4 ms·

I'm sorry, I just don't think these points are true for the other cities you mention. As a Seattle inhabitant, the descriptions of San Francisco-specific weath

I'm sorry, I just don't think these points are true for the other cities you mention. As a Seattle inhabitant, the descriptions of San Francisco-specific weather, rent, cost of living, costumes, events, transients, canine-friendliness, fog, commuting, and other things just do not apply here. Of the first few things mentioned, only the strong neighborhood identity is something we share.

run4yourlives 14y ago
It's most certainly true with regards to weather. Nights are noticeably colder everywhere on the west coast than in the hot, humid north east. canine-friendliness I'm not sure you understand what a canine-unfriendly city looks like - Seattle is certainly canine friendly. fog Not as bad, sure, but fog in Philly or Toronto is like an bi-annual event.
sswezey 14y ago
Actually, a lot of it is pretty similar, especially if coming from the east coast. * Weather - replace fog with overcast/drizzle. * Rent & Cost of living - Seattle is not cheap by any means, and rent and house prices are really steep until you get quite far from the city. * Canine-friendliness - Definitely a west coast thing, there are tons of dogs in Seattle, dog parks, and companies that allow dogs at work. * Commuting and public transit - Commuting is bad here, I-5 and its interchanges with I-90 and WA-520 are pathetic. On top of that, native Seattleites are terrible drivers - driving below the speed limit in the left lanes, blindly changing lanes, and don't know how to use a 4-way stop. Then there is the layout of Seattle, with bad east-west travel and the ongoing road construction. Coming from not the west coast, San Fran, Portland, and Seattle do have some similarities - and aptly described as 'west coast' feel.
- philwelch 14y ago
  If you live in the Seattle suburbs you're going to have a bad time, but it's not bad living within walking distance of most workplaces, the rent is lower than SF and the city isn't allergic to development, and salaries are almost as high, so you're considerably ahead overall. Also our public transit is awful.
- potatolicious 14y ago
  I've lived in both Seattle and SF - the situations are quite different. SF weather is nothing like Seattle weather. Sure, they lean towards the chilly side, but Seattle doesn't have the curious microclimates that SF has, which is actually a substantial deal in daily life. Ditto rent and cost of living. Seattle isn't cheap cheap, but the cost of living as a proportion of the average software engineer's salary is night and day. Seattle is downright cheap compared to SF - I went from paying $2200 for a brand spanking new 2BR (doorman, gym, elevators, the works) to $2200 for a tiny studio built in the 20s. It's really night and day. Even as a well-paid engineer (say, $120K+) you constantly feel at least a little bit poor, whereas in Seattle a software engineer (say, $90K+) feels like they're swimming in a pool made of pure money. I've been in both situations personally.
  - tsycho 14y ago
    Not only are Seattle rents substantially lower, but state taxes in Washington are ZERO, compared to roughly 10% in California.
    - xxpor 14y ago
      State INCOME tax.
ubercore 14y ago
The similarity, in my experience, is more visible when held in relation to the East Coast. For west coast cities, you're probably right, but I'd bet most people would consider Seattle closer to SF than to NYC or Boston. Someone from the east coast would never call NYC and Boston similar, but they're closer to each other than they are to SF or Seattle.
- eli_gottlieb 14y ago
  Having lived in and around both, I would say NYC and Boston are fairly similar. Boston's whole psyche is based around staunchly insisting on not being inferior to New York.

run4yourlives 14y ago

It's most certainly true with regards to weather. Nights are noticeably colder everywhere on the west coast than in the hot, humid north east. canine-friendliness I'm not sure you understand what a canine-unfriendly city looks like - Seattle is certainly canine friendly. fog Not as bad, sure, but fog in Philly or Toronto is like an bi-annual event.

sswezey 14y ago

Actually, a lot of it is pretty similar, especially if coming from the east coast. * Weather - replace fog with overcast/drizzle. * Rent & Cost of living - Seattle is not cheap by any means, and rent and house prices are really steep until you get quite far from the city. * Canine-friendliness - Definitely a west coast thing, there are tons of dogs in Seattle, dog parks, and companies that allow dogs at work. * Commuting and public transit - Commuting is bad here, I-5 and its interchanges with I-90 and WA-520 are pathetic. On top of that, native Seattleites are terrible drivers - driving below the speed limit in the left lanes, blindly changing lanes, and don't know how to use a 4-way stop. Then there is the layout of Seattle, with bad east-west travel and the ongoing road construction. Coming from not the west coast, San Fran, Portland, and Seattle do have some similarities - and aptly described as 'west coast' feel.

philwelch 14y ago
If you live in the Seattle suburbs you're going to have a bad time, but it's not bad living within walking distance of most workplaces, the rent is lower than SF and the city isn't allergic to development, and salaries are almost as high, so you're considerably ahead overall. Also our public transit is awful.
potatolicious 14y ago
I've lived in both Seattle and SF - the situations are quite different. SF weather is nothing like Seattle weather. Sure, they lean towards the chilly side, but Seattle doesn't have the curious microclimates that SF has, which is actually a substantial deal in daily life. Ditto rent and cost of living. Seattle isn't cheap cheap, but the cost of living as a proportion of the average software engineer's salary is night and day. Seattle is downright cheap compared to SF - I went from paying $2200 for a brand spanking new 2BR (doorman, gym, elevators, the works) to $2200 for a tiny studio built in the 20s. It's really night and day. Even as a well-paid engineer (say, $120K+) you constantly feel at least a little bit poor, whereas in Seattle a software engineer (say, $90K+) feels like they're swimming in a pool made of pure money. I've been in both situations personally.
- tsycho 14y ago
  Not only are Seattle rents substantially lower, but state taxes in Washington are ZERO, compared to roughly 10% in California.
  - xxpor 14y ago
    State INCOME tax.

ubercore 14y ago

The similarity, in my experience, is more visible when held in relation to the East Coast. For west coast cities, you're probably right, but I'd bet most people would consider Seattle closer to SF than to NYC or Boston. Someone from the east coast would never call NYC and Boston similar, but they're closer to each other than they are to SF or Seattle.

eli_gottlieb 14y ago
Having lived in and around both, I would say NYC and Boston are fairly similar. Boston's whole psyche is based around staunchly insisting on not being inferior to New York.