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Moving to Seattle?

Moridin889Moridin889 Registered User regular
Hello there. After a long series of unfortunate events, I've decided to pick up and move across the country. Currently in Illinois, but going to end up in Seattle. I've always wanted to live in a bigger city, but I know unfamiliarity with the area is going to kick my butt for a while.

Any tips/tricks for Seattle? Traffic issues, places to stay/not stay, must see stuff, etc.

Posts

  • FeralFeral MEMETICHARIZARD interior crocodile alligator ⇔ ǝɹʇɐǝɥʇ ǝᴉʌoɯ ʇǝloɹʌǝɥɔ ɐ ǝʌᴉɹp ᴉRegistered User regular
    Traffic in Seattle sucks. It's just a fact of life. Especially if you're used to flatland, where you can possibly circumvent traffic by taking side streets. Seattle laughs at your side streets. Ha ha ha! Side streets. You will sit in your car twiddling your thumbs listening to podcasts and like it!

    Seriously, though, traffic is terrible. The good news? Seattle's public transit is actually pretty decent for an American city and it's getting better.

    The best advice I can give for dealing with Seattle commutes is to think of the greater metro region in terms of four quadrants, more or less like this:

    edtp83byinqw.jpg

    This isn't scientific or anything, this is just my impression of the big traffic bottlenecks. Trying to cross either of the bridges over Lake Washington (90 or 520) during rush hour is a shitshow. Trying to push through downtown Seattle (highways 5 or 99) or Bellevue (405) is a mess. If you can keep your commute within one of the quadrants, or commute from a quadrant into one of the axes, you're fine. Try to cross quadrants and you're going to have a bad time.

    My commute is entirely in the northwest quadrant and it's a breeze. I avoid freeways and bridges and I never hit traffic.

    every person who doesn't like an acquired taste always seems to think everyone who likes it is faking it. it should be an official fallacy.

    the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
  • HollerHoller Registered User regular
    Did your series of unfortunate events leave you with good job prospects and savings? Because shit here is super duper expensive and not getting cheaper any time soon.

    My only advice is to combine Craigslist with walkability scores and consider Tacoma or various suburbs instead. Unless you have a really good software job waiting for you, in which case Seattle is your oyster.

  • Moridin889Moridin889 Registered User regular
    Holler wrote: »
    Did your series of unfortunate events leave you with good job prospects and savings? Because shit here is super duper expensive and not getting cheaper any time soon.

    My only advice is to combine Craigslist with walkability scores and consider Tacoma or various suburbs instead. Unless you have a really good software job waiting for you, in which case Seattle is your oyster.

    I see that as I look around at places. I was checking out the suburbs anyway just because I don't know how parking situations are.

    I'm in business management so I don't think I'll be hopeless at finding a job. Wages also seem to be higher with the cost of living increase.

    The unfortunate events were basically deciding to move in with a SO and everything fell apart. Opens up a nice opportunity though.

  • TOGSolidTOGSolid Drunk sailor Seattle, WashingtonRegistered User regular
    edited October 2016
    I just moved to WA from AK in January so observations as follows:

    Logistics
    1.) I5 Traffic is really only awful during the usual rush hour periods, outside of those times it's a quick thirty minutes from where I live in Mill Creek into Seattle which is no big deal at all. I constantly pop into Seattle to go to concerts, meet with friends, etc.
    2.) Parking in Seattle sucks all the time except at night when a lot of spots open up and the pay to park spots on the side of the road become free.
    3.) Day time driving in Seattle is annoying in general. You're better off just getting a parking spot in the general area you need to get to and then walking wherever.
    4.) The suburbs are indeed where it's at if you want something reasonably affordable.
    5.) 3rd Avenue is...an adventure.
    6.) South Seattle around SeaTac is kinda sketchy
    7.) Northgate has a Light Rail stop under construction right now and once it's done I expect rent to jump around there.
    8.) The 520 bridge is a toll bridge, the i90 isn't.


    Stuff to do
    1.) Rumba (near the WSCC, aka PAX West) has excellent food and drinks. So far it's easily my favorite hangout in Seattle and also happens to be the only place I've found that can make a Mai Tai without fucking it up.
    2.) Katsu Burger will ruin burgers for you forever.
    3.) Eat a bag of Dick's. Best paired with a few pints of Unicorn Jizz.
    4.) The EMP Museum has rotating exhibits and is worth keeping an eye on to see what they have in. I just went to their Star Trek exhibit and it was super good.
    5.) If you're into airplanes there are plane museums all over the place here. My personal recommendation is the Flying Heritage Museum in Everett. It's smaller but almost everything there has been restored and still flies.
    6.) If you're into live music there's shit going on all the time. It's almost a little overwhelming trying to keep up with it haha.
    7.) Welcome to the home of PAX Prime West! Come to the yearly events I host there! :D
    8.) If you enjoy swordplay/fencing/etc. then Salle St. George in Northgate is a pretty solid school.
    Feral wrote: »
    *snip*
    This isn't scientific or anything, this is just my impression of the big traffic bottlenecks. Trying to cross either of the bridges over Lake Washington (90 or 520) during rush hour is a shitshow. Trying to push through downtown Seattle (highways 5 or 99) or Bellevue (405) is a mess. If you can keep your commute within one of the quadrants, or commute from a quadrant into one of the axes, you're fine. Try to cross quadrants and you're going to have a bad time.

