Dave, I can only speak to living in Portland for 3 years (prior to moving to the bay area). I preferred life in Portland over the Bay Area. The northwest had more character in my eyes. Overall, I loved the independent vibe of the place which I didn't feel quite as much of in Seattle but I know it's there. The high price of Bay Area living seems to be driving some of the quirkiness out. Summers in the northwest were gorgeous with all the lush greenery because... it got watered about 8-9 months straight! My neighbor called late-May to mid Sept. the "why the hell we live here months". I used to ride or walk everywhere and just dressed for it. Northwest Goretex-chic. Despite the rain, I actually enjoyed outdoor living more there than in the bay area. Here it seems to be quite a drive to get away to real wilderness (think the trudge to Tahoe). In Seattle and Portland, the wilderness was a quick drive up the gorge, west to the shore or a ferry ride to the Olympic Peninsula. My favorite backpacking and cycling spots were in the Olympic Peninsula. Truly a beautiful place to explore.
Pros: The downtown areas are manageable sizes and full of interesting food, culture and independent businesses; outdoor living is outstanding (if you don't mind getting a little wet); anyplace is cheaper housing than the Bay Area. If my wife and I hadn't bought during the bottom of the recession, we'd probably have to move to continue living as teachers. Cons: The northwest doesn't have the 9-10 months of beautiful weather the Bay Area enjoys; Seattle traffic was pretty bad last time I was there; I never saw so many people paint rooms of their homes bright yellow or orange to help combat the dreariness of the gray skies. ... as for earthquakes... that's a toss-up. There was an earthquake on Mt. Ranier when I lived up there! John "seeking the pleasant wherever I end up" McClusky On Sunday, March 6, 2016 at 6:38:28 PM UTC-8, dstein wrote: > > Question for the Seattleites on here. I know the riding is great in and > around Seattle. Well I don't 'know know', but I imagine it is, lots of > various terrain and an endless supply of nature and picturesque landscapes. > But how is the weather for year round riding? Contemplating a move in a > year or two, possibly to Seattle since that is where my company is based > out of and my job is supposed to be. I know it rains a lot. I hear the > weather is shitty like 9 months out of the year. But I've been spending a > lot of time there recently and it seems that while its constantly gray and > cloudy, its usually not actually raining. Is this the case? Do you find > that you can get out most weekends on a ride (I work banker hours and > weekends are my riding time). > > To put it in more context: I live in the Bay Area, and am spoiled by year > round world class riding weather. Seriously, there are like 6-7 weekends a > year when its raining, and when it does it rains it does so for a few weeks > straight and I eventually end up suiting up in some rain proof garb and > going for it, and usually end up hating every second of it, but hard to > complain since it rains so seldom. I previously lived in Tennessee, where I > was used to more inclemental weather, and I'd say there I averaged a good > ride every other weekend throughout the year (more riding in the spring and > fall, less in the cold, icy, winters and oppressively hot summers). > > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
