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Moving to Seattle - What're some local tips that aren't on a travel website?
Caidal
Registered User new member
Registered User new member
Also, perhaps I'm blind but is there a way to sort forum search results by date? I noticed a lot of similar threads but the first few pages of results (of hundreds) were a hodgepodge that were 10+ years old. Just looking for current tips on the local scene (both gaming related and not). "Going to try hike X, you need to only go on a weekday and park here", "Lively gaming scene is here", "Going through town X? great food is there at Y" sort of advice appreciated.
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Do you already have housing lined up?
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
If there's more than a couple inches, everyone acts like the world has stopped.
It does get cloudy and rainy for long periods so make sure your place has proper drainage. And make sure you're managing it.
Okay. The best tip I can give is to assume that bridges and I5 suck. Bridges are common traffic snarls, even outside of rush hour. Many of them are drawbridges that have to go up to allow ships through. A single traffic accident can clog a bridge for hours. This only gets worse during snow, like Mugsley said.
I5 isn't too bad outside of city limits (rush hour can still suck) but inside of city limits it too can get snarled up at any time of day. Seattle has a couple of commuter rail lines, but most of the public transit is via bus, which are just as vulnerable to all of these traffic problems.
So when you're looking at a map and trying to pick permanent housing, think about what's accessible without crossing a bridge or taking I5 through city limits. That includes your job and your social life. For example, if your job is in Fremont and your best friend or your partner lives near University of Washington, then you would be well-served by narrowing your housing search to places in the northeast quadrant of Seattle city limits.
This also explains a lot about the so-called "Seattle freeze." I found people in Seattle to be very friendly. I never felt frozen out. But the people I saw on a regular basis were people who lived and worked in roughly the same quadrant as me.
The good news is that the whole city is very walkable and there are good restaurants, bars, shops, and cool things to do in every region of the city.
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
One of them is in the Old Ballard neighborhood (Google Maps link) and the other is in the city of Bellevue, east of Seattle.
There are awesome gaming shops all over the city, but those two are by far the largest and most active. I also like Gamma Ray Games in Capitol Hill, not far from downtown, and Blue Highway Games in Queen Anne.
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
But mostly just the 1 line, right?
As for an actual thread contribution, buy some vitamin d pills or cod liver oil or whatever and take them regularly during the ~9 months of the year without sunlight
The Mountaineers is a good resource for dipping your toe into snowshoeing and active winter excursions if youre so inclined, volunteer run organization with a lot going on. They do cool non-winter stuff too.
Lake Washington has a lot of good access for paddleboarding and swimming out of Magnuson Park, parking and access from the south beach side can be tough on nice days. Puget sound ocean is uh. Fucking freezing all year.
Arboretum is a real gem of a park.
Ferries for day trips are fantastic.
Also I'm an Engineer so driving over the Tacoma Narrows Bridge is kinda cool just because of its history.
Finally, I believe they are nearly finished with the viaduct project near the ferries (last time I was at Seattle in earnest was probably 2017 or 2018). There may be residual construction of you go through that area (basically the middle of downtown, at the waterfront).
Recommendation: see if you can learn the names of some of the buildings in Seattle and get familiar with the area, then read Boneshaker. It's a zombie apocalypse novel (yeah I know) that takes place in downtown Seattle.
This is a given, but check the Con scene. Emerald City Comicon and PAX (duh) are great reasons to come to downtown each year.