1) When considering the move here, remember that the weather will affect you more than you think it will. I looooove cloudy, cold weather. Still, I am much moodier because of the seasons here. You will get used to it, but the first year can be a bit of a shock. Our combined summer and spring rarely top 12 weeks of the year.

2) Capitol Hill, Capitol Hill, Capitol Hill. It's like SF, but only like 75% as expensive (though, by the time you move here, it might be on par). Go to Raygun Lounge in the daytime, Julia's in the evening, R Place until midnight and then Pony after that. Unless you're into bears and taints, then go to Diesel.

3) Don't go north of Green Lake or south of the Central District while you're here. It's not that there aren't good places beyond those boundaries, but you're going to start to question whether or not you're in a major American city anymore that farther out.

4) Our weirdness is way less zany than Portland's and far more stuck-up.

5) Weed is legal, but you can't buy it yet, so make sure a friend has some.

You don't NEED to live in Cap Hill just cuz you happen to be gay, that's just... I don't have words. Oh, you're gay? You MUST go live in this one small segment of the city that is rapidly gentrifying and super expensive!
Don't get me wrong, I love the hill, but I lived there ten years ago and it ain't the place I remember.
Sure, by all means, visit, feel the vibe, and if you like it, go ahead and look for housing there. But there are plenty of other gay friendly neighborhoods, and many of them will have better/cheaper housing options.

Take a ferry (fairy?) ride to Bainbridge and back. Spend 2-3 hours on Metro or Link just going wherever so that you can see how inferior public transportation is here. Go to Pony. Have a cream cheese schmeared hot dog after midnight. Walk through Cal Anderson and Volunteer Parks (before midnight). Discover that guys on Grindr/Scruff/Jack'd are no different here than in NYC. Get a Nico at the Cafe Vivace walk-up bar on Broadway. Have fun!

You'll fall in love with Seattle. All of it. It is soooo not the east coast. And whatever you hear about the weather, let me say this; it does get dark in the winter. But you seldom have all the fucking snow or bitter cold to deal with. And once our summer gets going, it's awesome.

Only thought: You'll fit in.

I will also say that I can't think of a better place for a gay arty nerd than Seattle. If you can handle the rainy climate and the culture shock (I moved to NYC from here, spent six years there, then came back, so yes, there will be culture shock), you just might fall in love.

Hmm... New York vs Seattle...

If you move to Seattle the honking will stop. You know, that never ending honking for no goddamn reason? That honk because you dared to go through a cross walk? That honk because you want to merge lanes. It all stops.

In fact, be careful when you step up to a curb because cars in Seattle WILL STOP. I know, mind boggling, but drivers in Seattle stop for pedestrians. I once caused a traffic jam when I decided to send a text before crossing the street.

Welcome to a more civilized life.

Capitol Hill may be a good decision for the reasons listed, though other neighborhoods may be just as welcoming. You'll certainly find like-minded people to hang with. Just remember, compared to NYC, Seattle is tiny.

Regardless of the neighborhood, check out the grocery & retail options nearby. If you aren't bringing a car (NYC!), then look at how you will get to that grocery store and other retail destinations. Living in Seattle without a car also means walking up & down some hills. Can you walk 5 miles a day, every day, and not be sore tomorrow? Will it bother you if 6 of those 5 miles are walked in the rain?

Lastly, how well do you deal with passive-aggressive social behavior? If someone gets in your face in Seattle, it's not the start of a discussion, it's the beginning of an assault. But don't worry, a man-child wannabe superhero will be around shortly to pepper spray your attacker, if you're being attacked by Baconcat.

I'm a NYC to SEA transplant, too. The weather here is a LOT better! Mild summers and mild winters. On average it is not that much cloudier than NY in the winter, and it is a lot warmer. My fall jacket in NY is now my winter jacket in Seattle.

NY has better shopping and more theater, but Seattle has some theater and opera. I do miss off-Broadway though. The bagels here are, alas, not that good. In terms of gay neighborhoods, CapHill is more accessible than, say, Chelsea or the Village, if you are trying to actually afford to live there. But we don't have Chelsea Market or the High Line.

Seattle has good public transit, and depending on where you live you may never drive. I rarely do. We don't have a subway though and some buses stop running at night. Our cabs aren't as reliable. But parking is easier if you do have a car, and with uber et. al the cab situation is noticeably improving.

We're more nerdy in Seattle. We have several comic cons and there are several adult meetups each week to play Magic.
Beer is better, movies are cheaper, drivers are slightly more deranged but not as bad as New Jersey.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoy living here and I'm not sure I could afford the same quality of life in someplace like Chelsea. Seattle has some of NYC's vibrancy, which I really enjoy.

Go to the /r/Seattle subreddit, and read the FAQs. It has pretty much everything you need to know.

Where to live?

Fremont: Weekend nights the sidewalks are filled with drunken floosies and the wannabe yuppie men who adore them.

South Lake Union: Our newest neighborhood, mostly populated by workers in orange vests, hard hats, etc.

