Can a midwest girl survive and thrive in Seattle?

[cobalt]

We have listed our house and the showings have started!

DH is starting his job search and we are considering Seattle. We want a place where we can bike more than we do now, Green Bay WI area. Austin, TX is attractive for biking but I am not sure that we will deal well with the heat.

So, just what is it like to live and bike in Seattle?? We are used to the cold here but it is very bright and we see the sun all winter. Is it really gray all winter? I know I can solve this with a happy light!

If we lose our nerve the best bike city close by is Madison, WI but winter is long in WI. I have not been on my bike since November. I know I could put a parka on and try but my fingers turn blue when it's below 50. :mad:

Thank you!

[Biciclista]

it is pretty grey here in the winter. But we come to love our (normal) winters here because you can ride all winter. (this winter has been very different, it's been colder than normal and very snowy)

I don't have any trouble with SADD, but many people do. You'll find a lot of TE friends here already waiting for you here in Seattle.

[cobalt]

Thanks Bici, that's really nice to hear!

Do you have a lot of hills or is it flatter? We have flat with some small hills. I am so bad at hills but I suppose that comes with practice.

My daughter and brand new son-in-law just called and while they were looking at Chicago, they are not also looking at Austin, Seattle and San Francisco. We lived in San Jose so I know that I am not going to San Fran. but we might end up on the same coast which would be nice.

[salsabike]

I love it here. I love the weather, including the winters which are typically 40 degrees-ish and grey, with occasional sun. I ride all year round. I find the cool winters invigorating and the non-humid summers a true pleasure. Honest. I couldn't be happier. I grew up in Albany NY so am well acquainted with hot humid summers and frigid 5-month long snowy/icy winters. That's why I'm here.

PS We have LOTS of hills. You'll build the skills.

[Drtgirl]

Hi, I'm a midwest gal (Michigan) and have lived in Seattle for almost 5 years now. Whether you like the pacific northwest or not depends on your personal preferences. Honestly, I can't wait to move out of here. I like warm weather and the *few* weeks we have in the summer is not enough for me.

The riding is much better here than the midwest. Yes, you can ride all year-if you have fenders and raingear! It can be quite hilly in spots but there are also flat rides too. You can also find tons of people to ride with- Seattle is a very bike-friendly town.

PM me if you have any questions.

[cobalt]

I woke to find more help, you are the best, thanks!

I don't like the sun, I hide from it and once it's over 75 I want fall to come. So, that is why Austin is scary to me and Seattle not so scary. Once we zero in on job possibilities I'll have a better idea of where we might be going.

We turned 50 a day apart and just decided that we didn't want to wait til we were 65 to make a move. It's nice to take charge after being moved so many times with my husband's company. We both work full time so I love the idea of taking things down a few notches, smaller house, more biking etc.

I will have lots of questions in the coming months, thanks so much.

[Aggie_Ama]

I have no opinion on PNW because I am still waiting to visit but I overheard a funny conversation between a Wisconsin transplant to Texas and a Texas uproot to Colorado last weekend.

Wisc: I think after 5 years we finally just learned to deal with the heat and appreciate the come winter we wouldn't be shoveling that g-d snow. Plus the spring and fall is not too bad when we finally go into the 80's and my friends left up north can't ride on Christmas day without studded tires but I went out with the kids (his boys are racers).

Colo: I miss it here but not the summers. In Colorado we like the snow the first few weeks we ski then remember the summers are gorgeous and we really live there for the summers because you don't melt.


Oh and on the hills, you just get stronger. I moved from a flatter area when I was in college to here and you just start learning. ;)

[solobiker]

You will have to let me know what you think. DH and I moved away from cold and grey northwestern NY winters to the great state of CO. We have been out here for about 13 years and love it, but we miss the water. When we moved out here our 2nd choice was Washington. I am not sure if I could handle the lack of sun. But being near water again would be great.Good luck.

[Biciclista]

the toughest thing about PNW is how expensive housing is. I know a lot of people who moved here and then returned to the midwest because they couldn't stand the crummy little houses they could afford. (compared to what they could buy at the same price back home)

[tc1]

Positives about living in Seattle
NO INCOME TAX!
Usually very little snow, this winter was an exception.
Hot in the summer is above 80. We usually have a few 90 degree days.
Lots of places to ride.
Very tech savvy.
Very enlightened regarding treatment of animals.
Beautiful scenery, lots of parks.
Long growing season, if you like to garden.
Good beer.

