I'm considering a career change. I'm currently a calibration technician with the MS Army National Guard (federal Civil Service). I've put in a couple of applications with the FAA to be an air traffic controller. The locations are Seattle, Sea-Tac, or Auburn. I'm also considering putting in a app for a different FAA job that is located in Renton.

I've looked on various websites about the stats and demographics of the areas, but I'd like some first-hand perspective of what it's like to live in this area. Some things I'd like to know:

- cost of living/housing market in general
- recreational activities - my wife and I are not outdoorsy types, so fishing/hunting is not our bag. She likes cultural type stuff (art, theater, and such), I love to downhill ski and, of course, I dig a good car enthusiast scene.
- attitude of the people in general - friendly, snobbish, open-minded, etc.
- traffic
- does it really stay cloudy most of the time? I find that to be kind of depressing.
- any unusual growth or decline of the population, businesses, etc.

Any other tidbits of info you could pass on to me would be great.

Thanks!

 

I live in far east Renton, and have lived in Kent too (which is in between auburn and renton). Decent amount of stuff to do, cost of living is slightly lower there than in other places of Seattle. I think Drivesolo lives in Renton proper, if he sees this. Most people are pretty open minded.

As far as the clouds -- well, if you don't like the weather now, wait a few hours, it'll change.

Honestly, I've lived in a lot of other places from east coast to west coast, and this is by far my favorite location yet. You've got coastal, mountainous, desert, small roads, big roads... you name it.

 

Yep, I live in Renton. I've lived here for almost 11 years. It's been through a lot of changes in the time that I've been here. My wife and I really like where we live in Renton. Like all cities, there are the good parts and the bad parts, I think today Renton has more good parts than bad, which was the other way around about 10 years ago. We maybe looking for a new place in the near future and if my job doesn't take me North to Everett; we will be looking to live in the Renton area.

 

Seattle
1) cost of living can be very high (property values). It just depends on where you want to live.
2) Rec stuff is ok. Sounds like you like skiing, you'll find some here when its in season.
3) Attitude ranges A LOT. I live in Bellevue, full of rich snobs. Other areas not so much.
4) Traffic = Hell
5) Summers are the best in the country, fall and winter can be depressing.
6) Population is getting higher and higher.

 

Eff you. Don't hate because you're poor.

...

I kid, I kid. He speaks the truth. another thing I've noticed is that for the most part, everybody is friendly, but nobody really wants to be friends. Which blows.

 

^^ This is true, Iv'e tried my *** off to make new friends and I still hang with the same guys from the last decade or 2 but thats ok with me

I'll be your friend sd LOL

Also some nice spots to live up in Everett area, the cost of living is less, If you think 500k for a 20 year old house is a lot of money try Seattle where it can shoot up to 1 mill or more for a 2 bedroom house.

Renton is nice, I lived there for about 3 years and my only complaint was the traffic getting to downtow Seattle, but sounds live you may be able to pick a location ahead of time so you may be the opposite direction of the heavy flow.

We have had some great summers here lately but last winter almost got on my last nerve. I am from California where it is always sunny and lived in Florida for a few years and the endless summer got old for me.

Great music and art scene here, tons of hairy armpitted hippies and tree huggers( I apologize in advance if anyone reading this is one LOL) lots of Hemp

Some great places to see and eat, go out, sports teams are meh... but fun none the less, and HIN and lots of car shows year round.

 

<3 You're so good to me. I don't even deserve you.


But, as far as Bellevue is concerned, I dig it here. It's a bit pricey ($1,305 / mo is my rent right now, about two blocks from downtown) but I'm in the market for a house now anyway. Other than that, cost of living really isn't much different than where I moved from (Detroit). Basic staples of life are the same, gas is pretty in line w/ the rest of the country, as is the cost of a beer in any major city, movie tickets, etc.

And, yeah, summer can't be beat.

 

I don't know much about Tacoma, but downtown Seattle and Renton are as others have said...some areas are really nice, others are a bit skecthy - it'll really depend on what neighborhood you choose.

Traffic: try to avoid any commute between Renton and Bellevue (I-405)...I sit in this traffic everyday!

PPL: they're much nicer than Cali (where I moved from a year ago)...but the drivers here are clueless - you'll need lots of patience!

Growth: Boeing in particular (and all supporting aero industries) has been hiring for the past few years...their newest plane, the 787 dreamliner, rolls out this Sunday (7-8-07), so lots of new jobs were required.

