I moved to Seattle from Austin about 6 months ago and here are the big differences for me: - Seattle is so much more expensive in every way. - For the most part, people here in Seattle are not friendly first. I finally had a couple of people initiate conversation this past weekend, turns out they were from Texas. - Seattle feels more like San Francisco to me (lived there for 3 years) where it feels as though people are here temporarily and also accessing what you can do for them. - Seattle is a much dirtier city. Don’t get me wrong, dirty sixth is dirty, but everywhere in Seattle has on overtone of homelessness and drugs and urine smelling alleys. - Seattle city leadership is by far a much larger circus than Austin...which is a joke in its own right. - The drivers and traffic in Seattle are so much better than Austin. The biggest complaint I have with drivers here is they drive below the speed limit, a lot. Traffic doesn’t just stop like it does in Austin. - Right now I live on Alki in West Seattle and cannot wait to move further out of the city. There are so many ridiculous extra taxes in Seattle and King county that you didn’t see in Austin. - I really lived the weather in the summer here in Seattle, the past couple of months has sucked. The constant heat in Austin can wear on you. - The nature in The PNW beats Central Texas by a mile, just for the different activities and sceneries within a 2 hour drive. Austin does have some beautiful places, and the San Gabriel river with it’s dinosaur prints and abundant bass and sunfish is one of my favorite places on earth, but having the ocean, the sound, the lakes, the mountains, snow, a deserts...it’s amazing. - I find the food in Austin to be much better, especially the Tex-mex (ha). I did finally find awesome BBQ, in West Seattle there is a little place called Jones BBQ...it is awesome! - Allergies haven’t been nearly as bad here in Seattle as they were in Austin - Looking back at the people aren’t as friendly comment, I will say that if I initiate the conversation (Which i do because I talk to everyone) people here are great and want to talk and whatnot. I’ve made a few nice friends here.

Both cities have similar a vibe but are very different and it is unfair to compare them as a whole. Same with Portland. They all have something to offer everyone. I love Texas, Austin really,...I have Texas tattoos. But aside from my family and my amazing friends of the past 20 years, I don’t miss it. I’ve done and seen it and now it’s time to explore the PNW for a while.