Washington Babies
Options
Contemplating Move to Seattle or Tacoma
..wherever DH finds a job. We're also considering a few other cities, but I came here to ask what the pros and cons are of living where you do.
I've lived in Texas all my life, and I wonder how I'll handle the rain. I think I'd like the change in culture, though.
What are schools like (private and public)? Traffic? I'm guessing bike friendly... Thanks so much in advance! All the good, all the bad -- I'll read it!
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Contemplating Move to Seattle or Tacoma
Tacoma has a very high crime rate, it scares me. I live in Bothell which is about 15 mins from Seattle. I would recommend Seattle over Tacoma any day but there is one good thing about Tacoma, it's so cheap! We live in a 2 bed 2 bath apartment and pay 1060. We could get a 3 bed 2 bath house in Tacoma for around 1000! But you arn't near a great city and the area is just..scary haha. I would suggest looking at the suberbs around Seattle such as Shoreline, Kirkland, Lake Forest Park, Brier (have lived here, PERFECT for families, small community, safe, great schools). All are great places to live, all very different, so it all depends on what you are looking for.
And the rain really isn't that bad. You get use to it. And we do have gorgeous days, like all this weekend.
So I would choose seattle over tacoma and preferrably the eastside which would be bellevue, redmond, kirkland, issaquah over seattle. All of those cities are a short commute to seattle.
The cities I listed above on the eastside all have great public as well as private schools though private here are pretty spendy...most start around 10k a year.
As for the rain... its not that it rains so much here as that we have a lot of grey days. hawaii actually gets more rain than us
There are a lot of nice places around Seattle, depending on what your budget is. Most of us live in Western Washington. I personally would not recommend Tacoma, it is one of the areas with the highest crime rate, not the greatest schools, and lots of traffic. (just my personal opinion). Issaquah, Bellevue and Northshore and Lake Washington are the highest rated school districts in the state, for public schools. I dont know much about the private schools.?
The rain isnt so bad
Summers are really nice here, and fall is gorgeous! I love living here, but I have also lived here my whole life! There are a lot of different cultures here. ?People are pretty layed back and polite, lots of outdoor stuff to do, etc. HTH!!!!
Traffic = Horrible.
It is pretty bike friendly though.
No toll highways (not sure where you are in TX, but I know that around Houston there are plenty of tolls).
Schools are dependant on what school district you are in... Most private schools are christian based if that is what you are looking for. Seattle has a couple of really good Montessorri schools too.
There are tons of outdoor activities here, all year round.
And no crazy scary bugs.
And yes it rains here, but, the rain forest excluded, we do not have the highest average annual rainfall in the country. Plus you never here things like this on the news... "And remember folks, when it floods, the snakes come out..." *Shudder*
There is no Hurricane or Tornado season. There will be an earthquake sometime, no one knows when, just sometime...
I could look at the mountains every day and never get tired of them.
The air here is much fresher, crisper feeling then TX (again, my familiarity is Houston). The temps are pretty moderate all year round. Nothing really extreme.
It isn't common to find houses, especially newer construction, with a basement. Unless is a daylight basement.
We have a really high sales tax.
No state income tax.
One of the highest minimum wages in the country.
- As you can tell, I am kinda just listing things off the top of my head. It would help if there were miore specifics about your possible move and location.
a friend of mine moved from Texas a few years ago and I think the hardest change for her was the cultural change. Things are much more laid back here.
Other than that: Things cost more than you might think, traffic is horrible, there is generaly a sense of seperation between the "East Side" and Seattle. if you live or work in Seattle, you tend to hang out and spend your time there as well (because traffic is horrible is part of the problem).
Seattle over Tacoma, any day. The crime rate is too high in Tacoma. People who live there will tell you there are beautiful parts but it does not change the clientel a few blocks away.
Like pp have said, the Eastside is the nicest. Most of the school districts on the Eastside are great. If you live anywhere else, I would recommend private schools (they are many to choose from).
Hey now! Don't be hating on the land of my birth!
I grew up in Tacoma, though I live in Seattle now. Family and friends still live there and I always thought it had a normal crime rate for a city. You know, car prowling, stuff like that.
I have a friend from Texas and he says the weirdest thing to him was the lack of racial diversity. It's not that Seattle/Tacoma is especially racist (people are uber-politically correct) but that most of the population is white. So it was wierd to be in a class/restaurant/crowd of 25 people and none of them were latino or african american.
I love visiting Seattle (especially downtown where there is a TON of shopping) I'd live there in a heartbeat if we could afford it and I could get DH to jump on board with that idea
As much as I hated the Tacoma area there were still a few great things about it...gas is way cheaper, our favorite restruant (as mentioned), I like the Tacoma Mall, Castles megastore
Have you ever thought of looking at areas besides Seattle or Tacoma? I live in the small town of Orting and I cant say enough wonderful things about it! We are not far from the big cities, the schools are amazing, there are just 2 stoplights, a great hometown feel without feeling so far in the country. We got a lot for our money when we bought our house a few years back and we have a stunning view of Mt. Rainer in our backyard....there are so many cute cities besides Seattle and Tacoma worth looking into! Good luck and let us know if you end up in our neck of the woods!
While I am not a big fan of living in Tacoma, the suburb areas are pretty nice if you are wanting the southend. Spanaway, Bonney Lake, Federal Way (a little north of Tacoma) etc. all have some nice places and advantages if not having to travel to Seattle every day.
