Moving from NYC to Seattle
Question:
I don't live here (I live in Phoenix), but I have a friend from New York City who wants to move to Seattle in a bad way because he's tired of the fast-paced living of NYC and wants to live where it's beautiful and not crowded. After reading a cover story about Seattle in a national magazine about what a wonderful city it is to move to, he chose to move to Seattle. He will be quitting his job in NYC and moving his family to Seattle ASAP. Can anyone recommend the pro's and con's of Seattle and where to live in the Seattle area. Plus he want's to perhaps build/buy a vacation home in Washington State outside of Seattle so he can escape to. Any recommendations on that as well?
Answer:
_One of the major problems it forgot to mention in the article is that
Seattle has the 4th worst traffic in America. Our public
transportation sucks. And the cost of living is higher than most
cities of the same size. There are no jobs. It rains alot here.
There's more but I don't want to scare your friend away.
_I have lived in cities with truly awful public transportation, and while
Seattle's system could certainly benefit from many improvements, I don't
think it's accurate to say it "sucks". Seattle is one of the few cities
in America where it is possible to live without a car (I do it). It
certainly is not as convenient as NYC, but it can be done.
The cost of living is higher here than many immigrants expect. But if
housing and taxes account for 80% of the difference in cost of living
between cities, then anyone coming from NYC will have no complaints.
There is no state income tax here, the sales tax is about the same, and
rents are much lower. (I have twice the space at half the price compared
to my Greenwich Village apartment).
As for jobs, it's simply not true that "there are no jobs". It's
impossible to tell from the original post what that person is looking for
employment-wise, so I don't think I can comment on their prospects for
finding empolyment. In general, though, the economy here is expanding,
rather than stagnating as is the case back in New York.
Yes, it rains a lot here. Don't come if you can't deal with that. You'll
be miserable. I love the rain, and bright sunny days depress me, so I
feel like I belong here, but many people spend one winter here, and can't
wait to escape to sunnier climes.
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