If you're from the East Coast. . . (Seattle, Vancouver: ski resorts, how much, neighborhood)

[Alicia64]

Hello,

We left a lifetime on the West Coast for 3.5 yrs. on the East Coast. We've loved it: seeing lots of DC monuments and museums, visiting Florida theme parks, checking out the various Atlantic coast beaches etc.

I'm not thrilled about going back to the West Coast. I've really loved "meeting" a new part of the world.

If you were on the East Coast and have settled in Seattle -- can you share what you've loved? I need to get excited. It may be the only place my husband can find his specific line of work. We're originally from CA so Seattle would be somewhat new. We've visited once, but that's it and it was a quick trip.

Thank you for any inspiration!

Alley

[tekniskagal]

Oddly, I'm an East coaster moving west. I can tell you what is drawing me west (after moving abroad, coming back to the East coast and now looking to move)....
Ready for it? WATER! Awesome, amazing water and natural beauty as far as the eye can see. That and the tech community. I also like the idea of biking,being able to do both water and winter sports in the same state, canada to the north, mexico to the south (only 2-3 hours a way by car or plane).

That's about it. I do prefer the east coast; outside of Maine though I don't think one can get the kind of waterfront views that at this point is more important to me than cable or a car!
What do you like about the East Coast that you'll miss when going back west?

[Alicia64]

Originally Posted by tekniskagal

Oddly, I'm an East coaster moving west. I can tell you what is drawing me west (after moving abroad, coming back to the East coast and now looking to move)....
Ready for it? WATER! Awesome, amazing water and natural beauty as far as the eye can see. That and the tech community. I also like the idea of biking,being able to do both water and winter sports in the same state, canada to the north, mexico to the south (only 2-3 hours a way by car or plane).

That's about it. I do prefer the east coast; outside of Maine though I don't think one can get the kind of waterfront views that at this point is more important to me than cable or a car!
What do you like about the East Coast that you'll miss when going back west?

Well, I think the reason I love the East Coast so much is that I had gotten used to the idea that I'd pretty much be born, live and die in CA. Yes, I traveled, but I didn't think I'd get to ever live on the East Coast.

We're in VA so visiting DC, Florida, the Outer Banks, the Delaware beaches is amazing. I don't mean to sound silly, but it's almost like being on another very friendly planet.

I'm totally cool with your loving the water -- I love water too and never wanted to live in a state not very near the ocean which is why VA is perfect, but fyi: Mexico isn't a 2 or 3 hr. drive away. By plane, yes, but the drive would be long from Seattle.

Where are you now? Another thought: does the gray Seattle weather make you nervous at all?

Alley

[baba_yaga]

OK, let's see. Coming from the tri-state area (Philly), here were the pros/cons for me.

Pros:
- Much much cleaner city
- Air quality is great
- No swelteringly humid days
- Gorgeous gardens and trees throughout the city
- Views of water and mountains everywhere
- Close to nature
- No cockroaches (that I've seen)
- Spring may be a little wet, but it's nice and long
- Summer is perfection
- Few mosquitos in summer
- City is not as loud
- People are not as loud
- Progressive attitudes
- Food freshness and quality (farmers markets in every neighborhood)
- Buses are much quieter and less exhaust
- City is less dense, not as many high rises
- Neighbors are more considerate
- Generally very little snow/ice to deal with
- Miss the snow? Higher altitude ski resorts are close
- San Juan Islands
- Close to Vancouver
- 6 hours to Hawaii
- 10 hours to Tokyo

Cons
- Hilly
- Long grey winters
- Housing is expensive (compared to Philly, not Boston or New York)

[Rcsligar]

Originally Posted by baba_yaga

OK, let's see. Coming from the tri-state area (Philly), here were the pros/cons for me.

Pros:
- Much much cleaner city
- Air quality is great
- No swelteringly humid days
- Gorgeous gardens and trees throughout the city
- Views of water and mountains everywhere
- Close to nature
- No cockroaches (that I've seen)
- Spring may be a little wet, but it's nice and long
- Summer is perfection
- Few mosquitos in summer
- City is not as loud
- People are not as loud
- Progressive attitudes
- Food freshness and quality (farmers markets in every neighborhood)
- Buses are much quieter and less exhaust
- City is less dense, not as many high rises
- Neighbors are more considerate
- Generally very little snow/ice to deal with
- Miss the snow? Higher altitude ski resorts are close
- San Juan Islands
- Close to Vancouver
- 6 hours to Hawaii
- 10 hours to Tokyo

Cons
- Hilly
- Long grey winters
- Housing is expensive (compared to Philly, not Boston or New York)

Agree with you on every point except I prefer density.