Negatives about living in Seattle
Sales tax on everything, just about
Tim Eyman
The Seattle freeze-out. The average Seattle mien, at least for white people, is one of extreme reserve. (I mean no disrepect to anyone, I am just aware that other cultures differ.) If you want people to talk to you, you will have to initiate the conversation. If you are fine with being outgoing, and receiving the occaisional cold stare, you will thrive. If you need human contact but are shy about it, you will be miserable here.

The Seattle process- somehow we have interpreted democracy to mean everyone gets a vote on everything, and everybody's opinion, no matter how uninformed on technical matters, is equally valuable. It can be a chore to get any big projects done. And Seattleites are loath to admit that they are ignorant of any specific subject.

Weather mild enough to have very long growing season will introduce you to new allergies. Tree pollen starts in Jan or Feb, pollen season lasts until late fall, with lots of plants in between. No ragweed though.

Some huge hills. Lack of bike routes for east-west travel. If you are thinking of a house in a specific location, ask us here.

I hope you guys move out here.

[NbyNW]

Check out the website for Cascade Bicycle Club. They have a lot of organized rides -- different locations & abilities. Also a great resource for general information and bike advocacy.

I keep meaning to try out one of their rides, but have been too busy/sick/anti-social.

A lot of new office buildings have secure bicycle parking for bike commuters.

Recreationally, there are some great trails. You might be able to look up the Seattle City Bike Routes map online. I use it all the time to make up my own rides.

[Biciclista]

I don't think people here are so cold, however, I've heard young women say that guys NEVER ask them on dates here.

[Tuckervill]

I didn't spend very much time in Seattle when I was there, but I didn't find anyone to be particularly unfriendly, no more than anywhere else.

Karen

[ASammy1]

Great thread! BF and I are thinking about making the move to the PNW soon too and this is all great info!

[cobalt]

Great thread is right! Super.

We lived in Connecticut and there is a difference in areas and how people can be. CT was a bit standoffish. WI people can be friendly but they do tend to keep to themselves and their friends from high school. Small towns are hard to move to. I left,went to college, moved 8 times and am back in my hometown and I need to leave!

Where we have lived in case anyone wants info on a place in return:
WI, Campbell (San Jose) (ages ago though), Connecticut, Atlanta suburb (traffic), Holland, England. I did not mind the winters in Holland or England and they were perhaps closer to the PNW than most other places might be.

[Biciclista]

considering how many different walks of life we have in Seattle, including people from dozens of different countries, I find it really tough to swallow that Seattle is not a friendly place. coming here from NYC, you will find us downright smarmy; but if you live in a town of 2000 i'm sure you'll find us a bit chillier, since we don't know your name. Having said that, i've been to plenty of small towns that treated me like I had a scarlet letter on my forehead.

Many people that move to Seattle give up after a year. They can't take our grey dark days, and they really miss "a real" summer. I've seen many people come and go. And some of course, stay.

[ilima]

The thought of a dreary Seattle winter sends shivers down this native Clevelander's spine.

Yes, the summers are glorious in the PNW. But there are plenty of places that have wonderful summers without a sunless, gray winter.

[salsabike]

That's what makes this all interesting. I don't find Seattle winters in the least dreary--I find the weather pretty energizing. And it really isn't "sunless". It's grey often, but sunny days get interspersed in there. I like it a little cool, and I hate humid heat and relentless sun. So it's all pretty idiosyncratic---one person's dreary is another's pleasure.

[dex]

I moved to Seattle from Tennessee *because* of the weather. I like cool, grey, misty/rainy days. And I love sunny days that don't involve ridiculous heat or stifling humidity. Those two things make Seattle pretty much perfect for me, and after being here for almost nine years, now I can't imagine living anywhere else.

I don't think it's that Seattleites are "unfriendly" so much as they are a bit guarded and hard to get to know. It can be difficult to make really good friends here, but not necessarily difficult to make friendly acquaintances.

