So I moved to Seattle

Cyranix wrote:

Arise, thread!

I'm accepting a job offer in Seattle, and naturally my first second third ninth thought was "Hey, I think there are a lot of fun-lovin' goodjers in Seattle! I should say hello!"

I'll be in town sometime in early March to try to find a place to live, looking to move in April. I'll try to browse the existing Seattle threads, but any suggestions on 1) a neighborhood to live in*, 2) an internet provider to use**, 3) a FLGS to patronize, and 4) good places to eat are definitely welcome.

I'm also open to letting my arrival be an excuse for a S&T, since I never managed to do that in Austin.

* I'll be working at Socrata, whose office is 83 S King. I'm hoping to live reasonably close to work, but I don't know anything about the nearby neighborhoods.
** No TV or phone needed.

Double post - see next page.

Here are all rentals under $3k/month within 30 minutes by bike of your job.

http://www.padmapper.com/?lat=47.598...

Best Burgers: Bluemoon Burgers and Four Guys. Dicks has the best fries but they are more like MacDonalds type place.

Best Seattle Song: My Posse's on Broadway by Six Mix A Lot. Broadway isn't cool any more.

Best Fake Lake to run around: Green Lake

Best place to hide a body: Green Lake

Best place to buy shoes: Ross, bought 3 pair about 4 years back and they still look new.

Best place to pick up hookers: Craigslist but you have to know the secret code. It is

Spoiler:

Give me all your money or die

. If you say it wrong good luck.

Best place to never go: Space Needle. If you go everyone will know you aren't from Seattle.

Best Activity: Nude parade or Sea Fair. You can either watch nakid people or hydroplanes. Heck do both.

Best place to shoot guns: Wade's or some other place. There are only two ranges near Seattle. I forget the other one.

Best of the Best: Once you have been here for 30 years someone will come find you and let you know. Then you can never leave.

Baron Of Hell wrote:

Best Burgers: Red Mill. The clue to Dicks is in the name. Avoid.

Best Seattle Song: Spoonman. Because a crazy old bearded hippie playing the spoons is even better when he's real.

Best Fake Lake to run around: Lake Washington (go big or go home!)

Best place to hide a body: Discovery Park - unless the body you want to hide is an affluent white person in yoga pants, in which case, Green Lake is correct - they'll blend right in.

Best place to buy shoes: Super Jock'n'Jill or REI for their insane return policies.

Best place to pick up hooks: Home Depot (screw you, Lowes!)

Best place to never go: Renton. Just don't. Also Dicks (see above).

Best Activity: Point in a direction at random. There are mountains in that direction within an hour or two's drive. Mountains are f***ing brilliant. Go climb up them or slide down them depending on the season.

Best place to shoot guns: Martin Luther King Way, according to the Facebook posts of my friends who live there and hear gunshots on a regular basis.

I've fixed everything for you, Baron.

Serious notes for Cyranix - with where your work is, have a look at Mount Baker, Columbia City, or maybe even Hillman City (in descending order of closeness to work). Madrona and Leschi are lovely, but super expensive yuppy places. West Seattle will be an option, although traffic is a killer getting in and out of it, and that's only going to get worse when (if) the tunnel to replace the viaduct is completed. Belltown would be convenient if living downtown is your thing (yay for being close to everything, boo for drunks, douchebros and crackheads).

Baron Of Hell wrote:

Best place to shoot guns if you want lead poisoning or to be negligently shot by some holster sniffing mall cop ninja: Wade's or some other place. There are only two ranges near Seattle. I forget the other one.

Fixed that for you.

If you want a real place, you can go to West Coast Armory, one of only 18 other ranges in the country with a five star rating from the NSSF, Renton Fish and Game Club, Snoqualmie Valley, or Seattle Police Athletic Association.

For skeet/trap and archery go to Kenmore.

Doesn't Wade's break tons of OSHA and labor laws too? That place really doesn't deserve anyone's money.

Jonman wrote:
Baron Of Hell wrote:

Best Burgers: Red Mill. The clue to Dicks is in the name. Avoid.

Best Seattle Song: Spoonman. Because a crazy old bearded hippie playing the spoons is even better when he's real.

Best Fake Lake to run around: Lake Washington (go big or go home!)

Best place to hide a body: Discovery Park - unless the body you want to hide is an affluent white person in yoga pants, in which case, Green Lake is correct - they'll blend right in.

Best place to buy shoes: Super Jock'n'Jill or REI for their insane return policies.

Best place to pick up hooks: Home Depot (screw you, Lowes!)

Best place to never go: Renton. Just don't. Also Dicks (see above).

