Seattle bound
2nd Gear
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 502
From:
RE: Seattle bound
ORIGINAL: munkee
C`mon guys! Give Seattle a bit more credit.
It's actually a very beautiful place. I've lived all over and was last living in downtown Seattle and my office was in Bellevue.
You might find it hard to meet good friends out there; then again, that might not be something you want to do anyway. There are A LOT of tech jobs out here; however, the income vs. cost of living doesn't quite add up.
For instance, for my 1bdrm / 1bath + den in downtown Seattle, right by Pike Place, was $1500/month. Now, I live in Dallas, TX where $1500/month can get me a 2500sqft+ home. A lot of things in Seattle are expensive.
If you want to know more about shops and the Audi community, check out www.nwquattro.com. I hung out with them a few times on some drives and had a really good time. "Redgoat" on these forums might be able to get you squared away with the right folks.
Seattleites have a very snobby attitude. The city is full of elitest liberals. I'd stay away from the Rainier Valley, some parts of Beacon Hill and a lot of areas in West Seattle such as White Center. Broadway (which is mentioned in "My posse's on Broadway - Sir Mix A lot, who is from Seattle), can be interesting times. The community which is called Capital Hill is mainly known for it's gay community, crime and high drug usage. There is also a very very large number of registered sex offenders in the area, as well as many "half-way / rehab" houses off of Summit Ave.
Pioneer Square is the common spot where people go to "party". This is where a lot of people from the surrounding areas go to bar/club hop. The mixture of people from different areas tends to make the place a bit uneasy. There is also a lot of crime and homeless in this part of town (south end of downtown). Belltown is more of the "yuppy" crowd and full of bars / restaurants. It's a bit safer out there too but has a history of high crime. Many years ago before real estate developers bought out properties in the fight to restore the area, the crime was through the roof. Many random beatings, muggings and other various crimes happened on an almost nightly basis. Since then, it has cleaned up and isn't TOO bad of a place. I did stop a guy from trying to rape a girl, I beat up 2 guys outside of Belltown Billiards, girl got shot outside my old place, saw a number of muggings... but really, what do you expect for city living?
Anyway, despite the negative things I've said about the area... it's very very nice. I'd suggest just minding your own business, be smart, and go about your normal living habits. That should apply to most places though.
I really love Seattle - it's my home. I have lived in many places and have found it to be one of the greatest. My home now is Dallas!
C`mon guys! Give Seattle a bit more credit.
It's actually a very beautiful place. I've lived all over and was last living in downtown Seattle and my office was in Bellevue.
You might find it hard to meet good friends out there; then again, that might not be something you want to do anyway. There are A LOT of tech jobs out here; however, the income vs. cost of living doesn't quite add up.
For instance, for my 1bdrm / 1bath + den in downtown Seattle, right by Pike Place, was $1500/month. Now, I live in Dallas, TX where $1500/month can get me a 2500sqft+ home. A lot of things in Seattle are expensive.
If you want to know more about shops and the Audi community, check out www.nwquattro.com. I hung out with them a few times on some drives and had a really good time. "Redgoat" on these forums might be able to get you squared away with the right folks.
Seattleites have a very snobby attitude. The city is full of elitest liberals. I'd stay away from the Rainier Valley, some parts of Beacon Hill and a lot of areas in West Seattle such as White Center. Broadway (which is mentioned in "My posse's on Broadway - Sir Mix A lot, who is from Seattle), can be interesting times. The community which is called Capital Hill is mainly known for it's gay community, crime and high drug usage. There is also a very very large number of registered sex offenders in the area, as well as many "half-way / rehab" houses off of Summit Ave.
Pioneer Square is the common spot where people go to "party". This is where a lot of people from the surrounding areas go to bar/club hop. The mixture of people from different areas tends to make the place a bit uneasy. There is also a lot of crime and homeless in this part of town (south end of downtown). Belltown is more of the "yuppy" crowd and full of bars / restaurants. It's a bit safer out there too but has a history of high crime. Many years ago before real estate developers bought out properties in the fight to restore the area, the crime was through the roof. Many random beatings, muggings and other various crimes happened on an almost nightly basis. Since then, it has cleaned up and isn't TOO bad of a place. I did stop a guy from trying to rape a girl, I beat up 2 guys outside of Belltown Billiards, girl got shot outside my old place, saw a number of muggings... but really, what do you expect for city living?
Anyway, despite the negative things I've said about the area... it's very very nice. I'd suggest just minding your own business, be smart, and go about your normal living habits. That should apply to most places though.
I really love Seattle - it's my home. I have lived in many places and have found it to be one of the greatest. My home now is Dallas!
1st Gear
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 286
From: Dallas, TX
RE: Seattle bound
Dallas works out well for me. 
Real estate here is dirt cheap. Booze here is dirty cheap. Food here is, you guessed it, dirt cheap!