    My commute is entirely in the northwest quadrant and it's a breeze. I avoid freeways and bridges and I never hit traffic.

    This is definitely the same impression I've gotten regarding traffic zones. The other way I look at it is via the exits, at least regarding my usual route. 180+ is pretty quiet regardless of time of day. 170-180 gets a little clogged up around 175, and anything under 170 is podcast/bring a book territory.

    TOGSolid on
    wWuzwvJ.png
  • chromdomchromdom Who? Where?Registered User regular
    Counterpoint: I lived in South Seattle near Seatac for 2 years, and was completely fine. No fears, no worries, no sketchiness. I think that is dependent neighborhood to neighborhood, so check it out as well as you can and make decisions based on your own judgement.

  • FeralFeral MEMETICHARIZARD interior crocodile alligator ⇔ ǝɹʇɐǝɥʇ ǝᴉʌoɯ ʇǝloɹʌǝɥɔ ɐ ǝʌᴉɹp ᴉRegistered User regular
    Regarding job searching:

    There is a bias in a lot of industries here against out-of-town candidates.

    I recommend getting a local address here either by using a friend's address, or rent a UPS Store mailbox* and put that on your resume. It's not lying as long as you actually receive mail there.

    * UPS stores have actual street addresses, as opposed to PO Boxes.

    every person who doesn't like an acquired taste always seems to think everyone who likes it is faking it. it should be an official fallacy.

    the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
  • FeralFeral MEMETICHARIZARD interior crocodile alligator ⇔ ǝɹʇɐǝɥʇ ǝᴉʌoɯ ʇǝloɹʌǝɥɔ ɐ ǝʌᴉɹp ᴉRegistered User regular
    As for stuff to do...

    Are you a gamer at all? Seattle has excellent game stores, some of which serve food or alcoholic beverages. You can buy or borrow a game and enjoy it in their drinking area with a beer.

    A few standouts include:
    Gamma Ray Games (Capitol Hill)
    Card Kingdom (Ballard)
    Mox Boarding House (Bellevue, same ownership as Card Kingdom)

    There are also several pinball and/or retro-video-game-oriented businesses, including:

    Full Tilt - Ice cream, beer, and pinball
    Unicorn - Pac-Man-era arcade games, pinball, and cocktails
    Shorty's - Dive bar arcade, not safe for people with clown phobia
    Add-A-Ball - Dive bar arcade, not safe for people with a phobia of Patrick Swayze

    every person who doesn't like an acquired taste always seems to think everyone who likes it is faking it. it should be an official fallacy.

    the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
  • Element BrianElement Brian Peanut Butter Shill Registered User regular
    As far as neighborhoods go, anywhere in Seattle proper is going to cost 750-950 for a room in a shared apt/house.

    You can find cheaper south of Seattle, and the light-rail/sounder train/busses make it pretty easy to commute into Seattle if you get a job.

    Honestly I'd focus on finding a job first before you decide where to live. You could end up working in any of those quadrants that Feral pointed out up above, and if you say get a job in Redmond, then you're not gonna enjoy commuting there from Queen Anne or what have you.

    I was able to find a job before moving out here, which made the transition understandably easier.

    That being said, i feel like it's not a difficult time to find a job here right now.

    Switch FC code:SW-2130-4285-0059

    Arch,
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_goGR39m2k
  • StraygatsbyStraygatsby Registered User regular
    You could always come on down to Tacoma! We promise* we don't bite!

  • TOGSolidTOGSolid Drunk sailor Seattle, WashingtonRegistered User regular
    Feral wrote: »
    As for stuff to do...

    Are you a gamer at all? Seattle has excellent game stores, some of which serve food or alcoholic beverages. You can buy or borrow a game and enjoy it in their drinking area with a beer.

    A few standouts include:
    Gamma Ray Games (Capitol Hill)
    Card Kingdom (Ballard)
    Mox Boarding House (Bellevue, same ownership as Card Kingdom)

    There are also several pinball and/or retro-video-game-oriented businesses, including:

    Full Tilt - Ice cream, beer, and pinball
    Unicorn - Pac-Man-era arcade games, pinball, and cocktails
    Shorty's - Dive bar arcade, not safe for people with clown phobia
    Add-A-Ball - Dive bar arcade, not safe for people with a phobia of Patrick Swayze

    Also Uptown Espresso and Gameporium! I play Epic Thursday nights over there :D

    wWuzwvJ.png
  • Moridin889Moridin889 Registered User regular
    Thank you guys for all the tips. Working on finalizing a place in ether Renton or Tacoma right now.

