What are pros and cons of living in Seattle vs. SF Bay Area?

[larig]

Hmmm, that's interesting. I'm pretty widely traveled and I wouldn't say that Seattle has a small town feel AT ALL. I do agree, though, that there is a neighborhood feel. It has always felt to me like a large urban center with many distinct neighborhoods.

I've also never heard it called a fleece stereotype, but have heard of the GoreTex uniform (ie., its pretty hard to not own a GoreTex raincoat here).

LOL. Yes, when it snows, Seattle shuts down (as does Vancouver). Strangely, in most winters they get more snow than Vancouer even though we're farther north -- just the differences in where the mountains are I guess.

You nailed it with the large urban center--that's exactly what I meant. Chicago is like this to me too. We can walk to everything in our neighborhood, school, grocery, food, beach, parks, library, shopping...

And the GoreTex...after my first couple of weeks in the rain with a plasticky raincoat I knew I needed something that breathed!

The shutting down with it snowed was new to me after living in Chicago. What Obama said when he was first in office was right, that city is tough it never shuts down because of a little snow. (that said, hills are terrifying when it snows.) Since I've lived here we've only had one major work stopping snow that I can recall and that was last xmas. (2008) ugh.

[kijip]

Good news is that we fish a lot here!

Seattle is not very diverse in that we have not only a larger Caucasian population that the bay area, but that there is little social integration across races. Just 1 woman's opinion, but I have lived here most of my life in many different areas. It feels a lot different diversity wise IMO than when I have studied or travelled to other, larger, cities.

Seattle has 1 school district. If you are working in Seattle, you may very well want to live in Seattle for commute reasons. The elementary schools (public) that are most highly regarded are spread out- neighborhoods with some of the "better" schools are: Laurelhurst, Queen Anne, Capitol Hill, Magnolia, Wedgwood, Ballard, parts of West Seattle and Wallingford. We are in NE Seattle and my son goes to a great school in that general area. If I could live anywhere in the city, I would live in the Central District area near Capitol Hill, but as young first time home buyers we had to look further afield. We plan to move to the CD at some point in the future. Suburbs that are nearby with good schools are: Shoreline, Kirkland/Redmond, Mercer Island, Bellevue, Issaquah and Sammamish.

Many people I know live very, very well here at a variety of income points. I am not sure what your estimate of upper middle class would be but I would hazard to guess that houses are way cheaper here now than the Bay Area. Like the bay area though, a $500K+ house in Seattle is way more modest and small than in some place like Atlanta. Rents for nice family homes are in the $1800-2800 range in the nicer neighborhoods, higher if you want a very large place or are looking for something fairly upscale and lower if you are looking in a more modest neighborhood. $1200-1600 is possible. Less than $1200 and it would be an apartment or very small.

One thing to bear in mind: I don't own any fleece. And it does not rain HARD here all that often. Seriously, it mists and sprinkles a good chunk of the year but most people find they don't even need an umbrella. That raining cats and dogs image in the movies is overblown. That happens less here than in many other parts of the country. Just in case that was a big worry.

Seattle has amazing parks, a vast array of social services and arts/culture organizations, easy access to a lot of great food.

I have heard that Seattle is a hard place to move to in that people are not mean here (no one is going to ask you who you are looking at on a bus!) but are widely considered to be non-committal and stand-offish with new social interactions. I don't have that issue, but I can see how it would be true and I have heard it too often to ignore it. OTH, there are a lot of transplants here because of industry and the desirable living conditions. So there will always be someone to be new with here.

Final note, Seattle is considered to have one the worst transportation planning systems and it shows. Our crappy transit and road planning is even in the Economist (they said we were the worst in the world, I dunno). We have limited transit options besides busses and we can have bad traffic issues. There are places and times I just don't plan on going with a car, but I think that is true in most major metro areas. Living close to work makes it WAY easier.

[citymama]

Hey I'm an SFer and love my fleece! True, I do not fit in with my hipster, much-tattooed neighbors but don't try and take it away from me!

[connor_mommy]

If you're planning to move to Seattle, look at living on Mercer Island. The schools are really good and it's off of I-90 and a short distance to I-5 and 405. Yes, treffic can be a nightmare sometimes.

