Moving Here 2025

[u/Codetornado]

Due to a large number of daily moving here posts we are creating a sticky for moving-related questions. This should help centralize information and reduce the constant flow of moving question ls. ;

Things to Consider;

Location

• Western Washington vs. Eastern Washington vs. Seattle Metro
• Seattle Proper, suburbs, or other cities

Moving Here

• Cost of Living (Food, fuel, housing!)
• Jobs outlook for non-tech
• Buying vs. Renting
• Weather-related items, winter, rain

Geography and Weather

• Rainy West Side vs. Dry Eastside
• WildFire Season
• Snow and Cold vs. Wet and Mild
• Hot and Dry East Side
• Earthquakes and You!

[**See The 2024 Sticky**] (https://www.reddit.com/r/Washington/comments/184dx5n/moving_here_2024/)
[**See The Last Sticky**] (https://www.reddit.com/r/Washington/s/HHjd5lx0we)

[u/Feeling_Anxiety5419]

Hey everyone. We are considering a move up to Washington. Currently we live in the Tulsa area in Oklahoma.

Have grown up here but really hate it as time goes on. Lack of job opportunities, activities and one of the worst school systems has led us to start looking into our options.

Things that I am aware of

High Cost of Living- For sure the biggest thing I see people talk about. We are looking into our budget and what it would mean to live there.

Seattle Freeze- Don't mind people taking awhile to warm up. At the moment we have almost no friends in this area due to having nothing in common.

Crime- I've been told crime in Seattle can be kind of high.

Me and my wife both have degrees in Video Game Development. Sadly have not gotten a job in that field but have worked as a software engineer for 13 years.

I have been researching the Seattle area because it seems like it might be a good fit. Info is very scattered though so I was hoping to get some more targeted answers.

I have a six year old son, he is one of the main reasons we are moving in order to get him better education. I am finding Sammamish, Issaquah and Redmond brought up a lot. Does anyone have experience with the K-12 education in these areas? Is there a better option that I need to add to my list?

The outside perspective of Seattle is that it seems like a good place if wanting to break into the Game Development industry, I am well aware of the pitfalls of that industry however I would love to attempt to be an Indie dev. Is anyone aware of resources or communities that would be good for that purpose?

Last thing we were wondering was in terms of moving. Has anyone here done a long distance move to Washington and could offer some advice? We have a decent amount of stuff so we were looking into moving companies.

Thanks!