My wife and I are looking to move out to Washington (possibly the Seattle area) after I finish up my MArch. I've been hearing all kinds of complaints about Seattle traffic, and growing up in Houston, the last thing I want is to move to another city with bad traffic. So I'm trying to find a good firm outside of Seattle, but it seems to be pretty slim picking. I've been looking at Tacoma, Renton, Bellevue, and a ton of other cities to find a firm doing good work, but have for the most part had no luck. Any ideas, suggestions? Or anybody know more about Seattle (living outside the city and commuting?)
David Cole, AIA
Dec 18, 15 1:07 pm
If traffic is your only reason for avoiding Seattle proper, why not work for a downtown Seattle firm and take public transit? I plan on moving to Seattle this spring, and I'm hoping to get an apartment on Bainbridge Island and take the ferry to work. No traffic, the on-board galley has craft beer on tap, and you have views like this everyday:
On the mainland, there's also the Sounder commuter rail service and Link light rail.
ztwise
Dec 18, 15 6:28 pm
Yeah right now, the traffic is the biggest reason. And most of the good firms and most options are in Seattle. So I'll probably end up working in the city and commuting. That ferry ride does look pretty sweet, but just from a quick check on the website (correct me if I'm wrong) but it seems like it's around $8 round trip...which paying that every day would add up. I'm sure there is some kind of frequent passenger pass you can buy? I havent looked into Bainbridge Island, but I've found a lot of negative feedback and comments in general about the cities west of there. We were thinking maybe moving into the Renton or Issaquah areas. What firms have you looked into so far? Seems like Seattle has quite a few firms hiring at the moment.
David Cole, AIA
Dec 18, 15 8:22 pm
A monthly pass on the Bainbridge route is about $100, which sounds like a lot but it's still way cheaper than what you'd spend on gas and parking if you drove. I haven't looked into the other routes. I think the monthly pass for the Link light rail is also around $100... Check the WSDOT Ferries and Sound Transit websites for specifics. I'm hoping to avoid a bus commute; It saves money over driving but you're still stuck in the same traffic.
Bainbridge Island is nice... Semi-rural and fairly upscale, but still generally more affordable than Seattle proper. Lots of Volvos and Birkenstocks. There's a nice, walkable business district near the ferry terminal with a couple grocery stores, places to eat, art galleries, etc. There's even an actual east coast diner like you'd find in Pennsylvania or upstate New York, which surprised the hell out of me when I saw it.
I haven't been on the Kitsap Peninsula yet, but there's a couple of major Naval bases around Bremerton. If the area is anything like the other military towns I've been in, it's probably fairly low-rent with lots of pawn shops and strip clubs.
I have a couple contacts at some local firms in downtown Seattle and I'll get in touch with them pretty soon after the holidays. If none of them pan out I'll widen the search. I'm looking mainly at larger firms who do higher ed, nonprofit, and civic projects but I'm open to other possibilities as well.
Brian Henry
Dec 18, 15 9:15 pm
Being stuck in a bus in the same traffic as a car depends on the route and where you're going. Through downtown a few routes share the transit tunnel with the light rail so you're not worrying about traffic there. Everything flows quickly unless, of course, a bus breaks down. It happens occasionally, but not too frequently and they are pretty quick to get it out of the way.
The north-south freeways tend to get pretty clogged up with traffic, but there are express/HOV lanes for carpools, buses, etc. I-90 flows fairly well even with traffic, and of course the express lanes help even more if you're on a bus.
I live in Issaquah and take the bus into Seattle. It's about an hour each way including the wait for the bus and the walk to the office. My bus pass is partially subsidized by my employer so it ends up being a lot cheaper than driving.
Finally, the photo above is gorgeous ... but don't expect it daily. It's only clear enough to see Rainier about 80-90 days a year.
David Cole, AIA
Dec 18, 15 9:32 pm
The buses are getting evicted from the transit tunnel in a few years as the light rail system gets expanded, so I wouldn't count on that as a long-term option. The good news, of course, is that the light rail system is being expanded. Hopefully by leaps and bounds if ST3 passes next fall.
Right now I see snowcapped mountains exactly zero days on my commute, so 80-90 days a year would still be a huge improvement.
Brian Henry
Dec 19, 15 11:50 am
That's even better for avoiding traffic then; the tunnel should move more efficiently without the busses. I'd rather have the expanded light rail than a few routes going through the tunnel anyway. My bus pass works the same on the light rail so there's no difference in cost.
Don't forget to factor in the months of the year that you are commuting in darkness when you're looking for the mountains. That's still an improvement over zero though. And since you won't be able to see it every day, it will make you appreciate it that much more when you can.
ztwise
Dec 26, 15 4:12 pm
$100 a month isn't bad when you consider how much you would spend on gas a month otherwise. That's good to hear that the light rail is improving. Does the light rail attract a lot of suspect passengers. I know the dart rail in Dallas is convenient, but can be a little sketchy at certain times of the day. So I'm just wondering how the light rail compares. Sounds like it is pretty similar in convenience to the Dart rail in Dallas.
An hour commute total seems bearable. Brian, how do you like living in Issaquah? That's one of the areas we were looking at.
gruen
Dec 26, 15 9:30 pm
Having lived in both Houston and Seattle I can say that Seattle traffic is much better than Houston.
However, in both cities, you need to take care of where you live vs where you work vs how you get between the two.
It is very viable to live north or south of Seattle and take the commuter bus/rail to downtown. But some areas are more viable than others so check the walk time and bus time before pulling the trigger.