Belltown: An old formerly cool neighborhood that went through a "douchebag" phase, but I'm rooting for its rebirth.

Pioneer Square: Lots of affordable lofts, and lots of affordable homeless people.

Central District: Where you go to live if you can't afford Capitol Hill.

University District: Nah.

Capitol Hill: Your new neighborhood!

Everywhere else: Predominantly single family housing surrounding some vaguely charming business districts.

@3 - I jokingly resent your misrepresentation of San Francisco's current batshitcrazy rental prices. Average asking for a 1 bedroom here is $2,700. *pause* I know.

Seattle sounds like a good fit for ya, and the Hill is a good suggestion—it's one of the liveliest parts of town, and a single person going straight for New York City to Ballard is a recipe for depression. Good luck to you, and give Seattle a try, NYC will always be there.

P.S. If you can find work there, Portland may be worth looking into as well.

Google up: "Seattle Freeze" and "June Gloom".

You should know that non-seattleites all agree that the Seattle Freeze is real, and Seattleites will go into denial when the topic comes up.

West Seattle is still underrated, judging from the comments so far given.

Ignore @16. We don't talk about those things with outsiders.

Get drinks on Capitol Hill, circle Greenlake for stroller- and frenchie-watching, Card Kingdom, get out on a boat in Lake Union (for the 4th if you can swing it), Zanadu Comics, walk the Ave, check out the Night Market in the ID, Central Cinema (Goonies from the 5th on), drink some punnily named hop-focused beer in a Sounders bar (they're home on the 3rd), Derby night (8th).

@ 20 reminds me - "The Ave" refers to a street called "University Way" (not avenue). Newcomers have been stymied by this fact millions of times.

@15, you can hardly call north of 85th outside of civilization, and encourage the guy to consider West Seattle, which is much more on the periphery than, say, Maple Leaf. That said, there are pretty much no business districts north of 90th that I would call attractions.

I have nothing against West Seattle, I rarely go there, and would be happy to be proven wrong.

The people who complain about the Seattle Freeze are generally the sorts of people who deserve to get Frozen.

If you're IT oriented and into the nerdy stuff like comics and video games, you'll be in hog heaven even with seattle clique and passive aggressive behavior.

Being a native NY'er myself, I would say that the public transportation in Seattle is good.........during rush hours in spite of our problematic traffic issues, but it can really stink off peak hours--inconsistent and late arrival times are common. Capitol Hill for bus service is better than average in the city since so many lines go through the neighborhood.

If you live in Capitol Hill, there may not be much of a need for a car unless you work far from the center of the city--the eastside or snohomish county--because getting bus routes to places of work in those areas can be hit or miss depending on the employer's location.

Dude, I am also a gay nerdy NYC artist. I love Seattle.

Can I come with you?

Everything in the world makes Seattle better than NYC. I know this because I've met shit loads of people from NYC who never move back. I've also never known someone from Seattle to move and STAY put in NYC, but this is anecdotal and hardly of use.

Seattle has trees and plants instead of skyscrapers, we have oxygen instead of carbon manoxide, intelligent open people instead of closed snobby assholes and more and more and more.

Ok, so people may stop for a full conversation because they are socially incapable of ending a stop and chat, and maybe there is very little diversity but those are probably my only cons to Seattle people. Oh, and get ready for our public transportation, actually, buy a car.

JK, I lived in Seattle for 11 years without using car, but I like to walk a lot, so if you don't, buy one.

Hmmmm, there are dogs everywhere which is awesome. You can drive 45 minutes to shitty skiing (snoqualmie), 1.5 hours to good skiing (stevens, crystal), 3 hours to great skiing (Baker, Canada). Seattle exists on a lake and the Sound so there's that and the ocean is like 2 hours. Also there is the Olympic mountain range and the Cascades, which comes to the South view of Mt. Fucking Rainier.

My Seattle Activities:

1. Go to golden gardens for sunset, bring local beer.

2. Eat at Rancho Bravo Tacos on cap hill after visiting any bar you like. There are plenty of good ones.

3. Get your favorite fast-ethnic food on The Ave. in the U district.

4. Avoid West Seattle, even though people will tell you how awesome Alki is. Yes it is awesome, but no it is not worth going over that bridge.

5. Go to Le Panier and get a baguette and then Beechers and get whatever cheese you like (Camembert for me please). Take your bounty to the end of the St. where you can eat and be offered any drug you like (or not, only if you want, even though 50% of the people there are selling drugs, they are so good at knowing who isn't interested. I've never been approached THERE but seen sooooo many deals go down there. However, anywhere near the Moore theatre at night downtown is sketchy as fuck. I saw mos def there and on the way from the concert was offered drugs i'm pretty sure don't exist, thrown snowballs at for not buying said drugs, and then followed and poked by a completely different person with their umbrella. It WASN'T raining).

I cant't see what number I'm on, fuck.

26. Hmmmm. Weed is legal here, if you are drawing stuff and marking art I feel like that may be relavent.

Umm. Hmmm. Thinking... Words not coming... Typing my thoughts.... Not... Having... Thoughts.. So I guess that's my conclusion.

hahahaha i'm not even gonna TRY re-reading my post and editing it down, that's it. Hope it helps when your in Seattle. I think I gave you like 1 or 2 viable things to do, if you made it this far.

