Moving to Seattle from DC...

[Anonymous]

Current Portland resident here. I can write more later on the positives and negatives of Portland specifically but just a minute for a quick reply here...I have to concur with the poster who said don't underestimate the power of the weather's depressive effects for both Portland and Seattle. Winters are always long anyway, but two of the four springs/early summers we've been here now have also been particularly wet and chilly - including this one. I thought I was going to go freaking crazy...even as late as last Friday it was wet, gray and in the 50s. We had record rainfall and lack of sun in April, May and June (four total days of sun those three months, I believe). We went to Atlanta for a quick grandparent visit for a few days in June and stepping into near 100 degrees and high humidity (which I always used to despise) was such a welcome change...that's how desperate I felt for warmth and sun by that point. We actually flew in and out of Seattle and when we got back to SEA-TAC it was raining, gray and in the 50s still and it made me want to cry. People always joke that in the PNW summer doesn't really start until July 4 and it's true. Now it's July 9 and the sun is shining and it's high 90s (also not the norm...). When summer arrives it is absolutely gorgeous here - generally moderate and comfortably warm temps and no humidity. Shows off the amazing beauty of the area. It will stay nice through September, Oct can go back and forth but rest assured that come Nov. 1 the rain and gray returns.

[Anonymous]

I lived in Seattle for 8 years before moving to the DC area. There's so much more going on in the DC area, but Seattle is a more relaxed place to live. Great bike trails; I especially like riding along Lake Washington. Love Discovery Park, walking around Greenlake.

[Anonymous]

OP, don't listen to the haters. We are waiting for the spewing vitriol poster who hates life here but won't allow others to discuss different cities. HAHAHAHAHA.

You will LOVE the NW! I'm sure the people are happy

[Anonymous]

Seattle's a tough town if you're 40 or older. Not very intellectual.

That is just flat wrong. Seattle has one of the highest % of college grads and graduate degrees of any large city. Also in the top 2 or 3 for book sales. Several Politics and Prose-type independent bookstores. A gigantic world-class university. One of the best climates for incubating new companies, thanks to Microsoft and Amazon graduates. These sorts of things.

Unless "intellectual" is code for something else, maybe? Something endemic to the East Coast? A particular group of people belonging to a specific religion or race?

[Anonymous]

I just moved to Seattle with almost-3 YO. Intellectual family. I was dreading the move. So far, the summer -- which apparently stated on July 7 -- is spectacular; folks are very warm and friendly; met plenty of smarties and fewer self-important "halls of power" types; very family friendly; lots of parks and recreation opps -- basically, a reluctant relocator finds herself surprisingly liking this place.

How nice is it when a child approaches your kid for conversation at the playground, you say "we're new here," and the accompanying father who overhears you says "Oh, then you'll find us at he park often! Be sure to come by and say hello when you see us!" I love that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for the info on Portland. I don't know the city at all so this is very helpful. Have been looking at real estate and love the variety of what is available (and the price point). What are the negatives and positives for you? I like that it is an outdoor oriented city and think that would fit well with our lifestyle. My biggest concern is that it might feel to small town. Having said that, I don't live in the city right now, although do live in a close-in NOVA neighborhood, so that part might be more in my head.

Now responding to this poster's question...
Agree that there are so many wonderful neighborhoods in Portland. Pretty much whatever type you are looking for, you can find it here.
The positives:
*Very family friendly. As one random example, we have restaurants here that have designated play areas for kids...one with supervised babysitting. There's also a day spa that offers on-site babysitting.
*Gorgeous place to live with tons to do. Inside the city - everything from outdoor markets, fabulous farmers markets, some museums, a great zoo, a couple of great children's museums, an amazing arboretum with forested trails right inside the city, etc. Outside the city - near endless great day and weekend trips. Oregon is really beautiful: The Columbia River Gorge a 1/2 hr. east with waterfalls and hiking galore; beautiful wine country just south of town with some of the best wineries/vineyards making Pinot Noir in the world; and then 1.25 hrs west the Oregon coast, which is my very favorite. Tons to do there alone and the scenery is spectacular. Then places like Bend/Sunriver in Central Oregon that are really popular weekend getaway spots and gorgeous in their own right. Oh, also skiing/snowboarding/snowshoeing around Mt. Hood (or many other places in Oregon) in the winter and beautiful hiking opportunities in the summer.
*Culture is much better than I ever expected. Lots of people moving here from elsewhere...you'll find many people who used to live in DC, in fact. A very nice symphony, a couple of great theatres, and the food/restaurants are really quite good (particularly due to top notch chefs moving in from elsewhere and everything being focused on local). Food carts are getting really big here, too, and some of them are pretty damn good.
*The entire more laid-back feel of the area...general focus on work/life balance.
*Huge focus on sustainable living....buying local, recycling, composting...everything. Portland is a worldwide leader in sustainability, as well as urban planning.
There are more but these are a few thoughts off the top of my head.
*Amazing parks and rec. system. (Goes back to family-friendliness.) I have been so impressed with this...tons of fabulous community centers and parks. The centers have great pools, gyms, etc. and classes that are offered for kids and adults at very affordable prices. And the facilities are very nice. However, one of the reasons why they make such nice community centers with huge gyms and swimming pools is weather-related...many pools here are indoors. The parks are also plentiful and really great...there are also tons of public spaces with huge fountains and water features specifically designed as play areas for kids in the summertime.
*Great air quality (compared to DC).

