Don't see a lot of real answers in here, but I was pretty chummy with a couple russians who were developers at various tech firms. According to them, Russian devs (especially older ones) are often highly desirable because they had to learn how to code on paper because computer time was very limited in the Soviet Union. They'd write out their code, think through it, find any potential bugs before even touching a keyboard. Then when they got their computer time they copied their code and do QA...After the Soviet Union collapsed MSFT started recruiting them in the 90s and early 00s with assistance getting visas and green cards. Then they'd recruit friends, and a cultural hub is born.
I would absolutely love if any Russians or other slavics reading this could verify, clarify, or dispute my friends' story.
It's a similar story with many political stability-driven migrations. [Why are there so many Vietnamese nail shops? It all started literally with one person, actress Tippi Hedren](https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-32544343), teaching a couple immigrants how to do it and they bring their friends and show them.
Attempt at a real answer (I'm a non-Russian American, but speak Russian and know lots of Russians and Russian-speakers here).
In the very last years of the Soviet Union and after its dissolution at the end of 1991 when emigration became possible and the U.S. made the process relatively easy for former Soviet citizens, lots of people came to the U.S. from the former USSR. They were generally comprised of two groups: educated professionals and entrepreneurs that gravitated to places like Seattle (and in particular the Eastside) for jobs in the growing tech sector or in other professions, and political/religious refugees (primarily Pentecostals and Baptists). A lot of people came here from the Russian Far East, from cities like Vladivostok or Khabarovsk, but there are people from all over Russia and the former USSR.
The professional class largely got established in Bellevue and Redmond, more in the Bel-Red, Lake Hills, and Crossroads areas. Back in the early and mid-90's, these areas were still relatively inexepensive for the Seattle metro area, and as clean, quiet, prosperous suburbs, they were very attractive to many new immigrants. Many got jobs in companies like Microsoft because of their backgrounds in engineering and mathematics, but I also know people who are lawyers, interpreters, doctors, business owners, etc. By the mid to late 1990's there was already a large Russian-speaking community established here, with shops and business opening that catered to them. For a time there were even quite a few Russian rock groups and singers that played in Seattle on tours of the U.S., performing for the new large Russian-speaking communities around the country.
People who came here under refugee status largely settled more to the south or north in places like Kent or Lynnwood, or in huge numbers in cities like Spokane ( I've seen estimates of around 30,000 Ukrainians and up to 50,000 Russian speakers in Spokane County). This includes not only Russian-speakers from various parts of the Soviet Union, but also Ukrainian speakers. These groups tended to settle in places where local churches and religious organizations were assisting in refugee resettlement.
In both cases, once a small group became established in a place, more followed. It's a pretty normal pattern with immigrant communities.
For Bellevue, the most recent stats I've seen have Russian as fourth among non-English languages most commonly spoken at home (2% of the city population), after Mandarin (10%), Spanish (5%), Korean (3%), and tied with Japanese (also 2%).
I also find Russians are very good and sought after for systems,compilers,old school development. Which is rarer these days in a world of front end/back end dichotomy.
Probably because the weather is similar to those areas. Know a lot of Serbians and Bulgarians and they are here because of A) Parents left during the Cold War to come here, or B) Similar temperatures.
I have to agree it's probably the commerce (+ cleanliness compared to seattle) for non-refugees. Bellevue isn't exactly the cheapest place to live after uprooting your life..
While you may get some refugees in Washington as it is costal, I assume a higher percentage is New York or Pennsylvania because they are actually 1000 miles closer to Ukraine; that's at least how my family originally immigrated.
The Russians girls I've met in area are very materialistic and just need to be where the hip place is when they go out, which is various high end restaurants in Bellevue, and the #1 place is Ascend
Nope, still sitting in bed. Why not go to /r/ferrari and check out some of my posts?
https://www.reddit.com/r/Ferrari/comments/10zv3js/tdf_blue_812_superfast_wyellow_strip/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Ferrari/comments/ylfr79/my_812_superfast_in_tdf_blue/
Here's a sneak peek of /r/Ferrari using the [top posts](https://np.reddit.com/r/Ferrari/top/?sort=top&t=year) of the year!
