I’ve lived in Lakeway, Suburb of Austin. Also in Southlake and Colleyville, both in DFW area. I’ve been here the longest already. My wife is from here, son was born in Bellevue.

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Posted by Froghair

The Great NorthLeft Coast

Member since Feb 2005

367 posts

Posted on 11/10/21 at 11:24 pm to SeattleTigah

I grew up in BR and went to LSU undergrad, and my family has strong ties to LSU going back many years. But I moved up to Seattle in '75 for a job and went to grad school at UW. UW is a very good public school and honestly LSU is nowhere close by comparison. UW football is big up here and you shouldn't underestimate the support it gets from alumni and the community. UW football stadium is the most scenic and can get very loud. LSU football is a big fish in a little pond in BR. UW football is a big fish in a big pond. But the passion for LSU football, and football in the SEC, is far greater.

Most of my time up here I lived in Seattle but I moved to the east side burbs about 10 years ago. When I moved here Seattle was quite depressed because of the "Boeing Bust". For a long time we had what I would call liberal Republicans or conservative Democrats running things. Middle of the road...I was happy with this. Things didn't change that much until around 2000. It's been really sad for me witnessing the takeover of Seattle city politics by "loony left" politicians. However, even in Seattle there is a glimmer of hope with the election last week-- several bat-shite crazy loony left politicians were voted down big-time! Still a ways to go.

Crime rates up here, even recently in Seattle, are much much much lower than in BR. This is a big issue for me; without safety there is no freedom. There are a few "off-limit" areas up here, but when I visit BR I'm struck by how much of the area is off-limit. No comparison really. In general schools are much better up here.

Summers are the best anywhere in the lower 48 as far as I'm concerned--long, relatively cool days with virtually no rain. Winters are trying for me, not so much because of rain but daytime is short and there are a lot of gray days. We get about 40 inches of rain per year v. about 60 in BR. But we rarely get a downpour as is common in BR, and if we do it doesn't last long. Lightening is rare.

The state has 39 counties but probably only about 6 of those account for the vast majority of liberal voters. Three surrounding Seattle, one which includes Olympia the state capitol, one around Tacoma, and one around Bellingham in the north. The eastern part of the state is completely different and votes conservative. The economy is dominated by desert farmland (owing to irrigation, much from the Columbia River) and ranch land. We either lead or are near the top in producing apples, wheat, cherries, hops, potatoes, wine grapes, and many others. More recently there have been a number of server farms built because of cheap hydroelectric energy from dams along the Columbia River.

This state is blessed with outdoor recreational opportunities (though we could use a real ski resort at some point). Environment is more of a real passion up here and people are more willing to tax themselves for it.

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Posted by Syntax