I personally wouldn't recommend Seattle; it's gotten too overcrowded up there, and they've planned so poorly for the expanding population that the roads are a constant mess, plus they can't seem to agree on any kind of comprehensive mass transit to allow people to get around beyond buses and a commuter train, though they are working on it (it's just taking for-fucking-ever), and just opened up SLUT (okay, okay, it's the South Lake Union Streetcar, but I still prefer the original name of South Lake Union Tram and its accompanying acronym). They also keep allowing Seattle to grow outwards, though hopefully a great deal of that growth will be tempered by the economic slowdown.
The climate doesn't suck as much as you think it does here in the PacNW. Seattle and NW Washington do have sort of a drizzly thing going on in the winter that my family affectionately calls "the dismals." I don't think we're alone. But there are still beautiful days even in the rainy season that catch you completely off guard, and make life worth living.
If I were going to try to sell anyone on the PacNW, I'd tell them to move to Portland. I love Portland. It's just a fun, funky city. There is a bumper sticker that many people have on their cars (and bicycles) around Oregon that says "Keep Portland Weird". It always makes me smile when I see one. Unlike Seattle, they have a good handle on things and plan accordingly on a regional level to handle mass transportation needs, urban growth, and public services. And Portland has a track for motorcycle racing:
Portland International Raceway.
The weather in Oregon is not as drizzly as Washington's. Generally, when it rains here, it rains, and then 15 minutes later it's something completely different (may be bright, bright sunshine), and then 15 minutes after that it's something else. Sometimes in the middle of winter we get spells of sunny days that knock my socks off. Honestly, I try not to let people know this; the PacNW in general has a reputation of being a place where it rains all the time, but quite frankly, that's not the whole truth. We've just all been telling the rest of the country that so that they won't move here. We have enough Californicators.
And here is a joke for everyone to enjoy:
Quote:
A Texan, a Californian, and an Oregonian are sitting around a campfire. The Texan takes a swig of tequila, throws his bottle in the air, draws a gun, and shoots the bottle. The Californian is surprised. "Why did you do that?" he asks. "Where I come from there's plenty of tequila," the Texan responds.
Then the Californian takes out a bottle of Napa cabernet. He pours a glass, takes a sip, tosses his bottle into the air... and shoots it into pieces. The Texan asks, "Why'd you do that?" "Where I come from we've got plenty of cabernet," the Californian replies.
Then the Oregonian takes out a bottle of Widmer Hefeweizen. He downs it in one go, throws the bottle in the air, shoots the Californian, and catches the bottle before it hits the ground. The Texan is taken aback. "Why'd you do that?" he asks. "Well," the Oregonian responds, "where I come from there are plenty of Californians... but this bottle is worth five cents."
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