I have the chance to move (study) to Seattle. Never been there but some folk say it's a great place to live. Problem is the people that say this have only heard second hand and have no personal experience.

Does any one who lives in seattle or has spent quality time there give me the low down.

Is it an expensive place?
Is it a good city with lot of stuff to do?
How about weather ? Any college is the best for exchange student ?
Traffic. Is it a nightmare or not?

Any feed back welcome!

Where are you now (for comparison's sake)?

Here's a site to play on (or get the book from your library) --

David Savageau's Places Rated Home Page | Places Rated (http://placesrated.expertchoice.com/default.aspx)

Now I'm in Chicago, il but I moving to Seattle, WA as soon as. So I just want to know about this City states?

A couple of our members live there, so I will PM them to answer you. My former coworker's daughter moved from here (Chicago) some years ago and will never leave, she says. The coworker says there always seems to be a mist in the air but it's very invigorating for her skin. Scuba diving and other water sports are big there.

Hello N:

I live in Seattle.. For starters, the entire country is BAKING today.. It's 72 degrees here and beautiful. Yes, it's expensive, but it's worth it.

I'm not a travelogue, though.. I don't know what YOU like.. Yes, it rains a lot. But, you can't be surrounded by a beautiful rain forest without a little rain.

excon

I live in the Seattle area. One nice thing is, there's a ton of suburbs and such, so "expensive" is a relative term. If you live right in the city it can be expensive, but a lot of the 'burbs are much more reasonable.

I'm an avid scuba diver, so I love this area. Yes, traffic is a nightmare, but I doubt it's any worse than Chicago. And they are working hard to remedy the situation; basically, the metroplex got caught with its pants down as far as growth, and now they're having to catch up and rebuild the freeway system etc. to accommodate it. It's working, but it's also going to take a while to complete. Still, it's worth it.

As excon said, the rest of the country is sweltering and we're doing fine here. Seattle is famous for its rain, and there is a fair bit of it compared to the 8 other states I've lived in, but it's not impossible to deal with. We've got sunshine, partly cloudy with a gentle breeze right now. And really, I haven't seen an apartment complex yet that includes air conditioners. That's how moderate it is.

There's lots of culture: museums, restaurants, theaters, that sort of thing. I get frustrated with some aspects of life here, but overall, it's a nice place to live.

Thanks so much Dave, your answer help me a lot.