How is the Northwest?

[Hippophobia]

I'm trying to get information on the Washington area and the scene out there. I figured why not ask the people who live there and drive there everyday, and in the same badass car as I own too.

I'm going to school right now in the Navy and trying to decide on places to put on my "Dream Sheet." From everything I hear about the Seattle/Bremerton area it sounds like it would be pretty nice and it's basically the top of my list right now. Followed by Connecticut (where I currently am) and San Diego.

I know I can read about the weather and stuff online but I want to hear about it from the people who live there.
How drastic are the season changes?
How are the roads/driving up there?
How are the cops/laws/emissions in regards to modifications?
Stuff like that. I guess, I just want someone to sell me on it. Haha.

I really appreciate anything you want to throw at me. Thanks, Neal.

[Drift-Office]

Bremerton is quite a distance from Seattle, and the weather isn't great to be honest.

1) We just had a reckoning ~ >100 days without rain! A NEW LOCAL RECORD!

2) When it REALLY snows, it's been known to be something else!

3) Roads are pretty decent, not as nicely paved as SoCal but not bad at all!

4) WA has always looked to CA for emissions standards. While swapped engine car mods are (SOMEWHAT) allowed, it's really up to the discretion of the LEO who's going to make that call. They're for the most part, pretty chill if you're not doing the funky chicken on the streets...


I personally would prefer San Diego, but the traffic there is pretty horrendous! Still, they've got MUCH better 'scenery' there if you catch my drift.

Regards,

[diirk]

Tough call. I used to be stationed near San Diego and visit Seattle area regularly. If I were to pick right now, I'd probably pick San Diego, just because you have nearly perfect weather year round and a lot of car related activites in SoCal. But keep in mind that everything in SoCal is expensive, and especially in San Diego. Plus, the traffic in SD is really bad too. And don't forget the completely unreasonable smog laws here.

With that said, I love going to Seattle area. It's a really nice change from SoCal. The weather doesn't bother me and there's also a lot to do. But again, I'm in soCal, so for me it's a matter of something different. Smog laws in Wa aren't nearly as bad, and they have more "work arounds" for getting away with mods.

[Hippophobia]

Thanks for the input. That's one of my biggest things about San Diego. The cars. Traffic sounds ridiculous. And all I ever hear about seems like rants about how you can't do this or that with your car. But I'm sure it's beautiful, I lived in Hawaii for two years and know how awesome summer all the time is (read BIKINIS!), BUT at the same time you sometimes wish for that little extra chill. Or maybe that's just me. Haha

[diirk]

Originally Posted by Hippophobia

Thanks for the input. That's one of my biggest things about San Diego. The cars. Traffic sounds ridiculous. And all I ever hear about seems like rants about how you can't do this or that with your car. But I'm sure it's beautiful, I lived in Hawaii for two years and know how awesome summer all the time is (read BIKINIS!), BUT at the same time you sometimes wish for that little extra chill. Or maybe that's just me. Haha

I get that totally. That's one of the great things about California. Blast out of SD and you can be in snow in about 2 hours, or some of the biggest sand dunes in an hour. You can go water skiiing and snow skiing in the same weekend. Froma weather standpoint, I really don't know of anyplace better.

I've been to Hawaii a few times too. SD is different, and personally, I like it better, at least the touristy parts. Plus, it's not nearly as humid. But in either place, if you get out of the city, everything is different, and very cool.

[QFry]

i am in bremerton and was stationed in Groton as well (SubSchool?)...been to SD a lot...and if Groton is on your list above SD then you would like Bremerton...it is a lot better than Conn any day (nicer ppl and better brewerys IMO)...what 86 do you have?

[TSY]

Well, I grew up in SoCal (Huntington Beach), went to school in Boston, and now live in Seattle, so I suppose I can answer your questions.

