Hey guys,

My name is Suneet and I'm an active member from the Northern California region. Been going to meets for a year or so now, but I've been on the forums for 5. Finally really getting into modding my old LS Well I'm going to graduate from school in about 6 months and I've been offered a great position with Microsoft up there in Redmond. I interviewd with them locally as well, but for some reason they determined I wasn't a "good fit for Mountain View", and two teams really want me in Redmond... so potentially, Seattle, here I come!

As you can imagine, I have a slew of questions for people from the area. What is it like? I'm coming from the Bay Area...

1) Where should I live? I stayed in Bellevue when I was up there, and it seemed like a really nice down town-ish area. I wouldn't mind living there. I'm also thinking about living in the city, which would be about a 45 minute commute both ways to Redmond.. but I'm currently living in Berkeley, which is right across from San Francisco and has a city feel. But I want a garage for my car! It just seems like it'll be a lot easier to start a new social life if I live in the city.. but I guess I'll have to pay more in rent and commute time/gas money.

2) What can I expect to pay for rent? The only two areas I really know of are Bellevue and the city proper. If I lived in the city, I'd be looking for a 1 bedroom place, or potentially find a roommate and move into a 2 bedroom.

3) The recent weather is kind of scaring me. No power this weekend, and you guys had snow a couple weeks ago... anything I should to do to prepare for it?

4) Do you guys have a good network of mechanics/bodyshops etc for the CL community? I wouldn't know where to get any work done, and I'll be doing a lot of mods once I'm there!

5) What is the social life like in Seattle? What is the club and bar scene like?

6) What is traffic like?

7) There is no state income tax, correct? Thats a huge benefit for me. Are there any other great tax breaks?

Thats all I can think of right now... if there's anything you can tell me, or just in general, try and sell me on the area so I'm more excited about moving there.. that would be great.

I'll be making my decision within the next week or so.. Thanks,

- Suneet

 

Suneet,

I lived in San Jose for about 8 years of my life and moved with my family to the Seattle area a little while ago. I definitely love it up here.

For starters, everybody up here is really nice and pretty relaxed. You'll notice that a lot of the participating members in this Pacific sub-forum are really chill and are more than happy to welcome a new member. People are seattle are generally just here to have a good time. In fact, i think we've got one of the last hippie movements of America haha. People - awesome.

Traffic isn't too incredibly bad up here and the highways systems are fairly straight forward. Some may disagree, but I remember traffic on 101, 880, 680, 17 that made me want to shoot myself. I swear I could roll down my window and have a game of poker going on with the people in the car next to me. Traffic was horrible down there, at least from what I can remember. Parking lots. Up here, it's busy at certain hours but at least it keeps moving at a fairly decent pace. I-5 around the seattle area during traffic hour is busy at certain areas and moves quickly at other areas, just depends on where you want to go. So traffic - decent.

Places to live - If you're a single guy and you've got some money to spend (no kids, no big bills, etc.), i'd say take a look at queen anne hill. There are some real nice apartments up there that you'll really like. i think they run 800-1200 depending on size, view, location, parking, etc. I could be wrong about that. 800-900 avg, i think? To give you a better idea as to where queen anne is... it's right next to the key arena and the space needle. Real classy area too. It sort of reminds me of a very small town because there are small botiques and people walking their dogs everywhere. Actually, it sort of reminds me of Los Gatos. Maybe a smaller version of palo alto?? well, palo alto minus the that mall they've got. Downtown is a few blocks away, but it's quiet enough for you to sit back, relax, and enjoy the scenery without all the noise that comes from downtown. Oh and your commute to Redmond - i'd say... 20 - 25 minutes?

The weather isn't as bad as people make it out to be. It rains here, but not all the time. I like the fact that you can see all four seasons as they change, it's actually quite beautiful. We never have brutal weather like we've had over the past week or so. That's one of the more extreme cases that we've experienced in the last ten years, i'd say.

That's all I can think of for now. Just my .02.

 

I'd live in the east side of the lake (Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond, Issaquah)... Federal Way is nice but you're talking 20-25 mile commute each way.

 

I think Woogie gave a good comparative view for someone that has live elsewhere. But I wouldn't live in Queen Anne if traffic bothers you. Since I'm local, I consider the traffic on 520 bad and I hate it. I rather live on the eastside like Bellevue if you're going to be working in Redmond. I don't think your social life will be that much different living over here. I think the people that goes to the bars and clubs in Seattle are from all over the place anyways.

 

i live on the eastside. in newcastle area.. i love it on the eastside.. the southside is nice but i love living over here on the eastside.

 

I live on mercer Island on the eastside also. It is very easy to get to Seattle, and to get to Bellevue, I am right in between. If you have the funds MI is a growing area perfect for raising children.

mrkenji, I want to see your car really bad.

 

Haha, well let me clarify, I'm only 21. Definitely not looking to raise children anytime soon! I expect to live in Seattle for about 3 years or so, probably not more than that.. so I'm looking for a place that is pretty busy, cityish, yet nice and I can still find a place to park and work on my car. Does that exist? Thanks a lot for your helpful comments. So so far I'm looking at Eastside and Bellevue... its going to be interesting moving out there for sure.

 

if you have the funds the eastside is definitely a great choice. i like the eastside because i feel more secure with my car being out around here if i dont have time to put it in the garage.

one of the things you have to realize with washington is that its not like california.. to get into downtown bellevue or seattle only takes a short drive from where i am and so i dont have to worry about driving a couple hours to get to downtown LA or wherever. its harder to find something in the city with a personal garage to work on your car however in the outskirts of downtown its not hard to find one with a garage and its a short trek to the city..


bighitmike. im looking forward to coming to another meet. i have all these parts in my trunk i need to install and hope to do before the next meet.

 

I'm a school recluse but I heard from my cousin who lived in SF for a few years, and came to visit for awhile, that in seattle, city life is boring and everyone leaves the city at night while in her area everyone goes to the city. To sum it up, compairing to SF, night life sucks here. But I don't know from experience. Good luck with your search!

 

Painful truth is Seattle, Renton, etc. etc. SUCK!!! Eastside is the only area to live in. Sorry not to sugar coat this one! Maple Valley, Bellevue, Issaquah, North Bend, and areas really close to them are the only ones worth moving to.