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I've lived here for three years now, and I like it. I moved here from new england, fwiw.
The good things: <ul type="square"> The summers can be amazing. The first summer I was here was pretty close to perfect - very little rain, the temperature was about a constant 78 or so, and it doesn't get dark until about 10:30pm
If you go one city north or south, there are lots of places to play pinochle, up to about $10-$20. The rake is generally $3+$1 which seems to be about as good as you can find. If you drive for a bit there are also a couple tribal casinos with higher limits.
Most people here are transplants, so you'll meet lots of people from lots of different places.
There are lots of asian people here, and not just clustered in chinatown. This means lots of good food (awesome sushi) and lots of hot asian chicks to look at.
For the most part, its an extremely tolerant city. Probably one of the few places where its not strange at all to see two men walking together holding hands.
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The bad: <ul type="square"> The winters can be really depressing. The tradeoff for the long summer days is really short winter ones. Especially when its overcast, its often pretty dark by 4:30pm. If you work a 9-5, you may not see the sun at all during the week (since its dark when you go to work, dark when you come home). The rain doesn't tend to be a hard rain (although it can be) but more of a constant drizzle. It doesn't get nearly as cold as new england (and virtually no snow) but it can get cold enough to be really unpleasant, especially when its wet out as well.
The general personality type here is passive-agressive. Strangers won't be mean to your face (like in NY) but they aren't very warm either (as I've heard is more common in the south). Lots of fake smiles and people pretending they don't hear you.
Food here is almost universally over-priced (at least in the more popular parts of town). There is lots of good food, but its generally not worth what people charge (true for sandwhiches up through gourmet meals). There are very few greasy spoon type places where you can get simple cheap food. Everybody wants to charge you $9 for a burger or $8 for an omlette, so they do something fancy to it (like serve your burger on panini or some bullshit) to make it seem worth it.
Propery costs are outrageous. I think I heard that the median home price in king county (where seattle is) is like $350k. Considering that houses in seattle are going to be much more expensive than in the outlying towns, you can imagine how bad it is. I actually this might be in part to blame for the lack of cheap food.
Traffic just blows. If you commute in or out of the city it just sucks, especially if your work hours aren't flexible enough to schedule around rush hour.
Its an oddly segregated city when it comes to black people (reminds me of boston).[/list]
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I appreciate your candor on the matter. Certainly gives me things to think about.
I'm not worried about the pros...those all sound great...well, okay...I'm neutral about the tolerance thing, but I guess I'll take tolerance over intolerance. /images/graemlins/grin.gif
I can definitely hack the winter thing...I've had my fill of 80-degree Christmases in shorts and a T-shirt.
I'm not so worried about the people, because there are good and bad people anywhere you go. But, I understand your point.
Overpriced things are more of a concern. I guess I'd be eating at home a lot, but that's not such a bad thing. Plus...pinochle parlors usually have some stuff, right?
Similarly, property costs are a concern, but...I've come to expect that in any major city. The apartment I live in in Dallas is nice, but probably 15 minutes from downtown, and I'm paying about 2/3s what a friend of mine who lives downtown pays. So...given that I will most likely be in Seattle with an MBA and a pretty decent job, not to mention my pinochle profits, I can probably live in the suburbs. But still, something to think about, and I appreciate it.
The traffic and segregation CANNOT be worse than my hometown, which is Houston. Houston traffic might be worth remembering from a historical perspective, it's so bad. Honestly, that Hurricane Rita jam was not so much worse than a standard Houston rush hour with a couple of accidents. As for the segregation thing, while I don't like it, it's not as though I'm not accustomed to it, being born and raised in the South. For God's sake, there's a town about an hour and a half east of Houston that deliberately has no black people(Vidor). So...the traffic I expect, and the segregation will be no change. But, still, things to consider.
I appreciate y'all's time on this. Thanks.