Living in Seattle?

[Shinomaster]

How great or terrible is it? I currently live in Portland and really like it, but my homesick girlfriend wants to move north to be closer to friends and her family (she's from central Washington). I like big cities a lot but I think Seattle would be tough for bike commuting with all the freeways and hills etc. I currently have just about the perfect 5 mile commute to work... but, I could leave the job in a heartbeat.
Maybe I could use a change of scenery? How great is Seattle? Every time I go I seem to really enjoy it. Portland is getting pretty expensive so the cost of living might not be that different any more. I know they have good pizza.

[mjbabcock]

Bellingham.

[jitahs]

More conservative, more cosmo in a conservative way, more techy, less bucolic, still grey, much hillier, still crappy bike infra, must own an suv, less enviro-sensitive more consumerist.

It's just like pdx if it had grown, gotten monied and greedy, shallow and was safely mainstream enough for much of the belly states' denizens to transmogrify into their true selves.

Also way more trivially verbose, if possible.

[Shinomaster]

More conservative, more cosmo in a conservative way, more techy, less bucolic, still grey, much hillier, still crappy bike infra, must own an suv, less enviro-sensitive more consumerist.

It's just like pdx if it had grown, gotten monied and greedy, shallow and was safely mainstream enough for much of the belly states' denizens to transmogrify into their true selves.

Also way more trivially verbose, if possible.

I moved to Portland (from Boston) in 1999 and since then it has changed a lot and not always for the best imho. It's getting pretty fancy and expensive and seems to have lost something which initially drew me here. Or, maybe I've just gotten older..

[sonny]

jitahs has got it right

i like seattle, but i'm always stuck in traffic when i'm there. more proper city stuff (good & bad), less special snowflake retardation characteristic of here. getting out of town can be a trick, but when you do there's more big mtns and stuff to play on. being around the water is cool.

[big shanty]

i lived there for 11 years, and want to move back. I enjoy visiting Portland but Seattle is and will be my home.

Seattle is all about the neighborhoods. Your experience would largely hinge upon where you decided to live, so choose wisely. Or just choose, then try somewhere else later. I lived in six different areas throughout Seattle and have my own biases. I dislike downtown Seattle. That is overly soft language.

You should go up for a long weekend this summer, wander and ingest. Everyone has their recommendations and I'd be happy to provide some of my favorites.

[Michael Dunford]

Alright, I'll stick up for Seattle here...

Some of the best riding. So beautiful, so many different trails and routes, hills galore, and WATER!

Commuting is easy. Traffic is annoying in any city, but the drivers here expect to see bikers everywhere they go.

Oh, and to cap it all off: easy ISLAND HOPPING. Get on the ferry with some bros and shred it up.

[jitahs]

I moved to Portland (from Boston) in 1999 and since then it has changed a lot and not always for the best imho. It's getting pretty fancy and expensive and seems to have lost something which initially drew me here. Or, maybe I've just gotten older..

You're not getting older, just standing in the way of progress ;^)

Mrs. jitahs was born and raised in Portland, different yes. You'll do fine in Seattle if you mind where you live and possible bike routes. Columbia City is funky enough to be not city-proper yet close enough to everything to not feel in the white-washed hinterlands, as if you had that concern in pdx. West Seattle maybe.

A good friend used to ride from the Green Lake area out to Snoqualmie 15+ years ago, passing through softly-lit farmland much of the way. Like everywhere popular it's sprawl now. The suv comment isn't far off base; if you want real riding you have to drive 'n' ride. Oh yeah around Green Lake is nice.

BUT...the island hopping ^ is really great. Orcas, etc.

[RickM]

Meh. I lived there for a year doing a consulting gig trying to resurrect/stabilize a medical clinic network. I actually lived on Bainbridge Island and worked in Seattle. Coming from Boston, Seattle was a bit of a cow town, to my little eyes. Pretty much the way New Yorkers view Boston...ya' know? However; People are pretty damn friendly and open compared to the east coast...it took me a while to get used to...and there is so much mind-blowingly gorgeous country to ride in, hike in, fish in, etc... that it can soften the blow of realizing that the city itself is milquetoast. I do/did love delving in to Seattle's funky old past though...there are a very few vestiges of that left. Also..if you are a baseball fan.....SafeCo field is just fucking awesome.

