I live about 20 miles north of it.. It's a nice area to live, right on the water, and I hope you don't mind rain. The way outsiders perceive the northwest, it's as rain is a mascot or something, but it isn't too bad.
The unemployment rate in Washington was highest in the nation, I believe, until recently when Oregon took those "honors", still not good though. I don't think it was due to improvement either, was more then likely Oregon just getting worse.
Seattle is a major city so if you plan to live in it, not "around" you should expect things to be expensive. The farther you live outside it, the cheaper things are especially rent. Some other things; traffic is bad which brought about a 5 cent tax on already inflated gas prices, which will pay for more and better roads to alleviate jams in about 10 years.
Music scene is good, of course, depends on your interests. There alot of really good local bands here, unfortunately bias against the NW exists and music isn't an exception, so we miss a few major acts, or only a single show takes place. A good recent example is Iron Maiden, skipping the area altogether, while the New York area gets like 5 shows
All in all its a nice play to live. Seattle is a wonderful city and this whole area is beautiful... IMO anyway.
