Where should I explore on the west coast?
June 6, 2011 8:09 PM Subscribe
One month. Three states. Countless options. One girl, one dog. Where to go?
I've been considering moving to the west coast for years and it seems like this is the best timing that I'm going to have.
Starting in Seattle at the end of July, I've got a month to make it back to MD for my job if I'm coming back here, so... if you were trying to find an amazing place to live for a while (say 3-5 years) on the left coast, where would you go?
I'm open to CA, OR and WA, but I've never been to any of them. I'll have some time to find a job beyond the month since I'll be on unemployment, but will be on a budget, so I think SF and LA are out but feel free to prove me wrong on that. Are there cheap hoods in SF like there still are in NYC? (I lived in East Williamsburg before it got fancy and was fine with it.)
Places that I'm currently considering and would love more guidance on:
_ Seattle, WA
_ Olympia, WA
_ Portland, OR
_ Eugene, OR
_ Humboldt County, CA
_ SF / Bay Area, CA
_ San Diego, CA
Things I like:
_ farmers markets / farms
_ walkable neighborhoods
_ good dive bars / cocktail bars
_ fancy pants coffee
_ quirky art stuff (think burlesque troupes and acrobats, not museums)
_ bike friendly places
_ trees (both the kind you smoke and the kind you climb)
_ good, cheap foodz
_ mild summers, cold winters
_ places to hike / swimming holes
What neighborhoods should I be checking out? What cities am I missing? What are the things I should be doing in each city to convince me that it's awesome?
I've been considering moving to the west coast for years and it seems like this is the best timing that I'm going to have.
Starting in Seattle at the end of July, I've got a month to make it back to MD for my job if I'm coming back here, so... if you were trying to find an amazing place to live for a while (say 3-5 years) on the left coast, where would you go?
I'm open to CA, OR and WA, but I've never been to any of them. I'll have some time to find a job beyond the month since I'll be on unemployment, but will be on a budget, so I think SF and LA are out but feel free to prove me wrong on that. Are there cheap hoods in SF like there still are in NYC? (I lived in East Williamsburg before it got fancy and was fine with it.)
Places that I'm currently considering and would love more guidance on:
_ Seattle, WA
_ Olympia, WA
_ Portland, OR
_ Eugene, OR
_ Humboldt County, CA
_ SF / Bay Area, CA
_ San Diego, CA
Things I like:
_ farmers markets / farms
_ walkable neighborhoods
_ good dive bars / cocktail bars
_ fancy pants coffee
_ quirky art stuff (think burlesque troupes and acrobats, not museums)
_ bike friendly places
_ trees (both the kind you smoke and the kind you climb)
_ good, cheap foodz
_ mild summers, cold winters
_ places to hike / swimming holes
What neighborhoods should I be checking out? What cities am I missing? What are the things I should be doing in each city to convince me that it's awesome?
You will find all those things you like in spades here in beautiful Portland, Oregon. I believe there is a farmers market daily, somewhere in town, during the summer. It's bikey and walkable as fuck. Food carts are often yummy and often cheap. The trees are huge (both i guess). Hiking, backpacking and camping are to be had within a very short drive or longer bike ride (the coast, coast range, cascades, or the high desert). The coffee is tasty and we stopped using clover machines a while back when Starbucks bought them (just poking fun, deludingmyself). You can have fancy and divey bars here. And summer rules; low humidity, few bugs, etc. First and last thursdays get massive turnouts when the weather is nice and lots of people set up art/whatever displays on the streets as well as in studios/galleries/whatever spaces.
Portland rules. The only place on your list I have no personal experience with but have heard plenty of friends hate on from their experiences is San Diego. The rest of the list is great and I think you'd have fun in any of those places.
posted by rainperimeter at 8:40 PM on June 6, 2011
Portland rules. The only place on your list I have no personal experience with but have heard plenty of friends hate on from their experiences is San Diego. The rest of the list is great and I think you'd have fun in any of those places.
posted by rainperimeter at 8:40 PM on June 6, 2011
SF is the hardest to live for cheap in. If you want cold winters, you should pretty much write off all of CA. Also: San Diego is the only place I ever lived where white power "join our group!" flyers got put on my family's car.
