Baltimore vs. Seattle: a comparison

Now that I’ve pretty much gotten the apartment all together and we’ve been here a while, I figured I would summarize the differences between Baltimore and Seattle, and our specific living situations.  Fun, right?

 

New Apartment vs Old Apartment

Most importantly: 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms vs 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom.

Here: nicer grounds and much nicer fitness center (there are actually a few weight machines!).

Mail is further away (not far, though) here, BUT there is an outgoing mail slot, unlike the old place.

Trash and recycling are much closer here, though people still use both incorrectly (ugh!).

Here there is only carpet in the bedrooms, which required rugs in the entryway, hallway, living room and dining room, vs carpet everywhere but the bathroom and kitchen there.  Now that we have rugs, though, I think I like it better.

Here we have a fairly large laundry room, and the washer and dryer are both much faster. 

There we had more storage (more closets, with more shelving, plus a closet in the bathroom and a small ‘pantry’ next to the laundry machines, which were in the kitchen).  Here we have had to buy some drawers for the bathroom and bins for clothing storage.

Here the master bathroom has a shower only (no tub), which takes some getting used to.  The guest bath has both, though.

Seattle vs Baltimore

There Trader Joe’s and Target were 5 minutes away, here they are 10-15.  The grocery store is about the same, but it’s a HUGE multicenter similar to a Target.  And we have a Costco here.

Gas is cheaper here, sales tax is lower there.  No state income tax here.

People are eleventy-billion times nicer here, and it’s much more public transportation/pedestrian-friendly here.  Also, on average people are more polite drivers (there are still some a-holes, but it’s nothing like Baltimore).

There are Starbucks on every corner here.

I am not afraid to walk around here, and I am fairly certain that no one will steal my packages.

The summers are MUCH better here – cooler and less humid.  The winters, though, are supposed to be very drizzly and dreary.  There, the sun shines most of the time in the winter, but we would also get massive snowfalls sometimes – it doesn’t really snow here.

Here, there is pretty much no air conditioning.  99% of the time that’s fine, but it does sort of suck when you are working up a sweat inside or have the dryer or stove going on a warm day.  It rarely reaches 90 here, though, and since it’s not humid it stays cool inside if you’re not doing anything.  There, not having at least a window unit is pretty unheard-of.

It’s three hours earlier than the east coast here, which is significant since most of the people I know are still on EST. 

Overall, I think Seattle wins over Baltimore hands-down.  There are a few minor things that I liked better about our old apartment, but there’s really not a single thing I prefer about Baltimore.  Yes, the winters are ‘better’ there, but to me the overall weather is better here – not as hot OR as cold, and I prefer a nice summer over a ‘nice’ winter.  We will see how I feel when I’m deep into a Seattle winter, but I am pretty sure that it’s not THAT much worse than Baltimore, considering it’s much colder and we used to have to deal with huge snowstorms, and the snow becomes gray and disgusting after a while.   I will miss some of our favorite restaurants, but hopefully we will find new places to love!