    I'm indeed big on games. Around here there's not really options for stuff like that. PAX definitely entered the equation when choosing where to go.

    Still not looking forward to the 28 hour drive to get there.

  • StraygatsbyStraygatsby Registered User regular
    If you're apartment hunting in Tacoma, I strongly rec you check out the area we call the Stadium District. It's sort of the northeastish corner of the main block of the city. There's a lot of excellent buildings there with walking access to bars/groceries/downtown/etc., and it's one of the most sketch free areas in town, and it's also right next to the I-5 connector, which is a lifesaver if you'll be working either in Seattle or anywhere on the I-5 corridor (which is a BEAST).

  • DehumanizedDehumanized Registered User regular
    things look pretty well covered here but i'd absolutely recommend sometime catching a movie at the cinerama. it's a movie theater owned by a billionaire who had no problem with buying all the best, dumbest shit for it. they have a single screen and rotate out movies pretty regularly, so just pop by their site if something you wanna watch is coming around soon.

  • mcdermottmcdermott Registered User regular
    chromdom wrote: »
    Counterpoint: I lived in South Seattle near Seatac for 2 years, and was completely fine. No fears, no worries, no sketchiness. I think that is dependent neighborhood to neighborhood, so check it out as well as you can and make decisions based on your own judgement.

    I live in Skyway (between SeaTac and Renton) and yeah, the neighborhoods vary a bit. Honestly it's not that bad. I recommend starting with an apartment near the light rail, even if it's further south like Othello or Columbia City. It may seem far, but that train cuts through traffic like a hot knife through butter. We actually pay monthly for a parking space across from a station, worth every penny.

    I've only lived in Cap Hill (for a minute) and down south now so can't offer viewpoints on north Seattle. But that map Feral drew is spot on. If you're driving, make sure your commute doesn't cut through downtown (either city), across the bridge, and if at all possible avoid crossing I-5 as well. But really you should jump on google maps and try to find housing that is a direct bus connection to work once you're settled, at least if work is in the central area. You'll be happier. And it's not that hard most of the time.

  • mcdermottmcdermott Registered User regular
    edited October 2016
    things look pretty well covered here but i'd absolutely recommend sometime catching a movie at the cinerama. it's a movie theater owned by a billionaire who had no problem with buying all the best, dumbest shit for it. they have a single screen and rotate out movies pretty regularly, so just pop by their site if something you wanna watch is coming around soon.

    Not just sometime. Pretty much any time they're playing anything you want to see. Best theater. And assigned seats, so buy tickets early and show up when you please.

    I still remember what it was like when AMC ran it, and thank got Allen rescued it.

    Edit: They do old movies sometimes too, just saw a 70mm presentation of Aliens that was uh-mei-zing.

    mcdermott on
  • Waffles or whateverWaffles or whatever Previously known as, I shit you not, "Waffen" Registered User regular
    edited October 2016
    Holler wrote: »
    Did your series of unfortunate events leave you with good job prospects and savings? Because shit here is super duper expensive and not getting cheaper any time soon.

    My only advice is to combine Craigslist with walkability scores and consider Tacoma or various suburbs instead. Unless you have a really good software job waiting for you, in which case Seattle is your oyster.

    I used to live in Tacoma. (I live in Dupont now) Rent averages between $400 to $2000+ depending where you wanna live. If you choose to live in Tacoma I'd recommend living West of I5. The east area is kinda shady. University Place, Steillacoom, and portions of Lakewood aren't bad areas to live. Additionally, leave early for work if you do choose Tacoma. The dome area is under permanent construction (They've been working on it for 30+ years now) and always gets congested during rush hour. If you choose to live farther south (Dupont/Lacy) expect extremely long commutes. JBLM traffic absolutely massacres I5 from 1530-1900.

    If you have any questions about the surrounding Tacoma area hit me up. I'd be more than happy to help!

    Waffles or whatever on
  • RoyceSraphimRoyceSraphim Registered User regular
    Renton has the 8Bit arcade and the local 907 happy hour which I'm about to go visit. Southcenter mall also has an arcade for your more Asian tastes.

    Really, the thing about Renton is that its got its fair share of bottlenecks but is also a great deal of unincorporated areas. So you might be in Renton, but really, you're in an independant region.

    Gas prices are insanely cheap out here compared to the rest of the city. I've driven all the way back on E rather than put anything in from the city stations.

    Also, anything outside downtown Renton is going to be a beast to bus out of on the weekends. I've lost track of the many people I've had to tell that they could not catch a bus into the highlands after 6 pm on a sunday.

  • Moridin889Moridin889 Registered User regular
    So I made it. Not dead in a ditch. Mountain roads at night aren't the best.

    So when do I get my certification to call it the Best Coast?

    Also if anybody wants to meet-up and see Dr strange or do anything else let me know.

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