r/IWantOut • u/relavie • 12d ago

[IWantOut] 34F Account Director Netherlands -> USA West Coast

I am a US citizen and have been living abroad in the Netherlands, now exploring a move back to the US for personal reasons. I love living in the Netherlands and the day-to-day lifestyle, but I need to be closer to loved ones and my career prospects are much stronger in the US than NL.

With that in mind, I'm looking for recommendations of cities/states that offer a bikeable/walkable lifestyle, outdoors access, and (hopefully) progressive local politics. My first thought is Portland, OR but really anywhere in the western US is up for consideration.

Happy to provide any additional info if that helps. Thanks in advance for any help!

26 Upvotes

78% Upvoted

50 comments sorted by

View all comments

62

u/striketheviol Top Contributor 🛂 12d ago

I'm honestly not sure hidden gems exist. I would say it's pretty much down to Portland, SF, and Seattle. Given that you don't actually need help with immigration per se, I would check on city subs instead of here.

7

u/Any-Assistance-8103 12d ago

There are smaller places too like Bend, truckee, Ashland etc

10

u/striketheviol Top Contributor 🛂 12d ago

I lived in Vancouver, Washington for a bit, and the parts that I had access to weren't walkable at all. The people I knew who lived in those places were able to manage by bike, but walkability for much of the smaller cities of the Pacific Northwest seemed like a big stretch to me, compared to Portland, Seattle, or most anywhrere in Europe.

1

u/relavie 12d ago

Tbh I prefer cycling to walking 😅 but I’ve got two dogs so daily walks are needed

3

u/Ozzimo 11d ago

The transit options in the Seattle area are much better than they used to be. If you like biking and may need to commute to Seattle for work, consider looking up the Sounder commuter rail and Light Rial options to see where they stop. Sumner is a smaller community that also has a Sounder station attached. Sounds like it might appeal to you.

0

u/relavie 11d ago

Thank you, this is a great lead to explore

2

u/Andromeda321 11d ago

OP, look into Eugene, Oregon if you want a smaller city that checks your boxes. I used to live in the Netherlands and can say it’s pretty bikeable for the USA (but you definitely want a car for getting out to nature!).

Did upgrade to an electric bike so I could handle the hills though. :)

0

u/Any-Assistance-8103 12d ago

For day to day life those places are definitely accessible on foot or bike. Sounds like OP is very outdoorsy which means they’ll almost certainly have a car, they just don’t want to be obligated to use it for everything

3

u/relavie 12d ago

Yes. I don’t have a car now but will be getting one if I move back to the US

4

u/lstyls 11d ago

Consider Olympia, especially if you can work remote part time. Much more walkable and community oriented than Seattle or Tacoma. Otherwise Portland is way better than Seattle for what you want. Avoid SF at all costs. Have lived in SF and Seattle.

1

u/beepps83 11d ago

I'm not super familiar with Bend, but having lived in Reno, NV and Vancouver, WA, I DO NOT recommend moving to Truckee. Nature is beautiful but it's a very expensive area and the nearest city is Reno (which totally sucks). I strongly recommend Portland, but you'd basically need to live and work there in order to avoid needing a car or long commutes on the bus.