Pros:
- Lots to do, culturally and sports teams (NBA may return someday).
- Decent weather: Yes, Nov - Apr can be a bit tough and grey but the summers and early fall are outstanding.
- Lots of outdoor activities. Hunting, skiing, fishing, biking, hiking, etc.
- Wine tasting and microbrews if you like that sort of thing
- Decent seniority for a new hire. I was hired in July 2014 and am 45/72 which is about as best I can do relatively except NYC (God forbid).
- SEA is supposed to be a growing base. We shall how that goes.
Cons:
- traffic, traffic and traffic. The trick is going against the rush hour flow. I live in Olympia and try to go have morning checkouts and afternoon checkins. It's 62 miles to the parking lot and I usually make in 70 minutes.
- If you bid the 73N, get ready for a lot of redeyes. Approximately 40-50% of the bid package (somebody has to move the iron east at the end of the day).
As I said, I live south of Olympia (Tumwater area). Good schools, fun, slower paced city than Seattle. Tacoma is nice, but we couldn't find really good schools there. We also heavily considered Gig Harbor, but couldn't agree on a house. If you live on Fox Island, houses are more reasonable. Federal Way is also nice, especially Brownstone Pt, but I don't know much about the schools there. Check out US News and World Report High School rankings along with Greatschools.org.
If you live on the east side, just be aware Snoqualmie Pass can close with little warning (snow, rock blasting, etc). However, I grew up near Yakima and would live there if not for the distance. Cle Elum, Rosyln, and Ellensburg also very nice. Wenatchee is nice, but a long drive (3 hours plus). Yakima can be done in 2+15 (assuming little traffic on I90 and I405 north).
Good luck. Feel free to PM me with questions.
Go HAWKS!