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Move to Portland or Seattle for gaming geek?
Fr0sstr0n
Registered User new member
Registered User new member
Hey guys, new here so I could ask this and hopefully get some advice .Ok, I'll try to keep this short and to the point. I've been really looking into getting outa my home state of Montana now for some time now, especially within the last year. I'm a computer, video game geek that also specializes in the IT industry and I'm trying to sort out my options were I could move to to start the next stage od my early 30s bachelor hood in a city that has a lot more gaming, computer, hipster and essential nerds that I can meet up with, make new friends and hopefully find that special geek gal as well.
I've been set on Portland since my college days back in 2000 as its a real nice balance of a huge city but not huge and crazy like Seattle, there are a lot more opportunities for a gamer geek like me in his early 30's to hook up with other gamers and meet to new people and friends and maybe even find that special geek gal as well. Its a very pretty looking city and its also still in the Northwest so I can still be close to my family in the Yakima area as pretty much everyone in my immediate family is leaving Montana. I'm single white male, back to being a bachelor after a failed 5 relationship ended over 2 years ago, i'm debt free other then my lovely Civic coupe and im trying to find an answer of where should I go that I will be happy to start the next section of my single, geeky lifestyle that has more of everything then I can find after being born and raised in Montana all my life, and im just sick and tired of it. Sadly, the more I researched into it, the more iv'e found that Portland is in a real state of lack of anything decent of a job market, let alone in IT.
However, I keep hearing more information indicating that Seattle's economy and job market all around is stronger all around vs Portland with many more opportunities vs Portlands current state the more I look into. The big worry is that Seattles traffic is pretty horrid and not getting better. My sister and brother in law lived in the residential neighborhood overlooking the main shipping yards and only last a few years before the traffic and bad crime forced them to move back to Yakima.
What are the outlying towns like in regards to traffic and getting around vs if lived and or worked in the core area of Seattle? Whats the apartment rental pricing situation like outside of Seattle vs being in the main city? Is there more chances of finding a company with open public casting for IT jobs vs the apparent very close inner networking of Portlands jobs that very rarely hit the public that arn't already taken up? I'm also partial to the Portland/Vancouver area as I do have family and friends to help me move and get settled in vs the Seattle area i'd be all alone though my sister has a lot of friends that could help me out in the Seattle area.
I've heard ALL the horror stories about the even more depressing weather up in Seattle and how it can get to you. Honestly, after spending my whole life in Montana with its completely erratic and unpredictable weather systems, a constant weather system of even rain and overcast would be a welcome change and I don't see it as much of an issue as I'm not much of a outdoors person anymore after years of doing it in a Montana for . At this point, I wanna secure myself a job in the area, e ven if its in Tacoma or Redmond area or whatever and to hell with the damn weather, I need to get outa this state and start the next section of my life.
My current company I work is a very large investment firm spread across the globe and apparently, the Seattle market especially in the Bellavue area is growing rapidly vs the Portland area is completely stagnet so there is a chance I could get relocated but I also have to plan for option B and secure work from another company before I move over.
Oh and I especially have a big fondness for Asian ladies all my life and apparently Seattle has a lot of And yes, I do love visiting coffee shops and trying out different things, I am not a bar/club person, it bores me and i'd I hate spending my money on overpriced alcohol around shallow people that I have little in common with and or desire to meet, hence why I want a more geek/nerd gaming/comic/Anime crowd as I can easily mesh with them and meet new people and form new friendships through our shared enjoyment of those hobbies. That simply just does not exist in Montana and I need a change, badly.
I also have no desire to have children for many personal reasons I won't go into here. Suffice to say, I wanna move to back larger city where there are more woman who also don't desire to have kids as Montana dating is mostly geared for woman who beans to have families and that makes my dating scene pretty hard for a 32 year old bachelor geek with no desire whatsoever to have kids.