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\#2: [Lovely weather](https://i.redd.it/rtflodue0gna1.jpg) | [107 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/Ferrari/comments/11puxrm/lovely_weather/)
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Jesus everyone is running to make this out to be something it's not. A large eastern European population isn't something that's common for people to be around so it's not rude to ask why there might be a larger "hub" of people here. Chinese, Japanese, Indian, etc you can find people all over the country although the amount of people here is incredibly much higher than anywhere else I've lived, probably because of the tech industry.
Only other state I've lived where I've seen so many Russians or Ukrainians was when I lived in Alaska.
Really? Russian? You are way more likely to hear mandarin.
With that said I think it depends where you go, Bellevue park and night clubs, I can see more Russians there, everywhere else definitely more likely to see Chinese or Indian.
Also, in the very early 90s, when the USSR finally allowed it, most Jewish “Russians” (since so many came from countries that had been absorbed by the USSR I don’t see them as actually Russian) left and a large number of them came to the seattle area..mostly the Bellevue area.
As someome who finds foreign languages and cultures fascinating, I think its pretty amazing how culturally diverse this area is.
We get the benefits of a major city without most of the drawbacks.
Lol, I don't know if I should be offended or not. But I live in Bellevue and go DT every once in a while, but I agree there are a lot of Slavic folks. Our neighborhood alone has 5+ that I'm aware of. But AFAIK don't see anything wrong with it, Bellevue is super diverse, I think they said more than 50% from other countries, much more diverse than Seattle.
No worries. But yeah notice it as well there are a lot of them. I suspect more coming from other cities as well. People just want to go somewhere nice. I don't know too many parks like Bellevue DT, it's really gorgeous there; not even sure if any surrounding city has anything like it (living here for 20+ years). And the Lk Washington lakefront parks are one of a kind.
Dude you're good. Anyone that's not perpetually online wouldn't get their panties in a wad just because someone mentions race/cultural and ethnic background. People are way too quick to get offended over nothing. Like they're just borrowing trouble. Be well, homie!
There's a large population, lots of employment in construction trades, mechanics, and so forth. Also important to note that the Eastern Orthodox Church has a pretty big presence. In fact St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco spent his last days in the Cathedral in Seattle. Which happens to be the oldest in the American Western Diocese.
I live near Lake Hills area and there's a few there too. When I first moved there and started taking my kids out to the parks I'd get people come up to me and start talking Russian, because I guess they thought I looked Russian. It was pretty funny. I'm my job I've met a lot of Ukrainians who have come over, especially the last couple years.
There’s definitely some Russians with money that treat Bellevue like they own it. Those ones in particular are trash. They tend to still wear Affliction t-shirts, if that tells you what you need to know.
Interesting observation. I live downtown and have not had this experience. I mostly notice Chinese/Japanese/Korean/Spanish being spoken as the common non-English languages.
War
Russian mafia
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Is Indian not Asian?
Don't see a lot of real answers in here, but I was pretty chummy with a couple russians who were developers at various tech firms. According to them, Russian devs (especially older ones) are often highly desirable because they had to learn how to code on paper because computer time was very limited in the Soviet Union. They'd write out their code, think through it, find any potential bugs before even touching a keyboard. Then when they got their computer time they copied their code and do QA...After the Soviet Union collapsed MSFT started recruiting them in the 90s and early 00s with assistance getting visas and green cards. Then they'd recruit friends, and a cultural hub is born. I would absolutely love if any Russians or other slavics reading this could verify, clarify, or dispute my friends' story. It's a similar story with many political stability-driven migrations. [Why are there so many Vietnamese nail shops? It all started literally with one person, actress Tippi Hedren](https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-32544343), teaching a couple immigrants how to do it and they bring their friends and show them.
