DrewM

We've been here in the area for several weeks and love it. Stores and groceries are a few minutes by car. The neighborhood is friendly and very well maintained. The Calavera Trail system is spectacular, accessible from just behind our monthly rental.

Long Beach is located about 2 hours Southwest from Olympia. I've been visiting the area for my entire life (I'm 33) since our family has had a beach cabin in Ocean Park (10 mins up the peninsula) since the 1920's.

It's a heavy retirement community, and many families from Western Washington have 2nd or 3rd homes in the area to spent the occasional weekend on the peninsula. There are miles and miles of beach you can drive on. The water certainly isn't warm, but it's hard to wander down to the beach without seeing people wandering knee or waist deep in the waves. There are swift currents, so people are generally discouraged from swimming.

The kite festival in August is a busy time of year, as is the annual Rod Run (classic car show) the weekend after Labor Day.

My dad lived in Monroe for several years when I was a kid, so spent lots of time in the area growing up. My close friend has a family cabin out past Steven's pass, so we stop in Monroe almost every time we drive from Sammamish to the Plain area.

Skiing at Steven's pass is a short car ride away, just about an hour east. Thus, if you're a skiing/boarding addict, Monroe wouldn't be a bad place to call home.

Eastside Paintball is nearby, and a cool spot to spend a day with family or friends. 21685 Lake Fontal Rd,
Monroe, WA 98272 --> http://eastsidepaintball.net/home.php

I definitely wouldn't look forward to commuting from Monroe to a downtown Seattle job - that would be beyond a brutal commute.

The desire for the twenty-something crowd (aka young professional) to move to New York City is not unheard of — not even close. I have several friends who made the jump to the Big Apple — three from Seattle, one San Diego brokers’ daughter, & Sloane. Multiple others I’ve spoken to have expressed a desire to pack their bags for the big apple.

The first time I went to New York City was the 2007 Inman Connect real estate conference. While working for Zillow and Virtual Results, I attended the next 4 Connect Conferences in NYC up until 2011 (I missed 2012 since I left for SE asia right after Christmas). From the moment I first set foot in the Big Apple in 2007, I was hooked. The dirty & packed subway during rush hour, Central Park, Brooklyn, the quaint bars in the West Village…the general “vibe” of the bustling city that never stops moving. The list goes on and on. Between 2007 and 2011, I looked forward to my time in NYC every January. I met some amazing New Yorkers who are now close friends. I ate AMAZING Korean BBQ.

Watch this: https://vimeo.com/31159101

There’s just something about New York that draws the young professional in. I can’t quite put my finger on what exactly “IT” is, but it’s certainly alive and burning for me.

The Village Theatre (http://villagetheatre.org/issaquah/) is a great option for those into plays. I went to one or two performances every year with my family growing up.

Once a year, Salmon Days Festival takes place and is a gathering the entire community rallies behind. I haven't gone in years, but went every year as a kid growing up in nearby Sammamish.

One big plus to Issaquah is you're only about 25 minutes from Summit at Snoqualmie for skiing/boarding in the winter, and hiking in the summer. Lake Sammamish state park is a great spot in the summer for picnics and swimming.

To get to downtown Seattle, you take the 554 or 214 from the Issaquah Park and Ride. It's about a 25 minute ride, depending on traffic. Not a super short commute, but not bad considering potential commutes from other suburbs.

We've had a family beach cabin in Ocean Park since the 20's, so I've been visiting several times a year for as I can remember (I'm 33 now). My dad has lived there permanently since 2002. All that said, I can basically call myself a resident even though I've never "lived" there.

There is a great community of car enthusiasts, many of whom belong to the Beach Barons. Every year the weekend after Labor Day, Beach Barons puts on the Rod Run, which is a car show with between 600 and 1,000 cars.

I lived in nearby Lake Hills during 2nd and 3rd grade (and visited the Crossroads mall weekly), and delivered pizza for the Crossroads Dominoes during college (2004-2005). The area is about 10 minutes North off I-90, and a very racially diverse area of Bellevue.

Crossroads Mall has a fairly large food court, and quite a few shops and larger stores such as Sports Authority. I spent hours and hours and hours in Norm Johnson's Sportscards in my youth, but it shut down a number of years ago :(. There's also a movie theatre. Overlake is nearby (3 min drive), which has even more strip malls, department stores, and shops.

The area has a broad array of trails and parks a few minutes drive in Lake Hills for those who like to walk/jog/run.

I honestly love this area of Queen Anne. I lived right at the top of Queen Anne from 2006-2010, and just recently moved back after several years of heavy international travel. Now, I live on the east side of lower queen anne, right near Gates Foundation. From here, I can walk to QFC for shopping, and a multitude of restaurants on Roy St. Laredos and Nabob are fantastic neighborhood bars. Metropolitan Market is very walkable from most parts of the neighborhood.

Racha Thai has a great happy hour with cheap drinks and appetizers. It used to be all day, everyday - but they've changed the hours more recently changed their promotions and now it's only after 8 (not 100% sure). They close at 10, since they're more of a restaurant than a bar.
Uptown Expresso is my favorite spot for working.
Sitting Room is a fantastic date spot, that's usually fairly quiet.
Pho Viet Anh is my favorite pho spot in the hood, great for hungover Sundays or any other lunch or dinner during the week.
Phuket Thai Cuisine (Queen Anne) - amazing Thai food at decent prices. Can't go wrong with Cashew chicken nut.

