Alright, I've been guilty of not posting for the longest time, but have lurked around since the dawn of time.

Anyways...
Graduation is approaching next year, and I currently live in the Los Angeles area.  Might have a job offer in Seattle, rather than Los Angeles.  Now this may be my chance to leave this God-forsaken state called Kalifornia.

So can anyone give me a general run-down?  How's the rent? Food? Living expenses?  Places to shoot?  Ease of obtaining a CCW? (I've read about it on packing.org, and wanted to some first-hand experience regarding the matter).

Thanks, and Merry Christmas...

Us Washingtonians are soooooooo cool.

I have a lady friend who lives in Washington (near Tacoma I do believe) because her husband is stationed there. She hates it from what I gather. It's cold there [BD]

Where are you graduating from?
Where will you be working?
Do you like the sun?
Rent is expensive in Seattle.
Food is expensive in Seattle.
Living expenses are expensive in Seattle.
There are plenty of places to go shooting.
CCW is easy to obtain once you are a Washington State resident and have nothing bad in your past history.

I used to be cool, when I lived in Washington. Now I am just considered average  [:(]

Aviator

I live in Washington and I be cool [8D]

Don't move here.  Terrible.  Too much cold and rain.  No sunshine or warmth.  Don't do it.

Rain...

No class 3, but better than CA...

Rain...

Horrible traffic, miserable economy, terrible politicians. Volcanoes, earthquakes, and riots.

Run, far, fast.

Please.

Oh yeah, it rains all the time. ALL THE TIME. The only time you see the sun is on the teevee.

Rain. 9 months out of the year. Rain. More rain. It rains a LOT.

Beautiful natural amenities, scenery all that. 9 months out of the year, you'll be enjoying those amenities in the rain.

In my opinion, Seattle can be fully seen and appreciated in about a week. After that is becomes fairly routine.

Obviously gun laws are MUCH better than in CA....but then again, that's the case in just about any other state.

After living all around the country, I'll tell you this. The quality of the women in WA is weak. LA is plastic/liberal-land...which is worth running from....but trust me when I tell you that the female population will appear like an all female cast of "Oz" in comparrison to LA. Absolutely true.

Traffic is brutal. I have been in bumper to bumper traffic on I-5 on a saturday morning at 10:30am.

The up-side? Great snowboarding/skiing if you like that stuff (I do.) Beautiful country...mountains (you can see Rainer from downtown Seattle)...the San Juan Islands are great in the off season. The busy season being the 3 months out of the year when it's not raining. Easy to get the hell out of the city in to peace and quiet (once you get out of the traffic.)

The only place I've ever lived that regularly features stories on the news as to how to combat S.A.D. (Seasonal Affective Disorder)...AKA-depression caused by shitty weather.

Seattle, in my opinion, gets a lot of undeserved hype, or used to. It never struck me as a place I'd ever want to call home.

Yup, it's absolutely terrible here. Don't move in here. In fact, you should organize a rescue mission to save some or all of your fellow Californian expatriates and return them to their native land. And keep telling everyone that it really rains 9 months a year here and we're way overhyped. Do it for the children.

They have bad beef.

It's always gray, always sort of raining.  You would hate it.  No one should move here.

That cow was just depressed from all the rain.....

Hmph...
Will be working in consulting, financial risk management.

Wanted to find a place where I could "start anew", as well as finding like-minded people...but it sorta scaring me now.

Some of the people from school come from the Seattle/Bellevue area, and they all sound like a bunch of typical sandal-wearing/dope-smoking hippies. *Sigh*.

The thing that initially attracted me was the area in general.  Rainier, Olympic National Park, etc.  I'm a big-time backpacker aspiring rock-climber/amateur technical-climbing type of person.  I'm a big fan of rain, but listening to all you guys, maybe not THAT much of a fan.  I have to admit, the Southern California weather is hard to beat.  But I guess you can't have everything.

Also, I have no obligations as far as family and such, so I'm able to move around.  Nothing has to be permanent as of yet.

Anywhere else in the Pacific Northwest?

Maybe I should ask, is it tolerable? For how long?  Any ways to get around or mitigate some of the problems?

