The eastside is less obsessed with preserving an image of itself as a "gritty" place. Parts of the eastside (I'm looking at you, downtown Bellevue) are sort of obsessed with the opposite — shows of ostentatious wealth.

The Cascades have a lot of great hiking and are reason enough to live on the eastside :). If you don't already, get an "America the Beautiful" pass (http://www.nps.gov/findapark/passes.htm) which will get you into National Forest areas as well as National Parks (Rainier, Olympic National Park). And of course the state Discover pass gets you into a few areas (Tiger Mountain is not super wild, but very close).