I have now lived in Seattle for four months and I must say that I am not loving it. All the bad things people warned me about before moving here turned out to be true and most of the good things people said about it were overstated.

I will start with the good:

• The surrounding area is very pretty. On a sunny day Western Washington is one of the prettiest places I have ever been. The mountains are strikingly beautiful and the huge amount of water everywhere is amazing. Coming from Montana which is semi arid I am constantly in awe of the massive lakes and rivers here. When I first crossed the Columbia River I thought I was crossing a lake thats how big the river is.
• Having professional sports teams is awesome. Montana is the only one of the lower 48 states that neither has a professional sports team or a neighboring state that has one (unless you count Alberta). It is nice having a team to root for in major sports.
• Summer weather here is amazing. Sunny and not too hot. What more could you ask for?
• Direct flights to Hawaii and Bozeman :)

The meh:

• Public transit here is kind of terrible. The only reason I list it as a meh is that it is still the best by far of anywhere I have ever lived. As a fun exercise go to Google Maps and look at what the public transportation options are to get from Kirkland (where I live) to Ballard (suburb of Seattle). Spoiler: it takes way longer than you would think.
  • There is only one light rail line (don’t you dare call it a subway because it is different in some way that has been explained to me, but I didn’t care enough to remember).
  • Bus routes are too sporadically spaced and slow moving to be efficient transport here.
• Food: someone told me that food was good in Seattle. I think that person must have been pranking me because I legitimately have no idea how someone who has ever been elsewhere could say that with a straight face. The only food that I have had here that was actually good was East Asian (but still worse than Vancouver BC). All the other food I have had here was mid.
• The city layout is weird. It feels more like a collection of towns that happen to be geographically next to each other.
• Location: Seattle actually feels like an island. The only other places to go within driving distances are the Vancouvers and Portland which makes you feel relatively disconnected from the rest of the USA.

The bad:

• The traffic here is legitimately among the worst I have ever experienced. Attempting to go anywhere during rush hour is incredibly frustrating. I once sat in the same spot of traffic for 30 minutes before giving up and going home. Having lived in Texas I thought I had experienced bad traffic but it is something else here.
• Attempting to park in Seattle is insanely difficult. If you are lucky you will find a private pay lot where you can pay 15 dollars for a couple hours. If you are unlucky you will crawl around for 30 minutes like a vulture looking for street parking.
• Homelessness
• The winter weather here is atrocious. It gets dark really early and its cloudy all the time. I don’t like it.
• The vibe here is weird. People are very unfriendly and passive-aggressive.

Places I have lived comparison by category:

• Skiing
  • Bozeman: easily the best. Barely any lines and great powder.
  • Seattle: Not that good. Powder is thick and the areas are so crowded. I have even been to Whistler which is so crowded I find it hard to recommend. Someone told me Baker is where it’s at so I will report back once I go there.
  • Texas: no skiing to be found
• Hiking
  • Seattle: This was a really tough one but I would give Seattle the edge here. There are so many different biomes accessible within a relatively small distance for hiking it’s awesome. Ocean, Rainforest, Mountains, and Desert are all close by.
  • Bozeman: Great hiking, but all the hiking is kind of the same.
  • Texas: No hiking to be found
• Weather
  • Bozeman: I don’t mind winter weather so I have to give Bozeman the edge here. Yes it gets really cold but I like it that way. Summer is a delight.
  • Seattle: Summer weather here is awesome (as good as Bozeman), but I really don’t like the winter weather here. Too dreary.
  • Texas: Summer is way too hot, but the winters are pretty nice if you don’t like the snow.
• Vibe
  • Texas: Has a really good vibe. People are friendly and kind. THis is easily the thing I miss the most about living there.
  • Bozeman: People aren’t as friendly as Texas but will help pull you if you need help.
  • Seattle: People aren’t friendly or nice.
• Food
  • Texas: Tex-mex and barbecue. nuff’ said
  • Seattle: Food here is ok but nothing special
  • Bozeman: Food is not that great