In the end, I'm trying to find a new home with a really great geek/nerd population I can meet like minded people like myself, finally be able to attend all those cool conventions like PAX, Quakecon, E3, Bronycons, Cosplay and huge LAN parties. I wanna have a bigger selection of woman that don't wanna raise family and are more career oriented and just wanna explore the world and have fun with someone, and if more of a bonus if she's a geek herself.
I've been set on Portland since my college days back in 2000 as its a real nice balance of a huge city but not huge and crazy like Seattle, there are a lot more opportunities for a gamer geek like me in his early 30's to hook up with other gamers and meet to new people and friends and maybe even find that special geek gal as well. Its a very pretty looking city and its also still in the Northwest so I can still be close to my family in the Yakima area as pretty much everyone in my immediate family is leaving Montana. I'm single white male, back to being a bachelor after a failed 5 relationship ended over 2 years ago, i'm debt free other then my lovely Civic coupe and im trying to find an answer of where should I go that I will be happy to start the next section of my single, geeky lifestyle that has more of everything then I can find after being born and raised in Montana all my life, and im just sick and tired of it. Sadly, the more I researched into it, the more iv'e found that Portland is in a real state of lack of anything decent of a job market, let alone in IT.
However, I keep hearing more information indicating that Seattle's economy and job market all around is stronger all around vs Portland with many more opportunities vs Portlands current state the more I look into. The big worry is that Seattles traffic is pretty horrid and not getting better. My sister and brother in law lived in the residential neighborhood overlooking the main shipping yards and only last a few years before the traffic and bad crime forced them to move back to Yakima.
What are the outlying towns like in regards to traffic and getting around vs if lived and or worked in the core area of Seattle? Whats the apartment rental pricing situation like outside of Seattle vs being in the main city? Is there more chances of finding a company with open public casting for IT jobs vs the apparent very close inner networking of Portlands jobs that very rarely hit the public that arn't already taken up? I'm also partial to the Portland/Vancouver area as I do have family and friends to help me move and get settled in vs the Seattle area i'd be all alone though my sister has a lot of friends that could help me out in the Seattle area.
I've heard ALL the horror stories about the even more depressing weather up in Seattle and how it can get to you. Honestly, after spending my whole life in Montana with its completely erratic and unpredictable weather systems, a constant weather system of even rain and overcast would be a welcome change and I don't see it as much of an issue as I'm not much of a outdoors person anymore after years of doing it in a Montana for . At this point, I wanna secure myself a job in the area, e ven if its in Tacoma or Redmond area or whatever and to hell with the damn weather, I need to get outa this state and start the next section of my life.
My current company I work is a very large investment firm spread across the globe and apparently, the Seattle market especially in the Bellavue area is growing rapidly vs the Portland area is completely stagnet so there is a chance I could get relocated but I also have to plan for option B and secure work from another company before I move over.
Oh and I especially have a big fondness for Asian ladies all my life and apparently Seattle has a lot of And yes, I do love visiting coffee shops and trying out different things, I am not a bar/club person, it bores me and i'd I hate spending my money on overpriced alcohol around shallow people that I have little in common with and or desire to meet, hence why I want a more geek/nerd gaming/comic/Anime crowd as I can easily mesh with them and meet new people and form new friendships through our shared enjoyment of those hobbies. That simply just does not exist in Montana and I need a change, badly.
I also have no desire to have children for many personal reasons I won't go into here. Suffice to say, I wanna move to back larger city where there are more woman who also don't desire to have kids as Montana dating is mostly geared for woman who beans to have families and that makes my dating scene pretty hard for a 32 year old bachelor geek with no desire whatsoever to have kids.
In the end, I'm trying to find a new home with a really great geek/nerd population I can meet like minded people like myself, finally be able to attend all those cool conventions like PAX, Quakecon, E3, Bronycons, Cosplay and huge LAN parties. I wanna have a bigger selection of woman that don't wanna raise family and are more career oriented and just wanna explore the world and have fun with someone, and if more of a bonus if she's a geek herself.