I grew up in Seattle and moved to the Bay Area in 2001. I currently reside in Mountain View. There are great parks up in there just like in this area. The weather is colder in the winter months with rain, but it's not as bad as people make it out to be. The summers are beautiful. In fact, I Seattle had a warmer summer than the Bay Area did this past year. There is a definite distinction between the seasons in Seattle. That was one of the things I missed most when I first moved. But I have since gotten accustomed to the warmer climate and prefer it that way. There's a lot of outdoor stuff to do at both locations.

I prefer the food scene in the Bay Area more. There's just more to chose from. For good Chinese food, you'd have to definetely head up to Vancouver.

I actually own more fleece now than I did when I lived in Seattle. I think of Seattle as more North Face. I never really used an umbrella in Seattle because it wasn't hard rain. And I only recently got a rain jacket and hat because of the storms that we've been having down here.

Houses are less in Seattle, but in certain areas. Some areas are almost comparable to the Bay Area. It just depends on the location.

Good luck!

[kijip]

If you're planning to move to Seattle, look at living on Mercer Island. The schools are really good and it's off of I-90 and a short distance to I-5 and 405. Yes, treffic can be a nightmare sometimes.

If diversity is a consideration for the OP, Mercer Island is not the best place to be. It's a nice place but it's one of a least diverse pockets in King County. Also houses under 2000 sf (OP said 1500-2000) in Mercer Island are getting to be pretty rare, it's a very wealthy locale now. A friend of mine just upgraded her house on MI- from 3500 sf to 5000 sf with an elevator.

[MMMommy]

I think it would be hard to move from the Peninsula Bay Area and NOT miss it! We live in San Mateo County, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Family friendly, nice weather....

[Globetrotter]

When i was thinking of places to move (I do this from time to time) Seattle was on my short list, but oh the weather... don't know if I could handle it. you do get spoiled living here, but if you can get over the weather factor, you have lots of options!! The COL should be considerably better than San Mateo, though I do realize it's increased a lot in the past several years.

[squimp]

Thank you for your feedback, ladies! Please keep it coming. So far I see the following pros and cons of living in Seattle, not necessary in comparison to the SF Bay Area:

Pros
Culturally diverse (but not as diverse as SF)
Good options for food, going out (but not as good as SF)

Cons
Weather
Traffic
Smaller town feel (we are in a small city already so not sure if it's really a negative)

I would agree with this list. It seems much more rainy in Seattle. Public transport is much worse than the SF/Oakland/SH area and traffic has gotten awful. I lived in Seattle from 87-94, and COL was definitely lower than SF at that time. My bro lives there now, and it is much bigger now. The tech boom busted and seems like (from friends) housing prices are down a bit since the late 90s.

One of the benefits of the Seattle area is the proximity to beautiful beautiful nature. The Cascades, the Olympic Peninsula, the San Juans. SF is nice but IMO the wilderness experience is so much more fantastic in Seattle. Some folks could care less about that, so be it. My job though as a adopted Northwesterner is to tell you that it rains too much and you don't want to live here.

[BelleoftheBallFlagstaff]

I think it would be hard to move from the Peninsula Bay Area and NOT miss it! We live in San Mateo County, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Family friendly, nice weather....

I don't miss it at all. I am much happier where I am, but I know most people love it there.

DH and I think Portland, OR is a great place.Although we aren't sure if we would move from Flagstaff, AZ.

[kozachka]

One of the benefits of the Seattle area is the proximity to beautiful beautiful nature. The Cascades, the Olympic Peninsula, the San Juans. SF is nice but IMO the wilderness experience is so much more fantastic in Seattle. Some folks could care less about that, so be it. My job though as a adopted Northwesterner is to tell you that it rains too much and you don't want to live here.

I am one of those people who could care less about the wilderness experience, I just appreciate the fresh air. And I am not scared of the rainy weather, at least I don't think I am. I am originally and most recently from Ukraine where it is gray and cold 5 months a year. I lived in the capital (over 3M pp) since graduating from HS and really like it when I can walk to all my favorite place. I've lived a total of about 5 years in CA, both in the Bay Area and in San Diego, and do like sunny weather, but it's not like it's the only thing I've ever known.