The weather you experience in July will not be the weather you experience from October to June. If you love sunshine, this might not be your place.

There's more beautiful and interesting things in the Puget Sound area and greater Washington state than Seattle, despite what many may tell you. If you're a fan of mountains, water, the wilderness and walking in the woods then opportunities abound.

You don't necessarily need to explore those things to help your decision to move here if you're primarily focused on the city, but keep them in mind if you do move here.

@ 22, having lived in both Greenwood (at the same parallel as Maple Leaf) and West Seattle, I can assure you that West Seattle is closer to the center of town than Maple Leaf.

We have 9 months of rain, and summer's don't start till July. (June is a transition month, one day sunny and 70, the next 50 and rainy). I think we have the best summer's due to the fact it rarely gets above 80. In fact what was the comment left on SLOG a few years ago by the couple from Alabama visiting, its like you have AC outside.
You will get used to the rain but it will take 2-3 years.

As a transplant I can't say I believe the Seattle freeze exists and moved here as an adult. We have a lot of great neighborhoods so explore them all.

@ 2 I got to say I think we got a good solid 4 months of spring (March-June) but that is me.

The food in Seattle is certainly something you shouldn't neglect while you're here. Find someplace where you can eat local seafood and look at the Sound. There's plenty of them. When the weather's nice and the sun is setting, there's few better arguments for this place.

Also don't write off Pike Place Market as a tourist trap (though in mid-summer it's swarming with them). It's a fun place to wander around for an hour or two, and is surrounded by great number of Seattle's best bars and restaraunts. Plus, it's just a quick bus ride (or walk) from Capital Hill.

RE: Umbrellas

Have an umbrella. There will be times you're glad you have it, and don't let the snobs get you down about using it; you shouldn't feel obligated to be wet if you don't feel like it.

However: it is often impractical to use an umbrella or there just isn't enough rain to make it worth getting it out. Especially downtown, constantly shifting winds will make it difficult to hold onto your umbrella or even angle it in any useful direction.

Oh an public transit isn't that great, it decent but will get better once light rail is finished being built.

@26 Seattle has both intelligent open people and closed snobby assholes while NYC has intelligent open people, snobby assholes, and assholes.

And some of us could use the NHL in the worst way.

Dear young person,

Just about any place in Seattle is delightful. Back in my day, it was all about Capitol Hill, but I also lived in Laurelhurst, the University District, Wallingford and Belltown, and lived to tell about it. Indeed, once my oats were sown, I moved from Capitol Hill to North Beacon Hill, which seems to be getting gayer by the minute.

I do worry that Capitol Hill is too expensive for most young people. With that said, I don't actually know any young people, and have no idea what they do for a living. All the jobs young people had in my day are now being done by machines.

In any event, we're a nice town. Come on over. And if you do, join us here on Slog. We're a cozy bunch. It' like belonging to the Elks Club without having to leave your house.

And Washington has some of the best beer in the USA, world. Also next to Oregon which has debatably better beer than us.

Honestly I could go on all fucking day telling you the greatness of the PNW. I don't think I could stop. I've been to most states in this country, and 22 countries, and have been to places that are extraordinary for many reasons. For me though, living in the NW is worth passing up opportunities (barring like really awesome ones) elsewhere because of how much I enjoy living here.

It could be just chance for me specifically too. I don't care if it isn't sunny a lot. In fact I think it makes me appreciate the beauty of a nice day even more. The summer and fall are incredible for weather and sun till 9:30pm. I get awful allergies here too for like 3-4 weeks but not convincingly bad enough to not live here. It doesn't get freezing cold during the winter, so I can usually wear whatever I want all year round (at night). Seattle also has awesome food. Awesome japanese food, teriyaki, sushi, and awesome thai food (i won't even START naming ones. It would cause conflict), and every other type of food.

One thing is there are badly funded public schools, which led to the passing of a charter schools bill, which will inevitably be a catalyst for the public schools to do even worse. Ok, I have work to do now, enough slog, JEESUSSS

@34 I totally agree, your articulation I believe is much more true! I was being too general haha

@29 - what are you thinking of as the "center of town"? I just google mapped it and from California and Dakota to Capitol Hill is 7.5 miles, from Greenwood to Capitol Hill is 6.5 miles. I know Capitol Hill isn't really the center of town, but it seems like as good a choice as any.

The issue I have with W. Seattle is having to deal with the bridge and traffic. From GW you can take 99, I-5, or even 15th Ave and the Ballard Bridge to go South, so you have options and are less likely to get stuck in traffic. Getting stuck in traffic is one thing that makes me feel like I am on the periphery.

As long as you don't mind an almost non existent summer (it's June 26 and we've had 2 days of sun) and no real alternative transportation other than your car, you'll be fine. Oh yeah, expect to sit in traffic for 2 hours to and from work. It doesn't matter where you work, it'll take you 2 hours to get there. 2 hours to get home.

