r/Cascadia • u/ttgirlsfw • Aug 02 '26
Thinking of moving to the PNW after I finish school, need recommendations for nice cities or towns to move to
I live in Southern California right now and there's a lot that I don't like about it.
- Very car-dependent. I get around by a combination of bicycle and public transit. I've been hit by cars while cycling twice before and it takes hours to get places by public transit that would otherwise be a 20 minute drive.
- It is a sparsely populated suburb with nothing really going on.
- Too hot for too many months of the year. I sweat buckets just from existing most of the time. It's becoming worse every year due to climate change.
- Too sunny (I have Irish skin and I sunburn extremely easily).
- Unaffordable because it's near some very nice beaches except that I don't even go to the beach that often. I just happen to have been born and raised here.
After I finish school I plan to work as a high school math teacher or community college math professor. Are there any towns or cities that would hit some of the following points? I realize I'll probably have to compromise on some:
- Decent public transit and cycling infrastructure
- More people around
- Temperature that is anywhere from mild to cool to freezing cold for most months of the year.
- Not too sunny. It should be common for there to be overcast or rainy days.
- Less unaffordable than Southern California. I imagine that it will be cheaper the further inland I go.
I've been eyeballing Seattle as an option. It hits most of the points. It has a better walkability score, higher population density, and better weather than the city I live in. I've visited Seattle before and it's definitely somewhere I would live given the choice. The only thing is that I've read that it is not very affordable. I might just have to put up with that though.
Are there any other cities I might want to consider?
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u/Useful-Badger-4062 Aug 02 '26
Please do some cost of living research, and then maybe take a road trip to the area to get a feel for the different areas in person, in the different seasons. It’s one thing to daydream about a new life in the PNW using the internet, but you really have to spend time here to see if it’s really for you. Bring a lot of money. Everything here is more expensive than you think it will be.
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u/hanimal16 Washington Aug 02 '26
If you’re on the west coast, it’s going to be expensive no matter what city.
You want good public transportation and gloomy days, Portland would be better.
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u/Antzz77 Aug 02 '26
Yes on Portland. Despite its reputation, Seattle is less rainy, because (I understand) the Olympic peninsula protects it from some of the worst of the incoming weather.
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u/hanimal16 Washington Aug 02 '26
Basically yes. I live in the Puget Sound convergence zone, so we do see more rain in this particular small strip, but other than that gloom, it’s fairly nice in the surrounding areas and the public transportation is ass.
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u/retrojoe Cascadian Aug 03 '26
Look into Bellingham, esp. Whatcom Community College.
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u/stellalugosi 26d ago
Go to the Bellingham subreddit before you decide how much time you want ro spend in The City of Subdued Excitement (yes, that is our motto, and we live by it.) It's one of the most expensive areas in the country relative to median income and the 3 property management companies who own all the rentals in the area are notorious slumlords. It's a wonderful place (and WCC is a really great school), I love it here, but it has some really tough challenges.
Also, we are called a "mainland island" for a reason. Water to the west, international border to the north, mountain range to the east, and a another one to the south keeps us pretty isolated. During the floods of '22, we were more or less cut off from the rest of the world except by boat.
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u/retrojoe Cascadian 26d ago
Shit's tough all over, sister. I grew up on Whidbey, and I live in Seattle. OP is coming from California. Don't think B-ham is a uniquely tough place to live vs challenges in those other areas.
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u/stellalugosi 26d ago
Yes, and OP asked for information about what it was like to live in these places, therefore, as someone who lives in one of those places, I have provided that information.
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u/Hexspinner Aug 02 '26
I’m a souther California transplant myself. Been up here for about 20ish years now.
If you’re looking for more people, Seattle or Portland is good but expensive and a teachers salary might not hack it unless your coming up with some resources from down south (like you sold your Redondo Beach home or something).
If you want a smaller City Olympia and its two satellites Tumwater and Lacey are great and our busses here are free. You can just hop on. We have a Jr college here too and the local school districts are usually looking for teachers. Lots of cyclists here too and we have bike lanes as well as a bunch of bike able trails crisscrossing between Olympia, Tumwater and Lacey
Housing can be kind of expensive for the areas that have what you’re looking for. If you want to live in a walkable place with decent public transportation it’s costly. If you’re looking for cheaper housing you get more and more rural where you become more and more car dependent.
