I Hate Seattle

Okay, so here are some great reasons to live in/move to Seattle.

1. Stronger property values.

Sure, Seattle house prices have fallen, as they have throughout the nation. But Seattle house prices remain better than in much of the country. This is because Seattle, like Manhattan, is an island. There's only so much real estate. You have the mountains to the east, the ocean to the west. Limited real estate, in a place where people want to live, means that property prices might dip, but never plummet.

2. Stronger economic climate.

Seattle has the jobs of the present and future. People may snipe at Seattle's tech culture, but that's where the jobs are. Look at Detroit and the Rust Belt. Jobs of the past mean economic depression. Seattle has a much stronger economic base than much of the U.S.

3. Fresh water.

Cities in the southwest often go through Drought Watches because of water shortages. This will worsen as America's population increases. By contrast, the PNW is fresh water rich. You might snipe at the rain, but an over-abundance of fresh water is better than a lack of it.

I always visited Seattle every year or so...LOVED it. When my husbands job brought us here, I was thrilled. I was really excited about being able to live in such a cool, fun city.

Fast forward two years and I want to get the hell out. We're looking for a job transfer to pretty much anywhere else. What changed?

First, the weather is terrible. I knew that it rained a lot before we moved but it's different LIVING in it 24/7. Your nice weather season is pretty much July-September and it's been so f-ing hot and no one has airconditioning so it's miserable. During most of the year, it's hard to take kids to parks or go for walks without assuming that everyone will be wet, cold and complaining the whole time.

The real estate market is a joke. To buy a decent home in a decent area will cost you insane $$$. Most of the 300K homes outside the city are very basic with no backyards. Inside the city, you have to be prepared to pay at least $600K for anything over 1500 sq ft.

The people are cold. I have never had problems making friends before. And still, when we go out of town or on vacation, I meet way more people than I do in Seattle. No one smiles at you on the street or has any sense of politeness. It's much like NYC in that respect. It's very isolating here.

Traffic isn't great - if you compare it to the Bay Area or any other big city, it isn't that bad. But it takes my husband nearly an hour to get home from work and we technically live 20 minutes away.