Leaving Iowa

[CYinPA]

Why "live" anywhere?
Anyone else get tired of where they live after just a few months? If so, did it change?
Not counting internships, I have lived in the same area for 3 years now to finish school (for now), before that I was moving every 6 months or so. I cannot wait to move again.

 

[CTTB78]

That's an easy one one for me- what I missed the most were the people. Iowa values are taken for granted until you move away.

 

[PineClone]

Thanks for chiming in, I can definitely see that happening and I am excited for her because she's from a big city and is really looking forward to it. I'll have some adjusting to do, but there are enough other things I love to do that I will be okay I believe. I know our labs will love it out there, fewer frozen lakes, hah.

I live in eastern Washington...and here in Washington, "eastern" means "east of the Cascade Mountains". I actually live smack dab in the middle of the state.

Washington is a great place to live. Seattle is a cluster. If I had to move to a larger city, i'd choose Portland, OR. I like Portland far better than Seattle. Traffic still sucks in Portland, but the public transit system is way better than Seattle's. I'd far rather live in Spokane than Seattle. You still have access to TONS of outdoor activities. And you don't have to drive as far to get away from the crowds.

I live in a town of about 70,000 in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains. Thats about as ideal as you can get if you want some of the nicer amenities and the ability to get away from it all with as little as a 10 minute drive. But i'm sure finding a job is most important.

 

[CYinPA]

I live in eastern Washington...and here in Washington, "eastern" means "east of the Cascade Mountains". I actually live smack dab in the middle of the state.

Washington is a great place to live. Seattle is a cluster. If I had to move to a larger city, i'd choose Portland, OR. I like Portland far better than Seattle. Traffic still sucks in Portland, but the public transit system is way better than Seattle's. I'd far rather live in Spokane than Seattle. You still have access to TONS of outdoor activities. And you don't have to drive as far to get away from the crowds.

I live in a town of about 70,000 in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains. Thats about as ideal as you can get if you want some of the nicer amenities and the ability to get away from it all with as little as a 10 minute drive. But i'm sure finding a job is most important.

Yakima?
So you like it in the state of Lincoln? I applied to a job out there. Hope I get it.

 

[intrepid27]

Pro sports, mountains, ocean, fresh seafood, rainforest nearby........ sounds like a great time. You can always move back to the Midwest. I've lived in Iowa, Maryland and Oklahoma and spent signifcant time in half a dozen other states. Every place has something different to offer. Cost of living will be your biggest adjustment.

 

[jaretac]

So I'm looking at relocating to Seattle. My wife is from a larger city, and she loves Seattle. I've been here my whole life, ISU grad, west des moines resident. Tough for me to do, but I think I'll enjoy it in Seattle too. I like to fly fish on vacations, enjoy the mountains, and other outdoor activities. There's a lot I'll miss, some I won't, and lord knows the traffic will be on a different scale. So I'm taking my IT skills and my wife's paralegal out of state, not enough that I like here to keep me here.

Who else moved away, what'd you find out?

I'm sure you have researched the matter, but I grew up in Washington state so I figure I would give you some good tidbits.

Seattle actually gets less precipitation than Des Moines. The difference is that virtually no precipitation comes as snow and it might take 2 days of rain to get an inch where Des Moines can get that in a hour.

Traffic in Seattle is BAD, flat out. I've never driven in Chicago, but Seattle is probably about like that. There is only one interstate going though Seattle itself and only three in King County (which contains about 2 million of the 3 million that live in the Seattle area. If you have to take I5 for any reason you better plan plenty of time.

The state has about a 8% sales tax and that is about it. No income tax and almost all new tax has to be approved by the votes. If you live near Portland, you can live in Washington and not pay income tax and shop in Oregon which doesn't have sales tax.

Public lands are plentiful in Washington. This is something I missed dearly when I was in Iowa. There is always a new waterfall to go see or lake to hike into and, depending where you go, a lot of times you will only see a couple of other people and no development.

I personally live on the east side of the Mountains and if I were you I would look into eastern Washington instead. Climate is dry with most of the precipitation coming as Snow over the winter months, but the winters are typically better than a normal Iowa winter. It's more agricultural, in fact almost all the farm land in the state including the apple orchards are on the dry side of the mountains. I personally would look at Wenatchee or Spokane. Both have a good climate and are more family based than Seattle, but are receiving a influx of IT businesses from Seattle. And instead of driving over to the east side for major holiday's like much of Seattle, you can go fishing or hiking or camping on any given day.

