SPUG: Living in Seattle

[Duane Blanchard]

I came to Seattle from southern China (originally from Utah, USA) for
graduate school and am coding in Perl at Boeing, which is turning out
really well for me. My wife and I love it here and are glad we are
able to stay after finishing school.

As far as recreation, I mountain bike and kayak (whitewater and
ocean), the two of us hike/camp/backpack, enjoy the museums, beautiful
drives and eating out with friends.


> > My husband and I run a very successful business in Australia (Perl Training
> > Australia) and have not been looking to work for anyone else.  Our business
> > allows us great control over what we do, when we do it and how long we spend
> > on it.  Our commute to work is generally short and life is great.

I think you may be able to continue your training business here, I'm
up for Perl training if you come before the end of the year. You may
choose to change the name of your company.... There is also the
possibility of consulting or contracting while enjoying insurance and
other benefits through your husband's work.

> > So... although we currently are thinking that we'd rather not take it, I was
> > hoping for some general advice on what kind of things we should consider?  I
> > also have some questions.

I expect you'll have a lot of friends/family visit the couple years,
but not as much after that, especially if you see them at their
locations. Our families are still in UT, and we only see them there
now.

> > What are the living costs in Seattle?

We rent a very large one-bedroom space in a triplex (three residences
in one house, in case Aussies don't have such dwellings) near the
University of Washington for USD875/month with W/S/G included. We just
ditched our landline and pay USD70/month for two cell lines, cable
internet is going to cost us about USD50/month.

> > Is there any public transport?  (neither of us drive at the moment).

I drive to work, but also ride the bus and ride my mountain bike
around town for errands. A surprising number of people ride
motorcycles year round (it rains a *little* here in the winter).
Seattle is very bike-friendly and I am generally impressed with
drivers' civility and considerateness.

I suggest you check out Google Earth <earth.google.com> for the
general lay of the land (and water); be sure to get down the relative
positions of I(nterstate)-5, I-90, I-405 and WA(shington highway)-520.

For home shopping you should look at housingmaps.com (it maps
addresses from craiglist.com, also worth checking out)

> > What kind of living options are there?  At the moment we have a 3 bedroom house
> > with a big back yard, vegie garden and chooks.  Are we likely to find ourselves
> > pent up in a shoebox in Seattle?

Many neighborhoods have "pea patches" where you can lease a small plot
for gardening.

> > If we were to go over there we'd be doing programming work for a big, well-known
> > company.  I suspect that our current 30 hour weeks would go back to being 60
> > hours or more.  In Australia a lot of jobs are heavily unionised and workplace
> > laws ensure things like minimum holiday leave: 20 days/year etc.  What kind of
> > things are granted by law in Seattle?  What would you suggest we make sure gets
> > added to our contract?

Few tech jobs here are unionized. Boeing has huge unions, but only for
labor. Two weeks' vacation is common, but does not include holidays,
some of which are paid and some are not. Generally, any federal
holiday is paid, and some companies pay a couple others like
Thanksgiving day. I've read a lot about negotiating for new jobs and
everything indicates that especially if you have been enjoying more
vacation than they are offering, you should ask for more.

> > Thankyou for your help.

Let me know if you have any more questions, or if you would like to
know some addresses of friends at any 'big well-known companies' in
the area who might be able to answer other questions.

Good luck,

Duane

> >         Jacinta
> >
> > --
> >    ("`-''-/").___..--''"`-._          |  Jacinta Richardson         |
> >     `6_ 6  )   `-.  (     ).`-.__.`)  |  Perl Training Australia    |
> >     (_Y_.)'  ._   )  `._ `. ``-..-'   |      +61 3 9354 6001        |
> >   _..`--'_..-_/  /--'_.' ,'           | contact at perltraining.com.au |
> >  (il),-''  (li),'  ((!.-'             |   www.perltraining.com.au   |
> >
> >
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> 


-- 
Duane Blanchard
206.934.5873

There are 10 kinds of people in the world;
those who know binary and those who don't.