Negatives:
*The schools are in crisis. Not that this isn't happening elsewhere, but the schools here can be iffy depending on neighborhood and are currently going through huge budget cuts. I read the other day that Oregon class sizes are like fourth in the nation right now. Portland Public Schools is in the process of eliminating many special ed teacher jobs and cutting PE. As you can imagine, there is a huge public outcry.
*The economy. Oregon's economy...of which Portland is a huge part...is struggling big time, especially in comparison to an area like DC. I don't know where we are right now but when the economy tanked, for quite a while we were behind Michigan with the highest unemployment in the nation. And I know this all too well...I'm currently a SAHM not by choice as I've been unable to find a job since the "Great Recession" started. I never had a problem getting a job in DC but I've faced a lot of rejection here. For a while I barely even saw openings, now I am seeing more openings but each one has a minimum of 200 applicants and the process is grueling. It has really sucked and been a major point of disappointment for me, as you can imagine.
*Lack of ethnic diversity. That one speaks for itself.
*The weather. I think I already addressed that one in a previous post...but I'll say it again - don't underestimate the depressing effects of months of gray and rain. For me, it's fine during the core winter months and I even like it sometimes, but when you are wearing a turtleneck, fleece and feel like you can't enjoy the outdoors in May or June - it sucks. (Especially when there is so much outdoors to enjoy here.) But then when summer finally arrives and the weather can be so perfect - you quickly forgive and forget...and Oregonians are out and about every weekend taking advantage of every last second of it!
*Accessibility to other cities via air travel. All flights are more expensive in/out of Portland and getting nonstops to other parts of the country is often not doable, which sucks with kids. We just drove three hours to/from Seattle to fly back east because the flights were $300 cheaper per person and the flight schedules were much preferable. I miss the DC airports and accessibility to other places and relatively low costs.
*At the end of the day, it is a small(er) town. I think when we left DC I underestimated a little bit how much I enjoyed being part of a larger urban area and being a part of something bigger like DC is, at the national level. I said I hated all the competition and pretentiousness there but in retrospect, I don't think I hated it as much as I thought. In fact, I kind of miss it sometimes. So, I think you really have to know yourself and what type of place you are looking for. Sometimes I do wonder if we should have moved to Seattle instead where we'd get a lot of what Portland has with a more cosmopolitan feel...though Portland is definitely growing and it's not a blah city by any means with restaurants, etc. (Many say Portland is what Seattle was 10 years ago before Seattle got too big and expensive.) But still, it is definitely smaller-town feel and things like the big chain shopping is not as good (we have most of the basics...but not all in one place - very spread out in different parts of town). There are a lot of specialty places, though.

One last thought worth mentioning: Overall, the people who live here...and in the PNW in general, including Seattle...are very passionate about it. We wanted to get out of DC for so long before we finally did, and whenever we'd mention it to someone else that we wanted to leave - more often than not we'd hear, "Us, too!" You don't get that here. People love living here for the most part and are very proud of where they live. It's nice. And for the OP, I think Seattle is stunning with clearly many similarities to Portland - except a bigger city with even more to do, and of course, more expensive.

[Anonymous]

Seattle lover here. Lived in DC for 3 years, then Seattle for 4 years, moved back to DC for work reasons only. We're actively trying to get back to Seattle with somehwat comparable jobs (DH is in a highly specialized field). I hope that you will love Seattle. I strongly prefer the weather there. It is simply a myth that it rains all the time--DC gets more precipitation than Seattle. Having said that, there are a high number of cloudy or overcast days there and that is a problem for some. It's much more mild in temperature and has four good seasons. Many if not most people do not have a/c because you'd only need it a few days out of the year (though some years are worse than others). DH and I thought the weather was gorgeous and we spent so much more time outside than we do here, especially in the summer (here the humidity and mosquitoes make use feel like prisoners during the summer). I can't emphasize enough how much you may like the climate. I know so many people in Seattle who say that bad Seattle weather is a myth used to keep people away so that others don't all move there!

Seattle has SO much to offer, IMO. Great and trendy restaurants if you want that, standard fare if you want that. Urban and suburban living options. GORGEOUS natural surroundings. A lot of parks in the urban/suburban area plus TONS of hiking and walking options within an hour's easy drive that take you to glorious views. You can be hiking on trails to glaciers within an hour and half drive. DH did that all the time.

Kid friendly though I will say that public schools are a challenge. I was just visiting Seattle and speaking to a friend who's doing her PhD in education and asked her what she's going to do when her little ones are ready for school. OP, it really depends on where you live. In Seattle proper the Seattle SD is a problem, though there are some good schools within the district, just research it. Outside in various suburbs, including the east side, there are better public options.

A downside to Seattle is that the cost of living is an issue when you take into account salaries. The housing can be comparable to DC. Food and other things cost less but often alaries are significantly lower than here such that the cost of living is actually higher. BIg law firms, for instance, pay less there than here at the same levels.

I'm so envious that you're Seattle bound, OP. Enjoy! You are so lucky!

[Anonymous]

Thank you Portland poster! Very helpful info and a lot of food for thought. You touched on a number of issues that are important to me.

[Anonymous]

The weather sounds much nicer (less hot) in Portland - more people outside - which can only be a good thing!

[Anonymous]

OP - check out http://seattle.citymommy.com. It's very active and I think you'll find some other great moms to connect with. Good luck on your move!

[Anonymous]

A new poster about to move to Portland here ... I will take the rain, the clouds, the hipsters, the economy, over the overinflated egos, house prices, sense of importance, of the east coast, particularly DC, any day. I cannot wait to be in a more laid-back place where I'm not among hoards of people making hundreds of thousands of dollars and whose idea of getting away from it all is going to OBX.