My husband and I relocated to Seattle from Salt Lake City Utah last summer. My husband received a job offer and we moved within a space of about three weeks. Needless to say, it was quick. Once we realized we were moving, I tried to do some research on Seattle, what living here is like, etc. Of course I found many articles and blogs talking about the rain, the traffic, but now that we've been here for six plus months I feel like no one prepared me for what I'd really find. So before more time passes and I forget just how foreign these things were, I wanted to write these down.
Seattle housing is expensive and very hard to find
When looking at the cost of living calculator, Seattle seemed to be only marginally more expensive than Salt Lake- and the salary my husband was being offered seemed to be adjusted appropriately for the difference. As we were making plans to move, we decided we would just pack all our bags and drive up and stay in a hotel or with friends for a few days until we could find something. We, I, expected this to take a few days. At most. And be no problem.
My husband makes decent money. We both have great credit. We are also pretty frugal meaning we wouldn't even consider living in a place we didn't feel like we could afford; which is always less money than whatever equations are used by landlords to determine what we can afford. In Salt Lake, we could have walked up to almost any rental property and decided if we wanted it or not and it would be done. We probably even were in a strong enough position we could demand lower rents for such outstanding credit. That was not our experience here. I started going through ads and making phone calls. The number of "Sorry, it's already been rented" were unbelievable. Fully half, maybe even two thirds of the calls I made had that response. And these were ads that had only been up a few days. We went to look at one house for rent, and there was already a dozen people there filling out an application, racing to finish first so they would be considered first.
This isn't even taking in to account how expensive it is. From our condo in Salt Lake to our apartment here, we are paying twice as much and getting half the square footage.
Bottom line- be prepared to pay- out the nose for housing.
The Seattle Freeze
This was another phenomenon that really took me by surprise. And to be fair, I had read about it before we moved here, but no one used the term "Seattle Freeze". In short, people here are so unbelievably nice. I mean, over the top nice. I had a man offer to buy my groceries the other day when he thought I had left my wallet at home. But, just because they are nice, does not mean they are friendly.
My son and I walk through the UW Arboretum pretty regularly. And I feel like people are actually warmer there than anywhere else. A few times I've had a women who was clearly out for a jog slow down and chat with me about raising kids and things to do in the area. And then there is this moment where they suddenly break off the conversation, put the earbuds back in and speed off. Its like this invisible force hanging over our heads that will require them to extend further friendship if they don't hightail it out of there and I mean now!
I was surprised at how isolated and alone I felt. I'm a pretty outgoing and friendly person. Which, ironically enough, actually makes it harder. Seriously. Apparently the biggest turn off for people is someone that is eager to be friends. I was also surprised by people who aren't even from Seattle who have adopted the Seattle Freeze attitude. I feel like the effort I made to make friends was more than I've ever had to make before. And I lived in Eastern Europe for two years.
Bottom line- Be prepared to get involved. The only way I've found to actually make friends has been involvement in various circles: play groups with the kids, church, co-workers, any groups that revolve around a hobby or special interest.
How few hours of daylight there are in the winter
Speaking of the "weather", everyone talks about the rain. Yes, it rains a lot. We moved from Salt Lake City. Almost anywhere we moved in the country gets more rain that there. So maybe it was just about managed expectation, the rain really hasn't bothered us. And to be honest, it really doesn't even rain that much. There's only been a couple days where it rained hard enough to stop us from going on a walk.
But what no one does talk about is how few hours of sun there are in the winter. In December the sun sets just after freaking four pm! FOUR IN THE AFTERNOON! The nights feel like they stretch on forever! I can't believe no one is talking about this! It's so depressing!
Having moved here in July, we didn't get the full Seattle in the summer experience. But the time we did have was very nice. And you have to keep in mind, for as long as it is dark in the winter, it is light in the summer. So I guess that is the compromise.
Bottom line- Most of all, I think just knowing about this is sufficient. But altering your schedule so you can get a walk in during the day and enjoy some sun when its out is absolutely necessary as much as possible.
Everyone is thin and beautiful
My husband and I are very very average American- meaning we are over weight. While we personally know we need to eat better and adopt a more active life style, it never seemed that we were much different from people around us. Until we moved here. Now granted, this is a sweeping generalization, but if you just sit and watch people passing you on the street you will find the proportion of people are not overweight and definitely more attractive.
At first this was rather motivating. We had grand plans to eat well and exercise. Now we have a new plan. Try and drag everyone else to our level. Maybe pour pure butter into the water supply? That will pack on the pounds!
Bottom line- Now might be the time to hit that treadmill, before you relocate to Seattle.
Just how fanatical everyone is about sports
My husband and I are not sports people. We weren't raised in sport-centric homes. Our dads didn't orient their lives around watching the game. I don't know that either one of us has ever sat down and watched a single professional game of any sport that exists- this includes the super bowl. So when we moved up here, we were completely unprepared for the world that revolves around sports up here. Everyone watches the game. Everyone. Everyone follows the Seahawks.
Is now the time to admit that we didn't even know the Seahawks had won the super bowl the year before? I kept seeing flags with "12" on them everywhere and had no clue what it was about. I got that it had something to do with the Seahawks, I assumed "12" was the star player or something. But it was everywhere. I started to feel a little weird about it. I mean, great that the whole city can rally behind one guy, but what about the other poor players? Don't they deserve a little support? I finally had to look it up on Wikipedia to learn about the 12th man. I was a little embarrassed when I learned what this was.
Bottom line- If you are not a sports person and moving to Seattle. Take a little time doing some research on the professional teams here, their stadiums, their history, their current record, etc. Trust me, it will come up.
The conclusion
In general another aspect of this experience that I was not prepared for is just how different Seattle is culturally. I suppose I thought of Seattle as the same as Salt Lake- just in a different place with a lot more water. I could not have been more wrong. It was like moving to a different country. The language and the currency is the same. But thats just about it. Colin Woodard write a book that explains how the US is really more defined by 11 nations. You can get a good summary of it here. And I wish I would have read this book before moving. Anyone moving to a different part of the country should.
I'm super grateful that we have moved. It has opened our world in a way we never could have experienced if we had stayed in the same state. Not to mention, Washington IS a beautiful state. And I love having water around us every where we go. But next time we move, I'm going to take a little more time to prepare myself for the place we are moving to.