Also, to be completely fair, Seattle does have a reputation for having a ton of passive-aggressive people. (I'm socially stunted enough that I don't notice this very often, but I hear about it all of the time.)

[GLC1968]

I can't speak to Seattle, but I did just move to Portland from the east coast. For comparision sake, I've lived in the following places: Milwaukee (WI), Boston (MA), Lewiston (ME), Detroit (MI), Poconos (PA), Tampa (FL) and Greensboro (NC).

I was really afraid that the long rainy grey winter was going to do me in. In fact, I had long exchanges with everyone I could find who lived in this area before we moved here to pick their brains. I was worried.

I don't mind the cold and I hate heat. My husband loves heat and hates the cold. Portland was our compromise - not too hot for me in the summer, not too cold for him in the winter (except this year ;)). While I have heard that Seattle is a little more consistantly grey than Portland (I don't know if that's true or not) - it's really not that bad. Today, for example, is about 45 degrees and it is alternating between pouring rain and blazing sun about every 45 minutes or so. Yes, it rains, a lot. But, it's really not always overcast. The sun does shine in the winter. While you can't plan something like painting a house where you'll need a solid week of sun, you certainly can steal and hour of sun here or there. In fact, I was worried how our plants would work in the greenhouse, and they are kicking butt. There is plenty of sun...it's just not constant.

And yeah, the summers are spectacular. Truly mind-blowing. :D

I also have to say that the people here are WAY cooler/nicer/easy going than any other place I've lived. Maybe it's because I fit in with their style, but people here seem 120% less judgemental than other places I've lived.

We've been here a year this week....and we both LOVE it. Love it.

[ilima]

That's what makes this all interesting. I don't find Seattle winters in the least dreary--I find the weather pretty energizing. And it really isn't "sunless". It's grey often, but sunny days get interspersed in there. I like it a little cool, and I hate humid heat and relentless sun. So it's all pretty idiosyncratic---one person's dreary is another's pleasure.


Oh, yeah, definitely. When I lived in Montana I knew a woman from Alaska and she missed the really short days of winter. I thought she was crazy!

[salsabike]

Yeah, funny. During our winters, I don't really mind the grey. But I REALLY mind the short days. Just to entertain ourselves, a few years ago my best friend back in hometown Albany NY and I compared our winter solstice sunrise and sunset times (in deep winter, it's fun to quantify your suffering sometimes). And we found that Seattle's shortest day was over an hour shorter than Albany's, and that we're way farther north than upstate NY. Don't know why I never thought about that before. The upside is that our summer nights are really long--you can still see a little twilight at 10 pm in high summer. Love it.

[sgtiger]

I kept hearing about the thing that Seattlelites tend to be standoffish, but that's not been my experience. I was able to meet and get to know many cool folks there. There's definitely a broad range of the types of people in the area which IMO made it a fun place to be. I have Seattle friends that are very conservative and others who are anything but that. And of course, everything in between. It makes for some very interesting social gatherings.:cool:

As for the weather, for me, the overcast (With no rain:( BTW. I like rain!) days in the winter did seem to drag on. But we lived in a convergence zone so that may have been the difference. Comparing notes over the phone with friends, it always seemed like Downtown Seattle, the area south of it, and the area north of where we were had way fewer cloudy days. Also, the last two winters of the three we spent there were colder than normal from what I heard from long time residents. I do remember that the first winter we spent there was pleasant.

Politically the Pacific Northwest in general is a little weird. It's such a mixed bag of views that sometimes things do take forever to get resolved. A bill may pass one election and get repealed the next. Seattle, in my experience, is probably the worst so I do agree with what tc1 mentioned earlier.

[salsabike]

considering how many different walks of life we have in Seattle, including people from dozens of different countries, I find it really tough to swallow that Seattle is not a friendly place. coming here from NYC, you will find us downright smarmy; but if you live in a town of 2000 i'm sure you'll find us a bit chillier, since we don't know your name. Having said that, i've been to plenty of small towns that treated me like I had a scarlet letter on my forehead.




Actually, many of us transplanted New Yorkers also find Seattleites to be somewhat reserved. I consider New Yorkers to, in general, be friendlier--by my definition of friendly. Polite (Seattle) and friendly are not really the same. However, that said, I have made many good friends here, and I think people everywhere are friendly. They're just more reserved about it here in their approach. It's more of a style than substance difference, I think.