I'm straight and a little nerdy, and I have fucking loved living in Capitol Hill. If you're under 30, check out Pike/Pine; over 30, I recommend checking out 15th. (But check out both, if you have time, anyway.)

Also consider Georgetown and maybe West Seattle if either doesn't make the commute to work too painful.

Fremont is a nice place to visit but a shitshow on Friday and Saturday nights. Ditto Belltown. Ditto Pioneer Square.

There is basically nothing to do in Downtown, except shop. If you go to Pike Place, go around the corner to Zanadu Comics, too (which is where I'm headed this fine Wednesday as soon as I hit 'publish'.)

Every successful conversation you have with a stranger in Seattle will eventually come around to the topic of how hard it is to meet and talk to people in Seattle, without irony. You'll get used to it.

The rain thing is overstated; the persistent darkness of winter is not. Take a trip somewhere sunny in December or January, for at least a week. Seriously.

Learn about, and prepare for, the "Seattle freeze". People here are much less friendly and much more clickish than in NYC.

Is it just me or do people forget that we've had a pretty epicly glorious spring. Minus the last few weeks and a week in May it's been sunny and warm. Even this rain isn't too bad cause it's still warm. Sorry @41 not trying to pick on you.

As mentioned previously, you definitely don't have to live on Capitol Hill if you're gay, the city is pretty gay friendly in most neighborhoods. I moved to Capitol Hill because I'm super gay, but stayed because of the density, great food and bars, and proximity to downtown where I work. Yes, it has gotten more expensive and gentrified, but moving from NYC it will seem like a bargain. When you're on Capitol Hill, AKA "The Hill" or "Party Mountain" check out Volunteer Park and Cal Anderson during the day, 15th Avenue and Pike and Pine streets during the evening. Some fave places include Pony, Cafe Presse, Marination Station, Madison Pub, Sun Liquor....

I've also heard Ballard's nice!

You absolutely MUST go to Safeway and buy a bag of bagels, the kind that come six to a bag, and eat one. You'll be on the next plane back, and never even whisper the word "Seattle" again.

@39, West Seattle is self-sufficient, Maple Leaf isn't. You need a car in Maple Leaf, because there's nothing of interest there; it's all elsewhere. It's fine if all you want to do is sit in your living room, but if you want to see or do anything, you have to go somewhere, unless your idea of a good time is browsing the car magazines at 7-11. You can spend a perfectly lovely day just strolling around the Junction in West Seattle; you don't have to leave. If you do, it's a much quicker bus ride to downtown.

My recommendation, especially in summer, would be to get out on the water. Take a ferry to Bremerton and back. Or the water taxi to West Seattle and then the shuttle to Alki. If the weather's nice it's unbeatable by anything New York has to offer. Everything else we have, they have more of it.

@ 39, it's downtown.

I'd advise you to be wary of anyone who claims that public transit in Seattle is "decent" or "getting better". You will be dumbstruck by the awfulness.

But don't let that keep you from enjoying our fine food and beverages when you finally arrive at your destination.

But seriously, "nerdy gay" describes a third of Seattle's population, so I think you will enjoy it.

@46, those in the know know that the best bagels are north of Seattle. At the risk of ruining it for us locals, check out the Safeway on 155th and Aurora, and while you are there, have a latte at the Starbucks stand inside. You will not be disappointed.

Regarding self-sufficiency, I see your point; I was thinking of access to "East" Seattle rather than staying in the neighborhood. I would call Greenwood pretty self-sufficient but that is another discussion.

@47, downtown is a dead zone, but regardless, by miles it's pretty even. (I found out just now that the geographic center of Seattle is in the Cascade neighborhood near South Lake Union.) All this said, maybe I should consider moving to West Seattle.

Okay, I am not usually this tangential.

@16 -"June gloom?!" Go back to LA!

/FROZEN

I'm mostly from around here but have spent some time in central Manhatten. For what it's worth: the decrease in night noise will be calming eventually, the slower pace may be frustrating (one thing I loved about NYC is it was so obvious that "outta my way" was never personal and being a slow guy I get that some even here....where it somehow does feel personal). Now tgat Seattle no longer rolls up the sidewalks at 9pm it should be less disorienting than when I came here from Miami.

By all means get out of town some. It's still a plus that wilderness isn't all that far away.

Put Georgetown, along Airport Way, on your list. Fantagraphics and lotsa artists who used to be in Pioneer Square and Capitol Hill. It may not be the place you want to live but it's where your kindred spirits have moved.

North Beacon hill is inexpensive, rapidly improving, has a semi-gay bar at Baja Bistro and a Filipino drag show at Inay's every Friday. Plus it's got light rail which will soon connect to Capitol Hill. The diversity is great - latino, Filipino, Pacific Islander, East African, Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese and more.

And there's Columbia City which has diversity and upscale fun shopping district / restaurants. It's tiny and lacking a gay bar but it too has light rail. So it depends if you need gay bars or prefer online dating.

