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So i moved out to AZ approx 3yrs ago, and i'm ready to get out of here. I've met a ton of great people, but i love water/rain and living in a kitty litter box is killing me. Also, it seems pretty "generic" and people down here worry more about what they look like than who they actually are and that kills me.
My friend from Spokane is telling me that i'd mesh better up in Seattle personality wise and he says it has pretty much everything i'm looking for.
I'm not crazy close to my family back east so i'm thinking Seattle would be worth a try.
My friend is telling me to go around Capital Hill as i am gay but i'm not looking to be in a really "gay" area as i'm not really flamboyant like that, and would like some suggestions on a good area to look into. Granted if i can find an area that has people as normal/grounded as back home in Columbus, i'd really look into living just about anywhere.
My top things are (being in my 20's):
-Public Transit/Walkablitiy (i have a car, but i prefer to be able to walk and take the bus/train)
-Nightlife (not exactly drinking, as that's pretty much all there is to do in AZ at night and it would be refreshing to have something else to do)
-Friendliness (people in AZ seem to be a little wound tight, especially in summer when it's extra hot)
-Older buildings (i prefer older parts of town for some reason over newer ones)
Rent can be negotiable as i'm sure the overall cost of living would have to be about the same as out here (my grocery bill for just me is easily 2x what it was back east, and my electric bill is reg 200+/mo year round in an apt)
Any suggestions would be appreciated as i am going to be going up in the beginning of September with my friend to check it out and see where i might want to live.
Also, i do have IT certs (just got them recently, but just do tech work for a cell co) - and might be looking to change to IT, but how hard is that to break into there considering there are a ton of major IT companies there?
oh, and if it helps i'm 24 and am about 1/2 way through an engineering degree at ASU but have no issues transferring as that's been an off/on thing and i'm cool as long as i can complete it by the time i'm 28 haha
I was born and raised in Ohio too. I lived in Columbus almost 10 years before moving to Seattle. I've been here 4 years now, LOVE it and will never move back to Ohio. I miss my friends and family, I absolutely think C-bus is the best part (most progressive/accepting) of Ohio, but I'm happy w/ visiting now and again.
Capitol Hill is a great part of Seattle. My husband and I love to visit, shop, eat, enjoy the atmosphere, but it's not the only place that is a "gay friendly" area. However, Cap Hill does have some of the best parties!! But 99% of any area around Seattle is open minded and welcoming. For example, at Pride this year, I don't recall any protesters (we would have all laughed them out), all major companies like Microsoft, Group Health, etc. are supportive of alternative lifestyles and having the same rights as straight ppl (like same sex marraige). Lots of us, myself included, a girl from the midwest, still can't wrap my head around the fact that we are voting for humans to have the same rights as other humans. What year is it again?!
Seattle/surounding areas have all 4 of your top requests. My husband is a public transportation junkie! He loves the light rail (I have to say I love the light rail too), the bus, the train, and walkability of the city. Just be prepared to walk up some really steep sidewalks here and there!!! They pretty much carved Seattle out of a hillside.
There are so many things to do here that don't involve drinking. While a lot of the nightlife has alcohol availabe, you don't have to drink there to have a good time. My husband doesn't drink, I do occasionally, but there are plays, concerts, sports, movies, and in the summertime- OMG! Seattle comes alive! So many events in the Summer, something literally for everyone. Check this website out, see for yourself: Seafair
Friendliness: while strangers don't all say hello to you as you walk by them on the street, they don't stare at you like you must be from out of town either, lol. The ppl are great b/c there is such a diverse collection of ppl here. You will hear so many dialects, accents, languages as you walk by ppl, that I've come to love it! My last trip back home I got annoyed that everyone not only sounded the same, but I could understand everyone's conversation b/c they all spoke english, even at the Asian Festival in Columbus. Now granted, you're going to have cranky ppl time to time in Seattle. We had a downstairs neighbor in our condo complex that wasn't the friendliest person in the world. But you either learn to co-exist or you move.
There is a mixture of old and new buildings. When you come to visit, you'll be able to see that for yourself. I'm by no means an expert when it comes to buildings. I like them to be short rather than tall, but environmentally friendly, which means newer.
Cost of living is about 20% more than I was used to in Columbus. I was fortunate not to have to live by myself when I moved out here. So I didn't have to shoulder the expenses on my own. But it sounds like where you live is also more than cbus. So it may not faze you as much.
There ARE tons of IT companies out here and good placement agencies too. That's how I found employment. Lots of different schools to transfer to as well.
