Compare Seattle area to Nebraska/Iowa/Kansas/Missouri (Kent, Auburn: sales, houses)

[Tim86]

I'm looking at a job in Kent. Currently I live in Omaha, Nebraska, and have also lived in Iowa. Married with 4 kids age 2 to 12. I'd like your feedback if you live in the Seattle area, and have formerly lived in Iowa, Missouri, eastern Nebraska, or eastern Kansas. What do you like better and what do you like less? How do the schools compare (in the suburbs around Kent or Auburn)? How do you like the rainy weather? Personally I hate the Midwest's snow and extreme cold in winter, and I also hate the extreme heat in summer, so I think I can tolerate the rain and clouds if it comes with more moderate temperatures.

[mkarch]

MUCH less corn here.

[StealthRabbit]

and a few more hills.
280 days with 'some' overcast (usually accompanied by drizzle).
NO raging lightning and thunder storms, VERY rare tornadoes.
a tad more traffic (freeway parking lots).

Culture is different too (<5% churched vs 30% churched), but accepting and ez to be yourself.

Football is NOT big.
Steaks are Horrible in PNW, as is Salmon in IA.

(I fly eastbound with coolers full of Salmon and come back with coolers full of western Plains BEEF)
Coolers fly free on SWA

I ride my bike MUCH less in PNW, but I'm not Wash-n-wear (Prairie kid, not need to ride in rain)

Wind is MUCH less in SEA.

If you can deal with HUGE suburb Kent is OK. I am a proponent of living cloe to work while kids are home or in school. 2-3 hrs / day in the car is NOT quality family time. You can probably find a place to live near work. If it is a terrible place to enjoy PNW, get a cabin neary for weekends, or quit your job and move to the woods.!

[Adrian71]

Originally Posted by Tim86

How do you like the rainy weather? Personally I hate the Midwest's snow and extreme cold in winter, and I also hate the extreme heat in summer, so I think I can tolerate the rain and clouds if it comes with more moderate temperatures.

I grew up in Michigan, and one of the things I don't miss about it are the weather extremes, especially the bitter cold. I do miss the summer storms, though. For all the rain Seattle gets, thunderstorms are very rare. It mostly just drizzles here. I love the rain, though, and always have, so Seattle was a good fit for me. It's not for everyone -- the gray skies and drizzle for nine months a year get to a lot of people. The good news is, you get a reprieve in the summer with beautiful blue skies, low humidity, and moderate temps (mostly high 70s to low 80s).

Schools in the south suburbs are generally not great, though I couldn't tell you which ones are better or worse.

Overall, this is a beautiful part of the country, and there's not much that I miss about the Midwest. I hope things work out for you and you like it here.

[RotseCherut]

In all honesty the lack of thunderstorms make Washington and Oregon great places to hike up in the mountains in the afternoon without worrying about being torched alive. This was the one challenge I faced when I was hiking in Idaho and Montana was to face the constant threat of sudden thunderstorms when I was hiking on the exposed mountain trails.

So, lack of lightning is a definite plus!!

Adrian.. If you miss thunder and lightning storms, I have a secret. Come take a trip in March-May to the Oregon Coast, where I use to live. We use to get lightning and thunderstorms so intense, that my house would shake left and right and you had to hold your ears to avoid going deaf. I've never seen lightning /thunder like I did in the Oregon Coast. That is another reason I left.. Besides being isolated, they get crazy stormy weather.

[jm31828]

My wife and I moved here from Lincoln, Nebraska 3 and a half years ago. To me this area beats Nebraska in every category. The rainy mild winters are far superior to the snowy, bitterly cold winters we had back there, and the fact that the grass, bushes, and many trees remain green all winter is a huge psychological pick-me-up. It's just hard to describe how even on a dreary, rainy day I can feel so good to look out and see green as opposed to the brown, absolutely dead looking landscape we had back home for almost half of the year.
And the summer is glorious here- no more of that miserable heat and humidity that practically kept me locked indoors in the AC back home. Typically we are in the 60's or 70's through much of the summer which is perfect to me. Occasionally we'll have a heat wave where it gets up into the 80's, but those are brief.

