlanta, etc) as well as every major city in Florida & nothing worked for me like Seattle. The 206 is just way too enchanting! Coming from a "not so progressive town" like Jax, Seattle is huge to me, has excellent public transit (compared to Fla) & awesome weather (once again compared to Fla). And scenery forget about it...hands down most scenic city in the country. You throw in the fact that city has a hip young vibe filled with tekkies, artists, activitists, & overall educated people with a stable/growing economy...then it's hard to beat Seattle. Find me somewhere chilling in Gasworks Park waiting on the next music festival.