Until 2003.
1. The job market sucks ass, which is why I left. So you better have a job lined up or a shitload of money. The place is fucking EXPENSIVE to live in, or near. Ranks #2 to San Francisco on the entire west coast in cost-of-living. Near last in jobs.
2. Hope that you don't have SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) - the winters are dark, dark, and dark. Usually wet too, although friends told me it was a very dry winter this year.
3. Like-minded people can also be a pain-in-the-ass. Aging sanctimonious hippies are as bad as anal-retentive fascist Repukes. Capitol Hill is for the hipper-than-thou (try to out-pierce each other, or tattoo yourself to death), and did I mention expensive? Queen Anne has been yuppified to death since 1990 or so. Belltown (which is IN the city) is also hip, pricey, and gentrified beyond belief.
4. The area is prone to earthquakes as severe as any in CA, so if you have never experienced one, they are fun.
5.
http://www.seattlesucks.com Reminds me of why I left, although I once loved the place. It isn't all it's cracked up to be. Traffic usually ranks the worst in the nation, even worse than sunshine-soaked LA. I-5 and I-405 are hell. All those yuppies, all those SUV's! All those Volvos and Saabs and Lexuses... :puke:
6. The city government is a sick joke, the county government will make you hurl, and the state government is even worse. True fact: Seattle tried passing a 10 cents-a-cup espresso tax nearly 2 years ago, and it deservedly failed. They say California is nuts, but the insanity there has more panache and style. Seattle's insanity is just dumb.
If you are really bent on moving there, try Olympia instead. You'll find "like-minded people", but the traffic is a bit better, and only 99% as expensive. The rest of the state is redder than Kansas, if one is to believe phony dichotomies such as "red" and "blue".
Good luck.