 

[jaretac]

Yakima?
So you like it in the state of Lincoln? I applied to a job out there. Hope I get it.

Could be Wenatchee if he is talking about the size of the area and not the town itself. That makes more sense with the line about being in the middle of the state because Yakima is quite abit south.

 

[jaretac]

My brother and sister-in-law moved to the 'burbs outside of Seattle 6 years ago, and they never plan on moving back here. In fact, they even refuse to come back in the summer or winter anymore, because the weather is so bad. That being said, it is overcast there a lot (and I found it hillarious when my SIL said they had a drought - it hadn't rained in 2 weeks, so they were having grass fires along the highway.)

They were never huge sports fans here in Iowa, but have become big Seahawks and Mariners fans since moving. They are also always busy with something - mini-vacations for kayaking, hiking, etc. All things that are difficult or impossible to do here in Iowa. Yes, they're half way across the country, but they try to come home a couple times a year to see friends and family, and they love living out there (and I've never heard them say anything bad about the traffic in the 'brubs.)

It doesn't take long in the soil we have out here. That is something Iowa really has over Washington- Washington doesn't have soil. There really isn't a flat piece of ground in Washington so any moister that falls moves downhill quickly, top that out with a sandy soil (and depending on where you are at low RH) and grass can dry out very quickly. I'm saying this as a wildland firefighter that has fought fires in Washington and Iowa.

 

[besserheimerphat]

I interviewed for a job in Seattle (Redmond technically, but not with Boeing or Microsoft). I loved the area and would have moved in a heartbeat if it weren't for the outrageous price of housing. I looked at a lot of cost of living stuff (even went so far as pricing milk/diapers/bread/other often bought items at home and while visiting) and most of the stuff wasn't that much more expensive. But housing cost nearly double what it does in Iowa, and that was only to live within ~20 miles so I'd have been looking at 1 hour commutes easily. To live closer was more like 4-5X the price compared to Iowa.

If we would have been willing to go from a house to an apartment, I'd probably be posting from the original Starbucks.

 

[alaskaguy]

That's an easy one one for me- what I missed the most were the people. Iowa values are taken for granted until you move away.

Don't kid yourself. I have found outstanding people in many areas of the country....or at least in most rural areas.

 

[Tank]

I left the state of Iowa after my sophmore year at ISU (transferred out of state) and have not lived in the state since. It is really nice to get away b/c there are so many other things to do and see outside the Mid-West and you realize there really isn't much to do (except for boating, hunting, etc...) in Iowa. The one thing I've realized though since leaving is how good the Iowa school system is and how nice all the people are, so that is a definate plus.

Also, with not living in Iowa, it makes it that much better to come back to visit friends and family.

 

[Irresponsible]

Washington is a great place to live. Seattle is a cluster. If I had to move to a larger city, i'd choose Portland, OR. I like Portland far better than Seattle.

Agreed. Portland IS everything Seattle THINKS it is.

Public lands are plentiful in Washington. This is something I missed dearly when I was in Iowa. There is always a new waterfall to go see or lake to hike into and, depending where you go, a lot of times you will only see a couple of other people and no development.

I've found this to be true also. For all the Seattle-ites who contend hiking is their passion, I find the trails refreshingly empty. Maybe their daily trip to the Starbucks qualifies as "hiking" in their urban environment.

 

[simply1]

I like Portland, but their economy is really suffering right now comparatively.

 

[jlej731]

So I'm looking at relocating to Seattle. My wife is from a larger city, and she loves Seattle. I've been here my whole life, ISU grad, west des moines resident. Tough for me to do, but I think I'll enjoy it in Seattle too. I like to fly fish on vacations, enjoy the mountains, and other outdoor activities. There's a lot I'll miss, some I won't, and lord knows the traffic will be on a different scale. So I'm taking my IT skills and my wife's paralegal out of state, not enough that I like here to keep me here.

Who else moved away, what'd you find out?

I moved to Seattle after I graduated and it's been great so far! I miss Iowa a lot because of friends and family, but there is a TON to do out here!

 

[CTTB78]

Alaska, I was speaking for myself. And, I'm happy for you.

 

[cyrocksmypants]

I moved to Seattle after I graduated and it's been great so far! I miss Iowa a lot because of friends and family, but there is a TON to do out here!

I'm digging the avatar. If they can pull off a MAJOR upset against Boise, they have a great chance of going undefeated in conference and finishing 10-2. If only they wouldn't have blown that Colorado game.