Seattle has gay people everywhere but these three southend neighborhoods are very gay friendly. I lived on Capitol Hill a couple blocks from Julias and most of the gay bars for many years. It's gotten overrun by lots of very well off tech workers and lost its appeal for me.

Vitamin D supplements. Not optional.

Seriously, this is coming from a hard-nosed skeptic about vitamin supplements in general. Most of them are a waste, but you WILL be D-deficient here and it'll harm you in ways you won't immediately recognize.

Socially, just ignore the shit about the "Seattle freeze." It's something that most people think is real their first year or two here, and unlikeable people continue to blame for their own lack of social success, but the fact is a little more nuanced than that. This is an intellectual town, and an introverted one, and often a depressed one, and people aren't unfriendly but they do tend to run in relatively closed social circles, so be prepared to work hard to meet people and to get the people you do meet to come out and do things with you. It's entirely possible to build a good social support network here; you just have to put some effort into it.

And don't let people tell you what Seattlites "don't do." Just handle the climate and the challenges of transportation in whatever way works best for you. If someone gives you shit about your umbrella, hit them with it.

Have an umbrella until the 5th (good weather starts on that day), but don't then just throw it onto the sidewalk as you might in New York. This is frowned upon.

Pony.

Don't try to find the New York in Seattle. That's a rookie mistake (did you say "museums" plural?).

Someone above suggested getting onto the lake for the 4th. Yes! Find someone with whom to paddle up the ship canal from dinner in Fremont in a 2-person kayak with snacks and weed. Watch the show from somewhere not too close to gasworks park and then just let the slight current carry you back to where you started.

Be friendly.

It's really hard to overstate just how dark and gloomy it is from, say, Thanksgiving to President's Day and the spring here is long and cold, but if you can get used to that, this place is a paradise of temperate weather.

We have some pretty awesome hiking not too far outside the city.

I live in Ballard and love it, but I'm married. Maybe I wouldn't like it as much if I were single.

@50, anyone who goes to 155th and Aurora and visits Safeway instead of Central Market across the street needs their head examined. And anyone with even a passing familiarity with New York is going to be less than thrilled with any bagel on offer here anywhere, let alone one in a deep-suburbia supermarket. As for Starbucks -- uh, really? I can only assume by "will not be disappointed" you mean "will not die of dysentery". Lattes are gross, Starbucks lattes the grossest. You might as well recommend the Taco Bell (when in Shoreline, go to to El Sabor, or wait until you get back to civilization).

Note to New York guy: do not visit Shoreline, period. After you've been here a couple years, maybe, and even then only with a posse. That's like telling someone visiting New York to be sure and check out Englewood, New Jersey. No offense or anything, but we're talking about a young creative socially-active gay guy here

Welcome to Seattle, but say goodbye to diversity, my friend. Yes, the gays are here but you will notice that the Italians, Jews, Cubans, Dominicans, Irish, and blacks are mostly absent. Oh, and the black people out here speak like Eddie Murphy impersonating a white guy. It's trippy. Also, the white people here are really, really, really white. In both color and behavior. Grab a copy of "Stuff White People Like" and you'll be all caught up on this place. Good Luck!

It has to be said: Do not go to Bellevue, do not go to "the East Side". There, done.

I was born in Seattle and grew up in West Seattle. I can say that the "Seattle Freeze" is very real amongst the natives. I experienced it first-hand growing up. In the last 20 or so years, a lot of people have moved to Seattle from elsewhere, so things might be a little better now. In my case, I was surprised how much more genuinely friendly people were in my new locale when I moved away from Seattle.

Regarding West Seattle @46 does have a point about the neighborhood being self-sufficient. You can get most of the necessities of life without having to cross the bridge.

Oh, and regarding the "Seattle Freeze":

We only do that for your own protection. If you need love or happiness to survive you won't like it here. It's best that you find out early.

Hi all! OP here! Thank you, everybody, SOO much for all these amazing comments! This has really made my day. : ) I've been a daily slog-reader for years (thanks to SL), so I figured emailing them might yield positive results. =P

Keep the comments coming! I will be keeping all of this in mind over my trip. A couple extra (potentially relevant) details: I'll be turning 27 a couple days before my trip, I hate the summer, my favorite season is winter, and maybe my one big fear is how infamously "white" Seattle is purported to be. :\ (Not that I don't like white folks, but variety is the spice of life, amirite? Ugh, I did not mean to make a "spice" reference. UNINTENTIONAL.)

Assuming the trip is as great as everyone says it will be, I'll talk with my boss about potentially continuing my current job, but working off-site from Seattle. Looking at Craig's List, Capitol Hill looks to be significantly more affordable than my current apartment. (A $2,125 studio. Yep.)

Everyone here is a little bit nerd, a little bit into comics, and a little gay. (And if they're not a little, then they're a lot.)
Welcome. We're not smiling, but we're glad to have you.

A few suggestions:

Nearly all of Seattle is gay-friendly. Beacon Hill north of Alaska and Columbia City are more affordable choices than Capitol Hill, they are close to everything, and they each have a light rail station. If you need to get to Downtown or Capitol Hill you can be there in minutes. Same for the airport or the Eastside. Consider getting a scooter for when you can't take public transit.

