To the Complete Other Side of the Country

GiantRobo

So a friend and I have both been trying to leave where I've been my whole life, and 5 years for her. We wanna move when we get our tax returns, or shortly after while working and saving as much till then. I wanna go to Seattle, but it seemed kinda expensive, but where would be a good area to live around there? We had also looked around Portland, OR cause it seemed cheaper (compared to here in West Chester, PA).


Any advice from people out there would be greatly appreciated.

VisionOfClarity

Don't move just because a place is cheap. You have to take into consideration that when the cost of living is lower so is the pay rate, so you're not likely going to save as much as you think you are. Why do you want to move to Seattle or Portland? I feel like we see this often on the forums because of the forums and that's a terrible reason to move. What fields are you in, are you looking to buy or rent, do you have a degree or are looking to go to school when you relocate, how much do you have saved to fund moving across country, etc.

GiantRobo

Looking to rent, and wanna start college for a networking degree most likely. I wanna get out of here cause I wanna travel all over, it's something I've been wanting to do for a while. Plus, I wont have a home here soon cause my dad is moving to Florida or Arizona and his girlfriend won't let me and my sister go with them. I'm trying to have at least 4,500+ expenses of going wherever we wanna go.

Chanus

Portland, OR is the squatter capital of the world (not officially, but it must be close). Finding a job there is nigh impossible unless things have changed during the recession for some reason.

I would recommend visiting anywhere you're thinking of moving. Spend a week there and get to know areas of town. Check local papers for job listings and such.

As an aside: Sounds like your dad needs to punch his girlfriend.

dwwatermelon

If you want to move out of state I recommend your main task be internet job hunting. It sounds like you've been living at home so far. You just have to realize that if you move somewhere you don't have a job lined up, there's no backstop between you and being homeless. Since you're losing the parental support, NOT being homeless should be your first priority.

Move to where the work is.

Edit: and that still applies if you're going to school unless you've got someone paying tuition and living costs for you. In fact, even more so because school is very expensive.

NebulousQ

Yeah, if you are hoping to get into a college do some research and apply to colleges all over. See where you get into before you decide to move out.

Dog

Are you looking to move just because it's too expensive? West Chester is notoriously expensive compared to the surrounding areas like Exton/Frazer, Phoenixville and Media.

Thanatos

For a coastal city, Seattle is pretty cheap. Yes, Portland is cheaper, but right now, I think it's second to Detroit as far as terrible unemployment goes. Not to say that Seattle's job market is fantastic or anything, just not nearly as bad. And you make way more money here than it costs to live here (I'm comparing to California, which is fucking expensive as hell, and you don't get paid much).

If price is your primary concern, Tacoma or Olympia are substantially cheaper to live in than Seattle, and are in the general area.

Rhino

Look around online for jobs. Find one that you like. See what city it is, look up the city and see if it sounds good to you or not. If you like city, apply for job. Eventually this will land you in a city you like and with a job.

Moving some random place (without a job lined out) is probably not a good plan in my opinion. Specially in his economy!

Bonus round: some companies pay 're-location' fees. I got like $12K IIRC, but didn't use it all.