Yo homie, I live in Seattle. It's the fucking tits. Forget the Twin Cities, fly from your friends, and you will have the experience of a lifetime out here. From reading your post I can see that you're ready for a change. I grew up in Montana and when I came to Seattle, I didn't know anyone out here. Not a soul. It was scary but it ended up being the best decision I ever made. We're home to Kurt Cobain, Jimmy Hendrix, Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, and Modest Mouse (well, Issaaquah is), and you can check out the history of these fantastic musicians at the EMP Museum, which looks frickin' awesome. There's also a ton of sweet science fiction stuff there, original shit from Star Trek and Star Wars and M&M's from space. Speaking of cool architecture, the Space Needle sticks out of our city like a totally bitching alien spacecraft. I'm actually waiting for that thing to take off one of these nights. Oh shit, you enjoy smoking Mary Jane Wanna? Well guess what son? It's legal here! Cops don't give a rat's ass! So smoke on up! Hell, there's a group of rasta dudes that sit around at Pike Place all the time blazing up. I've bought weed from those guys. Just gonna take a wild guess here--you enjoy consuming food. Well I've got good news. Seattle's food is incredible. We're right on the Puget Sound smack dab in the heart of the Pacific Northwest so that means fresh seafood out the ass. And if seafood isn't your thing, we've got other options too--Paseo in Freemont serves Cuban sandwiches that are off the chain. Dick's burgers are out of this world good, the best 2 A.M. drunchies you'll ever have. I'm Italian so I'm partial to Petra on 4th and Belltown for great Mediterranean cuisine. Valve's here. Microsoft's here. Amazon's here. If you've got an interest/career path in the tech field, Seattle is the motherfucking place to be. Even if you don't, (like me for example) the thousands of guys/gals employed at those places are usually pretty chill. Hell, everybody in Seattle is chill--we're all stoned! Sports fan? Me too. We've got the Mariners (who suck, but that means cheap tickets), Seahawks (do not suck, atmosphere is unforgettable) and the Sounders (cheap tickets, one of the most LIVE crowds at any MLS venue in the country). Check out Almost Live's guide to living in Seattle. It's hilarious and John Keister, one of the writers/actors on the show, taught me how to write screenplays. We're truly the only place in America where you can be a suicidal gay pothead, and not break any laws in the process! We're forward-thinking. Progressive. And it really doesn't rain as much as people say. More like, drizzle. I actually like the rain, but that's just me. Come to Seattle.