And they have a bad cow.  How else can I get f***** today!  [rolleyes]

Thanks for the help everyone, it is much appreciated!

Come on up....I'll buy you a Beer!

I live on an island.
The traffic jams last from 1630 to 1730. That means you might have to wait for two traffic light cycles to get into town.
LOL!

I think some of these people would bitch if you [b]gave[/b] them cold ice cream.

We have [b]SHALL ISSUE[/b] CCW. You apply + good guy = 30 days you have a permit. It does rain but not every damn day. Our summers have been beautiful  for the 6 years I have been here. Nature? More than a lifetimes worth! Lots of gun shops. Good paying jobs. Real Estate is a little high, but in SOCAL you know that tune.

Seattle is overloaded with left wing commie pinkos, but drive an hour in any direction and you are in Gods country. Active WA Shooters/ARFCOM contingent with frequesnt [s]drunken orgies[/s] get-togethers. Decent gunshows. As for traffic, if you are stupid enough to use the highways during drive times, you deserve to sit.

Dont listen to the pessimists, come on up and see it for yourself. I needed a change, and this was the place. Been to all 50 states, driven around in every major metro area in the US (EXCEPT Miami). I like Seattle, fuck the scrooges.

And BTW, if its so damn bad, why arent any of you guys leaving/ where else is better?

Move here, jump in traffic, get used to it. Been here for over 50 years and look at me!

M-4:

I agree with everything you've posted about Seattle, and about your comment regarding the women, could you please elaborate more?  There is something wrong / not right /puzzling with women in Seattle / Washington, but I could never pinpoint what that is.  If you could tell me what is so weak about women in Seattle / Washington in general, you would do me a great favor!  I've been trying to find a wife, but to be honest with you, something about Seattle women, well, worries me.

SoCalGunner:

PEOPLE IN SEATTLE ARE EXTREMELY "CLICKISH" TO THE INFINITE DEGREE!!!!!!  I remember when I was in Chicago, after 30 minutes in the bar, I was drinkin' with the whole town.  Here, I can drink by myself for the whole night and nobody would realize that I exist (not a bad thing, actualy, since I like to "daydream" listening to the JukeBox when I'm drunk).  Those who start a conversation with me in Seattle's bar always come from out of state (Midwest and East Coast, mostly).  I don't know how you do "business" in California, but if you like to socialize in Seattle, better find your own "click".  You know what I mean?

Shoot me an e-mail when you arrive in Seattle, we'll chat up girls all night and I'll make sure that you'll have plenty of booze in your system!

Washington sucks, I hate this damn state so much.

Shit, maggot sounds like he is in the starting stages of S.A.D. (Seasonal Affective Disorder).
I recomend a trip to West Seattle for him.
Phil says a couple hours in the bath houses and he feels like a new man....

Man, I just got back from downtown Seattle.  Had to drive down there to boot a server (Blue screen, damnit!! First time ever (2+ years). Might be bad RAM.. son of a... damnit... )  Pretty deserted this time of night.  By the way, we have snow out here in Duvall.  Just came down today. It'll be gone tomorrow though.  I moved here from Montana, and I won't be going back any time soon [:)].

I was stationed at McChord AFB(Tacoma) for a few years. I actually like it. I didn't mess around in Tacoma or Seattle very much. I was either at the coast or in the mountains. That is what is nice about the area. 2hr drive west and your at the ocean and rain forests(on the peninsula by port angeles), 2hr drive east and your skying up along side a valcano with glaciers. I'm back in flatlander country(So.Dak.) and can't stand it. When I get back on active duty i'm either heading to Alaska or WA.
Seattle isn't anything too special. Plenty of nice places to eat. Boardwalk is nice, but touristy. Portland is a ~4hr? drive south. It only snowed any readible amount once in 4 years. We got 1/2" of snow and the base shut down. If you like trees, skiing(awesome double diamonds), and the coastline you'll like WA. Sure it rains alot. I got used to it and after a year didn't even care(mostly drizzle, not trenchial(sp)).

