Beta
New to Seattle
Seattle's 90-day-from-arrival checklist — separate from the move-event sequencing at /services/moving-and-address-changes. Most setups happen in the first week; the WA driver license has a 10-day legal deadline that drives everything else. The closing section is the cultural literacy locals pick up over months.
Week 1
Three things to set up in your first seven days
Seattle's transit, utilities, and pet-licensing systems are each a single setup — not a multi-vendor scramble. Get them in place this week and the rest of the city opens up. One card, one bill, one form.
Day 1–3
ORCA card
- Pick up at any Link station or transit center vending machine, order at myORCA.com (delivered to your door), or use the MyORCA mobile app from day one.
- $3 for the card; $3 adult fare per ride — flat across Metro buses and Link Light Rail.
- Covers Metro buses, Link (1 + 2 Line), Sounder, ST Express, T Line, monorail, Seattle Streetcar, and water taxis. Does not cover Washington State Ferries or Metro Access paratransit — those have their own systems.
- Tap on when boarding bus or Link (don't tap off). On Sounder you must tap on AND tap off (two beeps).
- If your household qualifies (income at or below 200% of the federal poverty level), apply for ORCA LIFT — see the Honest take below.
Day 1–7
Combined Utility account
- Call (206) 684-3000 or open online at myutilities.seattle.gov. Same portal and same call center handle electric (City Light) and water / sewer / garbage / recycling / compost (SPU).
- Owners set up all services. Tenants typically set up electric only — the landlord handles SPU.
- Identity verification is required (federal regulation; not a credit-score check). If online verification fails, visit the walk-in service counter at Seattle Municipal Tower's 4th-floor lobby, M–F 8:30 AM–4 PM, with photo ID.
- A one-time administrative fee applies at start (amount given when you sign up).
- First combined bill arrives about two months after start. Billed every other month thereafter.
Day 1–30
Pet license (if applicable)
- Required for cats, dogs, miniature goats, and potbellied pigs under Seattle Municipal Code 9.25.050.
- 1-year licenses only as of January 1, 2025 — the 2-year option is gone.
- Register through the licensing portal (link from seattle.gov/animal-shelter/license), by phone at (206) 386-4262, or by email at petlicensing@seattle.gov.
- Cost varies by species and spay / neuter status — check the licensing portal for current fees.
- Unlicensed pets can carry up to a $125 citation.
Honest take: Most newcomers expect a separate water bill, garbage bill, and electric bill. Seattle bills all of them — electricity, water, sewer, garbage, recycling, and compost — on ONE Combined Utility Bill, every other month. Set up one account, not four. If your household qualifies (income at or below 200% of federal poverty), apply for the Utility Discount Program: (206) 684-0268 or UDP@seattle.gov.
Weeks 2–4
Driver license, voter registration, and parking
The legal-residency stuff — and the parking permit if you're in an RPZ neighborhood. The driver-license window is the only hard deadline; the rest can slide a few weeks without consequence.
Week 2
WA driver license
- 30-day window after moving to Washington. Make an appointment at a Department of Licensing driver licensing office.
- Standard DL: $111 for 6 years or $131 for 8 years.
- Enhanced DL: $153 for 6 years or $187 for 8 years. EDL meets REAL ID standards and allows land / sea re-entry from Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, and the Caribbean.
- Bring: out-of-state license (gets hole-punched and returned), proof of identity, SSN (told verbally, no document needed), payment.
- You leave the appointment with a temporary 45-day license; permanent arrives by mail in 7–10 days. Call (360) 902-3900 if it hasn't arrived after 30.
- DOL's Moving to Washington guide walks the full process.
Week 2–3
Voter registration
- Register online at sos.wa.gov via the Click to Register link. Need one of: current WA driver license / permit, current WA ID card, OR last 4 digits of your SSN.
- WA has no party affiliation — voters can vote for any candidate on the ballot.
- All-mail-ballot state. Ballots arrive in your mailbox about 18 days before each election. Drop boxes throughout King County. No postage needed to return.
- Online / mail deadline: 8 days before Election Day. Same-day registration is allowed in person at any county elections office until 8 PM on Election Day.
Week 2–4
RPZ permit (if your zone requires one)
- Standard rate: $95 per 2-year cycle (not annual; not prorated). All permits in a zone expire at the same time.
- Income-eligible rate: $10 with documentation.
- Find your zone with SDOT's RPZ Address Lookup Tool. 45 zones citywide (1–35 plus zones A and B), many with sub-areas.
- Vehicle permits are now digital (license plate stored electronically; LPR enforcement). Guest permits remain physical hangtags.
- If you have a valid disabled parking permit, you do not need a separate RPZ permit — it gives you 72-hour citywide parking.
- If you're applying within 60 days of your zone's expiration, apply for a short-term permit instead. Permits aren't prorated, so paying the full cycle right before expiry wastes money.
Honest take: Getting a standard Washington driver license does NOT automatically register you to vote. Only the Enhanced license (EDL) does. If you went with standard — which most people do — register separately at sos.wa.gov. It takes about 5 minutes. The deadline is 8 days before Election Day, but same-day in-person registration is also allowed until 8 PM on Election Day.
Months 2–3
Collection rhythm, bulky disposal, and the lay of the land
Once the legal setup is done, a slower rhythm settles in — the weekly trash / recycling / compost cycle, the occasional bulky-item disposal, and the slow filling-in of the city's mental map.
