Living: Cost of Living - From DC - truth about WA - Let me get a closure (Seattle: appointed)

[Plokivos]

So, I'm thinking about moving from DC to Seattle, WA.

Don't worry, I'll make it bullet points... made of numbers:

1. From cost of living adjustment point, it's about 20% decrease in pay for the same job. But I hear from the little birds that it cost as much to live there as CA, where they pay more for your talent

2. Trickling rain: So, the whole conversation is about how MA and NYC gets more rainfalls, but WA is like this trickling rain all year around. Is this true? yes, I did the research, but I'm sneaky and I want you to answer this, because it's not just about statistics. It's all about psychology of the people living at the city/state: 10 Myths About US Cities and States Debunked - Forbes

3. Restaurants apparently suck there. This is obviously a subjective item, but I don't trust those "experts" so what is the eating like there? I like simple, fulfilling, awesome, fun foods.

4. Why do you think all the "hipsters" work at MS? lol I couldn't resist, after a friend told me about this. But, who works at MS? Amazon, Starbucks, and a lot of the companies there? What is the corporate culture, if there is some unifying conclusion?

5. What is the job market like there for someone who's really an oil painter, who happens to get pulled into strategic graphic design, who did UX/UI, and lots of corporate stuff as well as gov stuff?

6. I'm a huge animal lover. I've rescued a lot of animals in my life, and they're the closest family I have. Two cats and a dog. What is like there for friend of the furry ones?

7. One place you'd go if you can skip work tomorrow, no matter what the weather is like tomorrow?

Thanks.

BTW: Go SeaHawks! So, did the entire city have a weed cloud over it on Monday with 200,000 people calling in sick? lol

[Adrian71]

I can tackle some, but not all, of these.

1. We moved here from D.C. and found the cost of living to be about the same. I think food may be a bit higher here, but rents and mortgages might be a little lower in Seattle. Not by a lot, mind you. I can't speak to the 20% pay cut -- my wife makes the same here as an accountant as she did in D.C., and I'm actually making more as a freelancer than I did as an employee back on the East Coast.

2. Yes, the vast majority of the rain here is mist and drizzle. The cloud cover for nine months a year makes it constantly look like it's going to start pouring down rain any minute, but we actually get less rain here than in many other major U.S. metros. We do get some good downpours, especially in the spring, but they're the exception and not the rule. Thunderstorms are practically non-existent.

3. Depends what you're used to and what you're looking for. I've found lots of terrific restaurants around here, from pizza to ethnic to vegetarian. We eat out two or three times a month, and I'm rarely disappointed.

4. Can only speak to the corporate culture. It's as laid back as the rest of the region. Someone in a North Face jacket, jeans, and sneakers could be a CEO.

5. Can't help you with this.

6. Seattle is a very animal-friendly city.

7. Seattle Center, home of the Space Needle. It's considered a tourist trap by a lot of the locals, but I never get tired of visiting. It's just so quintessentially ... Seattle.

As for the party, I stayed home and away from the crowds and cold, but it looks like it was a great time! Last report I heard was that 700K people showed up. That blows me away.

[Ira500]

1. The little birds are wrong. California is a big state, but San Francisco and Los Angeles are definitely more expensive than Seattle.

2. No, Seattle is not a trickling rain year round. Sure, it's less sunshine than DC, but there's a lot of just cloudy days, or days where it drizzles for a couple of hours and then is cloudy. And it's rarely too cold or too hot.

3. Restaurants don't suck in Seattle. There are these acclaimed places that charge you an arm and a leg for tiny portions of things exquisitely prepared, but there are also lots of cheap, good ethic holes in the walls.

6. Very animal friendly. Many great places to take the dog, from hiking trails to dog friendly taverns.

[Inkpoe]

Originally Posted by Plokivos

2. Trickling rain: So, the whole conversation is about how MA and NYC gets more rainfalls, but WA is like this trickling rain all year around. Is this true? yes, I did the research, but I'm sneaky and I want you to answer this, because it's not just about statistics. It's all about psychology of the people living at the city/state: 10 Myths About US Cities and States Debunked - Forbes

It's not so much the rain, but the cloudiness that bothers-- for me. You could be one of those people where throw any weather, it won't bother you; Or you could be one of those who would be scrambling to get all out after 3 months. We don't know how it'll affect you. Personally the cloudiness wears me down.

3. Restaurants apparently suck there. This is obviously a subjective item, but I don't trust those "experts" so what is the eating like there? I like simple, fulfilling, awesome, fun foods.

Depends on what you're looking for. Soul food, BBQ, chicken/buffalo wings for example are a huge miss. Pizza can be a hit or miss. But others like most Asian cuisine, vegetarian don't disappoint.

4. Why do you think all the "hipsters" work at MS? lol I couldn't resist, after a friend told me about this. But, who works at MS? Amazon, Starbucks, and a lot of the companies there? What is the corporate culture, if there is some unifying conclusion?

Hipsters @ MS? LOL. Unless you're referring to regular folks. Corporate culture is very relaxed, dressed down here... but not at all "hipster".

6. I'm a huge animal lover. I've rescued a lot of animals in my life, and they're the closest family I have. Two cats and a dog. What is like there for friend of the furry ones?

Seattle is pretty animal friendly. Great dog parks and all. Seattle proper I believe is #2 major metro that has more dogs and cats than children. However, this should not translate to "you'll have an easy time finding an apartment that is animal friendly."

7. One place you'd go if you can skip work tomorrow, no matter what the weather is like tomorrow?

Easy. Driving around town for the views and visiting whatever park with water-- lots of them around, hard to run out.

Thanks.

BTW: Go SeaHawks! So, did the entire city have a weed cloud over it on Monday with 200,000 people calling in sick? lol

I see on FB just how crazy it is. Over 700k went. Everyone and their kids went. And it took forever to get in/out... but everyone says it's worth it.

[beautifulseattlehomes]

7 ) Vancouver BC

2) I'm from DC and DC is a whole lot sunnier year round than Seattle but the hot humid summer in DC (which I like) never ever happens here...some people will joke that summer starts the third week in July and ends on Labor Day in Seattle. I have been here long enough to know that is totally true some years and others not so much...but that guaranteed DC warm weather from May through October...it is not happening here!

1) San Francisco is so much more expensive than Seattle that really there is no comparison. Housing in the part of the Bay Area and LA that people want to live in is far more expensive than Seattle in an apple to apple comparison.