Seattle Banking Scene
Have an offer from a MM bank in Seattle and wanted to hear more about the lifestyle/activities/culture in Seattle finance.
Thanks!
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Do you enjoy living in a city that's extremely expensive and unaffordable, has two of worlds richest people living nearby, is one of the whitest large metro areas in the usa and paradoxically is a cultural and spiritual center for BLM and diversity awareness, anti capitalism, and socialist ideology? Then seattle is for you!
But honestly, the natural scenery ALMOST makes it all worth it.
good if you like to do seafood industry coverage
All the best banks are concentrated in CHAZ.
Have heard very good exits to ANTIFA out of there.
Know the city very well from having lived there many years ago.
I was told that it's become a ceaseless pool of shit humans. Friend told me how on UW's main campus you have antifa patrols walking around with white armbands a la Hitler youth blocking any speaker that might lean to the right. The private banking scene is (was) big at the time due to the Microsoft money and the eco-system it created. So PB is probably a good thing over there. I am sure you have some very niche tech M&A boutiques that might do somewhat well. Don't expect to relocate out of Seattle as your skill set will be very NW centric.
You can always live in the burbs and get stuck on 520 or I-90 although heard there is a toll there now. Our house cost us 250k in Bellevue years ago, now like everything else it's worth over a million. Most of my friends from high school have relocated outside of Bellevue as it became too expensive. Some moved to shit parts of Seattle. One acquaintance is running his own PE fund there. It's extremely insular, people tend to stay and their education level is quite low. In terms of openness or understanding of the outside world Seattle is shit.
For the positive side: there is tons of money in the area. Nature is beautiful. If you like skiing you'll have a blast. There are great high school in the expensive suburbs (I went to one of them). If you are good due to the lack of talent you will likely shine. I haven't been for over 15 years now so things have changed (except for a fly in and out for a wedding for my best friend there, all my other friends I just missed entirely their weddings as the place is too damn far from London).
If you are not from the North West you might struggle. My life would have been very different had I stayed back. Writing this post brings back good memories, but then times were simpler and the middle class didn't get crushed with 2008 and Obama's QE (prolonged by Trump). I remember great cocktail bars and happy hours in Seattle during my University days. All in all - I've answered your question regarding banking. Regarding the city - it's for you to see if you like it. All I heard were complaints about how things changed in Seattle - I haven't checked it.
The music scene was awesome in the early '90s, before our addictions overcame us. Kurt and Chris and I jam all the time now -- hopefully it'll be a while until Eddie joins us.
Don't do heroin, kids.
I don't think Seattle residents fully appreciate yet how much damage anti-fa has done to the city in the long term. Before all this, it was a city that I would consider applying to for a job and definitely visiting at the very least. Now, I have zero interest in going there because of the hatred and intolerance. I've talked to other people who feel the same way.
Not a good sign if people cringe when they hear your city's name.
Seattle is a pretty dope city, but I wouldn't want to live there as a banker. It's a tech city, finance isn't very existent, and grinding in a city where everyone works a 9-5 isn't really going to be enjoyable.
On the plus side, you have access to incredible nature (easily some of the best in the US), food and bar scene is pretty good, and I feel like its fairly affordable when compared to NYC SF LA etc (Chicago is only major city I'd say is cheaper). I spent the last 3 months in Seattle and loved it - yeah the SJW libtards are annoying but you don't have to be friends with them so I don't really see why that's even an issue (also those people are present everywhere on the west coast).
I think that in most areas with more conservatives, you will actually find more political tolerance.
In my opinion, most conservatives consider the ideas of the Left to be naive and dumb and that's it. People can still have a discussion over ideas even if we disagree. More importantly, we can have close friendships, even if we disagree on what is a good or bad idea.
Problem with the west coast left is that many believe the Right to be racist and facist. If that's what you think of the other person's view, then we really can't have a discussion and more importantly, we can't be friends.
Just as an example. I go out for drinks all the time with a group of friends who are mostly moderate Left. We even talk politics all the time...how senial Biden is...how crazy Trump is....no one gets their feelings hurt because no one has extreme views like that the other person is a fascist.
I think that both sides have greatly contributed to the feelings of animosity, but I think that the Left has made things considerably worse by taking a lot of positions as line in the sand issues. If you are for policy X, then you are a fascist. If you vote Trump, you are a racist. If don't subscribe to the New Green Deal, you are against science. If you are anti-abortion, you are against women. Taking stances like that is inherently a bad place to begin any debate.
EDIT: I would make one caveat. Back in 2001 - 2007 period, the Right did become very intolerant as to anything pertaining to the War on Terror. If you are Left wing and have a time machine, don't go back to that era in a conservative area and say anything anti-war. Remember, "you're either with us or against us"? But right now, there isn't any issue that you absolutely just can't talk about with a right winger these days....maybe defunding the police but I don't really know if that counts since almost no one actually seems to like that idea even on the Left.