Don't hesitate to ask anything else. If I can't answer them I'm sure my husband (who has lived here almost all his life) can.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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That would definitely be a big difference in weather. Your $200/month is probably due to running the air conditioning, which is a rare thing here. We do get to 12-20F in winter so our bills are much more (gas and/or electric) in winter. This year (and last) we are not even getting our normal 2-1/2 months of sun, though we are getting at least a taste iof it in the afternoons thie summer after fog/overcast/rain and somewhat unusual summer thunderstorms. I have been to AZ a few times and could barely stand it for a brief vacation, and left the SF Bay Area in part for the weather here, and I still love it after 20 years.
All of Seattle is very tolerant, Capital Hill has good walkability but is more expensive than some other areas that are just as nice. I don't know about rent, but to buy a house here is about double what it would be in the Phoenix area, but pay is better.
Well i would not be looking to buy a house right away, as i'd have to figure out where id want to buy first and to be honest this city relocation i'm looking to make it my last one so i'm planning on staying for a while.
Hemlock, The weather up there is what is actually attracting me to it. I use to go stay in the more rainy parts of Ohio because i love it so much haha, and the cold and higher winter bills are no surprise, but still do not sound as bad as Ohio, although i will say Phoenix still costs more than Columbus, so i'm sure the cost will go down a little, especially looking at utility rates. Right now we're paying ~11c per kWh, and it looks like you pay ~4-10kWh depending on what you use each day.. considering when my air is not on i only use ~10kWh a day that'd be a huge drop a majority of the year (and most likely enough to pay for wintertime gas.. although i'm one who likes the house a little cooler so my gas was never that much in Ohio, maybe ~70 in Jan)
Oh and Kandice i do appreciate the friendly advice, and it's nice to see another former Columbus person on here to know where i'm moving from.
I'm sure i'll have a ton more questions, but cannot think of any right now. I did find a few places in capital hill that looked nice (and not much more than i'm paying in PHX right now.. me and roomie pay ~1200/mo for a 2br in DT PHX), and to be honest even on what i make here i could spend that if necessary but since i'm never home a studio would suit me just fine.
I cannot wait to come up at the end of Sept and look more into the areas, my friend here in AZ keeps telling me so much good things about it and i think he's even trying to transfer back up himself.
So happy I could help out. I'll check back every so often in case you have any questions.
And I'm not sure where Hemlock140 lives, maybe closer to the mountains, but it doesn't get 12-20 F on a regular basis during wintertime around here. Maybe he meant Celsius. Then yes, that's spot on (normal winters in Seattle you're running around w/ a sweatshirt on rather than the winter coats we're used to in Ohio). Trust me, you get used to it though. I don't think I could survive an Ohio winter now (brrrrrrrrr! )
Even though normal is not the trend anymore w/ all the crazy weather we have lately, the only 2 winters that have been "bad" were my first, Dec 2008 when we got a lot of snow for about 2 weeks, then took another 2 weeks to melt away. Then this past Feb, we got a really bad ice storm.
Almost everything shuts down here, b/c the city of Seattle is not equipped to handle Ohio-like winters. It's not a good use of money to stockpile salt (they use sand instead) or have snow plows stored in some facility when you only use them every 3-4 years. AND THE HILLS! Driving up some of these super steep hills in the winter is almost impossible w/o 4 wheel drive.
re: Cap Hill - no one gets their feathered boa out before 9. Yes - it can get a little over-the-top at some of the bars, but for day-to-day stuff, (most) everyone is generally in their normal clothes, doing normal things (admittedly, there are different spectrums of 'normal'). The only difference is that quite a few of those couples walking down the street, getting coffee, having brunch, or in the grocery store are same sex. And I guess the complete and utter ordinaryness of that is what makes it extra-ordinary. And really it is an amazing location for walkability and transit, and very central to the whole Seattle metro area, so I would definitely check it out while you're here. Stick to the north side (north of Olive/John/Thomas) for quieter, tree-lined streets and head south to the Pike-Pine corridor for all the nightlife.
Given your criteria: nightlife, friendly (at least as outgoing as Seattle gets), good walkability/transit and older - Cap Hill should top your list. Lower Queen Anne would also be a pretty good fit for that. Ballard isn't as old or as well-situated, but it has nightlife and some areas are quite walkable. It wouldn't be as transit-friendly though. The NW edge of DT is also pretty well-situated (and super transit-friendly), but it's more high-rises, and less gracious old historic brick buildings.
IT is harder to break into than you'd think given the amount of jobs here, but that also means tons of people come here to do just that. If you can get yourself in front of a hiring manager - aptitude and attitude mean a lot. Once you get yourself established and get some experience then jobs become much easier to find (that first step is doozy though). I'd check with as many staffing agenencies as you can find. It takes forever to hire full-timers, but contractors can be hired very quickly.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Quote:
Originally Posted by frog_girl
So happy I could help out. I'll check back every so often in case you have any questions.
