Moving to Seattle, "for a few years"

[anandtechuser07]

I've been in California my entire life (up through grad school and now a few jobs here in Silicon Valley). However, now I've been receiving offers from large computer companies in the Seattle area and am interested in moving there. I have a condo here in the Bay Area that I can rent out.

What are your thoughts on moving up to Seattle for a few years? I think it would be a good life experience. It's like going out-of-state to get a MS degree for two years.

But do you think it will be easy for me to come back to Silicon Valley? Is there any chance I could get "stuck" up in Seattle with no way back?

 

[SpiderWiz]

It's a trap, don't go!!!

 

[Maleficus]

cali sucks, run.

 

[Baked]

No, you won't be able to come back 'cause you'll get arthritis in Seattle and won't be able to move.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: Maleficus
cali sucks, run.

Says some guy from Texas...:roll:

 

[bigrash]

How the hell are we supposed to know if you're gonna get stuck there? Do we know your situation (job, family, etc)? I know some of us here can predict the future, but man, that's like the dumbest question to ask.

 

[jjones]

Seattle is the black hole of the north west.

 

[Dacalo]

wtf mate

 

[Dirigible]

Originally posted by: anandtechuser07
I've been in California my entire life (up through grad school and now a few jobs here in Silicon Valley). However, now I've been receiving offers from large computer companies in the Seattle area and am interested in moving there. I have a condo here in the Bay Area that I can rent out.

What are your thoughts on moving up to Seattle for a few years? I think it would be a good life experience. It's like going out-of-state to get a MS degree for two years.

But do you think it will be easy for me to come back to Silicon Valley? Is there any chance I could get "stuck" up in Seattle with no way back?

Some friends of mine (lifetime Bay Area dudes like me) went to Seattle. All but one couldn't handle the grey and wet and came back after a couple years. One didn't mind it and stayed.

 

[JulesMaximus]

To the OP, of course you can come back...it's a free country.

Personally, I'd do it. I've moved around a bit during my life (originally from upstate NY) and it has always been a good learning experience. Having been exposed to more areas of the country (world even) is always a good thing.

 

[anandtechuser07]

Originally posted by: Dirigible

Some friends of mine (lifetime Bay Area dudes like me) went to Seattle. All but one couldn't handle the grey and wet and came back after a couple years. One didn't mind it and stayed.

That's one thing I'm worried about. I'm used to the 8+ months of sunshine in the Bay Area. I get seasonal depression when it's cloudy for too long.

 

[wwswimming]

Originally posted by: Baked
No, you won't be able to come back 'cause you'll get arthritis in Seattle and won't be able to move.

did the Eagles get it right with Hotel California ?

"you can check out any time you want,
but you can never leave".

 

[Atomic Playboy]

Seattle is like a Sarlacc pit. You go there to learn the new meaning of suffering as you are slowly digested over a period of a thousand years. I highly recommend it.

 

[Capt Caveman]

I moved to Seattle from the Bay Area. I left after six months.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Originally posted by: anandtechuser07
That's one thing I'm worried about. I'm used to the 8+ months of sunshine in the Bay Area. I get seasonal depression when it's cloudy for too long.

Then you can't handle it. Seattle is 9 months of cloudy a year. We have 40 different names for rain.

 

[Farang]

Originally posted by: anandtechuser07

Originally posted by: Dirigible

Some friends of mine (lifetime Bay Area dudes like me) went to Seattle. All but one couldn't handle the grey and wet and came back after a couple years. One didn't mind it and stayed.

That's one thing I'm worried about. I'm used to the 8+ months of sunshine in the Bay Area. I get seasonal depression when it's cloudy for too long.

You will not like Seattle. As a lifelong WA resident, we get at least 8 months of mostly clouds and then if you're lucky you get a good summer. I'm done with it.

 

[BoomerD]

Can you? Yes, but why would you want to?
Depending on where you live, it may be gray and rainy most of the time, and of course, if you move back, Kahleeforneeyan's will laugh at the webs you'll grow between your fingers and toes...

I haven't been to Seattle proper in about 30 years, so I imagine things have changed "slightly." I know Tacoma was almost unrecognizable when I went through there in 2005.

I like Washington. My wife & I are both from Spokane...but other than an occasional visit to friends, won't ever go back. Too cold for me. Seattle's climate, while somewhat warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer, can still get cold as hell in the wintertime, and can even get measurable amounts of that obscene white stuff on the ground.
Kahleeforneeya's been pretty good to us in the 21 years we've been here, but we do NOT live in the Bay, nor would we really want to. (Too dammed crowded!)

 

[buck]

I moved to Seattle after growing up in Cocoa Beach FL. I do not regret it, the spring sucks but the other seasons make up for it. Great surfing a few hours away, great snowboarding 1-2 hours away, and great hiking/camping all over. I don't regret moving here at all. I do wish housing was cheaper, but thats life.

 

[anandtechuser07]

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman
I moved to Seattle from the Bay Area. I left after six months.

Why?

 

[Dr. Detroit]

Yuck! The rain, fog, dark gloom sucks up there.

Seattle has some form of rain, fog, mist, snow 300-days out of the year. The only cool thing is its daylight up there till like 9:30pm in the summer. Summer of course is only about 75-days long though as the rain kinda stops in late June.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons

Originally posted by: anandtechuser07
That's one thing I'm worried about. I'm used to the 8+ months of sunshine in the Bay Area. I get seasonal depression when it's cloudy for too long.

Then you can't handle it. Seattle is 9 months of cloudy a year. We have 40 different names for rain.

Yeah but that's what SoCalers say about the Bay Area. "So much rain." Yeah. My ass. I've only had to drive up to Tahoe once in a storm so far this winter, which means there obviously hasn't been enough storms in the Bay Area.