Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler I'm Young, I'm Naive. Where to move after college?

Cool topic, Dan. Thanks for the opportunity to share in your adventure.

I am horrified that the availability of craft beer was not listed in your priorities.

I generally agree with Adrian's observations; I have found that folks on the West Coast are literally "friendly" and pretty unreserved compared to some other parts of the US.

Having lived my whole life in the Seattle/Tacoma metropolitan area, I can assure you that the claims of relentless rain are overstated. However, there is no such thing as "clear and cold" here. Seasonal Affective Disorder is real, and it is mostly gray from October through April. It is very expensive to live in or near Seattle. The public transportation is practically nonexistent. Microsoft, Starbucks and Boeing are laying people off. Traffic is bad.

AND

There are few US cities as beautiful and culturally rich as Seattle. Puget Sound, the Pacific Ocean and the Cascade Mountains are ridiculously close. The people are great. The weather is never extreme; it only snows about twice a year, and it rarely gets above 90F. June through September are reliably 75-80F, with sunsets at about 10:00 pm. It is not humid, and there is very little wind except during storms. Opportunities for outdoor activities are boundless. There is an excellent mix of cultures, and there is no income tax. Beer culture flourishes. Insects are small and not overwhelming. No poisonous creatures west of the mountains. No hurricanes, no tornadoes. You get accustomed to the idea that "it might rain" and plan accordingly.

Others:

I have family in Colorado Springs. Great scenery, MANY days where the sun shines. The beer and the people are wonderful. Things I don't like - the wind blows a lot. You're as far away from salt water as you can be in North America. Sprawl is 1970's California all over again. It is really dry, to the point where my skin isn't happy after a few days. Schizophrenic weather.

Vancouver BC is a wonderful, cosmopolitan, scenic wonder of a city. It is also wicked expensive. The weather is worse than Seattle.

Idaho might be trendy and cute, but there is no civilization there. None. If you are even remotely interested in the cultural opportunities available in a real city, you will be horrified. If you just want to be left alone and you don't mind skinheads, Idaho is a great place to live.

I adore Portland, OR. Great city - a lot like Seattle, but even more laid back, and with more parking and functional public transit. Also pretty expensive. Compared to Seattle, the proximal snow skiing is not quite as good, but Oregon beaches are better than Washington's (and also about the same ~3 hours away). There's no salt water, but the Willamette and Columbia rivers converge there. Portland lacks some of the "wow factor" of Seattle, and it is also probably not as multicultural. If "my people" weren't in the Puget Sound area, I would seriously consider a move to Portland or to Vancouver, WA which is right across the river.

At the end of the day, there is no substitute for California.

I lived in Redmond WA for 5 months during the spring & summer; love it! It wasn't that rainy. It's definitely the best summer weather I've been by far. ...And , man, do I miss those Mac & Jacks ales!

What the @#^% are you talking about Tom?!? We Floridians New Yorkers are the friendliest &*(@!%&%^ people one will ever meet ... anywhere!



Believe it or not, in my 51 years of existence there is one place in the US that I have always been intrigued with, that's Seattle along with the whole northwest coast area and I've never been there. One day!

IIRC, there is some tech in Boise, so that might appeal to your Idaho thought.

Colorado is a good option. So are Seattle, Portland, and Vancouver BC. All have some sort of tech industry. Now it's a bit bad, but the market will come back some day.

For me, I never want to shovel snow and I'm a California West Coaster. I would love to try San Diego, but the job market there isn't that great.

Come on out, Rick. We'll have fun. Maybe go salmon fishing or something.

Rick uses grenades to fish with

Seattle is one of my favorite cities,
It has tons of culture and things to do, the city is clean and feels safe, there are more restaurants in Seattle per capita than anywhere I've ever seen, and the population seems young and healthy.
The only thing that drives me crazy there is the parking (maybe Tom can explain it) why the #$%# does everyone park facing whatever which way they feel like, I can never tell if I'm on a one or two way street.

Terribly sorry. I take that for granted because there is a really nice joint about 25 min away that has 50 craft beers on tap, all for $2-3 less than a bud light at any other establishment. And 300 bottles. And you can still enjoy a cigar there (one of the last few places).

California has "it all" the beaches, the mountains...I'm just leery of the strict laws and high prices out there...

The midwest, Iowa, is a great place to live and raise a family, oh wait, your not married yet.

Not one vote for Hawaii?? Maybe its because I am Canadian and we have nothing tropical here, but thats where I would head.

Toasty during the day, comfortably cool at night, lots of warm salt water to loaf about in...

Vancouver is a great city, but everyone in Canada wants to live there so its expensive. I would still be living in Banff in the Rockies of you could own property there (national park).

You guys in the US have a lot of interesting locations to choose from from the tropical to the damn cold. If I were you Dan, I would test out a few locations while you are young and mobile.