EverfreeNW, a My Little Pony convention, will be at the SeaTac Hilton that weekend. I can think of little that is nerdier or gayer.

If you visit North Beacon Hill then stop in at Tippe & Drague to find out how friendly and gay-friendly the community can be and how freakin' wonderful the beer is. Then slide down to El Queztal for Mexican food, Bar del Corso for fancy pizza, or Travelers for curry.

I second the idea of going to Georgetown to see Fantagraphics, more bars per square foot than any other neighborhood, and good food at Fonda la Cantina, the falafel truck, or Stellar pizza (NYer won't like it). Georgetown is immediately west of Beacon Hill.

There is almost one good bagel place in town and it's Eltana. Montreal style instead of New York, but everything else is just a round piece of bread.

While you're here be sure to visit the International District, have a bowl of pho from almost anywhere, and get yourself a banh mi from either the Seattle Deli or the Saigon Deli around 12th and Jackson. You will never want to live anywhere without pho and banh mi again.

I have long said that Seattle is a great place to live, but I wouldn't want to visit here. We have great parks - Jefferson Park on Beacon Hill is just one excellent example - great beer, fish, mountains, water, culture, and libraries. Seattle Public Library has a huge graphic novel and manga collection and you can reserve it online and they will deliver it to your local branch where they will hold it for you to pick up. You can also borrow e-books from the library. Download them to your e-reader and they self-erase in three weeks. Not very tourist-y, but really adds to the quality of life for residents.

One long shot: visit Junction in West Seattle - California Avenue from about Edmunds to Oregon. It defies explanation, but you might just really like it.

I moved from NYC to Seattle two months after a vacation where I drove from Seattle to Los Angeles (first time on the west coast ever). Just explore - it is easy to get a feel for the different areas just by walking around and checking things out. I moved from Brooklyn and I ended up living on Capitol Hill. I liked it because I didn't own a car (never have) and could walk everywhere - including to every job I ever had. I love West Seattle and would have lived there if I were interested in owning a car. I am also very fond of Ballard.

The coffee and food in Seattle are awesome. The water and the mountains and the music and the art are all part of what makes Seattle such a great place to live. Best difference from NYC is any concert you want to see you can typically get tix for because no one wants to immediately make a commitment (whereas in NYC a show sells out in seconds).

The public transportation in Seattle is absolutely the worst - though maybe slightly better now that the light rail exists and is being expanded. it is also outrageously expensive. As for the lower cost of living - it's a mirage. There is no rent control or tenant rights in Seattle - when I moved to Seattle in 2002 my rent was $650 a month and I paid that for 4 years. Now the same studio apartments rent 3X that. Your rent can and will be raised any percentage amount your landlord wants, every year.

And you will meet people and make friends. While it did seem more difficult for me at first, eventually I forged incredible friendships with amazing people. It takes persistence. It's worth it. And while living in Seattle I loved the mild weather - and I never thought that the weather affected my mood. I did drink excessive amounts of coffee, though. And when I had to leave Seattle in 2007 and return to NY (state, not city) the one thought I had was "wow it really is so much sunnier here during the winter..."

Enjoy your trip! I love both NYC and Seattle - they are very different cities and they both have pros and cons.

If you're in to tech type of nerdy, consider checking out the vistor center at Microsoft in Redmond. If you're without a car you can easily catch a bus out there.

And ignore the "avoid the eastside" people. We're not that bad here in Bellevue.

@ 44 Just the past week really
http://www.weather.com/weather/monthly/U…

@64 since I moved out of Seattle, I would say it is a great place to visit, not to live. There's a lot of great stuff in Seattle, but the weather and the attitude of people are reasons I'm glad to now live elsewhere.

I do agree about the West Seattle Junction. There is something favorable about the area that defies explanation.

Make sure to check out the bars in the Pike Pine Corridor on Cap Hill. That's pretty much where people hang out. Cafe Presse for breakfast/lunch is a staple on the hill also. And the walk-up Vivace on Broadway will change your life with their amazing espresso.

@62, racial and ethnic variety isn't happening here, but people for the most part are intellectually accepting of diversity, and even with that, some, when they actually encounter it, are not always receptive. However, the ones that aren't usually do a good job of pretending they are.

Seattle will certainly teach you how to read people--with many of the natives, you've got to read between the lines, you've got to read their code, things can be indirectly said, unlike NYC and much of the east coast where people put their agenda on the table.

Some great advice here. I agree with most of it. My advice is to get good walking shoes and prepare to wander around the city. This time of year, Seattle has some really nice walking.

It has been said before, but I will say it again, you will fit in here. You will be accepted in any neighborhood you choose. However, you may not know it, because Seattle folks are quiet as hell. Maybe it is the Nordic heritage, but we aren't nearly as friendly as folks in, say, California. But don't assume that our quiet demeanor means we don't like you. We are just enjoying the silence while we drink our IPA. Actually, that is probably the best place to get to know folks in Seattle. Wander into a quiet brewpub and eventually you will get into a very nice and interesting conversation.