San Diego probably has the best weather in the world year round- I don't think the weather is ever bad. The Northeast is cold in the winter and hot and humid in the summer- the worst of both worlds. The Northwest is in between- we have really nice summers (to me, nicer than SoCal) and our winters are wet and kinda cold but it doesn't snow very much, maybe a few days a year and it doesn't really stick around for very long. But when it does come it can cause quite a bit of havoc here since Seattle is not very well equipped to deal with snow! I will say it is grey a lot and people aren't kidding when we say we have a lot of days with rain. Usually not hard east coast rain though- more sprinkles that don't seem to end (for weeks!)

Not a lot of women running around in bikinis here if that's what you were hoping for.

As for cars and emissions, California is the worst. Pretty soon you'll only be allowed to drive Hybrids or electric cars! (j/k) I don't know about Connecticut. You can get away with a bit here in WA. You don't even need an emissions test for 5 years and even then it's just an OBD test. And if you fail emissions, you just have to show that you spent $150 diagnosing/trying to fix it. My '88 Porsche doesn't even have a Catalytic converter and it passed emissions! I guess the older the car the more lenient they are.

You can't go wrong with the West Coast. Of course I'm a little biased.

Good luck!

[TSY]

Oh, there are some great drives- we have real mountains here, not just the little hills they have on the East Coast. And we have 3 race tracks (ok 2 1/2) within an hour of Bremerton (the 1/2 is in Bremerton- lots of Autox there though)

Let's see, we have great skiing/snowboarding. Canada is nearby. Oregon has no sales tax so is a good place to go shopping. We have lots of good coffee. Oh yeah, we don't have state income tax.

All in all, a nice place to live and raise a family. Not so good if you want to live on the beach (the Pacific Ocean is like a 3 hour drive!)

Hope this helps!

[shiud]

I'm a little biased (lived in the greater seattle area my entire life) but you just can't beat the air quality here in washington and it makes driving with the windows down a really crisp and refreshing deal... except for the wildfires in some parts right now. There are tons of back country highways and roads that just bend and sweep through the state, from forests, to mountains and coast. There's traffic everywhere, even in seattle, we're definitely not exempt from that rule, but from what I've heard, it's not nearly as bad as the california traffic. All in all, anywhere on the west coast is a pretty good choice!

[Hippophobia]

Originally Posted by QFry

i am in bremerton and was stationed in Groton as well (SubSchool?)...been to SD a lot...and if Groton is on your list above SD then you would like Bremerton...it is a lot better than Conn any day (nicer ppl and better brewerys IMO)...what 86 do you have?

Yeah, Sub School for Sonar. I have a Whiteout FRS. No fun parts yet though. What about you?

Groton and SD are about even, leaning slightly more towards SD on top. But I think Washington is going to be first, and most everyone has been getting their first picks. That doesn't mean it will happen (needs of the navy and all) but I am pretty high ranked in my class so I have a bit of confidence in that.

[Hippophobia]

Well, it's official. I got new orders to Bremerton, WA. I'm pretty stoked about it. Sad day that I am going to be putting more miles on my car to get there than it even has currently though. Haha. And that drive over the Rockies should be pretty interesting, gonna have to throw down for some snow tires soon.

I look forward to meeting some fellow owners in the area.

[seven]

It's rainy, go away we're full :p

jk. Everyone else here about covered it

[JonnyRocket]

Originally Posted by Hippophobia

Well, it's official. I got new orders to Bremerton, WA. I'm pretty stoked about it. Sad day that I am going to be putting more miles on my car to get there than it even has currently though. Haha. And that drive over the Rockies should be pretty interesting, gonna have to throw down for some snow tires soon.

I look forward to meeting some fellow owners in the area.

Congrats! You should document the cross country trip! There's a program you can get for androids (probably iphone also) that you can setup to do time lapse. Mount the phone on a dash/windshield holder and it makes for a pretty cool video!

[Hippophobia]

Originally Posted by JonnyRocket

Congrats! You should document the cross country trip! There's a program you can get for androids (probably iphone also) that you can setup to do time lapse. Mount the phone on a dash/windshield holder and it makes for a pretty cool video!

That's actually a pretty good idea. Maybe I'll have my brother send me his GoPro and do it that way. The first section of the drive is gonna kill me. I check out here the day before Thanksgiving and it's 26 hours to home. I'm gonna be a zombie.