Attention PacificNorthWestern Members!!!

[soobrdad02]

Hey everyone, my wife and I have been talking of relocating from here in the southeast to somewhere in the Pacific Nothwest sometime in the next few years and, being the stickler for detail that I am, figured that since more than a few of you here on the bbs were located in that general area (possibly looking from NoCal all the way up to WA.) I could get some opinons on areas to look at. We've got two kids and she's a teacher, so I figured that schools would be of particular interest along with housing, quality of life, recreation etc.. any opinions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[kleinkid]

What kind of work do you do?

[Smithcraft]

Invest in thermals!

Oregon has state income tax, but no sales tax(last I heard).

Washington has sales tax, but no income tax. The Seattle area has managed to hold it's real estate values, and house prices haven't really come down too much. While I would never do business with them, John L Scott has a fairly nice interactive map search for real estate.

The western edges of the PNW is a bit on the damp side. If you really need blue skies for most of the year, you might end up visiting the eastern side of the states.

I think we would need to know what kind of area you want to live in, to really direct you to any particular region, or even neighborhood.

SC

[kimokalihi]

You'll be moving to the subaru capitol of the country!

[soobrdad02]

As far as work goes, I've been the one to stay home with my son, Reef since he was born in June. Before that I was an apprentice mechanic at a small shop here in Richmond. Pride took a big hit at the wife's suggestion of my staying home, but in the end I got laid off because of the economy here anyway. It has been nice to roll up the garage door and know that there's not another Snap-On in the neighborhood though.... We had originally discussed Hawaii as an option, and it still is, but I'm thinking the PNW will offer a better "bang for the buck" so to speak. A nice house and some land in the PNW vs. an apartment/ crackerbox in Hawaii... as far as area goes, I also bike, so she's using Portland as bait. Seattle has that cultural reputation(maybe a bit on the rainy side though), but as far as I'm concerned at this point I'm open to pretty much anywhere. And I haven't told her that it's Subieland out there, let's just say I'm keeping that one in my pocket! (She's already jealous enough of the wagon!)

[kimokalihi]

The weather in Portland is the same as it is in Seattle. It's not tha far apart. 3 hour drive?

Google says 174 miles 2 hours 44 mins.

I like it here because it's green and there's no polution like california. It's not crazy humid, doesn't get stupid hot or cold. Real mild climate. But unfortunately it rains way too much. The weather is quite depressing a lot of the year. In fact, I've heard that Seattle is the suicide capitol of the country. Who knows if it's true but I know that this weather makes me feel depressed as it goes on like this for months and then when it's sunny out I suddenly feel happy and want to go out and get stuff done.

So it's a tradeoff for sure. Green vegetation and mild weather for rain 8 months out of the year.

I've lived here all my life nearly 23 years now and I've seen no other place like it and when I travel I do miss washington but then again I often picture myself living somewhere warm.

Rent around Olympia area is not bad especially compared to Seattle which I would estimate about 40-50% higher.

Do you want to live in the country or in the city or the suburbs? I live sort of in the country which is another reason I like it here. You can go quad riding, 4x4, dirt bikes, mountain bikes, BMX, wakeboarding, snowboarding, hunting, rally, you name it. Plenty of outdoors.

[kleinkid]

Here is my reccomendation for an area to look at. West Puget sound. You can get land and a home for a lot cheaper than the Seattle area. Pretty darn good area to bicycle also, mountain and road. West Sound Cycling Club is very active, great members who are a lot of fun. http://www.westsoundcycling.com/homepage/ Central Kitsap School District and Notrh Kitsap School District are good, do web search of course.

For your future employment look at this website. This is for civilian federal employment, you are not joining the Navy. I would reccomend Shop 38, Marine Machinery Mechanic. Start at student trainee then enter the apprentice program. After four years you end up with a two year college degree and are a journeyman level mechanic, at around $27/ hr. I worked for them for 34 years, retired now.

http://www.navsea.navy.mil/shipyards/puget/default.aspx

If you want more info, PM me and I'll talk to you.

[soobrdad02]

You guys are AWESOME! Thanks for all the great info so far and keep it coming if you live out there and haven't commented yet! Kimo, I can definitely see where you're coming from as far as the rain, we had two straight weeks of it this past summer and I was seriously bummed, can't imagine eight months of it! Sounds like it may be a good tradeoff though for the greenery and recreational opportunities. Thanks for all the info as well, kleinkid, I'll be PM'ing you in the next day or two for more info. The job recommendation sounds interesting, just so long as they wouldn't mind a 30 year old apprentice...

[epicfail]

While it is a nice place to live...
Its doesn't all come up smelling like roses. Local politics suck, especially if you prefer a representative elected government. And, you pay to enjoy the niceties of living here: http://mynorthwest.com/index.php?nid=11&sid=286112

[wtdash]

If you're interested in more sun (and a lot less traffic), head east of the Cascades.

On a North/South line roughly from Yakima>>Ellensburg>>Omak you'll get a lot more sun and and still be close to the mountains. Farther east, to Ritzville, WA (I-90) is flat and agricultural. Once you get to eastern WA, Spokane is a bit more scenic, as you get into the mtns of NE WA, N. ID, and NW MT.

Spokane is the biggest city (last time I checked) between Seattle and Minneapolis, if you want big(ger) city opportunities.

You'll also have to deal w/temps from below zero to 100+ for a few days each year, but low humidity. And during the winter months we can also be cloudy, cold and a bit depressing for a week or 2 @ a time.

I'm not knowledgeable about schools, so you'd need to do some research.

[Kelly]

Its a great place to live if you want to be surrounded by beauty and can afford it!

[smh0101]

It sucks here...


Read this ENTIRE thing. Including the comments.

This should go for the ENTIRE PacNW west of the cascades.

I'm packing up and moving to Raleigh next year.

[Smithcraft]

I'll agree with all that about Portland! I've tried taking short trips there twice. If it weren't for Powells, and the Japanese Garden, I wouldn't notice if Portland fell of the face of the earth.

I won't however, agree that it would apply to the entire PNW west of the Cascades.

SC