I mostly liked the mountains up by Ranier. Thousands of acres to shoot on and off road. Alot of it is State Park though. I just read you liked climbing/Hiking. WA is rated the best in a recent Backpacker because of Ranier and the peninsula(olympic). If you really like climbing/hiking there is NO better place in the CONUS. Best part is you could join one of the SAR teams, had a bud that did that.

Puallyup(sp) has a great gun show and a great car swap meet. But if your into cars, Portland has a huge swap meet once a year that cannot be missed. Vancouver is nice, has it's meat markets(clubs) like Seattles DV8, but it's still canada.

Traffic sucks. I-5 south of seattle was labeled the buisiest interstate in the US when I was their. But at 8 lanes I never had a problem getting were I need to go on time. When it rains(lol), people like to drive faster too. Foods great. What ever you want you can get. Lots of Sea food obviously. Rent is about average. I didn't live off base but my bud did and he managed quit well to get have a nice place as a lowly airman. Living expenses are high, IN seattle. But just about everyone that I knew commutes.

Take a trip up their once and see the sights.

On a side note:
I've been to LA, compton, pasadena, hollywood, and all the other major cities along I-5... thought is sucked.

Having just returned from Washington from duty there for duty here:

Assault weapons are permitted.
It rains a lot.
CCW is simple and easy once you've been a resident for 90 days.
It rains a lot.
The western side of the state is covered with trees and is very beautiful.
It rains a lot.
Their drivers are much more casual.
It rains a lot.
Seattle itself is very liberal
It rains a lot.
There are plenty of forests, waterfalls, and hikes to go on.
It rains a lot.
Because of all the trees it's hard to find a place to shoot past 80 yards outside a regulated range.
It rains a lot.
You can't have class III weapons but can have a suppressor - but can't use it.
It rains a lot.
The people are a bunch nicer as a whole, just don't let them know you're from California.
It rains a lot.
It does snow a bit too and the mountain passes get closed to all but 4x4's, all but chains, and finally all.
It rains a lot.

edited to add:

The womens up there, no offence meant, aren't the quality you'll find down here. Seems the the rain and the cold cause them to grow some. I like smaller women and brought my own up with me but the single guys in the command were always complaining about the corn-feed women up there. The guys tend to have lots of facial hair too. It might be because it rains a lot.

The only place in the US where the women even come close to Southern California is Texas - and they're only close. Must be the climate here affecting the breeding conditions or something.

They have traffic but it's not like our LA traffic. The rents are high but not like some of the worse LA areas. If you're willing to commute a bit you'll find a place cheaper than the ones along Lake Washington or near downtown. My 3 bedroom, 1200 sq/ft with two car garage was $1250 up in Everett. The same size here would be $1600.

It rains, all the time. And, the women are fat.

There are many, many better places to live.
[size=1][white]f'ing foreigners[/white][/size=1]

But it's a light rain.

Now don't you and CavVet go letting subtle sarcasm escape the two of you.

Seattle and Washington are way nicer than Idaho. You should seriously consider moving to Washington instead of Idaho. You wouldn't like Idaho as much as you would like Seattle. Heck you would probably enjoy living just about anywhere other than Idaho!

Shieeeesh.

Now I'm getting scared of moving to WA.  Seems like the overwhelming opinion here is a no-go.

Alright, I guess I can say it this way:

I NEED backpacking areas, I live for that, within a 4 hour drive or so is fine.

Weather is tolerable, I'm pretty oblivious to things.  

Most of all, need a JOB.  

I guess the biggest thing here is that they will assist with relocation, and its a job setup and good to go.  Job market is sorta crappy at the moment.

Sectors I'd look for include finance/financial services, business strategy consulting, logistics, real estate, etc.

Had my heart set on somewhere in Pacific Northwest, but eeehhgh.[banghead]

It's working....he's scared of us now...should we tell him about Patti Murray and Jim McDermott yet?

Best backpacking/hillclimbing/rock climbing  you'll ever find, but don't forget to bring a Goretex jacket.

As a life long resident I like it here. Sure it rains but didn't we have over 70 days without any this past summer? Yes the traffic sucks but you find ways to deal with it. In what other big city can you drive an hour of two and be doing just about any outdoor recreation you can think of.