Best Activity: Point in a direction at random. There are mountains in that direction within an hour or two's drive. Mountains are f***ing brilliant. Go climb up them or slide down them depending on the season.

Best place to shoot guns: Martin Luther King Way, according to the Facebook posts of my friends who live there and hear gunshots on a regular basis.

I've fixed everything for you, Baron.

Serious notes for Cyranix - with where your work is, have a look at Mount Baker, Columbia City, or maybe even Hillman City (in descending order of closeness to work). Madrona and Leschi are lovely, but super expensive yuppy places. West Seattle will be an option, although traffic is a killer getting in and out of it, and that's only going to get worse when (if) the tunnel to replace the viaduct is completed. Belltown would be convenient if living downtown is your thing (yay for being close to everything, boo for drunks, douchebros and crackheads).

One reason to go to Renton: Spice King. It's in a dump of a location, but great Indian food there.

Chairman_Mao wrote:

One reason to go to Renton: Spice King. It's in a dump of a location, but great Indian food there.

The irony of someone with a Shoreline address dumping on Renton does not escape me

You guys are really selling me on Seattle...

I can safely skip all the gun stuff. And I don't think information on hookers, dead bodies, and suchlike is going to be pertinent for at least three months.

Hiking/running and general outdoor awesomeness is good to know about, though.

Don't let all these suburb-dwelling greenhorns worry you. It's a quite nice place to be, especially in the city.

Cyranix wrote:

You guys are really selling me on Seattle...

I can safely skip all the gun stuff. And I don't think information on hookers, dead bodies, and suchlike is going to be pertinent for at least three months.

Hiking/running and general outdoor awesomeness is good to know about, though.

The Washington Trails Association is fantastic. It's a great and I use it most weekends (especially given our mild winter). Since I've moved here April, I've been on 15-20 hikes with my family, all within a two hour drive of the city.

Jonman wrote:
Chairman_Mao wrote:

One reason to go to Renton: Spice King. It's in a dump of a location, but great Indian food there.

The irony of someone with a Shoreline address dumping on Renton does not escape me :)

I'm not up on my local geography to be honest, so I'm missing the irony

+1 on the Washington Trails Association. Good stuff.

Cyranix, do you read RSS feeds? You should subscribe or at least bookmark and read these regularly.

http://seattle.findwell.com/million-...
http://seattle.eater.com/
http://www.seattlemet.com/
http://seattletransitblog.com/
http://www.washingtonbeerblog.com/
http://www.thestranger.com/

People have already covered all the good advice I think, so I'm just saying YAAAAAAY!

Trashie wrote:
Cyranix wrote:

You guys are really selling me on Seattle...

I can safely skip all the gun stuff. And I don't think information on hookers, dead bodies, and suchlike is going to be pertinent for at least three months.

Hiking/running and general outdoor awesomeness is good to know about, though.

The Washington Trails Association is fantastic. It's a great and I use it most weekends (especially given our mild winter). Since I've moved here April, I've been on 15-20 hikes with my family, all within a two hour drive of the city.

This.

I strongly recommend volunteering for their trail maintenance work parties. You spend a day (or several if that's your style) out in the woods, sweating up a storm making the woods even better. I try and do a couple each year.

Washington Trails Assoc sounds awesome, thanks for the tips!

And I do, in fact, subscribe to many RSS feeds. I'll toss those links in a new folder. Much appreciated, Edwin!

Chairman_Mao wrote:
Jonman wrote:
Chairman_Mao wrote:

One reason to go to Renton: Spice King. It's in a dump of a location, but great Indian food there.

The irony of someone with a Shoreline address dumping on Renton does not escape me :)

I'm not up on my local geography to be honest, so I'm missing the irony :(

Let's charitably say that Shoreline isn't exactly a Mecca of cultural importance or thrilling excitement.

Jonman wrote:
Chairman_Mao wrote:
Jonman wrote:
Chairman_Mao wrote:

One reason to go to Renton: Spice King. It's in a dump of a location, but great Indian food there.

The irony of someone with a Shoreline address dumping on Renton does not escape me :)

I'm not up on my local geography to be honest, so I'm missing the irony :(

Let's charitably say that Shoreline isn't exactly a Mecca of cultural importance or thrilling excitement.

Ha! I just assumed that was true for most towns around Seattle that are not Seattle, though I'm probably wrong. I love living in my little suburbia, so long I as don't need to leave the castle too often.

Should be called "What $1400 rent gets you if you want to live in the absolute best location of a handful of great neighborhoods"

Though some of those were still better than I expected. That West Seattle in particular.

