Seattle is awesome and sounds good for you. There is a gay neighborhood, like the Castro district in SF, and it’s a city, so it’s probably relatively liberal.

I would totally pack up and go for the adventure. You’re young, and Seattle is great.

I’m assuming your money will go less far than in Ohio, but further than it would in California.

I don’t live there (but am visiting tomorrow) It’s in my top three US cities SF, Portland, Seattle, so I’m a bit biased.

Others may have more details about living there, as I’m (at this point) just a wannabe.

What’s the name of the gay neighborhood? Is there any part of town that is safe and reasonably priced?

Lots of safe and lots of reasonably priced, but I’m comparing it to SF, where I live. The neighborhood to which I was referring is called Capitol Hill, but I just found this article which you might find interesting. The Stranger is the Seattle’s weekly paper.

It rains there a lot. I hope you like the rain.

Oh my God, you will love Seattle! Don’t hesitate. Yes, the cost of living is higher, so spend those 6 months with free room and board being frugal and saving up for you own place. I’d do it in a heartbeat. If you can’t make it on $65/hour, you’ve got some spending issues!

You don’t really need a car, especially if you live in Capitol Hill.

Seattle is a great city. If you have nothing to lose, then go for it.

I remember it rains alot. and they have a great bus system. Sorry not much help.

it mists a lot. I heard it’s just a several months long mist??
GO. You’ll love it. Never heard of anyone who didn’t.

I personally love the place. Most the time I spent there I was down and out, but I had some good times there. I’ve heard it called “the last liberal stronghold” by a friend that lives there. It’s beautiful, people say it rains a lot but that’s a conspiracy. In exchange it’s really quite green. The traffic is really bad in some areas and it’s spendy in some places. Wow, to make enough to live in that town, that would be great.

What is the price of gas on that side of the country? I paid 2.77 this morning.

Seattle has one of the highest costs of living. Everything has to be shipped to the far northwest corner of the U.S.

That said, there is no place on Earth more beautiful when the sun is shining. There is water and mountains.

There is so much outdoors stuff to do.

The gay area of town is Broadway on Capitol Hill.

See this pic and this one and this one.

You could try living in Ballard (a neighborhood in seattle). And it actually rains alot here during the winter. And as stated above there is a very large gay community here.

If this twenty something is getting a 65 dollar an hour job offer and is comfortable enough to be openly gay, then I think this is a strong healthy guy who’s gonna be alright no matter what he decides. Good luck, I mean that. It is exspensive there, that 65 is gonna feel like 45, but if your good with your money, and don’t spend too much in the bars, you could make it work and it could change you for the better. Or you could just take the other job, live like a miser for years, and eventually buy a home. I know what I would do at that age, I would take the adventure.

I lived there from ‘76 to ‘94 and loved it. You get used to the rain fairly quickly, the summers are gorgeous, the people are delightful, the theaters are many and varied , the food is wonderful, (any of Ivar’s restaurants will give you a good taste), the area is stunning, the racial and ethnic diversity make it very cosmopolitan…
Only one downside for some, the winter days are short and dark. Make some friends (you will, quickly) and you won’t notice. It’s a progressive area. I had a bunch of gay friends there who had relocated from other cities and were very happy. Good luck to you! Have a wonderful life in the Northwest!

Lets see….
/me recalls random information and starts typing…

I think you need to move to Capitol Hill ;) The Stranger has a very entertaining romance columnist; Dan Savage.

A dollar doesn’t go quite as far here as it does elsewhere since we have a 9.5% sales tax. Gas runs about $3.10/gallon right now, though Arco is considerably cheaper. My wife and I have a 2-bedroom a few miles away from downtown and a roommate. Our total rent is $800, which is on the low end for the area; expect to pay more the closer you get to downtown. We manage to keep the place afloat even when circumstances force us down to two paychecks totalling less than one-third what you will be getting.

Right now, it’s 75 and sunny, which is a refreshing change from teh 85–90 and sunny we had earlier in the week.

Avoid I-5 during rush hour if you are going South in the morning or North in the afternoon/evening. Avoid Aurora Ave between 90th and about 175th if you are on foot. Avoid Belltown at night unless you are used to sketchy neighborhoods. Greenwood and Fremont have awesome eateries. If you need to go downtown, consider a park-and-ride since parking downtown would put a dent into even your income.

I can’t think of much else at the moment, but feel free to ask anything more specific.

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@kevbo That is what I thought when I first got here. How wrong I was! Of course, you can do the Zipcar thing, but there will be times where you need wheels. And trust me, Seattle isn’t as bike-friendly as people like to think . I found that out the hard way!

@Frenchfry Maybe it used to be great, but it isn’t now. The schedules are not merely approximations, but actual full-blown wishful thinking. For instance, if a certain route is supposed to have a bus every 15 minutes, why have I wasted almost an hour at the stop more than a few times?

Thanks guys! It should be said, I am very, very cheap. I don’t like spending money. I like seeing my bank account grow. I do spend money at the bars, but not so much anymore. I just have this feeling I will be blind sided by thousands of fees that I wont be able to see. I look at Craigslist, and the apartments seem reasonable, although I have no idea what is ghetto, and what is not.

Also, I live in Ohio. It rains or snows every other day. :) I’m used to it.

The one thing I do take issue with, is that I was born and raised in the midwest, right here in Ohio. I like it here. I like the people here, they are very nice and easy to talk to. When I have been to San Diago, LA, Sacramento, and other places around the country… the people just seem rude and detatched. I’m a nice guy! I talk to people! Maybe it’s my Ohio accent?

Also, for New Years Eve this year… I was in San Francisco. Can anyone explain to me why no one has a Cellphone there? After the bar I must have lent my Cellphone to at least 13 people.

Seattle folks are very friendly.

i have never been there..

Ended up staying in Ohio. :)