From a neighborhood standpoint, we have very little that resembles a big city like New York or Toronto. Basically, we have Capitol Hill and little snippets spread out around town. That might be just your cup of tea, though. Much of the housing in between the urban areas is quite nice. For example, walking around Fremont, Montlake or Queen Anne can be a lot of fun. With a good map, you can wander from a commercial area (where the restaurants, bars, and busy streets are) to a quiet street and a lot of interesting houses. Some of the houses are big and fancy, but most of them are nice, middle class houses on small lots. The variety of landscaping on these lots make for some great walking.

West Seattle is a very nice neighborhood, but it is a bit isolated. For example, if you live in Wallingford, you might walk to the University District or Fremont (and on to Montlake, Capitol Hill or Ballard respectively) but if you are in West Seattle, you pretty much have to get into a car to get to another neighborhood that is as interesting as it. Now days, that means sitting a while in the car, since traffic is bad. Still, that suggests that West Seattle has some bargains. It is certainly worth checking out.

Generally speaking, I wouldn't worry about all of that right now. If you find that you need the hustle and bustle of a big city, then Capitol Hill can provide a cheap and convenient approximation. If you find that you really need the cultural benefits of a big city, then you can find it, you will just have to do more research and (in many cases) just wait a little bit longer. But for an artsy, nerdy, gay lifestyle, Seattle will do just fine.

Also, you have to get comfortable with the idea that you're living in one giant suburb that calls itself "a city" and sees itself as "sophisticated" and "diverse" and "cultured" (it's laughable, but you have to bite your tongue when the locals say this). The speed of the drivers is infuriating. They all drive like little old ladies. And they'll be deeply upset by jaywalking, but walk down the street smoking a joint. Oh, and it's not so much the rain - an incorrect stereotype - it's the neverending CLOUDS.

@70 has a really good point about Seattle people - you have to read between the lines because they say things indirectly, I think to avoid saying something bluntly and to avoid conflict. I find that I do that a lot and people from other parts of the US, particularly the Northeast, do not always understand what I am trying to say indirectly.

@3 "Don't go north of Green Lake or south of the Central District while you're here. It's not that there aren't good places beyond those boundaries, but you're going to start to question whether or not you're in a major American city anymore that farther out."

You couldn't be more wrong about south of the CD. On the contrary, the Rainier Valley, Columbia City, Beacon Hill etc are far and away the most diverse parts of our city, and for that reason feels a lot MORE like a real big city than in many other places. Here is a article about that:
http://citytank.org/2011/07/06/seattle-a…

All you need to know is this:

You will have numerous opportunities to see Dan Savage and Sherman Alexie live every year, sometimes for free.

@ 50, maybe downtown is dead in a sense or three (especially after Wamu) but it's still the city center. And I measure West Seattle from the intersection of 35th Ave SW and SW Admiral Way, as it's the first intersection following the end of the bridge.

But my personal experience is that it took half the time to get downtown from West Seattle (starting at 35th and Morgan) than it did from Greenwood on the 358 (I got on at Northgate Way and Aurora). That held true when driving, especially in non-rush hour traffic. I'll add that I left West Seattle in '99, Greenwood in '03, and Seattle altogether in '05, so it's likely that the traffic just sucks that much more now.

@ 57, not even to go to the Crest?

Confluence, you don't think Asians are diverse from white people? You don't go to SE Seattle?

Soak in the views a bit, it is a major feature of living here. Every morning on my way to work I see two mountain ranges. Don't forget to always check to see if the mountain is out. The neighborhood streets are fairly quaint for city streets. There are still large swaths of single family dwellings with postage stamp sized yards.

There will be hills. Bodies of water obstruct transit routes. Lake Union doesn't seem that big but it gets in the way a lot.

You are visiting during the best weather time of year. You may just catch us during an arid period. But who knows what will blow in.

PNW weather is heavily influenced by water temperature of the puget sound, and the jet stream brings weather to landfall right around our latitude. When the jet stream wobbles into some especially nice warm territory it'll bring us some balmy winds any time of the year (The Pineapple Express).

The main thing to realize is that people being helpful and nice and polite is not the same thing as people being friendly. We all are friendly in the summer, but once the mists and rain and cold comes, you'll wonder what happened.

Some neighborhoods are way more friendly. U Dist, Fremont, Ballard, Queen Anne, Georgetown, Rainier Valley, Alki.

If you can't get around without a car, don't believe any maps that show transit being built to where you will live. That won't happen before 2021. Or bike. If you have to drive, you're in the wrong city - and traffic WILL GET A LOT WORSE for the next couple of decades, so don't count on commute times.

There are diverse neighborhoods. Some don't even realize they're diverse (*West Seattle* cough)

@70 @73 is correct.

@59 is correct. Never go there. Ever.

I made the move from UWS to Seattle in February, and I was happy. Winter is over here, and there's still months of snow and slush to come in NYC. If you move in October, plan to go somewhere sunny at Thanksgiving.

