Awww,Man, I Have To Move To Seattle.....

[Rob Vinnedge]

Glazer's Camera is one of the best photo supply stores I've ever used. They have an informed, diversified staff, competitive prices, and is one of Ilford's main distributors for ULF film. Ivey Imaging, which is next door, is the primary commercial photolab in town, with others such as Panda and Moon filling the gaps.

Seattle is a beautiful city surrounded by water, mountains, desert, and forests. Cost of living is higher than most cities but comparable to San Francisco. Transportation needs vast improvement, and housing prices and availability are somewhat discouraging due to the incredible interest in this area. Seattle is alive with restaurants, pubs, coffee shops, bookstores, visual and performing arts, farmer's markets, bike trails, sailing, you name it. It is also within three hours drive from two other wonderful cities, Portland, OR and Vancouver, B.C., as others have mentioned.

Doug must have visited during an unusually bad winter. The weather is generally a lot nicer than most people think. Check the annual weather report for this area.

[Paul Metcalf]

There's a few pretty good photographers in this area too (e.g. Art Wolf and Bruce Barnbaum). I'll second Glazers and Rainier Photography, I've used both. Optechs is out of the analog photo supply business (the large refridgerator at Glazers is from Optechs). Used to use Ivey a lot, but since doing things at home, haven't passed through their doors in years. It's been a couple of years since I've been to Kenmore Camera, but they still have analog materials. R&K in Auburn (south of Seattle) carrys film (probably up to 4x5 only, though) and some (limited) large format equipment.

[Donald Qualls]

Don't know if they're still there, but there used to be rental darkrooms at the Good Shepherd Center, near the University District between N 47th and N 50th (it's a former Catholic school, and the playground fronts on N 50th, a few blocks west of I-5). The same location is or was home to Pacific Northwest Ballet, so shouldn't be hard to find...

[william linne]

I really was hoping the cost of living would be marginally better than SF.

[Paul Fitzgerald]

" R&K in Auburn (south of Seattle) carrys film (probably up to 4x5 only, though) and some (limited) large format equipment."

Sorry but it was an empty storefront 2 months ago with no forward address.

"I really was hoping the cost of living would be marginally better than SF."

Really???
Average rent in Martin Luther King county last month = $1,604.00
Median house price = $465,000
Average of homes and condos = $407,000
gas this afternoon = $3.56.9
cigarettes, same store = $6.35

renting is geting tight with the conversion to condos, it does rain 200 days a year here and we do have about the worst traffic in the nation for no good reason.

I really do hope you're not moving because it's cheaper than SF, it's not.

[Colin Graham]

I really do hope you're not moving because it's cheaper than SF, it's not.

Yeah, all of western WA is pretty much out of control. Still, it's hard to find a prettier place to live. The diversity of scenery is quite something. I just got back from a trip to the Potholes last month, it's like having another world only a couple hours away.

[william linne]

Well,shit!

[Brian C. Miller]

Well, it may take longer than I stated, but you can get to both places in both directions if you really want to...

That's what I get for posting before breakfast...

You need to hook up with me for home-roasted coffee! We could have a good road-trip.

Anyways, William, there is cheap rent up here. I pay $465/mo for a one-bedroom apartment, and there are cheaper places available in my neighborhood. You can find bargains if you look for them, but the location may not be perfectly convenient. The buses are pretty decent, and you can get around on a bicycle.

Optechs is all digital now, and has been so for some time. RK went out of business, and Rainier Photographic bought their stock. Incidentally, Rainier is going to have a big sale soon on all that stuff, so check out their web site for the date.

[Eric James]

Well,shit!

Wait, there's more:

When I first moved to Seattle I heard a local yell across the street (down by the King Dome): "We don't F#@$ing jaywalk in Seattle, A$#hole!"

You may also come across members of the Lesser Seattle Society; their slogan is:

"Have a nice day - someplace else!"

[Robb_Scharetg]

Hi William et. al,

Thought I'd chime in too.

Having moved from SF/Marin (paradise) to DC (definitively NOT paradise) a few years ago and having spent a LOT of time in Seattle in both winter and summer and having been there just a few months ago I can tell you you're in for a pleasant surprise if you have not spent much time there.

Traffic-certainly not 'great', however it's all relative. DC actually has the 2nd worse traffic in the country, behind LA. As long as you're not going to/from Bellvue over the bridge during rush hour or through town on I-5 at rush hour it's really not bad at all-no worse than trying to get through the 580 maze onto the bridge into the City during rush hour (and that's before the 'melt') or back over the bridge out of the City or through the Caldecott going East in afternoon. I can spend (literally, NO exageration) 90 minutes to go less than 16 miles during rush hour here-I'd take Seattle 'traffic' ANY day.

Climate-sure it rains, it does the same in the Bay Area. Difference is that it tends to drizzle for days/weeks on end in Seattle whereas in SF/E. Bay we get all our rain in a series of ongoing storms from Nov. to March. Summer's great-sun sets about 22:00, light's great and the weather's usually really nice just like the Bay Area. Sure winter's long and dark but it's like that in a lot of places around the world. Bad thing about winter is that the sun rises about 9:30 and sets about 4ish. And it occasionally snows too.

Rent/Costs of living-about the same as the Bay Area, however it IS less. And where you live will affect your costs. If you live South of the City in places like Tukawilla or Kent it's a lot less. Ballard is in town and it's great-like Alameda twenty years ago. Greenlake, Capitol Hill and West Seattle are not cheap but they're great places to live. Or you can live on one of the islands (Bainbridge, etc.) and take the ferrys. Belltown's overpriced and tragically hip, and crowded.

I'd recommend Glazer's without a moment's hesitation. Like everyone else has mentioned they have two stores; one for lighting, grip and film/chemistry/paper/etc. and the other for everything camera related. When I was there last they had a full range of digital stuff, and film from 35mm to 8x10. They actually had three 8x10s set up.

Can't make any recommendations about labs but the staff at Glazers can tell you where to go.

And i'll second every other post that mentions the incredible physical beauty of the surrounding landscape. I lived the Bay Area for 25 years, Seattle is more beautiful by far.

Let me know where you land there, I'll be curious to hear how you like it.

Best

Robb Scharetg