Weekly rhythm
The collection cycle
- Garbage and compost (food + yard) are weekly. Recycling is every other week. All three on the same address-specific collection day.
- Find your day with SPU's collection calendar — street address only, no apartment number.
- Get the Recycle It App for weekly reminders plus the Where Does It Go? item-by-item sort lookup.
- For cart sizes, missed pickups, the November leaf push, and the full Special Item Pickup details, see Seattle.net's garbage and yard waste guide.
When you have too much
Bulky and special disposal
- For couches, fridges, TVs, batteries: schedule a Special Item Pickup at MyUtilities or call (206) 684-3000. Free annual quota — one battery pickup + one Special Item Box per year — started April 2026.
- For larger loads (renovation debris, multiple appliances, yard cleanup): use a transfer station.
- North Transfer Station: 1350 N 34th Street.
- South Transfer Station: 130 S Kenyon Street.
- Both are open 8 AM–5:30 PM seven days/week — except the first Wednesday of each month, when hours are 10 AM–5:30 PM.
- Garbage at a transfer station: $37/trip minimum, $174/ton. Recyclables-only loads are free.
- Foam blocks (styrofoam) go through Special Item Pickup only — they are not accepted at transfer stations.
The wider map
Where to find things
- Seattle.net's /services hub maps city tasks to the right destination — utilities, permits, parking, reporting problems.
- Most agencies a new resident needs (City Light + SPU, animal shelter, DOL, parking) are reachable from the directory at the bottom of this page or from /services.
- For real-time city conditions before heading out — weather, traffic, alerts — see /now.
- For neighborhood orientation, /neighborhoods is the place to start — Seattle conversations work on neighborhood names, not street numbers (see Five things below).
Honest take: If your household income is at or below 200% of federal poverty (about $5,500/month for a family of 4), ORCA LIFT cuts your fare from $3 to $1 — about a 67% reduction. The monthly LIFT PugetPass is $36 vs $108 for adult. Many newcomers near the threshold don't apply because they think the program is for someone else. It's not. Apply at myORCA.com or call CHAP at (800) 756-5437.
Local literacy
Five things only locals know
The cultural cues newcomers pick up over months, compressed. None of these are on the city's own pages — they're the texture you absorb by living here.
1. “The mountain is out.”
Locals say this in normal conversation — it means Mount Rainier is visible. On clear days, look south from any elevated point or open intersection. The mountain is only out a fraction of the year, which is exactly why people announce it. Best vantage points: Kerry Park, the I-90 bridge approach, the Smith Tower observatory, and any south-facing apartment window above the third floor.
2. Seattle summer starts on July 5, not June 21.
June is famously cloudy — locals call it “June Gloom.” Sun-and-blue-sky weather typically begins after July 4 and runs through mid-September. If you're planning summer-weather activities — outdoor weddings, beach days, rooftop dinners — calibrate to July, not June. And in winter, dry weeks are real; the year-round rain stereotype overstates the actual rainfall.
3. People give directions by neighborhood, not street numbers.
“Meet me in Cap Hill” or “I'm in Ballard” — the named neighborhoods (Capitol Hill, Ballard, Fremont, Queen Anne, U District, Beacon Hill, Wallingford, and dozens more) are the spatial vocabulary. Street numbers are for navigation apps and Amazon deliveries. Get the major neighborhoods into your mental map early; every conversation will make more sense.
4. One ORCA card covers nearly the whole region.
One card, one fare account: Metro buses, Link Light Rail, Sounder commuter trains, ST Express buses, the T Line, monorail, Seattle Streetcar, and water taxis throughout Puget Sound. It does not cover Washington State Ferries or Metro Access paratransit — those have their own systems. The ORCA card is the closest thing Seattle has to a unified-transit pass.
5. Election rhythm runs on the mail, not on polling places.
Washington is an all-mail-ballot state. Ballots arrive in your mailbox about 18 days before each election. Locals fill them out at the kitchen table over coffee and either drop them in a county drop box or mail them in (no postage needed). Apartment- building lobby tables fill with envelopes and voter pamphlets every election cycle. There's no Election Day rush to a polling place — that's a different state's rhythm.
Direct lines
The numbers and portals new residents use most
Most newcomer questions resolve at one of the lines below. The (206) 684-3000 number covers both City Light and SPU — same call center, same hours.
| Purpose | Contact | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| City Light + SPU customer service | (206) 684-3000 | M–F 7:30 AM–6 PM |
| Out-of-area utility line | (800) 862-1181 | Toll-free |
| 24-hour utility emergency | (206) 386-1800 | Water / sewer / drainage, 24/7 |
| ORCA Regional Call Center | (888) 988-6722 | Card services + e-purse |
| Metro ORCA help | (206) 553-3000 | Local card support |
| ORCA LIFT (CHAP) | (800) 756-5437 | Income-qualified reduced fare |
| Seattle Pet Licensing | (206) 386-4262 | petlicensing@seattle.gov |
| Seattle Animal Shelter | (206) 386-7387 | 2061 15th Ave W |
| WA DOL — license not received | (360) 902-3900 | Call after 30 days |
| Utility online portal | myutilities.seattle.gov | Combined utility account |
| In-person utility service | Seattle Municipal Tower 4th-floor lobby | M–F 8:30 AM–4 PM |
Rates and fees on this page reflect the Sep 1, 2025 fare bump and the April 1, 2026 transfer-station and SPU rate schedules. SPU and the transfer stations adjust each April; check current rate cards if you're reading this past spring 2027.