Business is a lot different here too than the West Coast. Granted, Seattle and Los Angeles (which I have worked in both) are major hubs for technology and new business, so is Dallas.
I could see how most people wouldn't like it out here. To be quite honest with you, I'm still adjusting to the area.
The women out here are absolutely gorgeous too! My goodness! In Seattle, most of the 8's - 10's wouldn't even give you the time of day. Out here in Dallas, they're smokin hot and don't even know it.
Real estate here is dirt cheap. Booze here is dirty cheap. Food here is, you guessed it, dirt cheap!
Business is a lot different here too than the West Coast. Granted, Seattle and Los Angeles (which I have worked in both) are major hubs for technology and new business, so is Dallas.
I could see how most people wouldn't like it out here. To be quite honest with you, I'm still adjusting to the area.
The women out here are absolutely gorgeous too! My goodness! In Seattle, most of the 8's - 10's wouldn't even give you the time of day. Out here in Dallas, they're smokin hot and don't even know it.
2nd Gear
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 502
From:
RE: Seattle bound
Haha, my gf is one of them :-) I don't know, with the economy on the verge of "recession" there aren't as many jobs right now as I would like. I've been trying to get a good tech job for a while now and can't seem to find anything that pays well enough without a degree. I'm just tired of all the "diversity" and the crime. I live in south Dallas where white people are the minority. My gf lives in south Irving where white people are the minority. Dallas just seems so boring to me. It takes foreverto get from one side of the metroplex to the other. There's constant construction at the worst times of the day. There's no interesting scenery (meaning flat as a pancake). The weather is so unpredictable (80 one day 30 the next))I'd love to live up north somewhere where the girls are pretty, the view is interesting, the crime is low, and the temp is moderate. Lol, i'm practically counting my days.
1st Gear
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 286
From: Dallas, TX
RE: Seattle bound
I'll be looking for a developer here soon.
I'm in the process of starting a company with my partners out here and I know I can't do 100% of the development. If you're experienced in PHP/MySQL and eCommerce development, shout at me!
I'm in the process of starting a company with my partners out here and I know I can't do 100% of the development. If you're experienced in PHP/MySQL and eCommerce development, shout at me!
1st Gear
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 286
From: Dallas, TX
RE: Seattle bound
^ well, i'll be overseeing the direction of technology. I have a background in development - in Seattle I was CTO of a private software company.
Down here, my new company is dealing with mainly eCommerce and advertising. I've decided to stick with the LAMP route because it allows us to keep development costs low and it's VERY easy to find developers.
I thought about going with Ruby on Rails because I like how fast you can develop things - but the industry has a few more years to mature in the RoR arena.
Down here, my new company is dealing with mainly eCommerce and advertising. I've decided to stick with the LAMP route because it allows us to keep development costs low and it's VERY easy to find developers.
I thought about going with Ruby on Rails because I like how fast you can develop things - but the industry has a few more years to mature in the RoR arena.
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 192
From:
RE: Seattle bound
ORIGINAL: munkee
Real estate here is dirt cheap. Booze here is dirty cheap. Food here is, you guessed it, dirt cheap!
Real estate here is dirt cheap. Booze here is dirty cheap. Food here is, you guessed it, dirt cheap!
I live in Northern Virginia, and things are probably as expensive as Seattle (or more) but there are jobs out the wazoo paying big bucks.
1st Gear
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 286
From: Dallas, TX
RE: Seattle bound
I haven't experienced the shortage of jobs here in Dallas. I don't work the "normal" job though.
The big industries out here (in Dallas) are health care / pharmaceuticals and telecommunications.
I could get paid more here in Dallas than in Seattle, doing less. Then again, it's prob. a case-to-case thing. The jobs are plentiful, but finding qualified people might be lacking in some cases.
The big industries out here (in Dallas) are health care / pharmaceuticals and telecommunications.
I could get paid more here in Dallas than in Seattle, doing less. Then again, it's prob. a case-to-case thing. The jobs are plentiful, but finding qualified people might be lacking in some cases.
2nd Gear
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 600
RE: Seattle bound
Seattle is a beautiful place to live. I work in the city but live in the foot hills of the Cascade mountians. Winters suck..hardly any snow (except in the mountains) but tons of gloom and rain. Summers are beautiful....water, mountains and forests. There is a ton of stuff to do if you are into out doorsy stuff like boating/hiking/skiing-snowboarding.
There is a very large VW/Audi following up here and tons of shops like Achtuning for example.
Tech jobs...there are a ton. I'm work in the Seattle "snobby" tech world as well helping to provide large companies with convereged voice/datasolutions up to 10Gb flash waves on fiber.
There is a very large VW/Audi following up here and tons of shops like Achtuning for example.
Tech jobs...there are a ton. I'm work in the Seattle "snobby" tech world as well helping to provide large companies with convereged voice/datasolutions up to 10Gb flash waves on fiber.
