I'm actually also on Seattle (was chatting with you in the other thread). I think the biggest barrier is cost. I moved here after living in Austin TX for 7 years or so and the cost of everything from gas, to food, to housing, etc., is quite a bit higher. And although the pay here is generally higher, with the tech industry consolidation and layoffs rampant, the main source of surviving in the middle class has been drying up. If you have a good job and can work remote, you might be fine. I love the city and would choose to live in very few other places. It's not as bad as San Francisco or LA or whatever, but it's pretty expensive. But for comparison, after, many, many years of saving I finally own a tiny home that's a little over 800 sq ft and over 120 years old but in reasonable shape. It's currently valued at about $1.1 million though a few years back when I bought it, it was a few hundred K less, and no one who could afford it would buy such a small place for anything other than business like renting it out or AirBnB. It's in a great neighborhood, though, which is why I love it, so not saying you can't find cheaper, but just to show how crazy it can be here. It's about double what I've seen in Austin that a friend was showing me they were looking at in similar location and condition despite the tech industry growing a lot there lately. It's also really competitive due to a longterm lack of new housing to keep up with population, even for renting you need good references and usually a big deposit in addition to first and last month's rent, other than maybe the really high-end and really low-end places.

Other than that, the weather can be a barrier of you're coming from the south. Despite the reputation it doesn't actually rain a lot, it's usually just really gloomy with periodic light drizzle basically every day for months. Most people dont even use umbrellas. Though climate change has changed things since when I first moved here. It has gotten warmer earlier in the year and more strong storms.

It's also rough meeting people outside of work or school partly because of the weather and partly because the culture is less fake friendly than the south. It's also pretty white here. Which puts me at an advantage, but a disadvantage for some. The best part though is the gender diversity and acceptance. I can usually go out without having to be much more careful than a cis-woman. That's only true in the cities though, which is one reason I live in such an expensive location. Outside of the city it can be hit or miss like anywhere in the US. And steer clear of more rural areas or Eastern WA, LOL.

Hope things work out for you! I've been homeless before and it may seem feasible to do it, but it eats at you even just considering losing conveniences like showers and refrigerators and a place to "just be". Avoid it if you can.