On waiting...and enduring

Once we decided to move, I broke out the spreadsheets, starting ordering "How To" books, and stalked neighborhoods on Google Maps.

After a few weeks, I realize that most decision lie in the future. This is a frustrating experience for anyone - plans to move, but for a few months, no action can be taken. Sure, you can keep an eye on some jobs, watch bad real estate TV about the neighborhoods you like the sound of...but this will get old. And thus, the doldrums set in.

Concerns start to grow about any topic. You'll change your mind a thousand times in a week. Sometimes it's just easier to throw down the towel and say, "Fuck it, we'll move tomorrow. Let the landlord sell our stuff." (I don't recommend this.) Sometimes, you have to wait.

Harkening back, our first big move from BLO to NYC faced a big set back when I was offered a sweet temporary job that would pay for me to finish my graduate degree. This meant staying in the area for at least another six months. This news came, of course, about a week before we would start giving notice and heading down for a sublet.

In the end, the wait was worth it. I had a shiny degree that was mostly free. We moved in the much nicer summer weather, and got a great apartment.

One can only hope that waiting for this move to Seattle will have the same results. Already, we've both learned that we know more people in the area than we thought - much to Eli's dismay, I have "family" there.

I'll have to content myself with watching "Property Virgins: SEATTLE" and "Holy Crap: Cities that are Awesome" for the next few months until we can make our move. It's a long game of chess - each careful move planned well in advance and carried out with confidence.

On Jobs, and only half hunting

Although our move ideally has a Q3/Q4 launch date, I've been trying to keep an eye on potential job listings. Those of you in the know, know that I'm a web developer by day, artist by night, with a Masters degree in Urban Planing.

So I have my alerts set up from Idealist.org; from my web developer's job list, and several RSS feeds in my reader from the American Planning Association and the like. So today I checked the state of Washington APA jobs list and found this listing for a job which is reasonably close to Seattle and for which I am thoroughly qualified. Fresh out of school (mostly) with little to no experience! That's me!

Oh yeah, except the listing closed a few days ago.

I suppose I need to ramp up the looking to at least 3/4 hunting, especially for jobs in my preferred profession, and jobs for which I really think that I meet more than the minimum requirements.

Lessons learned, the adventure continues.

On Weather

Growing up in Buffalo, I am accustomed to heavy snows in the winter and surprise storms. While Buffalo doesn't win the Golden Snowball (contrary to popular belief) it's safe to say that I am familiar with a foot or two of snow.

When I first moved to NYC, I expected the snow to be much less in the winter. While this year, we've barely had more than a few inches, the previous years saw storm after storm slam the city. I had more snow days in the first three years as a working adult than I did in my life as a student in Buffalo.

So I started to get suspicious. Was the snow following me? Probably.

This suspicion has been confirmed. Seattle weather knows I'm coming, and is letting me know what's up.

...sigh.

On Handling Reactions

So I had to break the news of our cross country move to my parents. (Not the husband's family yet, oh boy nope.) One part of moving that may or may not affect people is the reaction of those near and dear.

It's also the one thing I never plan for. The barrage of "Why? No you're not. That's too far. What about X? What about Y?" and then, later on, "Change your mind yet? You know what you should do, move here!"

It can get very frustrating, especially because a great deal of that stuff is said out of love and sadness that you and the person will be even farther apart. But it can also be perceived as a lack of support for your life choices, especially as one gets older.

When the husband and I agreed to save on our taxes and get hitched, we both discussed (directly or not) our living-area preferences - something I feel many couples fail to do. And we both agreed that we'd like to experience a good number of cities in our time on this planet. (I'm planning a moon-based retirement.) Our move is just part of our life plan.

And there's really nothing you can do, except reassert calmly that you are actually doing this, this is your wish, and you are not going to have your mind changed. Even if you are uncertain!

On Reality TV Research

I have a secret. A confession of sorts. I don't dislike the Home and Garden network's myriad of shows about finding a place to live. I know they're pretty much real estate porn. Looking at other people's places; seeing how much they cost; seeing if I could see myself there simply by seeing it on television. So naturally, once we decided on moving to Seattle, we thought that the H&G shows might be the perfect way to get a feel for the neighborhoods and what places go for in them.

