Hi! Welcome to the lovely PNW! I've lived in Seattle, Austin, and Portland where I live now. I love Seattle very much but there is a severe issue of having absolutely no parking whatsoever. If you venture out to the suburbs a little there is more parking (ie: both of my brothers bought houses in Ballard solely because the houses had garages). Across the pond there is certainly more parking options as well as up north.
There's another little issue: the 520 floating bridge is due for major reconstruction and its one of two bridges that cross Lake Washington. So suddenly what was already a hideous, painful commute from Seattle to Bellevue/Redmond will become even more hideous.
When I lived there last, I lived on Queen Anne and commuted by bicycle to Redmond. I was in shape then. For comparison, it took less time to bike than driving it if you have a 9-5 job. Eventually I took a 3pm-11pm shift just to avoid the traffic altogether.
It's a tough situation. Depending on your lifestyle, you might find living in Seattle to much more fun and dynamic. It's easier to get about on the east side of the pond but even there its getting more and more congested all the time. Plus, depending how much money you make housing can be quite expensive.
Will you have the chance to do any kind of scouting before you move up?
You might consider Bothell, University Village, or Ravenna.
-marcus
QUOTE(mightyohm @ Apr 15 2012, 09:29 AM)
Just wanted to give a heads-up to the PNW crowd that I am likely to join your ranks in the next couple months.
A job has come up in Seattle that will take Kylie and I away from Austin, where we have been for just under 2 years now. (We sure move around a lot.)
We'll be looking for a place to live in the near future. Definitely looking for a 2+ car garage this time, I'm tired of having to push Kylie's car out of the way when I need to do anything in our tiny 1 car garage!
One question I wanted to ask ya'll - if I'm working in Bellevue, is it realistic to even consider living in Seattle? Or would I be better off staying on the East side? (Redmond, etc??) I'm not sure what commute times are typical, but I realize that any commute involving a bridge is usually difficult (lived in the Bay Area for 8 years).
I'm looking forward to meeting everyone in the area.