I recently moved to the Greater Seattle Area (scenic Auburn) last February from the Greater Washington DC area (Manassas, Virginia), so my perspective is a little different from the longtime residents. Housing prices and traffic, compared to where I came from, are absolutely dreamy.
350K for a single family house is dirt cheap, IMHO. What I don’t like is the lack of land with most houses. I got used to the privacy of 1.8 acres all to myself, but it is much harder to find a house with that kind of land here. Also, most houses don’t have basements.
From what I’ve seen traffic isn’t so bad. I telecommute from home, so I’m only on the roads incidentally. But the few times I’ve been driving rush hour I kept wonder where all the cars where. The traffic is nowhere near the abysmal cataclysm of the DC metro area traffic—where even the side roads are crammed to overflowing. How you react to the traffic will all depend on what you used too. (It was the traffic that finally spurred my wife and I too move.)
I’ve hardly been bothered by the infamous rain. But I’ve been told it has been a bit of a dry spell recently.
The King County Library system is awesome. You can download unabridged audiobooks and in some cases burn them to CD and transfer them to a portable device.
I’m still trying to find all the good used bookstores. Plentiful, affordable used books are a nessecity to the good life, but I haven’t located a good source yet.
I rent. Until very recently, shE. Thorp and I lived in an 800-sq-ft 1-bedroom apartment on Capitol Hill (one of the more expensive neighborhoods for renters, but the savings in gas and car maintenance make up for some of it). In the 3 years we lived there, the rent came down to $925/mo including parking.
We decided to pay more to live well within the city, closer to the things we need and/or enjoy. Southern Snohomish County is a bit too far-flung for us, but obviously that’s a matter of preference.
I agree. We’ve made friends but it’s not always easy, and in fact most of the friends we have here are transplants themselves. Nothing against the born Seattleites, though, whom I like a lot (unfailing politeness goes a long way with me).
E. Thorp & Binarydrone I beg your collective pardon! I was born at Harborview, and I am not unfailingly polite! In fact I’ve been told I’m acerbic and intimidating. so there!
But I’m funny and I AM to friendly. Some days the only people I get to talk out loud to are the one’s I meet in the grocery store line. (of course, the people think I’m strange, move to a different line and I get home sooner… 
)
Now for a tiny hijack.
In case some of you haven’t seen it Swamp Bear is coming to Seattle in May. Several people are going get together and do the Underground Tour and dinner at Chinook’s, so go sign up in Swampy’s thread!
What a polite thing to say. 
In my opinion, that there are differences in manners (and therefore in expectations of friendship) in different parts of the US is unsurprising; the fault lies with those of us who expect what worked in Pennsylvania to work as well in Washington. But this is a topic for another thread.