Living and Riding in the Seattle, WA area

[Pappy]

I'm orginally from NYC, moved to Central CT in 1990, Cincinnati, OH in 2005, and now may be getting a job @ Boeing. What's it like living and riding there? From what I can tell the temps seem to favor a bike that's a nut warmer like mine and it looks like there's great rding potential in the nearby area. How about schools? General cost of living? Can you lane split? Is Starbuck's really availble in IV form at every street corner???

Pappy

 

[03HiYoSilver]

Pappy,

Here is a link on Seattle's general information...it ain't cheap. Lane splitting to the best of my knowledge is only allowed in California.

https://www.cityofseattle.net/oir/datasheet/quality.htm

 

[escapefjrtist]

Pappy, I've just been transferred from the east side of the state to the "wet" side. As long as you can stand the constant gray and drizzle you can ride almost year around. Temperatures are very moderate in the winter. Traffic and congestion is what you'll expect in a large metro area. Cost of living is less than California, but housing in certain areas be very expensive, certainly more than Ohio. From Everett you have many choices on where to live. Go a little north or east and house prices are "gulp" are little more reasonable. Good luck on the interview.

--G

PS, no lane sharing...yet.

 

[2WheelTiger]

Pappy,

I moved to Seattle from Dallas just shy of two years ago. Some observations.

1) It's harder to get to know people in Seattle than anywhere I've lived in the world. Seattle folks are pleasant and social, but it's hard to get beyond "let's do lunch" (which never happens). Southerners, and even NYC/CT folks are MUCH more likely to invite you over for a beer than Seattlites. It's just part of the culture here. Essentially, don't expect to form an immediate sense of community. It eventually happens, but it takes effort.

2) The Seattle area is beautiful. Green ALL THE TIME. Snowfall last year (in the city) was only 4 or 5 days, which was pretty severe from what I heard. Most of the time, even in deep winter, the temps at our house near Lake Washington only get down to about 28F for the morning low. Summer highs aren't as bad as The City or CT. Probably 90% of the houses here don't have central air.

3) Drivers are ten times more polite in Seattle than anyplace I've ever driven. In general, they understand that motorcycles exist and they pay attention to us (and the crazy bicyclists and brain-dead pedestrians). You'll be frustrated behind the wheel here for a while until you learn that everyone seems to take a valium and smoke a doobie before they get in their cars..... it's just so "calm and gentle" here.

4) Vancouver, Canada. 'Nuff said.

5) Way better than central CT.

6) Housing prices are similar to central CT AFAIK.

7) Taxes are lower, methinks.

8) Arch-liberal, Birkenstock wearing Greenies everywhere. Doesn't bother me, but it bothers some folk.

9) Dress code in the area is..... grunge. Last time I saw a guy in a suit was at a funeral, and he worked for the funeral home.

10) The house next door to me will be for sale soon. Probably only $550K. 1958 or 1959 construction in need of updates.

 

[evil_henchman]

Cost of living is less than California

NOT! You gotta get way out of Seattle to get into anything "reasonable".

 

[2WheelTiger]

Depends on your interpretation of reasonable. Looked at real estate in SF, Silicon Valley, LA, OC, SD in the last century?

I can tell you what I looked at two years ago. How about 700 square feet in SF for $850K on the second floor of a corner building? How about a 700 sq ft 3rd floor walkup in SD for $650K. I'd have to go WAY out of my way to find RE prices like that in Seattle.

BTW - I bought my 1900 square foot house here in Seattle NE for $415k. It appraises for sale at about $525. That works out to around $100K in equity in less than 2 years. Compare that to my "reasonable" house outside Dallas that only increased $40K in seven years.

The ROI here is good, and the market hasn't slid like some of the overpriced stuff in the CA market. Reasonable is relative.

 

[evil_henchman]

Depends on your interpretation of reasonable. Looked at real estate in SF, Silicon Valley, LA, OC, SD in the last century?

Well yeah I have and like most people you think California consists of only, SF, Silicon Valley, LA, OC, and SD. Again, NOT! There's plenty of houses in my and most other areas for less than $300K. But then Pappy doesn't want to listen to a pissing match over California real estate. His questions been pretty much answered. Looks like prices are north of $500K in Seattle.

About double what they're running here.....in California.....

 

[dabayliner]

If you like riding in any kind of weather you will do okay here. I ride year round (except below 36) and just like everywhere else there are good things (Starbucks or others on every corner, varied scenery, skill testing twistings) and not so good things ( hmmmm I know there are some.....)..

You'll find there are many of us to ride with here.... Welcome

 

[Jetmaker737]

Good luck with the interview. From my forum name you can pretty much guess where I work B)

Cost of living here is expensive as folks have said. Commuting by bike is good from about March-October (but you must tolerate rain). Outside of that it's generally too dark and rainy in the mornings and/or evenings to be really safe, especially with all the traffic we have around here. You can't split lanes here. Schools vary widely so do your research before selecting where to live. There is lots of good riding but you have to travel a bit to get there and to get away from traffic (depending on where you live). The area is contrained east and west due to mountains and sound. Therefore you can't go many miles either way in those directions and all the roads in those directions are generally packed with traffic until you get over the mountains or to the west side of puget sound. Heading north or south can be good once you can get off the slab. There are lots of places to ride to: Mt St. Helens, Mt. Rainier, olymipc Mtns, Cascade Mtns, islands, pacific coast, grand coolee dam, columbia gorge, vancouver, portland, etc. etc.

 

[Niehart]

Pappy, 10 min from my home in Woodinville, I'm driving country roads. 30 min, mountain roads. I ride all year with only heated grips [well heated grips if I ever stop long enough to install them].

 

[Pappy]

Thanks for the input everyone. Great reading. Valium, doobies, Birks, and Liberals. Sounds like I've found my home away from home!

 

[snowmonkey]

Thanks for the input everyone. Great reading. Valium, doobies, Birks, and Liberals. Sounds like I've found my home away from home!

No! it rains in Seattle from Jan 1st thru Dec 31st, the interstate and most surface streets are in grindlock for 24 hours, housing is unaffordable, there are heroin junkies on every corner and crack houses in every neighborhood..., so please move to Tacoma.

 

[Pappy]

I'll be bringing along all my Greenpeace-supporting, ACLU-lov'in, caffien-addicted tree-hugger buddies and buying a house in Everett. Thanks for the encouragement Snowy!

 

[snowmonkey]

I'll be bringing along all my Greenpeace-supporting, ACLU-lov'in, caffien-addicted tree-hugger buddies and buying a house in Everett. Thanks for the encouragement Snowy!

Doh!..., well I guess if you must move to EverWETT we can give you the big welcome at Old Strokers on Hewitt Ave. Riders meet up every friday at 7:00PM. We even have a few members from the Lazy B. Happy trails Pappy.

 

[TruWrecks]

Have Pappy. I live in Everett 5 minutes from Boeing. Good location. Close to good schools, shopping, and freeway access. Did I mention I'll be selling my house within the next 2 months? Market here currently asks for low to mid $300k for 1860 sq ft split-level in this area.

Cheers.