Well boys, I'll be moving up there in 10 years or so.  Was gonna buy a property there this year in preparation for my early retirement by the time I turn 45 (and a place to park my Rover to avoid the stoopid CA trippled reg fees) but decided on another investment property in CA instead.
It won't be near Seattle, but $125K for a 30 acre, 3 bed 3 bath, it won't have much appreciation but I can shoot on my own property.  If it rains too much I'll just come back to LA for a while [:)]

Do you know why its so windy down here in Oregon??  Cuz Washington SUCKS!!!
 In all honesty Seattle area is WAY too busy for me.  I live in Portland and it is getting bad also.  The surrounding areas of Seattle are beautiful.  Get far enough out and you might be able to enjoy life.

Ok, as far as hiking goes, you'd be in paradise...if hiking in the rain most of the year doesn't bother you. I don't mind hiking in the rain, occasionally...given my choice though, I'd rather do most of my hiking in better weather. Kinda like Death Valley. I like hiking in hot, desert environments, just not most of the time (though I bet the women of the Death Valley area are far better looking than the dyke-chic that prevails in the Seattle area.) The natural areas around Seattle are fantastic. Lots of forests, mountains, trails and the like to explore. Beautiful coastal hikes and the Ho Rainforest in the NW corner of the state, near Forks is absolutely beautiful.

Understand that all the folks from the NW on this board who are denouncing the area they live in, are simply playing the "never encourage a Californian in moving to the NW" game. It's a fun little practice they like to play, kidding themselves in to thinking that they're doing their part in protecting their little chunk of paradise from the ills that they see and hate down where you're coming from. Human pollution prevention. Didn't someone mention how clicky the area is? Well it comes in many flavors, and you're seeing a bit right here.

Bottom line as far as I'm concerned:

Traffic sucks. Side roads or not, traffic sucks.

Weather sucks. Though the nice days are remarkably beautiful....even if they are a vast minority.

Natural areas...hiking and all that, fantastic.

Shooting freedom...very high. Lots of places out in the woods it's perfectly legal to bring a rifle to and shoot all day.

Seattle...over rated, very clicky and not particularly friendly. It's a clean, small city with decent shopping, some great food and almost no crime compared to LA. For me, living in an urban environment and the hassles associated with that need to come many perks or its not worth it. Entertainment of various types. Seattle gets boring really fast.

Like baseball? Safeco field is absolutely beautiful....maybe the nicest ball park I've ever been to. Though I'm not a huge baseball fan.

If you do move there...I suggest you live as close to where you're going to work as possible. Didn't get the job in Seattle...but got one across the lake in Bellevue? Better live near bellevue or you're going to spend a very uncomfortable amount of time in your car getting to and from. Research the area if you insist on living there. Live on the same side of I-5 that you work on to save yourself a lot of driving aggrivation.

Don't get me wrong, I've lived in Northern CA, OR and WA. I LOVE the Pacific NW beyond words. To me, there is no better place on the planet to live than Southern Oregon. The only reason I don't still live there is that there are no serious jobs. It's pretty amazing the differences between OR and WA. The people in OR seem far nicer, the weather in Southern Oregon is MUCH better....and you get 4 beautiful seasons. But the job thing is a huge limiting factor.

Feel free to IM me if you have any questions...be happy to help.

P.S.- Flights from Seattle to Alaska are very reasonable, and if you like to fish, you can NOT miss fishing in Alaska. I've fished all over the world, and the salmon and halibut fishing in AK is absolutely amazing. World class fishing in every respect. Silver and king season is the best by the way.

Yes, do listen to someone who lives as far away from Washington as one can get in the continental US. We are very clickish and eveything about here sucks. Stay away. Far away.

Maybe you didn't get the picture, but I used to live there, but don't now. Does that make my opinion less valid? Didn't think so.

Never said everything about it sucks...just gave my personal opinion. Try not to get too hysterical Boomer...it'll be ok. Just one guys opinion. How incredibly thin skinned some people are. Seattle good.....ok....Seattle/WA perfect! Feel better? Atta boy.

Like I said, listen to the guy who voted with his feet. Stay away. Far away.

Leave it to Boomer to turn a friendly opinion thread into a pissing match. First you try and troll me above...



