Polling my friends again: Pittsburgh vs. Seattle

[toorsdenote]

Thank you everybody for your career advice! Due in large part to the advice I received, I've decided to slow down a little, get some real-world coding experience under my belt, and try to make sure I'm not jumping prematurely from "Hey, algo class is fun!" to "I should totally get a graduate degree in this

Comments

[canyonwren]

Seattle: It's raining again. AGAIN.

But you should move here anyway. Although, yeah, traffic does suck. Definitely easy access to good hiking and camping. I'm about ready to head out for my yearly volunteering with Coastsavers, which will amount to about 10 miles of hiking, carrying marine/tsunami trash, in the rain. But when it's not raining, it's pretty awesome here.

[toorsdenote]

It's raining in Pittsburgh, too! We get almost as much precipitation as Seattle, and it actually rains/snows more days of the year here than there. But here the rain is moderate all year, instead of pouring in the winter and dry in the summer.

And somehow, rain here isn't as dreary as in the Pacific Northwest. I feel like the clouds are higher? Is that possible? Less oppressive, anyway.

[toorsdenote]

"a lot of definite warm fuzzies on the left, and a lot of question marks on the right"

This is very true, and it's a useful way of encapsulating how I feel. I'm happy here. I don't know how much of my happiness is caused by the things I list that I love about Pittsburgh, and I don't know to what extent things I'd love in Seattle would replace those things. So it definitely feels like a gamble. It's not a gamble I've usually been that scared of taking, though (cf. moving to Qatar).

"can you say more about why you are considering moving in the first place, and why to Seattle specifically?Ah, good point. The top two rows of the list are in Seattle's favor, the top one very much so. Justin's parents live within 500 miles of Seattle (in Missoula), and it would be easier to get a house that would be more welcoming for my parents' long stays. It's really important to us that Zoe get to spend time with her grandparents, and living in Seattle would facilitate that, although I don't really know by how much. (Incidentally, the parents will

[toorsdenote]

"if you don't like it, Pittsburgh will still be here! (one hopes)"

Well, if Pittsburgh ISN'T still here, then it will certainly have been the right choice to leave! :-)

[nicodemusrat]

I'll vote for Seattle for the completely objective and unbiased reason that I live there! Okay, I work there and I live nearby. But still. :)

Really, I don't know much about Pittsburgh so can't help in a comparison. To your Seattle points, I can say that in the city and surrounding area we have pretty good transit options. Definitely bike-friendly.

Rare snow -- usually about 4 days a year, I'd guess, where snow actually sticks on the ground. And the city so often has that lovely relaxing gray overcast where it's not too sunny and glarey and us creatures of the darkness rather like it. ;)

We have Seattle Art Museum, Science Fiction Museum, Experience Music Project, Seattle Science Center, Air & Space Museum, and others. But no amusement park, now that you mention it. What the heck?

Seatac is close and there's now a light rail link so you don't have to random your car from airport parking. Relative to Thailand, though, distance difference between Pittsburgh and Seattle is probably not too significant?

[ext_1112961]

Having seen something online, I searched Google maps for walking directions from "The Shire" to "Mordor". And guess what? It takes about an hour and a quarter by car, and the path goes through Seattle. Is it a point in favour or against Seattle that it's apparently located somewhere near Rohan?