David Cole, AIA
Dec 26, 15 11:32 pm
^ True that. And check the train schedules before you sign a lease or a mortgage. I briefly considered living on one of the Sounder commuter rail lines, but there's only a few trips per day and they only run through evening rush hour. This wouldn't be an issue if you worked someplace that had extremely regular hours, but that's pretty hard to come by in this business.
The Link light rail, by comparison, runs pretty frequently until about midnight or so.
My wife and I are looking to move out to Washington (possibly the Seattle area) after I finish up my MArch. I've been hearing all kinds of complaints about Seattle traffic, and growing up in Houston, the last thing I want is to move to another city with bad traffic. So I'm trying to find a good firm outside of Seattle, but it seems to be pretty slim picking. I've been looking at Tacoma, Renton, Bellevue, and a ton of other cities to find a firm doing good work, but have for the most part had no luck. Any ideas, suggestions? Or anybody know more about Seattle (living outside the city and commuting?)
If traffic is your only reason for avoiding Seattle proper, why not work for a downtown Seattle firm and take public transit? I plan on moving to Seattle this spring, and I'm hoping to get an apartment on Bainbridge Island and take the ferry to work. No traffic, the on-board galley has craft beer on tap, and you have views like this everyday:
On the mainland, there's also the Sounder commuter rail service and Link light rail.
Yeah right now, the traffic is the biggest reason. And most of the good firms and most options are in Seattle. So I'll probably end up working in the city and commuting. That ferry ride does look pretty sweet, but just from a quick check on the website (correct me if I'm wrong) but it seems like it's around $8 round trip...which paying that every day would add up. I'm sure there is some kind of frequent passenger pass you can buy? I havent looked into Bainbridge Island, but I've found a lot of negative feedback and comments in general about the cities west of there. We were thinking maybe moving into the Renton or Issaquah areas. What firms have you looked into so far? Seems like Seattle has quite a few firms hiring at the moment.
A monthly pass on the Bainbridge route is about $100, which sounds like a lot but it's still way cheaper than what you'd spend on gas and parking if you drove. I haven't looked into the other routes. I think the monthly pass for the Link light rail is also around $100... Check the WSDOT Ferries and Sound Transit websites for specifics. I'm hoping to avoid a bus commute; It saves money over driving but you're still stuck in the same traffic.
Bainbridge Island is nice... Semi-rural and fairly upscale, but still generally more affordable than Seattle proper. Lots of Volvos and Birkenstocks. There's a nice, walkable business district near the ferry terminal with a couple grocery stores, places to eat, art galleries, etc. There's even an actual east coast diner like you'd find in Pennsylvania or upstate New York, which surprised the hell out of me when I saw it.
I haven't been on the Kitsap Peninsula yet, but there's a couple of major Naval bases around Bremerton. If the area is anything like the other military towns I've been in, it's probably fairly low-rent with lots of pawn shops and strip clubs.
I have a couple contacts at some local firms in downtown Seattle and I'll get in touch with them pretty soon after the holidays. If none of them pan out I'll widen the search. I'm looking mainly at larger firms who do higher ed, nonprofit, and civic projects but I'm open to other possibilities as well.
Being stuck in a bus in the same traffic as a car depends on the route and where you're going. Through downtown a few routes share the transit tunnel with the light rail so you're not worrying about traffic there. Everything flows quickly unless, of course, a bus breaks down. It happens occasionally, but not too frequently and they are pretty quick to get it out of the way.
The north-south freeways tend to get pretty clogged up with traffic, but there are express/HOV lanes for carpools, buses, etc. I-90 flows fairly well even with traffic, and of course the express lanes help even more if you're on a bus.
I live in Issaquah and take the bus into Seattle. It's about an hour each way including the wait for the bus and the walk to the office. My bus pass is partially subsidized by my employer so it ends up being a lot cheaper than driving.
Finally, the photo above is gorgeous ... but don't expect it daily. It's only clear enough to see Rainier about 80-90 days a year.
The buses are getting evicted from the transit tunnel in a few years as the light rail system gets expanded, so I wouldn't count on that as a long-term option. The good news, of course, is that the light rail system is being expanded. Hopefully by leaps and bounds if ST3 passes next fall.
Right now I see snowcapped mountains exactly zero days on my commute, so 80-90 days a year would still be a huge improvement.
That's even better for avoiding traffic then; the tunnel should move more efficiently without the busses. I'd rather have the expanded light rail than a few routes going through the tunnel anyway. My bus pass works the same on the light rail so there's no difference in cost.
Don't forget to factor in the months of the year that you are commuting in darkness when you're looking for the mountains. That's still an improvement over zero though. And since you won't be able to see it every day, it will make you appreciate it that much more when you can.
$100 a month isn't bad when you consider how much you would spend on gas a month otherwise. That's good to hear that the light rail is improving. Does the light rail attract a lot of suspect passengers. I know the dart rail in Dallas is convenient, but can be a little sketchy at certain times of the day. So I'm just wondering how the light rail compares. Sounds like it is pretty similar in convenience to the Dart rail in Dallas.
An hour commute total seems bearable. Brian, how do you like living in Issaquah? That's one of the areas we were looking at.
Having lived in both Houston and Seattle I can say that Seattle traffic is much better than Houston.
However, in both cities, you need to take care of where you live vs where you work vs how you get between the two.
It is very viable to live north or south of Seattle and take the commuter bus/rail to downtown. But some areas are more viable than others so check the walk time and bus time before pulling the trigger.
^ True that. And check the train schedules before you sign a lease or a mortgage. I briefly considered living on one of the Sounder commuter rail lines, but there's only a few trips per day and they only run through evening rush hour. This wouldn't be an issue if you worked someplace that had extremely regular hours, but that's pretty hard to come by in this business.
The Link light rail, by comparison, runs pretty frequently until about midnight or so.