And I'm not sure where Hemlock140 lives, maybe closer to the mountains, but it doesn't get 12-20 F on a regular basis during wintertime around here.
I am at 700 feet elevation on the eastside, Seattle, where I work doesn't get below 20F that frequently and doesn't last too long but I did have some pretty cold walks from the bus tunnel even last winter which wasn't too bad. The worst winters for me were in the early-mid 1990s, but still probably nothing like Ohio.
re: Cap Hill - no one gets their feathered boa out before 9. Yes - it can get a little over-the-top at some of the bars, but for day-to-day stuff, (most) everyone is generally in their normal clothes, doing normal things (admittedly, there are different spectrums of 'normal'). The only difference is that quite a few of those couples walking down the street, getting coffee, having brunch, or in the grocery store are same sex. And I guess the complete and utter ordinaryness of that is what makes it extra-ordinary. And really it is an amazing location for walkability and transit, and very central to the whole Seattle metro area, so I would definitely check it out while you're here. Stick to the north side (north of Olive/John/Thomas) for quieter, tree-lined streets and head south to the Pike-Pine corridor for all the nightlife.
Given your criteria: nightlife, friendly (at least as outgoing as Seattle gets), good walkability/transit and older - Cap Hill should top your list. Lower Queen Anne would also be a pretty good fit for that. Ballard isn't as old or as well-situated, but it has nightlife and some areas are quite walkable. It wouldn't be as transit-friendly though. The NW edge of DT is also pretty well-situated (and super transit-friendly), but it's more high-rises, and less gracious old historic brick buildings.
IT is harder to break into than you'd think given the amount of jobs here, but that also means tons of people come here to do just that. If you can get yourself in front of a hiring manager - aptitude and attitude mean a lot. Once you get yourself established and get some experience then jobs become much easier to find (that first step is doozy though). I'd check with as many staffing agenencies as you can find. It takes forever to hire full-timers, but contractors can be hired very quickly.
Well i have an okay job that i have no issue keeping for a while, and to be honest i could most likely move into IT with them as well since i have a work history and they know what i can do as a Technician.
And as far as same sex couples i obviously have no issues with that, it's just when i get around uber-fem in a group that kills me, all in all i have a "do-your-thing" attitude but i like to be around a good mix of people so in all i'm extremely easy to get along with.
Talking with my friend he's agreeing that Capital Hill should be my first choice as well, so i've already found a few places online and checking on those, and trying to set up some meetings for when i get there in a month or so.
Also one last thing... how is the adult "beer league" hockey up in seattle? that's something i've been missing like crazy since moving out to AZ. Columbus had a semi decent league at the Chiller, but AZ just blows (obviously) since it's in the desert.
I was not the best (was not playing very long before i moved) but def want to get back into that again.
How I miss the Columbus Chill! I went to at least 2 or 3 games a year while in college (between 95-99). But I was happy to have NHL come to town too! I still have my Columbus Blue Jackets jersey! Along w/ my OSU gear, of course!
There is not a team in Seattle proper, but there are a couple of minor leagues all around, check out the WCHL (West Coast Hockey Leauge) or the WHL (Western Hockey League). The Seattle Thunderbirds play at the ShoWare Center in Kent. There is also the Everett Silvertips (north of Seattle) and the Columbus Blue Jackets just drafted a player from the Silvertips!!
And if you want to see a NHL, take a weekend trip up to Vancouver BC. The Canucks are great!! I greatly enjoyed the arena there too.
If you're looking to join/play on a team. Maybe check out www.gshockey.com, Greater Seattle Hockey League. They have tournaments, I think, from what my brother-in-law has said. I've never been though.
When you move here, we should totally go to a game! That would be fun!
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Yes, Seattle does sound about right for you.
) 
Yes - it can get a little over-the-top at some of the bars, but for day-to-day stuff, (most) everyone is generally in their normal clothes, doing normal things (admittedly, there are different spectrums of 'normal'). The only difference is that quite a few of those couples walking down the street, getting coffee, having brunch, or in the grocery store are same sex. And I guess the complete and utter ordinaryness of that is what makes it extra-ordinary. And really it is an amazing location for walkability and transit, and very central to the whole Seattle metro area, so I would definitely check it out while you're here. Stick to the north side (north of Olive/John/Thomas) for quieter, tree-lined streets and head south to the Pike-Pine corridor for all the nightlife. 
