Thoughts on Seattle? Is it a nice place to live? Is it easy to make friends if I don't drink or club?

Apr 1, 2021 81 Comments

I've never been to Seattle, but it sounds like a great place. I'm not a fan of mega US cities like NYC. I'm from a non-US big city myself, but my biggest issue is that people in US big cities tend to be less nice, harder to talk to and make friends with. I am a shy extrovert who likes to make friends but isn't always brave enough to do it. I also don't drink or go clubbing, prefer outdoors, like hiking and camping, or just walking and exploring the city.

On the other hand, small towns are boring af. Very little to do, people tend to be nicer and more open, but they also tend to be conservative trump types (if it's pretty small) and less likely to want to be friends with me, being an immigrant, anyways. I lived in a small town in Alabama and did not like it at all.

I currently live in Washington DC. I really like it. Very diverse, it's a city but not a super large one, maybe it would be nicer if it was a liiitttle bigger but it's fine. People here are very nice, many people wanting to make friends. Weather is good, but a little too hot in summer. Politically it is pretty progressive. The biggest issue is that so many job opportunities require either citizenship or security clearance. I have none of those (though I'm fully legal to work).

Seattle seems a bit more techy, it has more nature scene and better hiking it seems, which I really like. Better than drinking. It also has cooler summers and warmer winters. The rain doesn't bother me but I'm not excited about it either. I wish it had more snow, but that's a sacrifice I'm willing to take. Seattle seems much more progressive, but I am unsure how easy it'll be to make friends and if people are nice there or if they are snobby and big city like.

Age: 24 soon to be 25
YOE: 2

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  • I hated living there. It’s mostly grey sky’s and it rains all the time. To answer your question look up Seattle freeze. It’s a real thing there. We lived there for 15 years before moving to the Bay Area. Can’t ever imagine going back to the PNW
    Apr 1, 2021 13
  • Amazon
    BigBoy__

    Go to company page Amazon

    BigBoy__
    I lived there for a year before making the inverse move you made (Seattle to DC area). I loved the outdoors in Seattle. The PNW is incredibly beautiful. The grey sky, I didn't give a crap about. Incredible food, great bars, and you can literally pick any random direction and any distance and there will be awesome stuff to see (Bavarian themed towns, abandoned military forts, volcanos, awesome hikes, western themed towns, etc).

    It is a very tense city though. All the people who don't work in tech hate those who do. They feel as if we took their city away from them. They have to scrape by working 2 jobs to pay rent with 19 roommates because a 1br apartment is like $2500. It's also extremely woke in there. Obnoxiously so.
    Apr 1, 2021 5
    • New
      bill_jobs

      New

      bill_jobs
      In France, if you are gay or black or whatever no one cares, hence zero rainbow flags, or "Safe Space" stickers, or "Ally" badges in restaurant or business windows.

      In Seattle, this is effectively the state religion, which is ironic because it's one of the least religious cities and yet there's still this human need that Seattlites fill with wokeism, so they advertise it and preach it and enforce it everywhere.
      Apr 2, 2021
    • Microsoft / Eng
      reasonabl

      Go to company page Microsoft Eng

       reasonabl
      Anecdotally agree with Amazon-

      I experienced this over-wokeness first hand when I was visiting Seattle once and it was overbearing. Was in a Seattle bar catching up with a friend and decided to order a drink- they ask what kind of bourbon, and me not knowing / caring much about alcohol asks for the one bourbon name that came to mind, Bulleit. Miracle I even know a brand of bourbon tbh, and apparently this is not a welcome brand in Seattle-

      Cue the bartender patronizing me in front of everyone at the bar via ‘sorry, we don’t serve bulleit here due to their stance on the LGBTQ+ community and their something something hatred.’ It was a bit more drawn out than that but rather than saying ‘we don’t have that’ the explanation had to be expanded to virtue signaling on behalf of the bar. And caught a few dirty looks from patrons afterwards. Wtf? Just wanted an old fashioned.

      Wish we had more of a universally accepting culture in the US for sure but I prefer france’s approach where acceptance is assumed and there’s no need for throwing virtue signaling in peoples faces all the time.
      Apr 20, 2021
  • Unity
    dpOj68

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    dpOj68
    Seattle is lovely. It's getting too expensive to live, but it's the best city in the USA I've lived so far.
    Apr 1, 2021 2
  • Amazon
    mbdqserve

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    mbdqserve
    I made the move from DC to Seattle. A few observations: 1) it’s a less clean city; a lot more homeless and trash on the streets, and much uglier buildings. DC has a historic bent to it, and i miss all that since moving here. 2) it’s a lot more techy; DC is a company town, and it felt like everyone was in govt or consulting. In seattle, it feels like most people I meet are in tech or married to someone in tech. 3) it’s much lower key. DC had an energy to it when I was there - a lot of young people going out at the time, lots of activities to do like concerts, lectures, happy hours, etc. Seattle doesn’t have near as much of that, and I miss it. That said, we have great outdoor activities like hiking and snowboarding/skiing, so that helps. 4) some people complain about the seattle freeze, but I didn’t find that to be true. It’s all about the effort you put into making friends and meeting people. Overall, it’s not a bad place to be, but want to make sure you go in with eyes open before you make the decision.
    Apr 1, 2021 2
    • OP
      Thank you so much for the detailed answer. I think the energy you saw in DC was the stuff I am less interested in (not saying it's bad obviously, just not my type). I am much more an outdoors person than a party person. I think Seattle is worth trying out. Thanks!!
      Apr 1, 2021
    • Microsoft
      blryface

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      Amazon
       blryface
      That said it’s a music and activism town here. The thing is that Seattle is pretty politically diverse despite what butthurt republicans say. So you ha e all kinds of political rally’s and protests. And then concerts are nonstop. It’s just that plenty of people aren’t into those things so you may run in circles that never talk about them and have no idea.
      Apr 14, 2021
  • Facebook / Eng
    z12z12

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     z12z12
    The rain in Seattle isn’t bad, what’s bad is the constant gloom and lack of sunlight. It can make the winters very long and dreary.

    Personally I think it is difficult to make friends here, and most people I meet are standoffish. There is a phenomenon called Seattle Freeze, look into it, although your experiences here may be different. There are also a lot of transplants in the city so this might not be an issue for you.

    The hiking and nature scene is unlike any other though. There’s so much you can do nearby, and snow for skiing and snowboarding is also easily accessible.

    Besides nature, my impression of Seattle is that the rest of it is a little sleepy. The majority of things to do are outdoorsy things.
    Apr 1, 2021 2