I left the Seattle area for rural Idaho (farm country) a couple years ago and couldn't be happier being out of that circle of Hell.
My husband and I are starting to talk about the idea of relocating to Seattle to be FIRE faster (admittedly, I love the idea of green and not worrying about drought as well).
Yes, everything is green. Including your car. Moss grows on everything, including stuff you'd rather it not - driveway, sidewalk, car, house, you...
That said, drought is a risk - nothing there has a deep root system. We had some good storms while I was there, and guaranteed, a good thunderstorm would knock out power (and one took out the fence of the place we were renting, very nearly took out a corner of the house) - the 100' tall pine trees have a root system that goes maybe 2-3' deep, so when the ground softens from rain and the wind blows, they just topple over. Power goes out, roads become impassable, it's a mess.
We are looking at neighborhoods surrounding Beacon Hill Elementary and Dearborn Park Elementary for the littles. I'm curious to know general thoughts on what the areas are like, how reasonable housing is, proximity to outdoor activities, what the quality of life is like, and if there are any areas we should avoid. Any tips and tricks on being more mustachian that are specific to Seattle? Thanks in advance for anything you can throw at me.
Housing: Very expensive, though if you're from CA you might find $2k/mo in rent for a tiny place a bargain.
Quality of life: Sitting in traffic to stand in line to spend money was a good description, though everyone insisted that the proper way to do it was to take public transit to stand in line to spend money. I gave up and just ebiked everywhere, which was at least faster than driving. There are plenty of outdoor activities, but expect to see lots and lots of other people on them as well, if it's a tolerable day outside.
The weather is abusive. It's grey for 10 months of the year, everyone has SAD, and there's a serious Stockholm syndrome going on - "The weather has stopped being truly crappy, isn't this place
amazing?" - if you're used to sun, you'll likely have a very hard time adjusting. Buy a happy light.
Anything of value you let out of your sight is gone, especially bikes.
I understand some of the tech companies had problems with people breaking into the (fenced) bike cage in their parking garage a while back to steal bikes.
If you do go to live there, just plan on doing everything within a walking distance or short biking distance. The whole road system is a parking lot.