I'll be in Seattle to look for apartments starting Wednesday! The areas of Capitol Hill and Queen Anne seem to be most promising.

Jonman wrote:
Trashie wrote:
Cyranix wrote:

You guys are really selling me on Seattle...

I can safely skip all the gun stuff. And I don't think information on hookers, dead bodies, and suchlike is going to be pertinent for at least three months.

Hiking/running and general outdoor awesomeness is good to know about, though.

The Washington Trails Association is fantastic. It's a great and I use it most weekends (especially given our mild winter). Since I've moved here April, I've been on 15-20 hikes with my family, all within a two hour drive of the city.

This.

I strongly recommend volunteering for their trail maintenance work parties. You spend a day (or several if that's your style) out in the woods, sweating up a storm making the woods even better. I try and do a couple each year.

Anyone know of anything similar to the WTA in Oregon? I've been looking for something like that in the Portland area.

Don't mind me, I just lurk here after contemplating a move to Seattle a few years back but settling in Portland. I still like visiting Seattle.

Okay, first day of apartment hunting done. More of a half-day, but saw quite a bit of the Capitol Hill area. Nothing I was ready to commit to on the spot, but a few that could work for me. The tradeoffs as you move northeast in that neighborhood — higher prices, lower availability, less commercial feel, etc. — were felt strongly. Tomorrow might be a Queen Anne day.

If anyone goes out dancing at the Century Ballroom tonight, look for me!

Scaphism wrote:
Jonman wrote:
Trashie wrote:
Cyranix wrote:

You guys are really selling me on Seattle...

I can safely skip all the gun stuff. And I don't think information on hookers, dead bodies, and suchlike is going to be pertinent for at least three months.

Hiking/running and general outdoor awesomeness is good to know about, though.

The Washington Trails Association is fantastic. It's a great and I use it most weekends (especially given our mild winter). Since I've moved here April, I've been on 15-20 hikes with my family, all within a two hour drive of the city.

This.

I strongly recommend volunteering for their trail maintenance work parties. You spend a day (or several if that's your style) out in the woods, sweating up a storm making the woods even better. I try and do a couple each year.

Anyone know of anything similar to the WTA in Oregon? I've been looking for something like that in the Portland area.

Don't mind me, I just lurk here after contemplating a move to Seattle a few years back but settling in Portland. I still like visiting Seattle.

An acquaintance of mine is in charge of Recreation(Trails fall under the recreation side of the house with the Forest Service) out of the Hood River Ranger Station with the US Forest Service. I can inquire with him if you're interested.

Thanks Druid, I would appreciate it.

Email sent. If I don't hear from him(i.e I don't get back to you, please remind me if I don't) I'll lure him into Portland with some beers and pester him then.

A quick reply.

I'll give it a little more thought, but off the top of my head. Pacific Crest Trail Association http://www.pcta.org/volunteer/ and Washington Trails Association are the two big ones that come to mind. WTA does some great work in SW Washington (http://www.wta.org/volunteer/trail-w...) and much of it would be very accessible from Portland. While I haven't fit one into the schedule just yet... they host an Ales and Trails event that has always intrigued me. If he enjoys a cold beer... this might be a great place to start http://www.wta.org/events/trails-and...

It would appear that we need to start a Portland area chapter of the pcta.

Edit: There is one! PCTA Mount Hood Chapter. And it looks like they're doing some saw certs towards the end of the month. If you haven't run a crosscut before, I really recommend it. Otherwise, you won't be running saws, but it's not the end of the world to be a swamper. /hijack

Is there a good resource for food trucks in Seattle?

Druidpeak wrote:

A quick reply.

I'll give it a little more thought, but off the top of my head. Pacific Crest Trail Association http://www.pcta.org/volunteer/ and Washington Trails Association are the two big ones that come to mind. WTA does some great work in SW Washington (http://www.wta.org/volunteer/trail-w...) and much of it would be very accessible from Portland. While I haven't fit one into the schedule just yet... they host an Ales and Trails event that has always intrigued me. If he enjoys a cold beer... this might be a great place to start http://www.wta.org/events/trails-and...

It would appear that we need to start a Portland area chapter of the pcta.

Edit: There is one! PCTA Mount Hood Chapter. And it looks like they're doing some saw certs towards the end of the month. If you haven't run a crosscut before, I really recommend it. Otherwise, you won't be running saws, but it's not the end of the world to be a swamper. /hijack

Thanks Druid! That's a great start. Yes I enjoy beer (how could anyone in Portland not enjoy) and no, I haven't run a crosscut.