WA has no personal income tax. Also a bit of a libertarian flair overall, why MSFT is openly defense friendly, which means local government has allowed for building housing everywhere.
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A friend of mine moved from california to washington. "with the cut in my taxes, I get a free house!" (meaning ca taxes = washington mortgage payment)
I'd totally make that move any day of the week but can't deal with the perpetually gloomy weather. Overall though Washington seems great.
Yes, it's perpetually gloomy. No sunshine at all, it's raining right now. Terrible quality of life. You made the right decision.
Seattle in the summer is extraordinary (and currently "74F and mostly sunny") but undeniably pretty gloomy for a large chunk of the year
Seattle seems about like Pittsburgh with less snow and more job opportunities. It was beautiful the times I've worked out there. I could probably live there. https://www.bestplaces.net/compare-cities/pittsburgh_pa/seat...
To be honest, speaking as a transplant, it is really great up here. We moved from Austin and haven't regretted it for a second (and the whole family loved Austin too). Instead of having a miserable summer that lasts from April to October, we have a miserable winter that lasts from November to March. Taxes are about par, government is (imho) quite a bit more sane, the job market is broader and deeper, public schools are better, and the scenery is gorgeous when not hidden by clouds.
Can you explain the math here ? If you make $500k, at 9% progressive, it will be like 6% flat with all deductions. So tax will be $30k. Then you take a 10% pay cut. So you are losing $50k. So you lose $50k, and gain $30k. That’s negative $20k. Even if you keep your salary same, your mortgage has to be roughly $2.5k/month. That’s a 1 bedroom condo.
He didn't live in a city in washington
I can't really parse the second half of your statement.
There's definitely a lot more land to build housing on in the PNW, despite also having some of the geographic constraints that the Bay does, although it hasn't exactly kept housing costs in check.
Maybe "a bit" of a libertarian flair, but also in many ways the urban areas are arguably MORE progressive than the "old conservative NIMBY liberals" in the bay.