I lived for many years as a grad student in Eugene, OR and liked it a lot, but it was also a little isolated and surrounded by rednecks - I understand Olympia is similar. On the other hand, the small towns are generally cheaper than the cities. All of the WA and OR places you have mentioned have remarkably high unemployment rates, and are all vaguely interchangeable (not really, but kinda' - you can find neighborhoods in each which are creepily similar from locale to locale). I would expect that practical considerations like "can I find a job here" might dominate your choices. Eugene definitely meets your requirements, but not if you live, say, west of Chambers street or most places in the adjacent and cheaper town of Springfield. I suspect that finding the right neighborhood within the town is more key than finding the right town.
Things to check out in Eugene (I will leave the other cities to people who know more): Eugene Saturday Market, Wandering Goat Coffee, the Whiteaker neighborhood, Cornucopia (the one at 18th and Lincoln), Off the Waffle, and climb Spencer's Butte. If you have a bike, use that to get around to everything (with the possible exception of the butte - it has a really long steep hill on the way to it - I set my personal self-powered speed record of 49.5 mph going down that hill)
posted by pmb at 8:53 PM on June 6, 2011
I lived for many years as a grad student in Eugene, OR and liked it a lot, but it was also a little isolated and surrounded by rednecks - I understand Olympia is similar. On the other hand, the small towns are generally cheaper than the cities. All of the WA and OR places you have mentioned have remarkably high unemployment rates, and are all vaguely interchangeable (not really, but kinda' - you can find neighborhoods in each which are creepily similar from locale to locale). I would expect that practical considerations like "can I find a job here" might dominate your choices. Eugene definitely meets your requirements, but not if you live, say, west of Chambers street or most places in the adjacent and cheaper town of Springfield. I suspect that finding the right neighborhood within the town is more key than finding the right town.
Things to check out in Eugene (I will leave the other cities to people who know more): Eugene Saturday Market, Wandering Goat Coffee, the Whiteaker neighborhood, Cornucopia (the one at 18th and Lincoln), Off the Waffle, and climb Spencer's Butte. If you have a bike, use that to get around to everything (with the possible exception of the butte - it has a really long steep hill on the way to it - I set my personal self-powered speed record of 49.5 mph going down that hill)
posted by pmb at 8:53 PM on June 6, 2011
You don't offer any economic groundrules, so it's difficult to say, but from your general description, only Seattle and Portland really meet your needs. Eugene and Olympia are close seconds, as they are significantly smaller than their nearest major cities, Portland and Seattle, respectively, so you're more likely to run out of "new" things to do.
The others are too isolated (Humboldt), too expensive (S.F., San Diego), not bike-friendly (San Diego, unless you live in Pacific/Mission Beach, and that can be very expensive) or don't have cold winters (all three California choices).
Mind you, you can find cheap hoods anywhere. It depends on what you mean by cheap and how much crime you're willing to risk. "Cheap S.F." and "Cheap S.D." can get really bad. "Cheap Eugene" may mean rednecks and meth labs.
But, if I were you, and I were really, really looking to move, I'd spend at least a week each in Seattle and Portland to really scout it. They're the most in your strike zone.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 9:31 PM on June 6, 2011
The others are too isolated (Humboldt), too expensive (S.F., San Diego), not bike-friendly (San Diego, unless you live in Pacific/Mission Beach, and that can be very expensive) or don't have cold winters (all three California choices).
Mind you, you can find cheap hoods anywhere. It depends on what you mean by cheap and how much crime you're willing to risk. "Cheap S.F." and "Cheap S.D." can get really bad. "Cheap Eugene" may mean rednecks and meth labs.
But, if I were you, and I were really, really looking to move, I'd spend at least a week each in Seattle and Portland to really scout it. They're the most in your strike zone.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 9:31 PM on June 6, 2011
I think the Bay Area would be great. There are cheap, walkable places to live in the East Bay near farmers markets etc. (Lake Merritt area.) Portland might also be good, if you don't mind a LOT more rain and cloudy days.
