Any Mass. transplants? (Seattle, Bellevue, Pacific: apartment, house, neighborhood)

[KRS0204]

My family and I may be making a move to the Bellevue area, and I'm feeling pretty anxious about leaving all that I love about New England...Four seasons, ski country, beaches, city, etc. and of course The Red Sox!! Any input on what is similar/different, better/worse etc. out there than here?

[Alicia64]

KRS ~ Join the club! My husband has made it thru two rounds of interviewing and may get a job that would start mid/end of Sept.

We live in No. Cal. where the weather is pretty much always beautiful. I'm really nervous. I even get a little SAD in a Sacramento January so I'm really wary of moving to Seattle.

When would you arrive? And why are you leaving Mass?

[Jennibc]

Originally Posted by KRS0204

My family and I may be making a move to the Bellevue area, and I'm feeling pretty anxious about leaving all that I love about New England...Four seasons, ski country, beaches, city, etc. and of course The Red Sox!! Any input on what is similar/different, better/worse etc. out there than here?

We lived in Newport and Providence for a total of nearly five years, so we were close to Mass. I was from here (or at least from the time I was 18) so moving to NE was a big adjustment for me (although my husband had lived in CT for several years before we met out here, consequently, he didn't have the difficulties adjusting - that or I may just be more difficult than he is )

In Seattle:
Better skiing, no T, beaches but not for swimming (the Pacific is way too cold), instead of being three hours away from NYC, you will be three hours away from Portland . We don't have the dramatic season changes that we had in NE and people are not as 'passionate' here. People aren't as religious about baseball either.

If you live in the Boston area, you will find a similar cost of living, if you are in Western Mass you may experience sticker shock in terms of housing cost. I think groceries are more expensive here too.

You will also find that things are much "newer" here. I remember when we moved to Newport, there was Quaker Meeting House on our block from 1690. Here, our oldest buildings are just over 100 years old. Our apartment in Newport was a house from around 1780 that had been converted. It was really interesting to walk through one's neighborhood and see those National Historic Registry plaques everywhere - I don't think I've ever spotted one here.

It is definitely a different culture here. You may love it, you may hate it. When we were in NE, we met many people who'd moved out to Seattle for temporary duty (they worked for the Dept. of Defense) While they enjoyed their nine -12 months here, they couldn't wait to get back "home" to RI or Southern Mass. I also became acquainted with a guy in NYC who was out here at Microsoft. Man did he hate it here. He was a bit obnoxious even for my tastes so I can imagine it was a tough time for him (I am very forgiving of obnoxious people as some might even use the term to describe me).

People in Seattle are not as "direct" as the people in the Northeast. One thing I sort of appreciated about NE is you knew where you stood with people. Here there is very much a passive aggressive vibe. Lots of people complain about he Seattle Freeze (see the 70 page sticky at the top of the page) but my experience with the NE was that it took a LONG time to get to know people there as well. What's interesting is that we have now been gone from NE for about 9 years and we still have many close friends we made there that we stay in touch with and when we've seen a few over the years, it's as if we never left. We were gone from Seattle for about 7 and when we got back we were able to rekindle very few friendships here.

I hope that is helpful. It's hard to say what pros and cons there are to either place because to some what would be a pro is a con to another - I for one HATE snow and that is one of the reasons I didn't like it there, but other people just love it.

[KRS0204]

Thank you both for your input!!

Alicia64 - Same boat -my husband has been through rounds of interviewing and even flew out ther for a day of meetings....no feedback yet but am hoping to have some sort of an update next week. I'm guessing that if/when this happens, I would hang back here selling our house in MA before I came out there. A scary prospect given the housing market! But I have to admit the area is very attractive to me. Techie heaven for the hubbby, outdoorsy heaven for me... So we'll see. I hope to hear updates on you!!

Jennibc - thankfully I live in eastern Mass, so although I thought anywhere else would be a "steal" I'm glad to at least find the area comparable. I completely understand the difference in personalities when you talk about New England (and New York - I spend some time there) so I feel prepared. I also lived in Ohio for a couple of years and understand the difference in personalities and sense of humor there! Great place, but I felt my upbringing surfacing alot.

Anyway, the more I learn the more I get excited about the Seattle area. Rain and all, it seems like a cool place to set up camp. I'm sure I will have more questions if this interview process turns into an offer!!

Thanks again!

[Freebird2007]

formerly of Bahton here!

[toughguy]

I don't know if they all came from Boston, or if they are just bandwagon casual fans, but the red sox fans are definitely out in full force for the series with the Mariners this week. I couldn't walk a full block yesterday without seeing a family all decked out in Boston gear.