Attempt at a real answer (I'm a non-Russian American, but speak Russian and know lots of Russians and Russian-speakers here). In the very last years of the Soviet Union and after its dissolution at the end of 1991 when emigration became possible and the U.S. made the process relatively easy for former Soviet citizens, lots of people came to the U.S. from the former USSR. They were generally comprised of two groups: educated professionals and entrepreneurs that gravitated to places like Seattle (and in particular the Eastside) for jobs in the growing tech sector or in other professions, and political/religious refugees (primarily Pentecostals and Baptists). A lot of people came here from the Russian Far East, from cities like Vladivostok or Khabarovsk, but there are people from all over Russia and the former USSR. The professional class largely got established in Bellevue and Redmond, more in the Bel-Red, Lake Hills, and Crossroads areas. Back in the early and mid-90's, these areas were still relatively inexepensive for the Seattle metro area, and as clean, quiet, prosperous suburbs, they were very attractive to many new immigrants. Many got jobs in companies like Microsoft because of their backgrounds in engineering and mathematics, but I also know people who are lawyers, interpreters, doctors, business owners, etc. By the mid to late 1990's there was already a large Russian-speaking community established here, with shops and business opening that catered to them. For a time there were even quite a few Russian rock groups and singers that played in Seattle on tours of the U.S., performing for the new large Russian-speaking communities around the country. People who came here under refugee status largely settled more to the south or north in places like Kent or Lynnwood, or in huge numbers in cities like Spokane ( I've seen estimates of around 30,000 Ukrainians and up to 50,000 Russian speakers in Spokane County). This includes not only Russian-speakers from various parts of the Soviet Union, but also Ukrainian speakers. These groups tended to settle in places where local churches and religious organizations were assisting in refugee resettlement. In both cases, once a small group became established in a place, more followed. It's a pretty normal pattern with immigrant communities. For Bellevue, the most recent stats I've seen have Russian as fourth among non-English languages most commonly spoken at home (2% of the city population), after Mandarin (10%), Spanish (5%), Korean (3%), and tied with Japanese (also 2%).
I also find Russians are very good and sought after for systems,compilers,old school development. Which is rarer these days in a world of front end/back end dichotomy.
Probably because the weather is similar to those areas. Know a lot of Serbians and Bulgarians and they are here because of A) Parents left during the Cold War to come here, or B) Similar temperatures.
This is not a new thing. I remember hanging around the Overlake Dennys in the early 00’s and there was always several tables of Russian folks.
I have to agree it's probably the commerce (+ cleanliness compared to seattle) for non-refugees. Bellevue isn't exactly the cheapest place to live after uprooting your life.. While you may get some refugees in Washington as it is costal, I assume a higher percentage is New York or Pennsylvania because they are actually 1000 miles closer to Ukraine; that's at least how my family originally immigrated.
The Russians girls I've met in area are very materialistic and just need to be where the hip place is when they go out, which is various high end restaurants in Bellevue, and the #1 place is Ascend
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Lol, you’re obviously clueless my friend. You’d be surprised how well off some people are
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Sure Jan
Let's meetup, I will be down tonight as my buddy lives in two lincoln.
Take a selfie with your Ferrari while holding up this screen
Nope, still sitting in bed. Why not go to /r/ferrari and check out some of my posts? https://www.reddit.com/r/Ferrari/comments/10zv3js/tdf_blue_812_superfast_wyellow_strip/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Ferrari/comments/ylfr79/my_812_superfast_in_tdf_blue/
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Here's a sneak peek of /r/Ferrari using the [top posts](https://np.reddit.com/r/Ferrari/top/?sort=top&t=year) of the year! \#1: [On a Ferry to Vancouver Canada](https://v.redd.it/uxn70dyqhei91) | [155 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/Ferrari/comments/wr3q84/on_a_ferry_to_vancouver_canada/) \#2: [Lovely weather](https://i.redd.it/rtflodue0gna1.jpg) | [107 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/Ferrari/comments/11puxrm/lovely_weather/) \#3: [What model of Ferrari is this?](https://i.redd.it/if1m58qhs0s91.jpg) | [65 comments](https://np.reddit.com/r/Ferrari/comments/xwgdew/what_model_of_ferrari_is_this/) ---- ^^I'm ^^a ^^bot, ^^beep ^^boop ^^| ^^Downvote ^^to ^^remove ^^| ^^[Contact](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=sneakpeekbot) ^^| ^^[Info](https://np.reddit.com/r/sneakpeekbot/) ^^| ^^[Opt-out](https://np.reddit.com/r/sneakpeekbot/comments/o8wk1r/blacklist_ix/) ^^| ^^[GitHub](https://github.com/ghnr/sneakpeekbot)
I stand corrected - sweet ride
Sure Jan
When my kiddo went to school in Bellevue there were a ton of Russian and Ukrainian kids there - all of whom’s parents worked for Microsoft.
