im planning to move to washington this summer, but not yet sure where exactly. this is sort of what im generally looking for:
>a place thats unique & not basic cookiecutter crap
>some kind of art or music scene
>access to pretty nature
>not too small
>fun stuff to do & explore
>cool shops
>a place where i might meet interesting people
>just a cool place in general i guess, ya know?
so, any ideas? besides seattle of course haha
Bellingham. Small enough to be cozy but it's not boring. Easy access to Mt Baker and the islands. Cheap bus ride to Seattle or Vancouver. Lots of good restaurants, breweries, bars, music, etc without being pretentious. Only difficult thing might be finding work, depending on what you do.
>>1056278
great to hear positive things about bellingham, its one of the places ive been most strongly considering.
the others are:
(seattle if i could find anything affordable)
port angeles
olympia
bremerton
everett
port townsend
silverdale
anacortes
the ones lower on the list are not really as much what i want, but not completely ruled out.
I'm also thinking of moving to washington. The weather and the proximity to nature is very appealing to me. Is there lots of work there? Im going to be taking a trip there sometime early next year around feb or march. Anyone recommend any cities? Will be there for about a week or two. Just a short trip. Thanks in advance
>>1056300
>>1056287
>Anyone recommend any cities?
well, the ones i listed above are the ones that look the most interesting to me, so maybe you could check some of them out. i havent actually been to any of them though. oh yeah, and i believe spokane is really neat too, i just dont want to live there because i strongly associate it with my ex boyfriend. ouch.
>>1056287
>>1056315
If Seattle is your first choice, go for it. You can find affordable places in the city if you look hard, are willing to have roommates and aren't picky about the neighborhood. You'll have the best chance of finding a job there - the city is growing very fast.
I definitely do not recommend Bremerton, Silverdale or Everett. Just lots of navy/military and meth heads. Sad places overall and not much charm to speak of.
Port Angeles has nothing. Port Townsend is a tiny tourist getaway and it's cute but very far from civilization.
Anacortes and Olympia are both good places. Anacortes is a bit out of the way though. Olympia has tons of hippies but if you like music, beer and hiking it's great.
Just overall I think Bellingham has the best balance out of all of them. But if Seattle is your first choice though then do it.
Spokane is a whole different animal and it's nothing like Western WA. You might as well live in Boise. You'll be far from the water and the mountains aren't as good. You'll probably feel trapped in the middle of nowhere after a while.
Also, people love to trash talk Tacoma but I think in the next few years it will change a lot.
>>1056378
ahh nice to know about bremerton, silverdale and everett being sorta on the crappy side. yeah, im still considering seattle among the others, and i dont exactly have a first choice out of them all yet. olympia and bellingham definitely sound pretty cool. what is anacortes like? and whats tacoma like too? i can never really get any info about it other than "its shit" and that it stinks. lol
>>1056395
Anacortes is a small fishing town on the water. It's somewhat touristy because it where you catch the main ferry link to the San Juan Islands and Sydney, BC. There's a lot of industry in the surrounding area including a major oil refinery. It's just generally kind of quiet but a nice place to raise a family. You'd probably find it boring after a while and it's not exactly easy access to the outside world.
Tacoma has a long history of trying (and failing) to compete with Seattle. It's a more industrial, blue collar place than Seattle and Seattleites likes to rag on it or call it ghetto, even if they've probably never been there. In reality Tacoma today is more like Seattle was in the 90's: cheap, mostly populated by locals... There's just an overall lack of private sector jobs.
There's very frequent public transit buses and trains into Seattle. University of Washington has a growing campus downtown that is bringing more needed energy. There's a huge amount of civic pride and it's much more culturally interesting than other Seattle exurbs like Bellevue. I can see Tacoma being a "Portland-lite" in the next few decades as Seattle and Portland get more and more expensive.
>>1056410
well, the way you put it, it doesnt sound too bad at all. i actually do like more industrial type cities most of the time, and i also sort of prefer more of an urban environment. the thing im worrying about is what people are always saying about how it smells bad, is that true?