Traffic on Mercer Street is often atrocious, due to ongoing construction that never seems to end. So getting from Lower Queen Anne to I-5 N/S is challenging anywhere near rush hour.

Belltown, Fremont, Ballard, and Capitol Hill as well as even Pioneer Square - all popular spots for those looking for a night out on the town - are a fairly short taxi ride away.

I spent a week in Austin in 2010 for South by Southwest. It's a liberal pocket of an otherwise very conservative state. I'm a huge huge fan of the vibe of the city. 6th Street is a great nightlife scene for students and young professionals. Downtown was very walkable with a growing startup scene, and there seemed to be a wide range of lakes, hiking, and other outdoor activities within a fairly close drive from the city.

I lived in the University District during college from 2001-2005, and have visited numerous times since for the occasional coffee meeting, event at University of Washington, night out, or Husky game pre-funk.

There are literally great restaurants everywhere, many very affordable -- since there is a lot of students, super expensive restaurants in this area don't do so well.

University Ave is full of college dive bars, perhaps none better than Earl's -- a longtime favorite for Long Islands.

Great access to freeways (I-5 and 520) as well as easy buses downtown (70, 71, 72, 73)

Belltown contains a wealth of great restaurants and nightlife options. If you're under 30 and looking for a night out, chances are fairly good that you'll end up in this neighborhood at a place like Amber. Ohana, which offers great sushi deals, is my favorite happy hour in the city.

The neighborhood is a bit rough in parts, and it's likely you'll come across a strange character or two if you're out and about late night - or even during the day. It's definitely not a place you go for peace and quiet. That said, I wouldn't say it's an unsafe area.

I studied at University of Washington from 2001-2005 and lived in the city (Queen Anne) from 2006-2010 while working at Zillow, and after 5 years living as a nomad, I'm back in Seattle to set some roots. I wouldn't have moved back if Seattle wasn't a fantastic city to live in.

The festivals at Seattle Center are great - Folklife, Bumpershoot, Bite of Seattle. Beerfest in July is another great event. For a good bar scene, head to Queen Anne and hit Ozzies, Pesos, Great Nabob, and Toulouse. Pesos has an amazing brunch.

There is a thriving tech startup community, and a growing social entrepreneurship scene. Amazon, Zillow, Expedia, Microsoft, Costco, and Starbucks are among those that call the area home. The city contains a great blend of passionate, driven individuals who also know how to let loose and have fun.

A few of my favorite spots:
Buckley's (Belltown) - great spot to grab beers and watch a game. For the remote workers, excellent option if you want beers with your wifi instead of coffee.
Ohana (Belltown) - best happy hour in the city, particularly for sushi fans.
Uptown Expresso - numerous locations including Belltown and Queen Anne. Great spot to get some work done. Coffee is decent.
Cafe Pho (Downtown) - Amazing vietnamese for those downtown for lunch. Gets packed between 11:45 and 1.
Phuket Thai Cuisine (Queen Anne) - amazing Thai food at decent prices. Can't go wrong with Cashew chicken nut.
Tats (Downtown) - best cheesesteaks in the city.

There is certainly no shortage of outdoor activities in the area -- hiking, skiing, and boating are all readily available within an hour of the city.

I lived with my friend in Portola for several months in 2012 and 2013 (and have visited for short periods of time many, many times). Overall, the neighborhood is fairly run down. There are a few great Pho restaurants, but the area is fairly lacking in in bars or great restaurants. Very diverse population, you'll be in the extreme minority if you're caucasian.

Only a short drive to to SFO. The 8X gets you downtown fairly easily, and runs every 15-20 minutes. The 9 will take you closer to Mission on a slightly longer/slower route to downtown. Unfortunately, there isn't a BART stop that is easily walkable, you'd likely want to take a cab to the 24th street station to get on.

The plus of the neighborhood is that its affordable comparatively to other nearby neighborhoods. The Mission, where a lot of startups reside and is in extremely high demand, isn't too far away.

You're bound to run into tech startup folks wherever you venture in SoMA. Lots of great coffee shops, some cool bars near the stadium. Easily walkable from downtown, or even Mission (depending on what your definition of walkable is).

The area is dirty in places, but not bad overall. Safe area during the day, can be sketchy in parts of the neighborhood at night.

This is the place for shopping, and doing the touristy stuff. You can get pretty much anywhere in the city via public transit from here.

I grew up on Lake Sammamish, from 3rd grade until graduating from Skyline High School in 2001. Its a very safe place for kids. The downside is most of the families in the area have quite a bit of money, and there isn't much ethnic diversity -- so it's a very sheltered place if you want your kids to grow up with a range of friends with varying ethnicities and economic incomes.

I lived on Queen Anne on Lee St a block off Queen Anne Ave, and had many friends that lived nearby from 2006-2010. I absolutely loved the area. It's an easy commute to downtown Seattle (where I worked at the time) via the 2.

Belltown, Fremont, Ballard, and Capitol Hill - all popular spots for those looking to go out at night - are a fairly short taxi ride away.