[rwsaunders]

I've lived part time in Seattle for the past 15 years or so and I think that you might find Seattle to be a little more intense that PDX, in terms of traffic and the cost of living...housing is going through a mini boom phase right now. Public transportation isn't bad and easy access to the airport, if that matters is contingent upon where you live. Roger what Big Shanty said in terms of the neighborhoods...it's a young town and the neighborhood level is where you see Seattle at it's finest. Suburbia is another story, as I have a few friends who live North and life revolves around the car for sure.

People are as friendly as any place I've been to and most people are transplants, which in itself helps to bring a variety of ideas and cultures to the table. Access to nature is a big draw as it doesn't take long to be somewhere where 99% of the country would die to be. Maybe it's just the folks that I work with but as a whole, they are well educated and very aware of what's happening in both their community and in the world. Sports? Ah well sports. I'm from Pittsburgh so I'll leave it there.

Like another has said, spend a long weekend in town and do some roaming. It isn't Portland, but bikes still are still respected and you'll get a better lay of the land.

[72gmc]

I love this town for many reasons. I shake my head at this town for many reasons. It's not (yet) a live-in city, it's not enough of a transit city, it's too much of a car city. The neighborhood experience can be very different and really great. It doesn't have the midtown presence or uptown prestige of a real city, but it's easier to escape than a real city.

Seattle is not as defined as Portland is right now in the out-of-towner's eyes. But if you know what you want out of your city, or are willing to explore, Seattle has a lot to find. It takes some effort to make it great. What jitahs found doesn't have to be your experience.

[hampco]

I like it here. We have good food, beer, and coffee but we don't keep patting ourselves on the back about it - like SOME cities do. There's a good cycling and racing scene, it's a good town to ride in, and we have music, art, cultchah and all that other happy stuff.

Yes, there are too many cars and freeways, riding to get somewhere - as opposed to going for a ride - can be a real chore, and I'm sure some of the people here suck. And the weather sucks, mostly (unless you like gray), except it's been great lately and that could stay until November. Or not...

On my ride two days ago, 45 minutes from my house, I saw a guy flyfishing in the slough. At the pond five minutes on foot from here we have bald eagles, herons, wood ducks, cormorants, muskrats, otters, beaver - we are never far from nature, iow.

[jitahs]

I love this town for many reasons. I shake my head at this town for many reasons. It's not (yet) a live-in city, it's not enough of a transit city, it's too much of a car city. The neighborhood experience can be very different and really great. It doesn't have the midtown presence or uptown prestige of a real city, but it's easier to escape than a real city.

Seattle is not as defined as Portland is right now in the out-of-towner's eyes. But if you know what you want out of your city, or are willing to explore, Seattle has a lot to find. It takes some effort to make it great. What jitahs found doesn't have to be your experience.

Hey I actually like Seattle. Sometimes.

[72gmc]

Hey I actually like Seattle. Sometimes.

T-shirt material right there.

[big shanty]

Columbia City is overrated. I never understood why people would want to live 4 miles from Seattle to be stuck in a boring neighborhood. The bakery is awesome, though....and empire has good coffee/waffles. If you want to live 4+ miles from Seattle, you're better off somewhere like White Center....where at least there is good Mexican food, breweries and cooler hipsters than portland. West Seattle is pretty cool, but then again it's not Seattle.

Where 72gmc lives is really growing a lot (Greenwood)....always been a great area, but now there is a lot more to do (ingest) up there.

The way to do it is find something temporary and find out what area, if any, speaks to you. Lots of areas are chicken-friendly!

[Shinomaster]

Thanks for all the info and humor everyone. I think our two friends live in West Seattle and one just bought a house and has an apartment which we could rent maybe. I've been to some great neighborhoods but I don't remember their names, and I completely agree with downtown being something to avoid but Pikes market is still kinda fun, sorta like Faneuil Hall in Boston. I definitely need to get up there for a weekend to explore.

[Heronseye]

I moved to Portland (from Boston) in 1999 and since then it has changed a lot and not always for the best imho. It's getting pretty fancy and expensive and seems to have lost something which initially drew me here. Or, maybe I've just gotten older..

Moved to Portland from Baltimore in 1993. Left about the time you got there, had the same feeling when I moved on "It's getting pretty fancy and expensive and seems to have lost something which initially drew me here"...like a scene from Portlandia...

[Shinomaster]

Moved to Portland from Baltimore in 1993. Left about the time you got there, had the same feeling when I moved on "It's getting pretty fancy and expensive and seems to have lost something which initially drew me here"...like a scene from Portlandia...

Maybe I miss all the hippies?

[jitahs]

Safe: Hate Map

[Shinomaster]

No Haters in Canada?