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.