Weather: last summer was perfect..this past winter had lots of snow in the lower areas. It's usually partially overcast even on the days that it's not rainy. In general, it seems like Seattle doesn't get crazy amounts of rain, but the rain that it does get is spread out over EVERY day...

 

^ first350 brings up a good point that I must emphasize as well.

THE DRIVERS HERE ARE THE WORST IN THE NATION!!!

'cept for VQ drivers... they got their **** together.

 

Uh, yeah, I've seen the WORST driving of my entire life since moving here. Merging on the highway usually happens around 25-30, top speed is somewhere around 5-10 below the speed limit at all times.

Some of my most irritating experiences:

I had a guy in a porsche look at me IN THE EYES, and then proceed to try and merge into me. I should have just let him hit me.

I had a guy in a pickup truck at a stop light back up. He was not in the intersection. He was not in the cross walk. He just decided to back up. Almost hit me.

I watched a guy stopped at a red light in the left hand turn lane turn right, with his left blinker on, ACROSS THREE LANES OF MOVING TRAFFIC.

Also very common here is the lack of use of the directional. If you're merging, turn on your blinker, and I'll let you in. If you don't, I assume you're going to go park on the shoulder. This happened two days ago. Ask and ye shall receive.

Rage.

</end rant>

 

Rawr. I am a Lion!

 

From what you guys are describing regarding the apparent skill level of the drivers, I should have no problem. Mississippi is home of the country's worst drivers, bar-none. I've lived in MO, FL (twice), MI, VA, been to NorCal for a few weeks, and of course MS. Try to wrap your head around this: MS is one of the least populous states in the US, yet we have the HIGHEST per capita highway traffic fatality rate in the US. Seems weird considering that there aren't very many cars on the road to start with.

The volume of traffic here is nowhere near what you guys experience, but you have a better chance of DYING while your on the road in MS than anywhere else.

 

Except your chance of having me murder you while you're on the road in WA is significantly higher here.

 

LOL... I think every state claims to have the worst drivers. I've gotta say that I think Oregon has some of the most courteous drivers around though.

I can't contribute much else than to reiterate the general consensus here:

Eastside commutes suck. (Eastside = the east side of lake washington. keep up with me here, it gets tricky) That's your Renton to Bellevue commute which I did for a year, and it sucked. Learn backroads. Basically, if you're on I-405 in the morning, give yourself plenty of extra time.

Aside from the typical metro environment crazy hobos and crackheads living in seattle (see my post with ppl getting busted in the alley), the city taxes will eat you alive and the cost of living is a bit steep too. Not as steep as Bellevue or Issaquah, but they're up there. Good areas to live right now are towns like Kenmore, Bothell, Kirkland, Edmonds, etc.

As far as the weather goes... well, we're stereotyped for a very good reason... lol

 

cost of living- high
cost of housing- very high
recreation- lots of outdoors stuff
traffic- terrible
climate- cloudy/rainy
demographics- lots of growth
attitude- generally pretty nice

 

Vancouver, BC drivers are by far the worst....

 

I lived all over, If I was going to put my 2 cents in, I would have to say that KY actually has teh best drivers (and nicest cops around) lived there for 1.5 years. Got clocked doing 136 in a 65, while racing. Cop let me walk from that one, also, people always get over into the slow lane. Cops tell you to "keep it within 15 of the limit". I live in Kirkland, and I love it. Always going away from traffic with my commute.

 

Cost of housing is only "high". California (SF bay area and LA) and Manhattan are "very high".

(Of course, everything will seem pretty damn expensive, coming from MS.)

I moved from the bay area to get (much!) cheaper housing... we ended up with a nice 4 bedroom house for the price of a 1 bedroom condo in a bad neighborhood in the bay area. ($430k)

The big joke is people move here from California and say "this is great, the houses are cheap and traffic isn't bad"... people from everywhere else say "this sucks, houses are expensive and the traffic is terrible."

But, as others have said, figure out where you're going to work and base your city/neighborhood search on that. I telecommute so it didn't matter for me, but I'd hate to have to commute from Bothell to downtown Seattle, etc (at least during normal commute times).

 

It's not as bad as you'd think dude! I work at 3rd and Union, and it's 45 minutes in the morning, 20 in the evening. Even less when I ride, 'cause of the carpool exits in the express lanes.




Still wouldn't mind telecommuting..

 

I've done the 45+ minutes each way in traffic before... I prefer the 2 seconds across the hallway. Sometimes there's a dog in the way and I have to pet him, which doubles my commute to 4 seconds.