If you're moving for space and to get more for your buck, make sure to do that. There are a lot of things you will miss about NYC, and you need to balance that.

Drivers suck here (almost as bad as Boston) so I would move to Capital Hill if you are working downtown and it will save you having to get a car. Do not believe anyone who tells you there is a transit system in Seattle. Maybe there will be in 5 years. For now, it's like living in Queens, and having to take the 7 train if you're going anywhere.

Diversity is different here, but it exists.

First, with the exception of the Scandinavians, whites here are all pretty much one homogenous indistinguishable white sameness. There are no Italian, Irish, etc. neighborhoods.

There are far fewer blacks in Seattle than in NYC. Fewer Puerto Ricans too. On the other hand, we have a much larger percentage of Asians than NYC.

If you like diversity, stay south of the ship canal. Seattle gets far whiter north of the ship canal. A greater percentage of Seattle's minorities live in central or south Seattle. And don't go over to the east side (Bellevue); it's just embarrassingly white over there.

Capitol Hill is the traditional gayborhood, and is where all of the gay bars are. But you'll find that any neighborhood is extremely welcoming of gays, and there is no need to live in the gay ghetto if you don't want to. Seattle is easily one of the most gay-friendly cities in the entire country, and has been for decades. You'll be perfectly safe and welcome anywhere in the city, not just Capitol Hill.

We don't want any more shitty Least coastie New Yorkers here.

Maybe they should move to Spokane, @86?

Or Portland ...

@87

Maybe they should stay living in the part of the country their shitty values created rather than importing the same pompous, statist rhetoric to the West.

Just be sure to say "on" Capitol Hill rather then "in" Capitol Hill like all of the morons above.

You should move into my apartment

@88, New York gets 79 cents back on every dollar they pay the Feds. Some statists. It's your beloved anti-tax states like Alabama and West Virginia that suckle at the federal teat like nobody's business. You should move there.

Wow, a SLOG thread about Seattle and it took 87 responses before some jackass aimed a gratuitous slam at Portland.

And SLOG's premier jackass too! Such an honor.

Go to Rudy's barbershop and get a buzz-cut. Haircuts will never be the same. And be prepared for the fact that you'll need a sweater at night and that summer doesn't really kick in until mid-July.

@88

Of course you'll say this on an anonymous message board but never to our faces. In real life, you'll smile, dole out the phony "please" and "thank you"s and quietly grit your teeth. Cowards. Hey, new guy, get used to dudes like @88. Guys who smile to your face but run home to furiously post anonymous rants about you. It's the "culture" out here.

Seattle's got the Asians? lol, yeah rite. The Chinatown here is a fucking joke.

The locals don't like us east coasters because we out them for being the giant suburb that they are. This place is *so* provincial. That being said, it wins on the nature, hands down. @80 is right. It's fantastically beautiful here. Too bad you can really only enjoy it for about 10 weeks of the year. ...And we are *still* waiting for summer to begin and it's the end of June. I will never get used to this.

@ 94, LOL. You only checked out the ID? Get out of your comfort zone a bit.

If you enjoy board gaming, the Seattle Alternative Board Gamers are a really fun bunch. You can find them on Meetup.com.

This guy's description fits about 70 percent of the Seattle population, so I'd say it's a match.

Harder question is which is a good state for a middle aged divorced heterosexual looking for bars where intelligent women like Wendy Davis hang out. The Straight San Francisco, if you will...

@93 I already go to Rudy's in NY, so I was planning on continuing to do so in Seattle. ; )

As a friend from down south, let me say that I've always found Seattle a spectacularly beautiful city with a vibrant culture and many advantages over Portland, my adopted home of over 20 years. Prior to PDX I lived in SFO, and I can assure you the Seattle Freeze - assuming it's real - pales in comparison to the SFO Freeze. I think the Freeze probably exists in any city that has a relatively sizable proportion of transient residents. When I first moved to PDX in 1989 I found the people very open and friendly; but there weren't as many people moving here at the time. By the late '90s it was a swelling tide, and by the mid 00's I started hearing people talking about the Portland Freeze.

So don't take it to heart; assuming it's real, it's probably not about you.

@57 - OK, for the record, NY guy, if you are making a list, don't take my advice from @50. I was not trying to mislead you, it was an inside joke, apparently inside my own brain. As I said earlier, there is nowhere north of 90th worth visiting (at least, nothing that is not a park).

Fnarf, I was half distressed to find that you took me seriously, have joyous imagining your apoplexy at my absurd recommendations. I live in Shoreline for various reasons but the bagels, coffee and gay culture are not them. And yes, I threw in recommendation of lattes because I hate them.

Since you mentioned D&D, keep in mind that there are many game companies that call the Seattle area home: Wizards of the Coast, Privateer Press, Green Ronin, etc. Keep track of their websites to see if there are any openings.

One of the best places to meet other nerds is Card Kingdom in Ballard. They have gaming every night of the week and Cafe Mox, an attached bar where you can borrow board games to try out. Also in Ballard is a nice comic shop, Arcane Comics, and lots and lots of great food.