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Well outside the actual city, the San Francisco area will still be more expensive if you intend to live in a family-friendly quiet suburb.
Seattle oddly doesn't get much cheaper outside of the city either. Actually, the eastern suburbs get more expensive. The other cities in the area that are considered by many Seattleites to be more undesirable are cheaper, but I'm not sure what the drawbacks are in those towns.
Both Seattle and SF will get you less sun and are both wonderful places. The problem with both options is the expense of a 5 bedroom house with a yard within fairly easy drive to the city with a good school district and fairly intelligent and civil neighbors. Seattle is likely the cheaper of the two, but you might want to consider getting out of those cities altogether. Of course, all of this isn't undoable just that I'd reckon it'd be pretty pricey.
Yeah I know it will be pricey but when why wife goes back to work should be doable. I'm sure I read somewhere that Sacramento is the sunniest place on the planet for 3 months of the year :-)
I've read that in Seattle people are outwardly polite but difficult to get to know. People are difficult to get to know here but they combine it with rudeness.
I currently live in Orange County with my wife and 2 children. We are considering relocating for a number of reasons. These are, in order of importance.
1) The sun. It is just too much for my wife, she is very fair skinned, as are my children, she would prefer somewhere cooler and with less sun, more importantly weaker sunshine. Personally I love it but I could live somewhere cooler.
2) The people. People in Orange County are rude, self absorbed, aloof, unfriendly, shallow, unwelcoming and vacuous. We've been here long enough and spoken to enough people to realize that this is just a fact of life here.
3) Demographics. The racial makeup, while I thought it would be great to have a real mix of races, actually, in my opinion, here in Orange County it has led to cultural segregation. Orange County has white, hispanic and asian communities. There seems to be almost zero integration between these communities. I'd be more than happy to befriend people of any race but due to a combination of 2) and 3) making friends here is rather difficult.
4) Cost of living. We would like one day to own a 5 bedroom home with a decent sized yard. To afford that in Southern California I would need to live in the desert.
5) Religion and Conservative values. I am a social liberal (although somewhat fiscal conservative), atheist, european who fell back in love with the US when Obama got elected. Here in Orange County everyone seems to be ultra conservative (even for the US) and goes to church all the time. Meeting new people here, the first thing they want you to do is come to their church. I am used to a very secular, non-religious lifestyle. The conservative religious values here are a culture shock to my european brain :-)
I work from home and all I need is an internet connection, a phone and an airport nearby. We have looked at various places to relocate to and are considering Seattle and San Francisco. We are not looking to move to the center of these cities but would like to be within 30 minutes drive of wherever we choose in a nice and safe suburban area. I wouldn't live in any of the "red" states and the north east is just too cold in winter and too humid in summer.
I reckon both of these places will give us the reduced sunlight we would like in both severity and amount so my question is that based on the reasons I am leaving Orange County. Do you think we will be happier in these places? Do moms with kids at pre-school in Seattle look at you as if you are going to steal their kids? Do people in San Francisco go into meltdown when someone speaks to them who isn't exactly like they are, has an accent for example? Would people rather discuss world politics or the color of pinneapple frozen yoghurt? Is everyone going to try to indoctrinate me into their backward religion?
Or should I pack my bags and go back to Europe? I'd really like to stay here!!!
Thanks for any insight you can give me.
Here's a reality check about real estate in San Francisco and Seattle
If you can put up with more rain Seattle it seems would offer a better real estate value while offering big city attractions.
SF public school system...it may have changed, however, when I lived there the schools were all by lottery. You could literally live across the street from your neighborhood school but the kids could be assigned a school across town.
In SF you'll definitely find people to engage in a variety of topics both light and serious. However, for all the supposed liberal thinking, intellect, and acceptance people tend to be hostile when the topic of religion comes up so...that might suit you just fine!
I found people in Seattle to be more polite than those in SF with people in SF being more typical of large metropolitan areas.
Weather wise...SF has micro-climates so you could have some neighborhoods with sun and at the same time other neighborhoods fogged bound. So I would say SF has better weather.
Of course if you can stand hot weather for about 3-4 mos of the year this place 30 minutes outside of Sacramento in the suburb of El Dorado Hills with great schools might be tempting...
Hi there, mxcolin. Well I can relate on several levels: First I was raised in OC (Laguna Beach) then I moved to SF then to LA, met my wife who is French and then moved here, to France (we now have three girls 7,5,2.
When I go back home, frankly I'm amazed at the brazen anti-immigrant, cynical anti-Obama, conservative hyperbole that comes from even my most (formerly) mellow, hippy friends from high school. Not anymore. I say to myself, "That could very likely be me if I didn't leave."
I digress.
So, we have French friends/ young family, that just moved to Seattle and they absolutely LOVE it there. Plus they have already made friends with Americans and Euro expats. They are trying to get us to move there... and we're considering it. (But honestly, I think New England is for us.)
I will say SF is a beautiful city and most Europeans love it. However, I'm not sure it's as family friendly as Seattle. First, it's very expensive. Also, it's not easy to get around (parking is a nightmare). And even though there are lots of college students and young people, I've never really seen families moving about. Hippies, stock brokers, BOBO, students, immigrants, artists, but no real families.
Finally, SF never really gets a summer time. It's like perpetually the month of April there– windy, rainy, foggy, cool and sunny... but never really WARM.
You should fly up there for the weekend from John Wayne Airport. It's an hour flight. See for yourself. But keep in mind Sept/Oct is as warm and sunny as it gets there. It's not the norm.
Go with Seattle if the cost of living is a concern, the Bay Area is worse than Orange County. I don't really see any good reason to move to the Bay Area over Seattle based on what you're looking for.
Thanks for the replies. Ejlorge, this is exactly what we are looking for, I think if we were 25 and had no kids then San Francisco would be awesome, we went up in March from Long Beach and it was an amazing place but I know what you mean about the city.
We are in our mid thirties with 2 kids and we are looking for a place that is family friendly, safe and affordable. I will be working from home so I'm not too bothered about a commute but it would be nice if we could get to downtown in say 25 minutes on the weekends.
I'm going to post on the Seattle forum regarding areas. Thanks for your help.
Thanks for the replies. Ejlorge, this is exactly what we are looking for, I think if we were 25 and had no kids then San Francisco would be awesome, we went up in March from Long Beach and it was an amazing place but I know what you mean about the city.
We are in our mid thirties with 2 kids and we are looking for a place that is family friendly, safe and affordable. I will be working from home so I'm not too bothered about a commute but it would be nice if we could get to downtown in say 25 minutes on the weekends.
I'm going to post on the Seattle forum regarding areas. Thanks for your help.
Sure, you bet.
In fact I was in my early 20's when I lived in SF and it was amazing. And I still love visiting. But living there is another story...
One last thing, apparently Ballard is a really great neighborhood in Seattle, which is where our friends bought a charming old, 2Bed house for 400K. It's a little pricey, but they held out and rented until they found this deal.
It's very family-oriented, central, safe, parks for the kids, etc..
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