High COL Cities

[OrionGrad]

We lived out in the burbs and I took the lightrail to my HS in the city. The lightrail goes all the way out past Rancho Cordova now. My aunt lives out that way and works in DT Sacramento. It can be done.

Just wanted to add a quick note about public transportation (in Cali and elsewhere), which is that you should definitely find out what time it begins running in the morning before counting on it as a way for your resident spouse to get to/from work. Although we have a streetcar that runs just a block from our house, it doesn't do DH much good when he has to be at work by 5 a.m. Although subways and buses run 24 hours in NYC, that's not always the case everywhere.

[MDPhDWife]

Seattle is cheaper than the Bay Area and SF by far.
Summers are glorious, it's greener than the Bay Area, and you can ski within 45 min. of the city!

Is living in Tacoma a reasonable alternative if the program is in Seattle?

[poky]

Is living in Tacoma a reasonable alternative if the program is in Seattle?

Only if you're insane. They're reasonably big cities, and I-5 is really the only way between them, and it's a really decent distance, and I-5 is horribly crowded. I'd count on an hour each way, depending on where in Seattle and where in Tacoma, and what time of day; anytime near rush hour might be longer, and if there's construction or an accident, forget it.

That said, a HS boyfriend's mom commuted from north of Seattle (Edmonds) to downtown Tacoma every day, by car, and loved it. She was crazy, though, and iirc, it could take her up to 2 hours each way. And that was 20+ years ago. And I don't think she would have been in trouble if she was half an hour late, either.

[bokelley]

Are there affordable places near Seattle (like 1500 a month)? More specifically near Virginia Mason.

[poky]

Are there affordable places near Seattle (like 1500 a month)? More specifically near Virginia Mason.

If you're talking about the main clinic, that's *right* downtown. Here's a listing of apartments in the same zip code; looks like they start around $900/month; I'm sure there are tradeoffs in amenities and/or size for the lower prices, but you can get an idea of what $1500/month can get you right downtown:

http://www.rent.com/search/results/?...pdateprofile=1

[bokelley]

Well it doesn't have to be right by it, but within 30 min driving... Any suburbs or anything?

[MDPhDWife]

Well it doesn't have to be right by it, but within 30 min driving... Any suburbs or anything?

See 30 minute commute is what we're used to here, so that's exactly what I'm aiming for during residency if it meant a better school system and safer neighborhood than right next to the hospital.

[bokelley]

See 30 minute commute is what we're used to here, so that's exactly what I'm aiming for during residency if it meant a better school system and safer neighborhood than right next to the hospital.

Us too, 30 min seems to be the most. We are going through our "first" match list right now, and COL is a huge factor. So I am trying to get a feel for it.

[poky]

Well it doesn't have to be right by it, but within 30 min driving... Any suburbs or anything?

If by suburbs you mean outside the city limits of Seattle...within 30 minutes of downtown? Not really, no. There are other neighborhoods within the city, some of which are probably cheaper than right smack downtown. I haven't lived there in ages, but I have lots of friends who have lived there all their lives and some are looking to move within the city right now; if you give me an idea of what you're looking for, I can give you some zip codes to look in; I know you want within 30 minutes of downtown (is that during rush hour, or ideal/no traffic?), and around $1500, but what are your other priorities? Do you have a minimum square footage? Is walkability important? Do you need a yard, or is an apartment/condo OK?

[bokelley]

Well since we are just trying to find where we might want to match at.

So $1500, 30min since DH will be on call I assume, and a home would be great since we have the dogs. I am pretty sure that I just listed the impossible.

We are looking at some other NW US cities. I have never been up that way, so I am just trying to get a feel for what is do-able. COL is a huge thing for us, more so than a name of a program. But since he wants to match in RADS I assume we will take anything. Some of the other cities are Spokane WA, Portland OR then further east and south Salt Lake. There are a ton more all through out the US...

[MDPhDWife]

Well since we are just trying to find where we might want to match at.

So $1500, 30min since DH will be on call I assume, and a home would be great since we have the dogs. I am pretty sure that I just listed the impossible.

We are looking at some other NW US cities. I have never been up that way, so I am just trying to get a feel for what is do-able. COL is a huge thing for us, more so than a name of a program. But since he wants to match in RADS I assume we will take anything. Some of the other cities are Spokane WA, Portland OR then further east and south Salt Lake. There are a ton more all through out the US...

Brandi, I know you're going to think Ryan slipped me a $20 to say this, but $1500 here would get you a very nice place! BTW are you still heading out here in October?

[bokelley]

Brandi, I know you're going to think Ryan slipped me a $20 to say this, but $1500 here would get you a very nice place! BTW are you still heading out here in October?

Just a $20, you should have asked for a $50.
Yep I fly in on Oct 6th and leave on the 9th, Ryan starts sometime around Sept 16.

[poky]

Well since we are just trying to find where we might want to match at.

So $1500, 30min since DH will be on call I assume, and a home would be great since we have the dogs. I am pretty sure that I just listed the impossible.

We are looking at some other NW US cities. I have never been up that way, so I am just trying to get a feel for what is do-able. COL is a huge thing for us, more so than a name of a program. But since he wants to match in RADS I assume we will take anything. Some of the other cities are Spokane WA, Portland OR then further east and south Salt Lake. There are a ton more all through out the US...

Ah, right. I'd forgotten about the dogs. A quick looks on Craigslist shows this:

http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/apa/1861647538.html

That's about as far away from downtown as I'd want to be if I had to be able to get there w/in 30 minutes door to door (google maps says 20 with traffic to where VM is, but I think that's probably optimistic). So..it's probably doable, yes, but you're probably going to have to spend some time looking around; there aren't going to be a LOT to choose from, but you can probably find something.

Portland might be a *little* cheaper/easier to find something (lots of rental homes in NW Portland, which isn't *horribly* far from OHSU, and you can look south and west of the hospital, too), and I know nothing about Spokane, but would imagine it'd be even easier/cheaper.

[v-girl]

I'd count on an hour each way

So this isn't the norm everywhere else?

[poky]

So this isn't the norm everywhere else?

I'm not sure I understand the question. What you quoted was in answer to a very specific question about commuting between Tacoma and Seattle.