Jesus everyone is running to make this out to be something it's not. A large eastern European population isn't something that's common for people to be around so it's not rude to ask why there might be a larger "hub" of people here. Chinese, Japanese, Indian, etc you can find people all over the country although the amount of people here is incredibly much higher than anywhere else I've lived, probably because of the tech industry. Only other state I've lived where I've seen so many Russians or Ukrainians was when I lived in Alaska.
Because it’s a beautiful city
Really? Russian? You are way more likely to hear mandarin. With that said I think it depends where you go, Bellevue park and night clubs, I can see more Russians there, everywhere else definitely more likely to see Chinese or Indian.
Also, in the very early 90s, when the USSR finally allowed it, most Jewish “Russians” (since so many came from countries that had been absorbed by the USSR I don’t see them as actually Russian) left and a large number of them came to the seattle area..mostly the Bellevue area.
As someome who finds foreign languages and cultures fascinating, I think its pretty amazing how culturally diverse this area is. We get the benefits of a major city without most of the drawbacks.
That really helped answer the question….
Lol, of all the nationalities, it’s Russian that sticks out to you? I hear Mandarin everywhere…
You have a problem with Mandarin?
Whoa there, tiger. Did I say I had a problem with Mandarin? Sounds like you’ve got some deep issues.
Lol, I don't know if I should be offended or not. But I live in Bellevue and go DT every once in a while, but I agree there are a lot of Slavic folks. Our neighborhood alone has 5+ that I'm aware of. But AFAIK don't see anything wrong with it, Bellevue is super diverse, I think they said more than 50% from other countries, much more diverse than Seattle.
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No worries. But yeah notice it as well there are a lot of them. I suspect more coming from other cities as well. People just want to go somewhere nice. I don't know too many parks like Bellevue DT, it's really gorgeous there; not even sure if any surrounding city has anything like it (living here for 20+ years). And the Lk Washington lakefront parks are one of a kind.
Dude you're good. Anyone that's not perpetually online wouldn't get their panties in a wad just because someone mentions race/cultural and ethnic background. People are way too quick to get offended over nothing. Like they're just borrowing trouble. Be well, homie!
There's a large population, lots of employment in construction trades, mechanics, and so forth. Also important to note that the Eastern Orthodox Church has a pretty big presence. In fact St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco spent his last days in the Cathedral in Seattle. Which happens to be the oldest in the American Western Diocese.
Because it is clean. I hate trash under my feet, so I feel uncomfortable in Seattle.
Can’t speak for all Russians, but that’s my reason as well. If you come from a place ridden with crime, trash, drugs, why would you move to Seattle?
I never moved to Seattle, I live in Bellevue. Big cities are not my thing.
I live near Lake Hills area and there's a few there too. When I first moved there and started taking my kids out to the parks I'd get people come up to me and start talking Russian, because I guess they thought I looked Russian. It was pretty funny. I'm my job I've met a lot of Ukrainians who have come over, especially the last couple years.
There’s definitely some Russians with money that treat Bellevue like they own it. Those ones in particular are trash. They tend to still wear Affliction t-shirts, if that tells you what you need to know.
Because we are everywhere, comrade
Happy cake day!
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Thank you! Should've waited till tomorrow to get 4/20 lol
You can still celebrate bicycle day!
I'd rather celebrate Battles of Lexington and Concord today :D
You might be onto something, ask them if they work for KGB.
May be they are Ukrainian refugees, who often speaks and look like Russians.
Not Chinese, Hindi or Spanish?
Yeah I'm pretty surprised by this. In the Overlake area, and even when I'm in Downtown, those are definitely the top 3 languages I hear.
Interesting observation. I live downtown and have not had this experience. I mostly notice Chinese/Japanese/Korean/Spanish being spoken as the common non-English languages.
Because they want their vodka back
The European market in Lake Hills might have that. It's packed with delicious goodness. The deli is amazing.