Spent a week cycling in Seattle last summer. Really enjoyed biking on Vashion Island (home of K2 bicycles). Great biking on Vashion Island. Very few cars, nice rolling hills, beautiful!! Whidbey Island north of Seattle is great biking as well. I biked all over that island last summer. Same deal as Vashion. Great mountain biking in Fort Ebe (sp?) as well. Hard to beat summer in the seattle area.

Mike P.

Is he in Vancouver BC or WA?

Truthfully, if one has to commute in Seattle, the appeal to me is very low.

If you can open your place of business where you can walk or bike to work, the appeal of living in the Seattle area goes way up. The weather is mild enough to commute by bike 95% of the time

Having grown up in King County, I could only live there given that I could work from home or have the same city commute. Having anything greater than a 15-20 minute commute can make life all work and little play. For some, work is their life however others of us work to live, not live to work. The long commutes get old after a few years.

That said, there are many incredible places to go and things to do. I lived in Gig Harbor when it was just a small town, Tacoma and Seattle. I liked them all and even the weather is OK by me. My wife felt the winters too grey but that is avoidable, take winter breaks to the south.

My advice, not knowing what kind of business and not knowing the location, is to try an establish a location that is close to home.

russell-

sorry if i did not clarify.... we are all coming in from accross the country, and have an appeal toward the northwest. if he could have his choice, it would be vancouver, but in this case, it makes sense to stay u.s. based and the other 2 of us want seattle. we would live close to work, and therefore, that is why he would have to live in seattle, and needs to be sold on it.

which brings up the next point... within the confines of accessable to the city of seattle, if you could choose any suburb to live, and office location to work, where would it be? we would need just office space, maybe 3-5k s.f.

bellevue and redmond seem like logical spots. it would be nice to office in the city, but traffic seems difficult getting into the city?

i would be okay with something like bellingham, but one of the guys is a city dweller through and through... any more than 15 mins from a metropolis and he gets uncomfortable.

i think seattle's reputation of being too grey in the winter is a case of hyperbole... maybe i've just been lucky during the periods that i've been there, but i've never been upset with the weather. perhaps it's just individual preference... i would take drizzle any day over freezing temps.

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It's not easy to juggle a pregnant wife and a troubled child, but somehow I managed to squeeze in 8 hours of TV a day - Homer Simpson

What is great about Seattle...

Mt. Rainier: climb it, hike around it, bike around it and sleep on it!

Mt Si: Run it!

seattle, bellingham,bellevue.............all suck for tri training. we get 330 days of no/little sun every year. 8 months are 40F or lower and some form of rain. don't come here, go to florida, arizona, california. plus the state is just right of OBL most of the time, other times it's on par with him. washington prides itself on hate america first

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Latest Duct tape QR Superfull fashion model

I live in Bellingham. A great place to train, provided you don't mind getting damp - I have a trainer standing unused in the garage because there is rarely a day I can't ride outside, often on the mountain bike on the extensive trail network in the surrounding hills. A very active running / biking / tri community; great access to ocean, mountains, lakes, and many miles of quiet country roads and hilly forest trails. On the rare times I drive into Seattle or Vancouver (both about an hour away) I breath a sigh of relief that I don't have to tangle with that traffic every day.

Larry,

Bellingham? Are sure that quote "Bay area of the NW" wasn't meant for Bellevue.

Having lived in Seattle for 10 years recently, with my parents living in Bellingham I can assure you Bellingham is far less expensive than anywhere in King County. My parents rented a nice 3br house with an RV garage for $800 month. Criminy that is hard to do in the midwest.

Bellingham is a great place.

On the request of the original poster I'll just save my comments regarding Seattle/King County for another time.

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Justin in Austin, get it? :)

Cool races:
- Redman
- Desoto American Triple T

I am afraid that I would have to echo responses of other residents re: low quality of life in Seattle due to congestion and commuting issues. I lived there from 95 to 2001, and left because it was too frustrating to see the mountains all around me, but not want to go there because of the driving hassles. If your company could locate in West Seattle, that would be OK and reasonably contained. Ditto for Bellingham, or south to Chehalis, etc. Seattle has never and will never come to grips with the chaos that unbridled growth has wrought on it.

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Tony Verow MD
Durango, CO 81301
Averow@bresnan.net

You could try Oregon, Lots of crystal meth tweekers , lower priced homes ,warmer weather. They have high school drop outs to pump your gas .It keeps them from kicking in your door to get your LCD TV or getting your daughter pregnant.

