I recently moved from CA to WA because I could not find job in CA. The unemployment rate in CA is really closer to 20% because they only count the people who are actually looking for jobs. The unemployment rate in WA (for Sept 2009) was 8.8%, which compared to the rest of the country was really great. We have our own miniature economy so to speak. It s buffeted from the rest of the country which is both good and bad.How confident are you in finding a job? I was confident. I didn t need a job before I got here, although I started putting out the apps well before my arrival. If you can find a room in a house that would be the most reasonable. Cost of living here is probably cheaper than Hawaii. We have many markets like Winco that offer very inexpensive food options like their $1.58 ham and cheese deli sandwiches with lettuce and tomatoes. These are not small sandwiches either. When I went to Maui I didn t see any sandwiches selling for less than $2.It rains here a lot which is depressing coming from HI which has beautiful tropical warm climate. Be prepared for cold weather and buy yourself a nice warm coat. Thankfully the clothing stores here are not that competitive and you should be able to find a nice coat for a good price.Getting a drivers license can be a pain. They won t accept your lease agreement as proof of residency. They have to have a Comcast cable bill or electricity bill or auto registration with your address on it. Then you need a passport and maybe a driver license and some other documents. Getting license was a priority for me. I plan to take class at UW (Univ of Washington) and the sooner I can show residency, the sooner I can enroll in class and not pay out of state tuition fees(which are expensive). Register your car first and get auto insurance. These two documents are the easiest to get and the Department of Motor Vehicles will need them to process your license.If I knew what kind of job you were looking for I might be able to help you a bit more. The two biggest employers in this area are Boeing and Microsoft. As long as those two employers aren t doing big layoffs, the local economy here is stable. That s one reason why we don t suffer the same kind of swings the rest of the country does because a lot of Boeing s work is either government contracted or it s based on orders that have been placed years ago when the economy was better. As far as money goes, I would probably save up at least $5000 since you have 2 kids as a bare minimum. But again, it depends on how soon you can find a job, and since I don t know what kind of work you are looking for, it s hard to say. The apartments here are a nice value. I stay at Glen Park Apartments in Federal Way for $725/mo. We have access to swimming pools, hot tub, sauna, gym, free dvd rentals, a business center with internet access, fax, and copier, and a host of other niceties. I have a 720 sq ft 1BR apartment with fireplace and the people here are very quiet and nice.One of the bad things about the area is that it s like a college town. After 9:30pm everything shuts down. There are bars downtown for fun, but the town isn t rocking at nighttime the same way places like San Francisco do. This can be a good thing and bad. One of the most desirable places to live is near Maple Leaf neighborhood in Seattle. The streets are narrow, but it s a safe and quiet place to live.
Save as much as possible.Seattle is above Oregon and CaliforniaYou probably won t need a car but with two children that s different.I moved from the east coast where a car is mandatory LOL.I m enjoying not driving here but from what I know, the streets are bad, because of all the rain.parking is tough. and there s alot of traffic (even from east coast standards)There s alot of buses downtown so you don t have to wait too much time.And very scenic the kids will love it.About license... I did not have a tough time getting it.I lost my out of state licence when I moved here and had to get transcript (of sorts) of my driving record sent to me and then took that to DOL (driver office licensing)They give you a temp (paper license) and mail the real one in a few days.Good luck and try to seure a job before you get here, it will be tougher if you re from out of state.
depends on what area you are going to? i live west of olympia about 120 miles or 2 hours from portland oregon? if you stay out of the large cities your housing will be cheaper between olympia and oregon are a lot of open farm landand forest areas? we do get snow in the winter for a day or 3 but usually just rain for 9 months of the year! best time to come here is june and the weather will be like hawaii then? our dry months are june-aug?? as for jobs here just as many unemployed as anywhere else??