[Crippled Anchovie]

hello i was lookin for the main page to ask a few questions but couldn't find it? Im thinking of moving down to WA sometime in April, and haven't decided yet where i want to live. I'll be looking for a job and it looks as though the closest rivers around sea tac are the skykomish and north is the Skagit. I was thinking around the tacoma area but then it's a long drive to the skagit.

When i've flowin into sea tac during your morning traffic and noticed most commuters were traveling north into town. would living north of seattle about 20 miles be an easier commute? I have a lot of travel exp. and i'll be trying to get on at the AP. Or drive forklift and do whse work. I hadn't checked into the quinalt river yet. does it hold runs of steelhead and salmon?

looking forward to being in wa, and going to mariners and seahawks games. I'm kind of leaning towards Tacoma area as they have a lot of dog friendly apt home living. if anyone can recommend a few nice apt homes with fireplaces in them and are pet friendly, i really don't care where i live. Thanks a lot.

dan

 

[NomDeTrout]

welcome to WA! Depending on what your living expenses are, different areas vary quite a bit. Outside of Seattle, you'll find nice neighborhoods up north (Lynnwood to Marysville), out east (Bellevue to North Bend), down south (Seatac, Fed Way to Olympia)

All of which have great access to the rivers you've mentioned. From my experience, I'd say Snoqualmie and Issaquah are great blooming areas but might be a bit more expensive than Federal Way/Tacoma/Olympia or Everett, Lynnwood, Marysville...etc.

It's really hard to say which ways best regarding traffic. Seattle is notorious for bad traffic at any given time, any given day. I live 4 exits north of downtown in Northgate and I work downtown and on bad days, it takes almost a hour to get up 4 exits from work to home, usually it takes 20-30minutes. I have a coworker who lives up in Edmonds and it takes her quite a bit of time, not to mention another coworker who lives down in Tacoma which can take up to 2 hours on bad days but usualyl 1 hour commute. Point being...traffic is bad around Seattle to/from no matter what way you are headed, but good news is that there is good access to waters from all of these places.

 

[JesseC]

It's all going to depend on where you land a job. Trust me, figure out the job thing first, then find a place to live. The traffic leading into Seattle from all directions is a real pain in the rear. Commuting from Tacoma to Seattle on a daily basis would be a piss poor way to spend your time if you ask me. Granted, there's some mass transit options, but why waste the time sitting on your ass when you could've found a place right next to your workplace? That's just my .02.

I just moved here from Nevada about 3 years ago and so far the fishing opportunities have been overwhelming. What am I going to do? Salt, Small Rivers, Big Rivers, Steelhead, Salmon? Geez. It's going to take me at least a decade to get to a point where I'm competent in anything around here.

So, short story being, don't worry about where you end up settling down, there's generally good fishing all over the place. Well, at least good fishing compared to Nevada. That won't stop a lot of people from complaining about it though

 

[Salmo_g]

Good fishing compared to Nevada maybe, but not AK. Rethink why the heck you're moving here, cuz the fishing, after AK, is gonna' be a disappointment.

Sg

 

[dryflylarry]

Good fishing compared to Nevada maybe, but not AK. Rethink why the heck you're moving here, cuz the fishing, after AK, is gonna' be a disappointment.

Sg

Yeah, but we don't want him to go to work at the Pebble Mine! So come on down!

 

[Gone]

Yep, figure out the job thing first, then move someplace close by so your daily commute doesn't suck. Traffic around here sucks in most areas. What sorta work you going to be looking for?
That may determine where you can live. You don't want to live in Tacoma and work in Seattle. That would suck. Nor do you want to live in Seattle and work in Everett as that would similarly
suck. Make your daily life as enjoyable as possible by eliminating a horrific commute. You can fish anywhere on weekends, and on weekends you can get around much easier, but even then traffic
can, at times, suck. I've lived here my entire life, and it it seems the traffic really started to suck in the early-mid 80's.

 

[Steve Saville]

There is no good traffic here. But...Alaska aside, the fishing can get pretty good here at times and there is always Oregon just to the south. Between here, there, and Idaho a short drive to the east, there's plenty of opportunity to fish. The salt water flyfishing is sometimes dynamite. It's pretty small water compared to Alaska so you don't need the really heavy equipment for most of the fishing unless you chase tuna but that's another story.

 

[Crippled Anchovie]

Yeah, but we don't want him to go to work at the Pebble Mine! So come on down!

yeah larry that's a good one indeed. hey thanks guys for the great info. I lived in sunnyvale, ca- silicon valley 44 yrs and about 1 million people there with 3 freeways that run north and south and once they put in hwy 85 it really made a huge difference in communiting. I feel for you guys as nobody likes sitting in traffic before and after work. I appreciate the heads up on living in tacoma.

i really don't know where i'll work yet. Don't have a job lined up so i'm really taking a chance. might have to live out of my truck for a while. I moved to ak in '04 and i like it but living in sterling, and around soldotna, isn't good at all for jobs and at 52, it's worse finding someone who will hire you. I've done construction labor and worked in travel reservations, and worked for american airlines and with travel agencies in the past but also can do forklift and shipping, rec. not much talent but a good hard worker. Played baseball 4 yrs of college and would like to get into an over 30 league again.

have a good spring, and enjoy your next day on the water.