>>1056413
It used to. Back when the smelter was operating there was a distinct "Tacoma Aroma" as they called it. That hasn't been true in a long time, the smelter closed several years ago, but bad reputations die hard. Again, it mostly comes from clueless Seattleites who are afraid of going to Tacoma based only on what they hear.
What kind of job do you plan on getting? Where are you moving from?
>>1056414
im moving from kansas city mo, and i want to be an actress eventually. i know, none of these places are ideal for acting, but we dont need to go into all that haha. i need a lot more training, and i should be able to just take some classes and be in some plays for now.
>>1056418
In that case I definitely recommend Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia or Bellingham. All of these places have supportive artist communities and performing arts schools. Most of the action is in Seattle obviously, but at least from Tacoma you can hop on a bus for $3 and be there in less than an hour.
Sounds like you'll be working a service job... Seattle just raised the minimum wage to $15/hr but you might be struggling for a while. Can't believe I could convince someone to move to Tacoma lol, but maybe that's your best option.
Happy to answer any other questions you might have.
>>1056421
huh. minimum wage here is only $7 an hour, so 15 sounds excellent to me haha. what are the downtowns in these places like? is there much to do? im hoping for some place thats pretty walkable with interesting and unique shops etc.
>>1056427
Well you have to take cost of living into consideration. It's hard to find a studio in Seattle these days for any less than $1000/mo and that probably won't be centrally located. A lot of people are moving to Seattle and it's a common topic locally that cost of living is getting out of control.
Bellingham and Olympia have active, walkable downtowns with very few chain stores - mostly independent businesses. Bellingham is bigger and caters to more college students. Lots of bars, breweries, restaurants, and coffee shops in both places. Very easy to get around on foot, bike or bus.
The entire Northwest is generally very hippie compared to what you might be used to, in a genuine old-school kind of way. People are community-minded. Even the smallest town will have a great farmer's market. Breweries are everywhere. Honestly, I think the Northwest is the best place in the U.S. to live but I'm obviously biased. I've lived all over the states and I keep coming back.
>>1056433
yeah.. it will be quite difficult to find a place in seattle that i can afford. what about downtown tacoma? whats it like? im still a little worried about crime from what other people say, but what do you think about that? not as bad as its cracked up to be?
>>1056414
>it mostly comes from clueless Seattleites who are afraid of going to Tacoma based only on what they hear.
This is pretty accurate. I grew up in and around Tacoma, and it's really not that bad. It doesn't smell anymore, and as far as it being "shit" or dangerous, that's mostly just an oversimplification.
Basically, Tacoma is a fairly spread out city and most of it (in terms of area) is lower-middle suburb. That means a lot of the city is just kind of drab and meh. It's not bad, just not nice. Some areas are bad, but not as bad as they have a reputation for being. Some areas are actually pretty decent, and some are actually nice. In general, it's not a bad place, just mostly average, and it does have a distinct feel to it.
But yeah, it has a bad reputation. Which is actually kind of funny sometimes. I've had people from Auburn and Kent look down on me from being from Tacoma, and both those places are gigantic shitholes, even compared to Tacoma.
What cities outside of Seattle would an IT guy find easy work?
Does anyone know about the same for someone in the vet field?
>>1056439
>what about downtown tacoma?
Downtown Tacoma isn't bad at all. Honestly, the only places you really need to avoid would be parts of the east and south sides and Hilltop. The rest of the city is mostly fine. Downtown itself is pretty safe, since it's mostly empty, although UW is trying to change that. There are car break ins sometimes, but I've walked around plenty of times alone at night and been fine. Other neighborhoods (like the Stadium district) that are close to downtown but aren't the hood are better, though.
>>1056421
misleading, it will go up to $13/hr Jan 1st and then go up again to $15 the next year. At least for large companies, it might be delayed another year for smaller ones (can't remember).