[Ira500]

I'm an east coast native, moved to the Pacific NW in 1977. I grew up in New Jersey. As far as I'm concerned, the weather is much better here. I rate winters as a toss up. I like those cold sunny days on the east coast, and we don't have too many of them here. But New Jersey also gets blizzards and really cold days, and is brutal in the summer. Summers here win by a longshot. There's a lot of spectacular natural beauty around here, and it looks totally different than California, and the people aren't the same, so I'm not sure that it's an " East Coast- West Coast thing.
Beaches are wild and beautiful here, but you gotta give it to the east coast. Food's about a tossup, but I miss the abundance of Greek diners, moderately priced Italian food, Jewish delis, etc.on the east coast. But Seattle now has great bakeries and good pizza and always has had good seafood and Asian food.

[baba_yaga]

I still haven't found a place that makes a really good sandwich roll. I miss the Conshohoken bakery.

[Kalex]

We moved here from NC last year. I grew up on the SC coast with 4 years in NYC. SO spent the first 31 years of his life in NYC and Westchester.

Pros
-I love how much cooler and milder it is here. It's nowhere near as hot as the Southeast and doesn't get as cold either.
- I love how much more progressive it is here, and the fact that people actively speak up and defend causes that they care about. But they do so in a relatively mature way. NC has made the news quite a bit lately for backwards moves but it's nothing new. I'm used to everyone just sitting around complaining with no suggested answers or ways to fix an issue.
- the landscape is what originally got us. We'd both subconsciously cut Seattle off the list bc of old associations with it, but fell in love with it when we flew here to drive up to BC for a camping trip. It's really something else.
- I love the thriving arts scene. NC had me on a fast for way too long. I love that I don't have to drive 3-4 hours one way to see a show at a museum or watch a band play. that may never get old.
-I love the fact that you can easily live in very natural surroundings and have a major city within a half-hour's drive.

Cons:
- honestly, the food. we've had a hard time finding good restaurants. I'll probably get flamed for this. We go out pretty regularly - once or twice a week. Chinese food is made with thick, heavy sauces. the Thai food we've had seemed about the same...smothered. my SO won't eat the pizza here. to me it's about the same as anywhere else we've found 2 Japanese restaurants in Seattle that we love. I'm desperately looking for good seafood. SO is on the quest for a good deli sandwich.
- it's hard to meet people and much harder to get to know them. I'm just as bad about this as anyone else, being a quiet introvert.
- my impression is that where you specifically live is a MUCH bigger deal than anything I've seen before. Seattle-ites are crazy snobby about anyone living on the "eastside"...this massive area made up of every spectrum of town/person. northern eastside folks are snobby about southern eastside people. Its so weird.

[baba_yaga]

Originally Posted by Kalex

Cons:
- honestly, the food. we've had a hard time finding good restaurants. I'll probably get flamed for this. We go out pretty regularly - once or twice a week. Chinese food is made with thick, heavy sauces. the Thai food we've had seemed about the same...smothered. my SO won't eat the pizza here. to me it's about the same as anywhere else we've found 2 Japanese restaurants in Seattle that we love. I'm desperately looking for good seafood. SO is on the quest for a good deli sandwich.
- it's hard to meet people and much harder to get to know them. I'm just as bad about this as anyone else, being a quiet introvert.
- my impression is that where you specifically live is a MUCH bigger deal than anything I've seen before. Seattle-ites are crazy snobby about anyone living on the "eastside"...this massive area made up of every spectrum of town/person. northern eastside folks are snobby about southern eastside people. Its so weird.

There's plenty of good food on Seattle, but you have to let go of expectations for certain items and explore the food this area excels in.

I never ate oysters on the East Coast. I was afraid I'd get sick. Here I absolutely love them straight out of the shell in their own brine. Try Walrus and the Carpenter or Elliot's. I always disliked salmon unless it was lox. Atlantic salmon is usually pale, overcooked, and has no flavor. Here the salmon is rich deep orange, flavorful, and is prepared correctly. Yes, Chinese restaurants in general are huge disappointments. But it's a great excuse for a trip to Vancouver. Try Pestle Rock in Ballard for great Thai. We're still searching for a great East Coast pizza, so no help there. Roxy's Diner in Fremont has the most passable Jewish deli sandwiches.

[tekniskagal]

Originally Posted by Rcsligar

Agree with you on every point except I prefer density.

You basically named everything I liked. The only thing I'd add is 3 hours to San Diego then you can drive over the border to Rosarito, Ensenada and Valle De Guadaloupe, aka Mexico's "Napa Valley". It's just 28 miles across the border and I've done the trip several times feeling 100% safe. Scratch that, 110% safe.