What I learned from Reality TV about Moving to Seattle

So a couple goes searching for a home with three bedrooms in a hot area for young families with a wholly unreasonable budget. It seems that, while property is cheaper in the Seattle area than in New York City, it's still quite expensive. One thing I did like was that there seems to be more modern architecture. They paid lip service to sustainability in this clip. Cars and parking are a hot issue. A reminder, and red flag that as a former New Yorker, I may need to adjust to a less transit oriented city.



This was a nice introduction to the Ballard neighborhood, which I have read quite a bit about. Although the one woman (probably close to our age) cites the dive bars, the restaurants, and the amenities, Ballard has a distinctly "You're in Seattle, but really a bit outside Seattle" sort of feel. I'm not writing it off, but that's the impression I have so far. But then again, even when people are thinking "city" on House Hunters, the bias is towards the suburban mansion angle. So things like "I can see my neighbors sometimes" are often considered "drawbacks" on property.


A young couple looks for their first place in Seattle (w/ a Dog- tangent, we don't have a dog, but would love to have one). These two women I can relate two. They look at two places in Seattle, and one in a nearby suburb. The spaces in Capitol Hill seem quite nice for the price range they're looking at. Lots of new developments: again, I know this network's bias. I'm curious what the Seattle equivalent of "pre-war" buildings look like. I'm not certain that I'm going to move into new construction. The most troubling aspect of this episode was that every unit seemed to have an electric stove. Seattle, where's the gas?

Summing this all up.
Did I learn anything useful? The brief scenes of Seattle confirmed what I already knew from firsthand experience that a) Seattle is a beautiful city b) Prices are lower than I'm used to, but not that much lower and c) transit and parking and cars? Haven't figured out what I'm going to do with, but nearly everyone in these shows is concerned.

So there you go. A little bit of secondary Seattle research. Not really that educational, but fun to kind of get into the Seattle mindset.

On the importance of spreadsheets

I like to make spreadsheets for things, and plan out budgets well in advance. It worked well for our move to New York City, and it worked well for our wedding. So naturally, I have a spreadsheet up and running for our move to Seattle.

I've spreadsheet-ed everything a person could think of: picking a neighborhood, comparing individual apartments, moving budget, logistics, timeline, new car data, contact information... I'm sure I'm driving the husband crazy.

One thing I was specifically looking at last night was how much it would cost to haul all of our stuff (books and couch and all) across this great, wide, vast expanse of country. Usually, I'm sort of proud to live in such a gigantic country. We get two big shorelines on two different oceans (and that's exclusive of lakes and rivers!). Mountains, plains, rain forests, regular forests, deserts, swamps; we've got it all. Different cultures, different languages, awesome!

But now, looking at the distance involved (three thousand and plus miles!) I hate it. It's too much! If we rent a truck and drive ourselves, avoiding the super high mountain passes, we will spend $1500.00 in gasoline alone. I'm pretty sure I haven't spent half that amount on gas in the entire time I've lived in NYC. All this green living shit I'm doing walking to work and whatnot? This is going to erase it. Bam!

For a small truck, tolls, hotel stays (for a five day trip), boxes, bribes, food, etc, it works out to nearly $7,000 for a move. I thought moving to New York City was expensive! I'm aware there may be other options (PODS, movers), but I can't imagine they would be much cheaper.

Good thing I plan ahead! See, my massively complicated spreadsheets will come in handy. Now we have enough time to save up to move.

Humorous Interlude

Why am I moving? I want to live in a city that's protected from Courtney Love.

My NDPs are in the mail already. After this, I have to stop telling people how excited I am.

On Impetus

When we chose to move to New York City over four years ago, I had never been to New York City for more than a couple days. I just knew (in my bones!) that I had to live there in order to deem my life complete.



Have I chosen Seattle in a way of following Mary Schmich's address to the class of 1997 (later memorialized in the way that I remember: Baz Luhrmann's address to the class of 1999)? While Seattle is not North California, but the spirit is the same.