[papaver]

Seattle sounds like Belgium. Not too hot, not too cold... and sadly not too sunny either. http://www.cheesebuerger.de/images/midi/traurig/a080.gif

People get really depressed by the end of winter. And sometimes we don't even have a summer. But the advantage is, when it gets beautiful the people are really upbeat and happy...

[sundial]

As a former Texan, I'm gonna throw this out in light of the current state of affairs.

Texas has it's own power grid. They also refine oil. Some of the top medical researchers come from Texas. They can secede from the nation. They believe in gun rights. This is something you might want to keep in mind in determining where you will move to.

[cobalt]

We are thinking of going to Austin in July and renting bikes just to see what it's like at the hottest. Seems like a good plan.

We have 2 frequent flyers to try Seattle. Not sure when. Exciting stuff!

Thanks

:D

[Aggie_Ama]

I think you eventually acclimate to the heat but remember we have sun 300 days a year. It was 85 in February, we have no winter and some northerners find this unbearable. August is actually more miserable than July some years.

[sundial]

August is actually more miserable than July some years.

August is the hottest month for us. Last year we had the dangerous heat (heat index of 120 F) in the first part of August. :p

[Biciclista]

Seattle average high temps and average rain

Month Avg High Temp Avg Rain (inches)
January ------46------- 6
February -----50------- 4
March-------- 53------- 4
April------- -- 58 ------- 2
May --------- 65 ------- 2
June --------- 69 ------- 1
July---------- 75 ----- 1
August ------ 74 ------ 1
September --- 69 ------ 2
October ----- 60 ------- 3
November---- 52 ----- -- 5
December ---- 47--------- 6

[Aggie_Ama]

There are actually two places they measure and pull records- Mabry (base) or Austin Bergstrom (former base now airport). Mabry is smack in town and can be warmer at times because of that. If you melt above 80 and don't like sun I would really question considering Austin at all and how likely you are to adapt to these things you stated you do not like. The grey of Seattle would likely give me SADD, I am used to lots and lots of sunshine and heat. That pretty much sums up 9-10 months of life in Texas. It was 85 and granted after being 45 last week it felt hot but 85 is actually pretty mild.

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/ewx/html/cli/ausnorm.htm for the chart without the weird * it put in when I copied it. :)

Mabry
Month* High* Low* Rec High Rec Low* Avg Rainfall*
*Driest* Wettest
January* 60.3* 40.0* 90* -2* 1.89* 0* 9.21*
February* 65.1* 44.0* 99* -1* 1.99* 0* 9.41
March* 72.5* 50.9* 98* 18* 2.14* 0* 7.23
April* 78.9* 57.6* 99* 30* 2.51* Trace* 19.82*
May* 84.8* 65.4* 104 40 5.03* Trace* 14.10*
June* 90.9* 71.1* 108* 51 3.81* 0* 14.96*
July* 95.0* 73.4* 109* 57 1.97* 0* 12.8
August* 95.6* 73.3* 110* 58* 2.31* 0* 10.88*
Sept* 90.1* 68.8* 112 41* 2.91* 0* 20.78*
October* 81.4* 59.8* 100 30* 3.97* 0* 12.63
November*70.1* 49.3* 91* 20* 2.68* 0* 10
December*62.3* 41.9* 90* 4* 2.44* 0* 16.14

[sundial]

I lived 75 miles west of Houston and oh the humidity--:p :p
I swore to never live in that area again because of the heat and humidity. Funny thing is it didn't change a whole lot when we moved to Arkansas. :rolleyes:

Natchidochez is very scenic and beautiful and I could see us living there--if I had to. ;) Austin is very progressive. :cool:

For whatever strange reason, a lot of German settlers came to Texas. And Czechs too. Still can't figure that one out. New Braunsfels--a must for summer recreation. :D

[tulip]

Galveston was the biggest port of entry for new arrivals for many years. Bigger than Ellis Island, I think, at least for a time. So lots of Europeans came to the US by way of Galveston.

I loved Austin when I lived there in the early 90s. I would have like to have stayed, but alas, I did not. I really like the heat, though.