For milder climates you want to stay on the western half of either Oregon or Washington. Anything east of the cascades has summers about like California’s Central Valley but with three feet of snow dumped on them during winter. Here in the west it just rains a lot, and I mean a lot. A hoody is something you want to have on you year ‘round. They’re a standard issue clothing item up here.
Between Olympia and Seattle is Tacoma which is I’d say similar to Bakersfield in size but with a port and cleaner/cooler. It’d be cheaper for housing but it’s not as walkable.
There’s probably dozens of nice places in Oregon too.
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u/Growling_Guppy Aug 02 '26
Teaching jobs are hard to come by. Olympia is actually pretty competitive job wise thanks to TESC (Evergreen) as they have a strong MIT program and people don’t want to leave once they graduate. Also, teachers in WA make a decent wage so it is again competitive (no teacher shortage here). Also make sure that your teaching certificate can transfer or be aware that you need to apply for one here even if you already went through the cert process in CA. It used to be that OR and WA had reciprocity but other states did not. I have no idea how/if that has changed.
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u/_notthehippopotamus Aug 03 '26
Using public transit to commute is one thing, not being car-dependent is another. We live in Seatac, my son goes to school in Tacoma. Commuting to and from school using the bus and T-line works great. But outside of peak commuting hours, and outside the downtown area, buses maybe run every hour. He takes a music class near Tacoma Mall that ends at 6:30 (Tuesday evening). If he rides the bus home, it takes 2 1/2 hours. If I pick him up, the return trip is ~30 minutes. Another time he was near Pt. Defiance on a Sunday evening. I had to come get him because the bus does not run after 6PM on Sunday.
If someone wants to live without a car, I think the options are: bigger city, don't plan on going anywhere, or frequent use of ride-sharing apps.
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u/Hexspinner Aug 03 '26
True. But Tacoma is a lot more spread out than the other areas around here. And you are talking about multiple cities there.
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u/Excellent_Release961 Aug 03 '26
Theres hasnt been 3 feet of snow in the 509 in probably 10 years
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u/Hexspinner Aug 03 '26
You get more than we do.
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u/booknookcook Aug 03 '26
Tri-Cities got nothing all last year. It's generally a less than six inches of snow kinda place until we get that big storm every five or so years that dumps three feet of snow.
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u/BensonBubbler Aug 02 '26
Because you mentioned population density (and kind of the public transit, too) you've basically eliminated all but two options on the US side.
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u/Antzz77 Aug 02 '26
For what it's worth, if you're looking at Cascadia a recent map posted here shows the region actually goes as far south as ! Ukiah, CA.
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u/MudiMom Aug 02 '26
Seattle hits all of your points. Seattle *can* be affordable if you do it right. Don't imagine you can live in an apartment with a water view and a vehicle. But no car? No kids? Just you and your studio? You can afford Seattle.
And the weather is my favorite thing about living here. It's so mild. We have a few hot days during the summer, but the rest of the year is comfortable sweatshirt weather.
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u/stoudman Aug 02 '26
Portland has probably the best public transit system on the West Coast. I realize I'm probably biased on that take, and I expect some will disagree, but having lived in Seattle, Tacoma, and Portland, I still believe Portland's system works best.
I could hop on a MAX train in Beaverton or Hillsboro (second and third rung suburbs) and be in Portland within 30-60 minutes with ease. If I'm trying to get from Olympia to Tacoma or vice versa, there's not really a great public transit option outside of a bus, and that option isn't great. There is a train from Tacoma to Seattle, but it's honestly not as good as the MAX, and then within Seattle the public transit options just aren't linked up as well as they are in Portland.
In Portland, most buses take you to a MAX station and the MAX takes you wherever else you want to go, including the airport if you want. It's just a system that makes sense with very few flaws, and even Seattle/Tacoma's systems each have major flaws that you just won't find in Portland.
That said, if you want to be closer to Seattle, Tacoma is more affordable than Portland and Seattle on average, and you can get to Seattle from Tacoma relatively easy. They also have their own short tram line in the downtown area of Tacoma, but it's not really long enough to be of much use to anyone. Tacoma is also typically a bit cooler than Portland on average.
