I moved here a few months ago. Now that I'm telecommuting I can live anywhere, and I decided it was time to reconnect with my West Coast roots. However, I'm new to Seattle, and here's what I've found so far:
Things I enjoy:
- Fewer people. You can actually get a table at Barnes & Noble! The rents are lower, there's room on the sidewalk, and you feel like you can breathe.
- Nature. Even while driving the freeways, your view is of water and trees.
- Summer weather. I don't think I've had such a long stretch of sunny, dry days in the 60's and 70's since growing up in Southern California.
- Food. Great seafood, great produce, and if you ever get a chance, try something called a marionberry pie...
- Good music. Haven't seen any great live bands yet, but even the radio stations are head and shoulders above what I've heard in other towns.
- Relaxed fashion. People are very dressed down. I feel right at home in jeans and sweaters.
- Eco-friendliness, &
- Social justice. After living in Peru for a year, it's nice to live in a place that is conscious of eating local, buying & selling used stuff, and supporting causes around the world.
- Great walkable neighborhoods. Fremont, Wallingford, Capitol Hill, Greenwood... there's an endless list of little neighborhoods that feel like the Village or Cobble Hill.
- Proximity to Vancouver, Portland, and California.
- Seattle Public Library. Tons of people use it, and it's got everything, so you literally almost never have to buy a book again.
Things I don't:
- The weather during the rest of the year. I got a taste in March and April, and it was pretty demoralizing to be cold and wet all the time.
- The homogeneity. Seattle ain't New York.
- Traffic. Seattle has very few main arteries, and they are full of bottlenecks.
- Public transit. Again, Seattle ain't New York.
- Distance from everywhere but the West Coast.
- Lack of directness. There is an odd awkwardness to social interactions here; people are friendly, but afraid to disagree with each other. For this New Yorker, this is a real shame; you learn so much more about people and life when everyone feels free to disagree and still be friends.