The you troll M4....


Lighten up, its the holiday season. You can come back and troll everyone everywhere after the first of the year. I think you have shown what kind of person you [b]really[/b] are...

[url=http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=130&t=216791&page=1] Owned[/url]

LOL, leave it to CavVet to show up with that chip on his shoulder and continue to take everything out of context or bring up his tired old "challenge" again. By the way, how's that thread going again? Everyone still laughing at you? [rofl2]

I'll be hearing from the place soon, and they'll be flying me up there for a week or so to take a look at the place.

Thanks for the continued input, everyone.  Guess all places have their pros and cons.  But living in L.A. most of my life, I don't think it could get much worse.  Weather aside, everything else plain sucks around here.

Any places in particular I should take a look at to get a "feel" for the area, both good and bad?

Seriously, other being too crowded now, this place is fantastic. It's just that we'd rather keep it the secret it was 15 years ago before we started topping all those "Best Places To Live" surveys and the tech boom of the 90s. I couldn't imagine living anywhere other than the greater PNW. Seattle proper kinda sucks because of the population density and the liberal politics, but it's still a fun town to visit. The rain isn't even anywhere near as bad as most folks, especially those who live on the other side of the country, tend to make it out to be (and I work outdoors). This area is probably just of those things one has to try out to see whether they like it or not.

I don't mean to hijack a thread or anything but since SoCalGunner has received a lot of info here I would like to ask about the city of Issaquah which is close to Seattle.  I am interested in going to work for a company there and have never seen the town. A bit of info would help me in my decision also.

Anyone got comments regarding weather and housing cost in Issaquah?  Is it about the same as Seattle?

Issaquah is spelled different than Seattle...

[img]http://mq-mapgend.websys.aol.com/mqmapgend?MQMapGenRequest=FDR2dmwjDE%3byt29%26FDJnci4Jkqj%2cMMCJ%3aHOEvq%3bwtsl6b%3a%29ualua25%26%40%24%3a%26%40%24s%26wzx%26a8x%26ESEKGF%3dTPWIK%2crada7x%26%3d2l16bnq%40%24%3a%26%40%24%3a%26a2%3a[/img]

Current Seattle weather:
41°F
Cloudy Feels Like
37°F
UV Index: 0 Minimal
Dew Point: 34°F
Humidity: 76%
Visibility: Unlimited  
Pressure: 30.16 inches and rising
Wind: From the Southwest at 6 mph

Current Issaquah weather:
41°F
Cloudy Feels Like
41°F
UV Index: 0 Minimal
Dew Point: 34°F
Humidity: 76%
Visibility: Unlimited  
Pressure: 30.16 inches and steady
Wind: calm  

Traffic conditions near Seattle:
[img]http://images.wsdot.wa.gov/nwflow/cctv123.jpg[/img]

Traffic conditions near Issaquah:
[img]http://images.wsdot.wa.gov/nwflow/cctv947.jpg[/img]

The citizens of Issaquah hold their noses up higher than Seattlites do...

I have a friend who has lived in Seattle compare it to a supersized version of Santa Cruz, CA. If I was a young, single guy that would scare me away in itself (the women in Santa Cruz are a little nutty).

Best thing is to take a temp job up there for a few months and if you like it, what the hell.

Or spend a week in Santa Cruz. [:D]

Sorry to edit your quote a little, there, Paul.  Just to save space.  How long ago did you live in Everett?  Here in West Seattle, a one bedroom apartment in a decent neighborhood can cost $800 / month (no garage, nothing, just an apartment).  A friend of mine who lives on downton's 5th avenue pays over $1000 for his one bedroom apartment.

People in Seattle are not particularly friendly.  Like I said, they are clickish, self centered, and have VERY thin skinned.  THey also tend to have very narrow view.

I don't think the women are fat here.  YEs, some of them are fat, but the majority are about the right size to me.  Not skinny, not fat, just right.  There is something wrong about them, tho.  I am not quite sure what.

C'mon up.
Find a place somewhere in the 'AREA' and enjoy life.
We can use all the RIGHT THINKING people we can get around here.
Hope you get the job.  That's #1.
You can find a place easy enough.
Good Luck!