I was recently offered a job in the Bellevue / Seattle area, and have been seriously considering it. I'm originally from Phoenix, AZ and currently live in Denver, CO. I've never been anywhere north of Colorado so any info would help, like:

- Cool places to live around bars, night life, etc. I'm 24.
- Is it really THAT rainy?
- How is the scene? Are there many nearby road courses or drag strips?

 

Bellevue is a nice area but pretty pricey to live at.

Rain alters every year, but it can rain a lot, as well as not rain much at all.

Car scene up here is pretty big and there are plenty of events. Seems to me though that most track events are for drifting.

You can always drive down to Portland for some PIR action.

 

^ Right on. Are there any nice areas within 20min of Bellevue? I looked at a couple places on the internet in Bellevue, seems like a cool place.

 

Bellevue is a super bland and expensive place to live. I say bland, but it's really rich and nice. If you want to see exotic cars in this area, Bellevue is the place to be. it has that big city look but then the roads aren't terribly congested and there aren't a lot of people walking around .. it's strange to me, hard to put into words. seems like there should be more going on.

there are a ton of great places to live close to Bellevue though. I would stay away from Seattle if you could, living wise. it's not pleasant, it's crowded and the traffic is horrid and the streets are odd, and you don't get a lot for your money. there's always construction going on that f's with my commute. : P

if you are working in Bellevue, I would personally want to live in an area like Kirkland.

you might need some time to get acclimated. there are a lot of cloudy days and there is a good amount of rain. the upside is the temps are very tolerable and there is just a hint of snow each year. you're close enough to the mountains for some real snow, close enough to beaches .. I love the pacific northwest.

 

Entaille and Duckeee have yo pretty well covered already but I'll give you my 2 cents as well.

I'm a transplant as well (originally from northern CA), and the change wasn't too hard to handle, but my first year, 2009, was a very sunny summer. The past two years have been pretty grey, but definitely not unbearable by any means.

Kirkland is a good/fun town and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend living there. Bellevue, to me, is pretty lame. Everyone seems very pretentious and trying to keep up with the Jones'. There is, however, a lot of retail and restaurants there and even quite a bit of nightlife, but not nearly as much as in Seattle itself.

Living in the city of Seattle isn't bad, but the commute is ridiculous. I personally like the Fremont and Ballard areas but then you getting away from downtown and also just added another 15-20 minutes in traffic.

Another spot you could consider is on Mercer Island. It's halfway between Bellevue and Seattle crossing the 90 bridge. While there isn't too much going on directly on the island, you'd still be in a good spot to get to the city or the eastside.

 

yeah i cant give much insight on where to live as i live down in vancouver WA/portland area now.

I did however enjoy living in renton / renton highlands / kent though. every city north of seattle I have no insight of.

typically the newer houses / neighborhood is where you'd want to be at imho.

there are quite a handful of neighborhoods in Seattle where i do not feel very comfortable with.

 

^ Awesome replies. Thanks for that.

I'll definitely look into Kirkland. My office would be in Bellevue but I would need to periodically travel to Tacoma, somewhere around Chambers Bay and University Place. So I guess that could be an option as well.

 

kirkland is real nice my buddy lives there and theres a great down town area there about 10 bars within walking distance food carts and such were out there pretty much every friday night , also seattle's night life is ok theres a few clubs and bars but there kinda spread out. as far as tracks theres pacific raceways that has a ton of open night 1/4 miles aswell as some season bracket racing for that. they also have a grandprix track there that they open for drifting and open lap days. (thats aboout 25-30 mins from bellevue. also monroe speed way (30-45 mins from bellevue) has alot of open drift and pro am and FD events there. Car scene is pretty big around here theres a few boosted gs and 350s around. (me and my friend that live in kirkland just finished his 02 z06 did a cam and full rebuild and new prc heads and such in my garage with the fast manifold and bigger injectors and throttle body and such) pretty big domestic scene where i live (puyallup, its about 40 mins south of bellevue) lot of corvettes and mustangs nice ones at that saleens and gt 500's calloway vettes and z06's and such all fairly nicely modded that have a big meet on friday nights and a cruise on saturdays when waether permits and theyre pretty open to imports i use to cruise around with them before my build started back in march and ive been carless XD.

but if your looking for a night life and a more laid back area to live id definitely look into kirkland! lmk if you come up we can hit some **** up

 

This pretty much sums it up.
Since you're from Phoenix, prepare yourself for Washington weather.
Whatever you heard about our weather is probably true and then more some.
We're known for having rain 300 days a year.
The weather's just generally bipolar.

The PNW is overall a beautiful place to live in.
It just might seem depressing coming from Phoenix or Socal.

 

id say theres nothing else quite like it up there.. me being in phx now. man.. i love flying into seatac.. just a beautiful place.. i think even moreso than denver by a long shot.