Its beautiful. less of that depressing Kurt Cobain double barrel weather.

don't bother coming to bellingham. the pool is the pits and the mayor wants to shut it down. 90% of the roads in whatcom and skagit county are chipped sealed gravel that will make your teeth chatter. there are also a million red necks, soccer mom mini vans or stoned canadians looking to run you off the road. the track at wwu is off limits to the public unless you park 5 miles away and run to it. the track at civic field closes at 5:00 and is chain linked fenced.

if you think houses are cheap here, then mine is for sale for only a million with an ocean view, same house in seattle 3-4 mil.

the bay area of the NW!! ha what a joke

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west seattle? are thinking a certain suburb, or are you referring to directly in the city on the water? i don't understand.

<<too frustrating to see the mountains all around me, but ....>>... imagine not being able to even see the mountains...

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It's not easy to juggle a pregnant wife and a troubled child, but somehow I managed to squeeze in 8 hours of TV a day - Homer Simpson

Since this has turned a bit on Bellingham...I'm an Oregon transplant up here to ol Bham. I love it, but the weather does get old. If you like the outdoors there's not too many better places though. A Chuckanut Drive ride in the Summer of Fall is priceless and the outdoor/athletic community is great. I do some communting to the Seattle area for some of my listings, but wouldn't want to live in that rat race and traffic congestion.

chuckanut drive is a perfect example. last july i rode from anacortes to chuckanut and up north through the woods. wow. the road from anacortes to chuckanut is not something i would try again, as someone else referred to the paving and how rough it is. as soon as i hit the base of chuckanut, the paving was fine, and everything became amazing.... so nice. doesn't it switch counties somewhere along there? for some reason, i'm thinking that the paving changed the moment i exited skagit county?

<<If you like the outdoors there's not too many better places though>> do you have any other particular examples? thanks.

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It's not easy to juggle a pregnant wife and a troubled child, but somehow I managed to squeeze in 8 hours of TV a day - Homer Simpson

I grew up in Redmond, a suburb of Seattle. I now live in Portland, OR and return to Redmond about 7 times a year to visit my parents.

Since you asked for the good things about Seattle, here goes:

1. Great downtown atmosphere

2. Water in every direction

3. Mountain views almost everywhere you look

4. Ferries are the coolest thing ever

5. Incredibly active population with races every weekend

6. Access to Canada, the islands, Eastern Washington and ski areas

7. You can go to Eastern Washington for sun

8. Do you like coffee?

9. All kinds of neighborhoods (we won't talk about the price...)

10. Training opportunities everywhere you look

My husband grew up in Dallas (he vows never to return) and every time I talk about my childhood hiking, biking, snow skiing, water skiing or any of the other great things we do in the Northwest, he reminds me how lucky I am to have grown up here.

I would submit a vote for moving to Portland. I love it here.

I won't touch on the bad things about Seattle, since you asked specifically not to. I will mention one word...TRAFFIC.

Good luck!

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Football is a mistake. It combines the two worst elements of American life. Violence and committee meetings.
George F. Will
US editor, commentator, & columnist (1941 - )

thank you for the list. exactly the types of things i was hoping to learn.

now... here is a question tying in both your reference to the traffic and your familiarity with redmond...

is traffic an issue if someone were to set up office in either bellevue or redmond? isn't there residential neighborhoods directly near the business parks? is it unreasonable to ride to work everyday?

i have done some research on cost of living, and housing costs in those towns, and i did not get the sense that it is as expensive as many people say (relative to other cities)... office space certainly isn't outrageously priced.

thanks, and by the way... i love coffee. i'm a freak about it.

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It's not easy to juggle a pregnant wife and a troubled child, but somehow I managed to squeeze in 8 hours of TV a day - Homer Simpson

we are likely moving to seattle as well. like anything, you need to keep everything in perspective. we live in new york, pay new york rental prices and deal with new york traffic, and our training ops are not so hot. but other cities also have drawbacks -- san fran (real estate prices, traffic), boulder (traffic, job opps), denver (traffic, traffic, traffic), los angeles (traffic, social scene), portland (job opps), san diego (job opps, social scene), etc., etc. of yea, it rained more in new york each of the past two years then it did in seattle.

what seattle has going for it is scenic beauty, realtively decent commute by larger city standards and some reasonable training amenities -- good public masters program, speedy reedy tri shop, lots of open water swims within city limits, many good rides within the greater city limits, pro sports training facility in bellveue, olympic national park, some good single track mtb, lots of parks to run in within city limits, good local tris including the grand columbian (half and full), summer weather is great for training, ironman wetsuits and nuun are run out of seattle as well. additionally, there is some culture and a pretty good food scene.

i would post your question on the seattle tri-club (seatri.org) and ask some current local athletes what they think. i don't think there are any "have your cake and eat it too" cities.

