Moving from Florida to Washington State

[mannck]

I am planning on moving out to the downtown Seattle area around December 2013. I just recently visited Seattle in March and fell in love with the city and I want to be well prepared with getting all my ducks in a row before making the big move. I am an 28 year old male and have been a RN for 2 years on a IMC/ICU (intermediate care). I would like to know of any recommended hospitals in the downtown area and their wages, benefits, parking, etc (the pros & cons). I also would like to know about places to live. I've noticed downtown living is quite costly. I would like to live in a place that I can take a quick bus ride to work (although I have a car). I am not the guy that wants to party every night, but I do like to be a walking distance from grocery stores, restaurants, parks. If any of you guys can give me some advice regarding my future move that would be awesome!! Thanks again!!

Chris

[tokmom, BSN, RN]

I'm not from Seattle, but people really like West Seattle. It's across the Puget Sound accessed by bridge to downtown Seattle. My cousin lives there and it is a really cool and eclectic place to live. Still spendy though as is all of Seattle. Another nice area is Green Lake, up north near the U of W. There you could work at the U of W medical Center. Those are my random thoughts.

As for wages, check out union contracts. You can look at WSNA, 1199NW, and possibly USNU. Those are the unions around here. The contracts are posted on the websites. I wish I could be of more help, but I'm about 45 min away from Seattle. :)