If needing to go to Seattle all the time, then the Eastside or north of Seattle like Bothell, Lynnwood, and surrounding areas. You just have to look and feel comfortable with the neighborhood. I LOVE my sister's neighborhood and it's location in Spanaway; Gated, close enough to the freeways, close to bus transportation, and her kids can walk to school without leaving their development because they walk through their fence and they are on school property. She is lucky to have a great house and amazing yard and is able to afford it better because it is in Pierce County (King is definately more expensive).
The rain isn't as bad as everyone says, like PP's have said. It really is more gray. There are so many outdoor activities to particiapte in, hanging out in Seattle is always a blast, there are 2 big zoos (one in Seattle, one in Tacoma), schools all depend on the district, but you aren't ever really far away from anything and there always seems to be something going on. Just my two cents.
Good point
When I was and EMT in Seattle...we visited some hardcore neighborhoods and I have also had to treat patients involved in gang related fights..kinda why I got out of that job..lol
Seriously the traffic isn't that bad as long as you actually pay attention to where you are working when you pick where to live. There are some commutes that are terrible, but you can avoid them. Sure, there's traffic. And it's worse here than in, say, Iowa. But it's WAYYYYYYYY better than most big cities - like LA, Chicago, NYC, DC, etc... so I guess it depends on your perspective. I live in Sammamish, which is practically in the wilderness on the east side. And I worked in Seattle. It took me 25-35 minutes to get there. And it was 22 miles. So really, not bad if you ask me.
It's hard to answer a lot of your questions though just because you're talking about such a really huge area between Seattle and Tacoma. There are suburbs of both, and suburbs in between... good and bad areas, good and bad crime areas, good and bad schools.
I love it here. But then I really don't like hot weather, so I'd kill myself in Texas. I moved here from Chicago, and the weather here is so much better than in Chicago. The winters are mild (but gray!) and the summers are too. It's usually in the 40s in the winter and we max out in the 80s for most of the summer. It rains often (but not a lot of inches) in the winter. It rarely rains in the summer. It's light out til nearly 10PM in the summer. That's one of my favorite things. Except that it makes the fireworks way too freaking late on 4th of July.
I agree with living in Seattle as opposed to Tacoma.
The hardest part is the traffic, really. It's not horribly bad, but it isn't great. It would be really hard to determine where you should live until your DH gets a job. I mean, if he gets a job in Everett (30 miles north of Seattle) it wouldn't make sense for you to live in Tacoma.
As for culture, it's very outdoorsy, bike-friendly, and dog-friendly. There are many places for outside hikes and walks just a few minutes from Seattle, which is nice in the summer months. It's also pretty easy to get south to Portland, north to Vancouver, B.C., or east to Spokane/Yakima/Central Washington for day-trips and whatnot.
We're pretty culturally diverse, but it does lean more heavily towards Asian cultures than others. You can't throw a rock in Seattle proper without hitting a Thai restaurant.
I'm not too familiar with the schools in the area, but Shoreline (neighborhood north of Seattle) seems to have really good schools. When DH was going to HS back in the early 90s, it seemed like kids in the Seattle School District could choose where they wanted to go to school, as opposed to being assigned a school based on where they lived. DH went to high school at Garfield, which is across town from where he lived in Ballard, as opposed to going to school at Ballard High School. I'm not sure if this is still the case, however.
One thing I will say about this place - It's got some of the most beautiful scenery of any major city I've ever been to.
Good luck to DH!
Unable to even.
********************
You don't understand the appeal of Benedict Cumberbatch / think he's fug / don't know who he is? WATCH SHERLOCK. Until you do, your negative opinion of him will not be taken seriously.
i moved here three years ago from the south. so, the summers are amazing. seriously, not to be believed. if it hits the mid-80's, people cry heat wave.
like pp's said, it's not so much the rain, its' the greyness. the upside, i guess, is that it makes you appreciate the sun that much more, but kiss goodbye to your tan. 
traffic really stinks. it's just constant, even on the weekends.
there are fun outdoor activities - lots of hiking, biking, etc. that said, if you are into festivals, they are a lot more strict about drinking at outdoor festivals than in the south. not sure if that's a big thing for you, and it's a minor detail, but it was a big culture shock for us.
people are pretty reserved - not as open as in the south - but all around pretty polite.
we're actually planning on moving back to the south next year, but we don't regret coming out and experiencing it for a few years. for us, it's just tough being away from family and friends, hence the planned move back.
gl!
One more thing to chime in. I grew up in Federal Way and now live in Bonney Lake, so more the suburbs outside of Tacoma. But I work in Tacoma everyday and I LOVE it. The crime rates in Tacoma are pretty much identical to Seattle and just for comparision the U District outside of UW Seattle has WAY higher crime statistics that the U District outside of UW Tacoma (these are colleges in both cities).
Although, I too LOVE Seattle and many times wished I lived back there again, but that has more to do with wishing I lived closer to my girlfriends. If they lived on the South End I may not think that as much. I think most people live where they are comfortable and people North and East of Seattle feel more comfy there and people South of Seattle feel more comfy there.
There are a ton of choices and just like everyone said, once you find out where your DH is working you can do more research into the surrounding areas, school districts, etc and make the right decision for your family.
Wow, you all have been amazingly informative, especially given my broad questions. We are pretty much wide open as far as location, but of course, will be limited and directed once a job is found.
Not dealing with huge, flying cockroaches and snakes on the front porch sounds great! Traffic, I'd get used to, I think...I've done 5 miles on I-35 in an hour before...Interesting to read about the distinction between East and Seattle. DH and I are also contemplating areas in Oregon..Portland, Bend, Corvallis...so looking into all that, too.
Definitely in the beginning research stages, but I appreciate all your comments in getting the ball rolling! Thanks so much!