Work in Redmond, live near Redmond. From my house, I can go east and not see a traffic light for 40 miles. Rode north today for a century and saw less than 30 cars once I left town. Pools nearby (private clubs) and lots of running trails. Hills galore so biking and running strength are "easy" to build. Redmond has lots of Class A, B and C space depending on your needs. I have set up offices in both Redmond and Kirkland (another nearby suburb) and found both places have lots to offer.

Monkey,

I live in Seattle's Madrona neighborhood and own a triathlon shop (~3 months old) that i walk to along Lake Washington Blvd. I lived East Coast for years and in comparision the quality of life here is much higher. People are more aware, educated and athletic although can be difficult to get to know since everyone is busy with all the activities (you will meet people best by joining/ doing activities).

Great things about Washington state - high income jobs with no state income tax, no sales tax on food, automobile taxes are low, while property taxes are high the millage rate is lower than most states. Seattle itself is very diverse with people as it is a gateway city and therefore we get fairly good ethnic food (not as good as Vancouver).

There are unbelievable rides - the North Cascade Highway is awesome - think Blue Ridge Parkway meets French Alps.

The rain is a myth - everywhere gets grey and unlike Chicago we can ski ~1 1/2 hours away with Whistler/ Blackcomb ~4 hours away depending on the border crossing.

The traffic can be bad - it is bad everywhere. The people that complain the most about it have never had to drive around LA, NYC, Atlanta.

Bike commuting is easy no matter where you live (Burke-Gilman rail-to-trail, Lake Sammamish trail, Lake Washington, I-90 has a bike lane across the lake). Many real estate agents can help you plan your routes.

cycling links - www.cascade.org - big bike club

tri link - www.seatri.org - seattle triathlon club

me - www.triumph-multisport.com

come see me when you move,

John

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John Teeters
866-508-4676
john@triumph-multisport.com
http://www.triumph-multisport.com

I'm not going to attempt to post anything as objective as the other reviews - this is purely subjective and rather limited at that.

I lived in the UK, Singapore, Boca Raton Forida (hated it), Hanover NH (loved it), Sydney Australia and Auckland NZ before moving to Seattle in 2003.

It's one of those cities that I immediately got on with - just the right balance of 'city' vs. plantlife. It's casual and laid back in the coffee shops but wifi is everywhere and there's some serious coding going on at some of those desks. It rains, a lot, but being from England I can't say it's any worse, but the summers are gorgeous, the surrounding areas are fantastic for all the hiking and sports but what's noticeable is that a high proportion of the city actually get out there and enjoy it, rather than leaving the adventures to the hardcore few.

Best thing? The community/neighbourhood feel. With the employers of the area pulling from all over the planet there's a diverse group of people that have all self-selected to be here - my wife (and baby) slotted in quickly and it's definitely an environment that meshes families with the single crew. Seattle has great scenery and outdoors potential, but it's the people that make it special.

As for the commutes etc, I set an office up in downtown and we're living in Greenlake. Home to work is 15 mins - I wouldn't think of crossing the bridge from Seattle to Bellevue though...but that's just me.

Summary - like it a lot. Would like the sun a bit more...but I'm just being a wimp there and should get out and run regardless. Seattle's like San Fran without the pretence, focus on money, and fog, but with extra rain and more trees.

If you're coming over - let me know and we'll point you in the right directions. I'll take you out to www.zokacoffee.com - the best coffee on the planet. Seriously!

fyi - I do like Portland, OR and Bend's becoming quite the place to be, but Seattle's cool.

tim

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Tim
blue seventy / nuun / digitaltriathlon.com

Two words. Grunge, if that ain't reason enough to stay away from that waste land then I don't know what is.

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customerjon @gmail.com is where information happens.

I've lived in Seattle for about 6 years, and I think that the list of good things about Seattle is right on. However, I think everyone is way over-doing it on bitching about traffic. If you live in a city, you're going to get traffic. Besides, if you plan things right, even if traffic gets bad, it doesn't matter because things are not very far apart. Of course, I have as my other reference Chicago, where people drive 2+ hours each way to work just so they can live in the suburbs. Crazy...

I would definitely recommend putting your office in downtown seattle, not Bellevue or Redmond. Those are the burbs, not urban at all. And if the office is downtown, you can just take the bus to work and then it's no big deal. Traffic only is a big deal if you live on one side of the lake and work on the other side. But I think all those people are crazy.

My husband and I just bought a house this year and my commute to downtown is about a 30 minute bus ride (about 15 minute drive, but parking is too expensive). It's really not that bad. Previously, when I rented, I walked 30 minutes to work. Not too bad, in my opinion.