Suppose you had to make choice to relocate - Silicon valley or a Seattle, which would you take and why? Both great companies and great salaries.
Seattle - no state income tax, great city, skiing 60 minutes away, hiking and mountain biking 30 minutes away, kayaking pretty much outside everyone’s front door, really active city, strong tri community within the city, fun weekend getaways with the san juan islands, columbia river valley, and oregon coast not too far away, good wine country (and as such, good wines!), and the canadian border is only 3 hours away if you ever find yourself in a situation where you need to get out of the states in a hurry. 
And honestly, people who aren’t from here will tell you that it rains too much in Seattle but coming from the east coast & chicago I’ll say the weather is heads and shouldars better here then there. November and December can be touch and go with tons of rain and the windstorms we get, but once you make it through December the weather gets better and better every day. Summer weather is 79-83 degrees, sunny, and no humidity pretty much every day - it’s fantastic!
And the State of Washington isn’t about to go bankrupt, just in case you wanted services from the state you wind up living in…
Run far away from the Golden State.
Run far away from the Golden State.
As someone who was born here and my father was born here, I sadly have to agree.
Seattle is great, but you’ve gotta really like rain…and liberals! 
Of the two choices, Washington beats California any day. Not even close.
Suppose you had to make choice to relocate - Silicon valley or a Seattle, which would you take and why? Both great companies and great salaries.
If you like rain Seattle is the place to be. Cold rain. Bone chilling rain. The kind of rain that makes you want to jump off a bridge. That’s Seattle. I have got to go warm up. Brrrrr.
I hear ya - I am from FL so Seattle seems so cold but housing is so much more affordable.
Seattle is cold and rainy in the winter but most of the time it’s raining in the winter it’s snowing in the mountains. If it wasn’t rainy in the winter then our housing costs would probably be as much as the bay area. Housing here is still not cheap, the average Seattle house is over 400K.
Seattleite here and there is no way I’d move to SV. My visits there made it look like a flat, paved hell.
Almost all of lilpups’ info is spot on. I hate the rain and am done with it but it has taken me 13 years to get here. I am a sun person, always have been, so it makes is particularly rough on me. But, I love the area so that is what keeps me here. People here are friendly, great tri and running community, doesn’t feel at all like a city.
If you move across Lake Washington to the eastside the housing can get cheaper. I actually live in a more rural area about 25 miles outside the city and prices are reasonable out here and it is really beautiful.
Flat paved hell?
are you sure you weren’t visiting Death Valley? that doesn’t sound like the Santa Clara County I’m familiar with.
I was visiting business in the area and just didn’t see anything really great. Down by where EBay is and a few others. Just ugly.
Big surprise: so I was visiting a commericial area on business and it was paved and ugly…
I was in Renton by Boeing and it was a paved 'hole.
You didn’t see all these mountains and open space just 5 miles from downtown San Jose and the Ebay HQ?
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If it helps, it’s sunny and in the 50’s today (and has been most of this week). Right now I’m typing from my dining room table with the french doors to the back yard open and the dogs are sunning themselves on the deck. Now granted, 50 degrees isn’t Cali or Florida warmth, but for February it’s not exactly Chicago either (and I speak from experience there!)
Yeah, CA is broke and it’s expensive. But there is no way I’d describe the peninsula (aka silicone valley) as flat or ugly. Some really beautiful rides down there, road and dirt (with some pretty good climbs). Hwy 101 is not what I’d call picturesquw, but it’s a hwy.
The cold and non-stop rain thing is actually a ploy we have all agreed to perpetuate for the benefit of keeping others away. Don’t tell anyone. It has not rained more than a sprinkle in week and we’ll be in the mid-50s this weekend. We run outside year round, in shorts. Again, pinky swear.
Fair enough, I’ll retract my statement.
She must be talking about where I Live.
The peninsula has wonderful cycling.