To me the scenery is a huge upgrade. After 3 and a half years I still haven't gotten used to the spectacular scenery out here- on my drive to work- when the weather is permitting- I can see the Olympic Mountains, Cascade Mountains, Mount Rainier, as well as Lake Washington. On weekends as often as we can we are out sight seeing doing photography or hiking, never running out of great places to see. Back home we obviously had none of that.

I can't speak in comparison of the schools as we don't have any school-aged children yet, maybe someone else can chime in on that topic.

One thing we miss is being close to Nebraska football in the fall, that feeling in town on a football Saturday was quite special. But now that Nebraska is in the Big 10 with the good TV contract we are able to see each and every game on TV out here, so that sort of makes up for not actually being back there. And a nice added bonus is having an NFL team out here, the Seahawks have become a very exciting team in the last year.

I hope that helps! Good luck, let me know if you have any other questions.

[tobester]

Nebraska ... flat, boring ... Washington, not. What more need be said?

[dadr]

Originally Posted by Adrian71

I grew up in Michigan, and one of the things I don't miss about it are the weather extremes, especially the bitter cold.

I'm choosing between Seattle and West Michigan (probably not a choice many people make). Growing up in Minnesota and comparing weather charts, I don't think Michigan falls into the "bitter" cold like Minnesota. There's more snow in MI but it looks to be 8-10 degrees warmer which does make a difference - the extra 10 degree drop (and wind) is what makes it "bitter cold" instead of just cold. So maybe not as extreme. I do like the idea of Seattle weather though, but cost of living might sway me.

[RunTheDistance476]

Compare horrible, flat-land states with no culture and with completely different economy types (farming vs technology) and different environments (some trees vs mountains, ocean, lakes, forests).

hmm...

They are all states located in the USA? Thats about it.

Seattle > Midwest. But, move to California instead!

In all honesty...if you dont like the rain, dont move here. If you dont like being in the 50s year round (well, almost) dont move here.

[skidamarink]

I am from Omaha (Millard area) and I now live in Seattle.

The summers here are PARADISE compared to Omaha's scorching humid summers. This entire past summer, I never broke a dime of sweat whereas in Omaha I always looked like I jumped in a swimming pool the moment I walked outside. The winters here are better too, although there were days in January when the bitter winds reminded me of Nebraska. One thing I noticed here is that the dampness makes it FEEL a lot colder than it is, especially when you have moisture on your ears. It was only 45 degrees outside once but to me it felt a lot colder, because the moisture trapped in the cold temperature on my body. Nebraska winters are dry, but still much colder nonetheless. As for the lack of sunshine...well, I really don't care if Omaha had more sunshine. None of that matters when it's below freezing for months. I doubt the lack of sunshine will impact you a lot.

I don't have kids, so I can't tell you about the schools here. I've heard many remark that Seattle child care providers are one of the most disproportionately high (in relation to cost of living & average salaries) in the country.

The biggest difference for me was the cost of living. Even in the suburbs where you're looking at, houses will still run much higher than in Omaha. Sales taxes are higher here and food is more expensive even before tax for some odd reason.

Another thing that you may or may not like but should be aware of either way - and I'm assuming you're white - is that the Seattle metro area has a much higher non-white population than Omaha (I didn't want to say "diverse" because that's an overused word). Regardless of whatever statistics say, you will definitely notice the different faces on the street here. I personally like it, but I know of many white Midwesterners who are uncomfortable here and consider it a culture shock.

Oh yeah, and the recycling/compost/trash craze here. I don't know about the suburbs, but it's enforced in the city of Seattle. I never composted back in Nebraska, but it's in your face here. For a good reason, I'm not complaining.