San Diego and LA aren't walkable. LA is more expensive. I doubt San Diego is affordable, plus it's a lot hotter in either LA or SD.
It's going to be much harder to find work in Humboldt.
posted by salvia at 10:13 PM on June 6, 2011
San Diego and LA aren't walkable. LA is more expensive. I doubt San Diego is affordable, plus it's a lot hotter in either LA or SD.
It's going to be much harder to find work in Humboldt.
posted by salvia at 10:13 PM on June 6, 2011
I live in San Diego, and there are several neighborhoods that offer everything you want except cold winters: check out North Park, South Park, Normal Heights and Hillcrest in particular. They're all a hop from Balboa Park ("America's largest urban cultural park" = trees & hiking), walkable & bike-friendly, comparably affordable with other urban spots in CA, and boast dynamic subcultures and art/music scenes. 30th street, which runs through Normal Heights, North & South Park, and Golden Hill, is famous nationally for its craft beer culture (which means all kinds of fun dive bars & taverns). Tons of coffee shops, fab farmers markets, and if you're talking about what I think you're talking about, a proliferation of legal medical marijuana facilities. Also, dog-friendly to the max.
posted by changeling at 11:10 PM on June 6, 2011
posted by changeling at 11:10 PM on June 6, 2011
Seattle is my beloved hometown, and pretty much all the things you like can be found there, except the cold winters - it's temperate all year round. It's just a wonderful place to live, as there are endless things to do, see, eat, experience, etc.
San Diego is my new home, and many of the things you like can be found here as well. San Diego sprawls out so there is a lot of variety from neighborhood to neighborhood, and some of the neighborhoods are very Seattle-like which is part of why I enjoy living here so much. There are bike-friendly areas of SD, as well as neighborhoods with great walkability. The weather in San Diego is pretty much always pleasant, so it's hard to find excuses to not be outside enjoying it. If you are a foodie, the access to fresh produce at great prices can't be beat. As for specific neighborhoods, I second changeling's advice.
posted by illenion at 11:21 PM on June 6, 2011
San Diego is my new home, and many of the things you like can be found here as well. San Diego sprawls out so there is a lot of variety from neighborhood to neighborhood, and some of the neighborhoods are very Seattle-like which is part of why I enjoy living here so much. There are bike-friendly areas of SD, as well as neighborhoods with great walkability. The weather in San Diego is pretty much always pleasant, so it's hard to find excuses to not be outside enjoying it. If you are a foodie, the access to fresh produce at great prices can't be beat. As for specific neighborhoods, I second changeling's advice.
posted by illenion at 11:21 PM on June 6, 2011
Portland is quite lovely, and meets many if not all of your qualifications ("cold" winter ... you can get up to snow at Mt. Hood very quickly, but Portland itself doesn't usually have snow in the winter).
Be warned, though: the job market is really bad here. I would strongly encourage you not to decide to move here until you've found a job. Otherwise, you can be stuck without one here for ages.
posted by bluedaisy at 2:47 AM on June 7, 2011
Be warned, though: the job market is really bad here. I would strongly encourage you not to decide to move here until you've found a job. Otherwise, you can be stuck without one here for ages.
posted by bluedaisy at 2:47 AM on June 7, 2011
Do check out the climate records for whatever place you consider. I live in the SF area and the climate is fine although winters don't meet your 'cold' requirement, but friends who have moved to Portland and Seattle find the grey skies hard to deal with. In general, the coastal climates are colder and foggier than inland, and further north means more cloud and rain.
posted by anadem at 6:43 AM on June 7, 2011
posted by anadem at 6:43 AM on June 7, 2011
Mild summers, cold winters? How about Bend, OR or Hood River, OR? They're both smaller towns that have all of the attributes that you listed above! Except for perhaps and abundance quirky art stuff.
Nthing the comments above about employment, though. People move to the Northwest for the quality of life and many have trouble finding jobs that allow them to stay.
posted by golden at 11:37 AM on June 7, 2011
Nthing the comments above about employment, though. People move to the Northwest for the quality of life and many have trouble finding jobs that allow them to stay.
posted by golden at 11:37 AM on June 7, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by deludingmyself at 8:23 PM on June 6, 2011