Fr0sstr0n on
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Seattle is also not host to Quakecon or E3 so don't get your hopes up too much about those.
Well you know what I meant.
Working in downtown Seattle you're definitely better off living in the city, trying to commute from elsewhere to downtown is kind of a crap drive as I-5, I-90 and 520 all jam up pretty quickly. In an ideal situation you could live close-ish and take public transportation to get to work, but the commute downtown is still relatively quick if you live in the slightly outlying sections of Seattle (like Wallingford, Ballard, Fremont, etc.) and rent isn't too bad.
It kinda depends on what you mean by "outside". Obviously, the closer to downtown you are the more rent is going to be, but living on the Eastside (Bellevue/Redmont) isn't necessarily going to be any cheaper because Microsoft and others have a huge presence over there. A one bedroom can run from $800 to over two grand a month depending on location, but averages around a grand.
IT is out of my ken, but the job market in both cities is very similar. You're best off if you can find something before you move, but if not there's a lot of IT-heavy temp services that'll help you get in the door someplace.
Other things of note:
The traffic in both cities is ok, rush hour sucks but it's nowhere near as bad as an actually large city's traffic like Atlanta, Boston, DC, NYC.
The weather is essentially the same in both places, it rains all the goddamned time and if you can't deal with that you won't survive anywhere in the PNW.
The geek/nerd community is no larger in Seattle/Portland than any other city, it just gets brought to the forefront more often because of things like PA & PAX, and it will require the same amount of effort to make friends in that community as it would anywhere else. People tend to have the PNW all built up in their heads as a geek mecca and it's not really, no moreso than any other place, and you're setting yourself up for disappointment if you're moving based on that fantasy.
Lastly, this:
is creepy. Don't be That Guy. You're dating individuals, not oversexualized/commercialized imagery.
I've already gotten a few possible job offers in the area online, so I will secure work before I move, thats a given. I've been finding from family and friends that Lynwood is a nice area to settle in and apparently traveling from North to South or vice versa through Seattle is much easier then going east to west, so i'll keep that in mind. I'm well aware that Bellevue is outa my price range and likely Redmond unless I get work at MS. I've haerd of this "Seattle freeze" and honestly, it doesn't bother me. Most of society is like that around and I won't let it stop me from making friends, i'll get out and make myself known in my own way.
I plan on using the MUCH more abundant online resources to find groups of people in Seattle or Portland to find and meet people. At least Seattle/Portland has a gaming/geek scene as Montana has essentially none, so I don't agree with your viewpoint on that. And I honestly don't care about the weather, im moving for more personal and proffesional opportunities and rainy weather is gonna bother me. I grew up living in a state with crappy and unreliable weather all through my life, so having constant ran would actually be an bonus in my book.
Oh please, lighten up. I was just stating i've always found asian woman very attractive all my life and i've heard that their are lots of them in the Seattle area, don't be such a prude.
Not to derail this any further, but you should really read the community rules
There's also a lot of microclimates around the Puget Sound area, so where you are could be in the convergence zone getting dumped on hard for hours while a couple of miles north or south it's sunny and dry. Next storm system the convergence zone may shift north or south. Generally the convergence zone is most common north of Seattle up through Everett.
But when people say the weather drives them crazy, they're talking about how infrequently the sun is out for extended periods. You can really only count on sunny weather on anything like a regular basis from July through maybe late Sept. Some people don't mind it (I generally love the weather, but especially wet winters can still get to me) and some people hate it.
I would describe the job market in portland as incredibly anemic. You are not the first young-ish-person to think 'man moving to portland would be awesome cause of all those other young people who have similar interests.' As a result, the market is glutted. While it sounds like you have a decent amount of experience in a relatively in-demand industry, I would not move here if you don't have an offer in hand. If you're willing to live/work in vancouver you might do a bit better though, but vancouver is increasingly a suburb of portland so it's hard to say.
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