Being from alaska, ill tell you its not the cold that sucks, its the dark.. they get similar things there in WA, just not dark. its still gloom.. theres little blue from the sky, and when the cones in yuor eyes pick up blues, it wakes you up and vis versa.. so it affects your seratonin. .. truly.. its called SAD... you will be affected by it.. its pretty weird. excercise alot and take yer vitamins. SOunds weird but its a way of life in AK.

Joo weel bee fyne mang
DO it, take another step.. live somewhere new.. youre just gona die anyways.. have fun! Im jealous too btw.
From what i recall, youll hate owning a manual vehicle there.. some crazy @ss steep streets my man.

 

steep streets only in seattle everywhere else is fine

 

First statement is 100% true.
As I mentioned earlier, if you're from a sunny place, the gloomy weather really will take it's toll on you.

As for the steep streets. That's Seattle hands down.
I would NEVER bring my Z there. Or any other manual.

 

seattles not all that bad to drive in.

my cars pretty dumped as well.

dont turn OP away! we need to persuade not evade.

 

The streets aren't bad in the city. I take my Z downtown quite often and never have an issue. The only thing I hate is the brick intersection at 1st and Pike. That ish is bumpy as hell.

 

only tourists and homeless people on 1st and Pike

Renton would be ideal for you if you would travel to Tacoma occasionally, easy access to bellevue without having to cross a bridge (I-90 or 520 which will be tolled come December)

Kirkland is super nice or Redmond very very close to Bellevue. Don't let the guys saying its too expensive to live in these places, the house and condo market here is in the sh!tter and there are plenty of places to grab now that were high 700's or more going for 400k or if you are apartment dweller or condo person, tons of stuff on the Eastside(Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland) to be had for 200k on up depending on size/taste/close to work downtown factor. So many options you have to come out and look for yourself though but there is also a HUGE car scene, I'd say its mostly Suby rally type scene and drift. You have several full tracks within 30-50 miles depending on where you live dragstrips, drift, circle track Dirt Fish etc..

Weather has its ups and downs, this is the place to be in the summer time, never gets too hot, twice in the last 10 years has the temp been over 100 for like 3 - 4 days but this summer was the best! mid 70's and sun for weeks straight no rain, my lawn is turning brown to prove it

 

I had to laugh at that comment considering you live in Everett.

 

Hey OP, in all seriousness, live as CLOSE to where you work as you possibly can. If you can live in an area where you don't have to travel on freeways to get to work, even better. Don't even consider living across the lake from where you're working, or you'll be in traffic hell for the next 10 years, especially since they're going to begin tolling the I-520 bridge in December and it'll close altogether in a few more years while they build the new one.

I live and work in Seattle and my commute (on a bad day) is 15 minutes. Absolutely f-ing fantastic. When I lived in Kirkland, there'd be days where my commute to Seattle would be almost 2 hours each way, especially in the fall and winter when it rained.

I grew up in Kirkland (and overseas - I was a brat). Kirkland's not a bad place, but they're not laid back and things to do as a single, 24-year old, are a bit limited. The Kirkland cops are the worst in the entire metropolitan area, as far as I'm concerned. Bellevue is a bit of a bore unless you're into hanging with yuppies and paying $100 to go bowling. Either way, cities on the Eastside have fewer bums and less crime, but you'll miss out on the nightlife and the entertainment options Seattle has (sports, concerts, clubs, non-chain restaurants).

If you're going to work in Bellevue, I recommend you live in Bellevue or Kirkland. You can avoid the freeways and interstates that way. The furthest I'd go out would be Kennydale or Newcastle. You also might consider Redmond and just take Bel-Red Road or Bellevue Way to Lake Washington Blvd. to work every day. It's a nice drive and you avoid the freeway. Be warned though, traffic through Redmond can be a monster during regular commute times.

 

What Eric said.

 

I figure you might know where some cool places to hang out are since you are one of those younger type guys ha ha!

 

Everett isn't bad to live in, like a lot of cities in this state it has it's good and bad areas. North everett is absolutely terrible in 90% of it. I grew up here and my family/friends are here. I will be moving a little closer to Seattle when my lease is up (thinking around Shoreline at the moment), just to shorten the commute a little bit to Seattle, but screw living in Seattle imo. mostly everything is old construction and you totally have to overpay for the location, and there is absolutely nothing convenient about living in an overpopulated city. I prefer smaller cities for the convenience of travel and free parking/proximity to shops and food, and cost of living.

When I said the roads were bad to drive on, I didn't mean they are bumpy are tough for lowered cars, I meant the traffic sucks and the constant construction keeps most routes congested. it's no fun going from Everett to Seattle in 20-25 minutes then 20-25 minutes to go the final few blocks to my work building.