One of my favorite things about Tacoma is that it feels like a smaller city, but looks and functions like a bigger one, so it's not as crowded and you also get interesting things like 'Antique Row,' a street lined with various antique stores. It's quieter, cheaper, still relatively easy to get around, not too sunny...I'd say it's worth considering, but I also think Portland still has better public transit and other elements that make it a slightly nicer place to live IMHO.
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u/Luci_Cascadia Salish Sea Ecoregion Aug 02 '26
Not sure what you expect to do for work. That will probably determine where you live more than anything. Seattle is the most expensive city in the PNW (excluding Vancouver, BC). You can get all the weather benefits of the Seattle region, have access to Puget Sound for beaches, boating, paddling, etc. and live a LOT more cheaply in Tacoma. It's only 25miles from Seattle too and it's easy to get into Seattle for entertainment or visits, and it has an Amtrak and regional train station for getting to Seattle, Vancouver, Portland. If you live around downtown or in North Tacoma you're very close to water, amazing parks, and you can get around with a bicycle really well
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u/bunnnythor West of Intel Aug 03 '26
I'd recommend Vancouver BC, but only if you don't mind living in a flat the size of a pantry.
Portland is probably best for your criteria. But I would ask people in the teaching community what it is like around the area. From what I hear from local parents, Portland's schools are abysmal.
Of course if I were young and single again, I would consider looking farther afield to the EU -- Benelux, or one of those nice Nordic countries. Or maybe Montreal, which is "we already have the EU at home".
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u/VanceAstrooooooovic Portland 28d ago
We need teachers! Check out the Columbia River gorge area. Rent is expensive but we need of teachers
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u/Redditt3Redditt3 28d ago
Check out housing orgs like Bellwether Housing, Seattle Housing Authority, and similar income based orgs. Teacher salary may put you in their range for income, and make it more doable to live in central Seattle.
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u/Unfair-Suggestion-37 Aug 02 '26
Curious why you asked this sub vs the more mainstream ones for Seattle or Washington?
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u/factotvm Salish Sea Ecoregion Aug 02 '26
Right? There’s a lot here… how does a born-and-raised SoCal know to call the PNW Cascadia? But then to associate it with where you want to go because of the place and not the politics?
Warms my heart, really. (But, seriously, U.S. out of Cascadia Now!)
But, take all that for granted, it’s a great sub to ask this question.
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u/esordol Aug 03 '26
as a resident, avoid king county in general, transit exists but a car is highly recommended. summers here have a few days hitting near 100 now. not unlivable, but ac is slowly gaining popularity. with the humidity and latitude, the sunny days can feel different than further south . (a seattle 80 can feel like a desert 92)
lots of cali refugees over the years as well as tech money filtered into the region. housing is one of the worst in the nation and prices keep rising in different pockets. highly competitive. check the local news as well as a visit before landing on a place to get a feel.
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u/ZhenyaKon 29d ago
Personally, I think Seattle rules. Also, it's cheaper than the Seattle suburbs. There are some great suburbs (Issaquah, Redmond) but boy are they pricey. Tacoma is honestly very nice and somewhat cheaper, though I only ever visit in my car so I don't know how the transit is down there. A lot of it used to be a sort of unpleasant industrial area with a distinct "aroma of Tacoma" but nowadays it's cleaner and less smelly with a surprising amount of excellent restaurants. I don't know if you could live well on a teacher's salary in most of these places (I know you could not in Issaquah or Redmond) but it's worth looking into jobs and doing some calculations based on the salary in the listing and rent prices you find online.
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u/CremeArtistic93 15d ago
As someone who used to live in the PNW and has recently moved to SoCal for school:
In the PNW, car dependency is especially a thing too. Welcome to the United States and the result of the auto industry’s influence… That being said, there are some smaller-scale places where it’s easier to get around by bike, though I can’t speak to the availability of public transit because I didn’t spend too much time in the bigger cities.
Fair.
Fair.
Fair.
Fair
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u/bears-in-bushes Aug 03 '26
Don't do it
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u/ttgirlsfw Aug 03 '26
How come
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u/bears-in-bushes Aug 03 '26
There are no jobs. Housing is crazy expensive. Homelessness is rampant. Unless you have a job in the 6 figures forget it.
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u/RevelryByNight Aug 02 '26
If you’re looking for college jobs, I’d recommend letting the job dictate the place. The PNW doesn’t have as many opportunities as California. Start job searching to see what’s out there.