I think there's something there that I need to experience.

I remember the first lonely summer evening (my train was 5 hours late) taking a cab (which I later learned over-charged me for a $45 dollar cab ride to Astoria) marveling at the glowing lights of Manhattan from the Queensboro bridge. I was Carraway: "The city seen from the Queensboro Bridge is always the city seen for the first time, in its first wild promise of all the mystery and the beauty in the world."


And four years later I still see that mystery and beauty when a cab whisks me over the 59th street bridge. In and out of traffic, I always look to my right to see the city lights casting sidelong glares in the stiff mirror of the East River. Beautiful and mysterious, true. But I know that it's not all the beauty there is in the world.

So like I said, I think there's something that I need to experience. Seattle's calling.

On Concerns and Expectations

In moving across the country to a different city/timezone/coast, my biggest concern is the difference in culture. Oddly enough, I've read a bunch of articles discussing how expensive Seattle can be, and this seems to be the biggest concern from a lot of folks. Just for this moment, I am going to sit back and howl with laughter. "Expensive? I live in NYC, bitch! Ahahahaha."

I will henceforth stop being an annoying New Yorker and continue. (But seriously, for what I pay in rent now to live over half a mile from the subway, I can live in the "cool" places near Downtown Seattle. With doors and rooms and everything! Of course, growing up in Western New York, I could own a mansion for the same monthly payment. Seriously.)

Back to the culture concerns. The husband, in his furious research to "understand" Seattle, came across this old article which dates back to 2005. And hence, my fear regarding the "Seattle Freeze" was born.

Some people will say this is a myth, outdated, or just plain silly. Others will assert that this is very, very real. Opinions are mixed. Regardless, the prospect of moving to a new city far from family and friends is a scary one and even a rumor like this causes agita.

So in cases like this, I try to read as much about it, understand it, and put a positive spin on it somehow.

My conclusions: A great deal of people talking about their Seattle Frostbite are coming from the Midwest or California. Both these places are known for outward friendliness and going out and doing things with groups of people.

What struck me is people, new to the city, talking about how Seattleites shy away from hugs. Hm. I have to admit, I do as well, with exceptions for some family and very close, lifetime friends. (In a tangential note, a blogger who moved from L.A. to Austria noted the same problem. I think Californians and et al. just like to hug it out. With strangers.) I feel most of these issues are problems people have with moving to cities in the Northern U.S. in general. One woman in the City-data forum thread mentioned that Boston and the whole of NE was a far, far, unfriendlier place.

Overall, the lack of hugging is the one thing that doesn't bother me, whether or not it's indicative of a larger issue. What struck me was the "flakiness" of trying to get together with people, i.e. hosting a party with 40 RSVPs, only to see 8 people show up. I'm not a fan of this, but I don't think this is unique to Seattle. I've run into the same problem in NYC.

A good deal of the other issues, the alleged introversion, disinterest in meeting people, etc., are still a cause for concern, but like our move to NYC, I'll come up with ways to meet new people somehow. Like my social circle here, perhaps I will meet mostly transplants. That's find. I can understand natives of any city being wary of transplants: after all in this past summer, ten (yes ten) of our friends moved back out of the city.

Besides, Cambridge thinks that New Yorkers are unfriendly and neurotic, and it can be hard to meet people here as well, so it's not like I won't have experience dealing with this sort of culture.

All of that complaining/worrying aside, I am very excited to experience a new city!

Raison D'être

After nearly four years in NYC, the husband and I have decided to pick up and move to a new coast. Tired of the soothing sounds of the East river and the crush of humanity during rush hour, we will be putting over three thousand miles between us and our current locale. NYC, we just need some breathing space, okay? It's not you. It's not the smell. It's not that our families are only 400 miles away. We're just following the advice of that song. You know the one, wear sunscreen? Live on each coast for only a few years before you become some sort of asshole and presumably move....somewhere?

Yeah. And our new city will be Seattle.

How did you find this blog anyway? This is super secret.

Yes, a super secret blog where we will be detailing our thoughts, experiences and research.

Cheers!