About the only thing that made SEA tolerable in the winter was going to Stevens or Snoqualmie Pass for a quick ski trip. Some guys from work would do it a few times each winter. We had a condo on the SW side of Redmond on a east-facing hill and would occasionally see the Cascades in all their snow-topped glory. Spectacular summers but they only lasted for 45 days. the full moon rising over the Cascades on a clear night was incredible. It’s a magical place when the weather behaves.
We were there for the snowstorm of 1990 (or 1991). It took a couple of hours to get home only two miles away! Coworkers who lived in Seattle spent 10+ hours getting home.
We went back there a couple of years ago for a 20-year work reunion and Redmond was unrecognizable.
Southern California girl here. I’ll take LA. So much to see and do amazing beaches, museums, food. Amazing skiing less than 5 hours away in Mammoth. California is a great state! NYC would be second for me as I love the city! If I won the lottery I would have homes in NYC and Paris.
“We went back there a couple of years ago for a 20-year work reunion and Redmond was unrecognizable.”
Yup. I have lived in the area for almost 3 decades now and it is absolutely crazy how differently it looks compared to the day we moved here.
The T-day freeze of 1990 was epic. Seatac did not have any deicing equipment, and all flights were grounded for a few days. No snow removing machinery either. Two dudes with shovels dumping sand onto a major road - pathetic. Now we have all of that!
Another Seattle vote. Mountains in every direction on a clear day. Amazing old growth forests for hiking, sea kayaking, lots of nice parks in the city. Okay, it isn’t perfect – we don’t have statewide inter library loans. But I’ve spent time in the other 3 cities, and think Seattle is the place hands down.
Seattle is on my list of cities to get to know – been there only once for a short 2 day business trip years ago. Not sure if I could overcome the weather long term. We lived in London for a few years and my only complaint was the gray skies. After a while it did get to me.
Just happened to be watching Frazier last night on one of my 350 channels. The view from his apartment makes you want to go to Seattle. And that view doesn’t even show the space needle. Does NYC, LA or Miami have a space needle? I didn’t think so!
Some interesting replies. There is no right answer.
I wonder what would happen if you had $250 in the bank after making a down payment on your new place and still had to convince your dream partner/fiancee/intended to go to one of the following four cities where you, fresh out of college, were scheduled to start your new job for $75,000 a year.
Limited to those choices I would choose Seattle. I’m from Ohio so really no difference in sunshine but we get a lot colder and we have nothing compared to the views and recreation that is in Seattle. Seattle isn’t know for earthquakes, wildfires or hurricanes or massively humid days.
Miami will be swallowed by the ocean within the next 30 years, not sure it’s worth a pricey abode.
Seattle is overdue for a big earthquake than may flatten every structure around. Our plan is to run outside (and watch for falling trees) if the ground starts shaking. We hope to be able to dig our camping gear out of the wreckage.
ETA: We do have many massively humid days, 99% right now, just not the hot/humid days. It rarely stays above 60 at night. If it gets up to the 90s it is only for a couple hours.
There are literally hundreds of others. I don’t hear a lot of sirens in my own neighborhood and there’s certainly no stench, unless you’re standing next to a dumpster.
@jonri, I am clearly way too spoiled for space, amenities and low CoL. That 5 level (+ roof deck) townhouse on State St. doesn’t have an elevator despite its nearly $4 million price tag. Our 3-stop elevator is used almost daily. We also have only one adjacent neighbor and a lot that’s >150 ft. wide (it’s a long but narrow 2.5+ acres.) Those people are too close for dh. He will never move to any sort of multi-family building or attached townhouse.
I’d rather choose from the second list and try either Rockport, ME, or Asheville, NC.
And @Silpat, that’s fine. I was only trying to point out that not everyone in NYC lives with lots of sirens and a stench. And, some of the houses I linked to are real houses for less money. I listed separately for those only interested in quick access to public transportation.
My kids made me move into a building that was built since the latest earthquake codes were enacted in Seattle, and outside the possible tsunami impact zone. Not kidding.
One of the benefits of having substantial resources is that you don’t have to make the decision posed in the OP. You have the ability to maintain more than one property, so the downside of one location (weather, crowds etc.) can be balanced by another location that offers the opposite.
For many of us, where we choose to live doesn’t always turn on the things we are discussing, but rather on where our children and extended family live.
