Future move to WA?

[PasadenaTrudy]

My partner and I are always wondering about WA as a future home. We are in our early 50s and would like to move out of SoCal someday. Los Angeles is so crowded and with climate change, just getting hotter and hotter. We've been to Seattle, but I think it's too expensive and busy for me. I'm wondering about the Olympic Peninsula or Bellingham? We want cold temps and a liberal region. If anyone can suggest some areas for us to check out, I would appreciate it. We want to explore the area next summer perhaps.

Thanks!!

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

1. Port Townsend is your best choice on the Olympic Peninsula

Probably the most politically liberal in that area.

Bellingham is the home of Western Washington University. College towns tend to be progressive.

[Wounded Bear]

2. Anywhere on the West side, almost...

Retiring? Just wondering. Haven't spent a lot of time on the Olympic Penninsula, but there are some great areas on the East Side, as we call it-east of Lake Washington, but still west of the Cascades.

Been living in Snohomish County for a few years now, just N/NE of greater Seattle area. It's nice. Good access to the city if you want, and of the mountains and the East side of the state over Stevens Pass. Bellingham is basically farther North than that, but similar geographically.

King County is mostly liberal, but many of the rural areas are surprisingly red, especially on the East side of the Cascades and the southwest regions.

State is great for outdoor activities, fishing, hunting, camping. For all of the talk about rain, we have good summers and cool winters, usually. Climate change is affecting us too, though.

[KT2000]

3. Port Townsend

would be your best bet for a liberal community. The rest of the Peninsula is pretty conservative.
Sequim does have liberals and lots of groups for those issues but the overall voting pattern is R.
Do not consider Port Angeles even though the housing costs are low.

[cilla4progress]

4. I concur

I live in north central Washington, where we've just survived a summer of one wildfire after another, yes, fueled by climate change. It's beautiful stunning country here, but there are downsides.

I moved here from liberal subcultures on the east coast in 1978 (graduated Univ. Vermont, Burlington). I, like many others I've discovered, assumed all of Washington was liberal like Seattle. What I've found is that east of the Cascades the politics are more like northern Idaho.

It's a pattern that is noticeable across the country: rural areas being red, urban are blue. There are pockets, like Twisp, a small village in the beautiful Methow Valley north in the state. They were slammed with wildfire this summer.

So, good advice above. I love Pt. Townsend!

[PasadenaTrudy]

9. I heard good things

about Port Townsend. Sounds like about the size of town we are looking for.

[Wash. state Desk Jet]

5. Explore the entire state

And the best way to do it is to do it. Years and years ago I explored the entire state on my bicycle. I like it everywhere,it came down to a choice. The next best thing to the scenery is the people you meet along the way. When what people tell you compliments what you see and how it feels by your impression,you might just know you found the place you are looking for.The thing of it is,you must find the right place for you and yours. Enjoy your exploration and happy hunting !

The train by the way is a good way to travel through Washington and Oregon.If you have a pretty good idea about what you want, you will find it is all here.However there is no quick,easy ,fast answer to your question short of you having seen it all.

Good luck.

[pscot]

6. Tacoma for reasonable rents.

and lots of amenities.

[Aristus]

7. ^^^This^^^

Tacoma has been tagged, fairly or unfairly, as "less liberal than Seattle". T-Town has pockets of hard-core conservatives, but my perception is that we are a gritty, pro-union, progressive working-class town.

As for 'lots of amenities', we have the best and most comprehensive publicly-owned cable internet service in the country: Click!. We have a good opera company (not on a par with Seattle Opera, maybe, but who is?) a terrific community theater scene, and a small, but humming, jazz-club culture.

If someone wants to complain about the gentrification along the Thea Foss Waterway, let 'em. I think it's fantastic. Brand new condo projects lend some upscale class to what was once a squalid waterfront. And the apartments carved out of the old mill adjacent to the waterway are a bohemian's dream come true.

We don't have Seattle's sparkling, gem-like nickname, The Emerald City'. But young locals refer to us affectionately as 'The Two-Five-Three' - our telephone area code.

[PasadenaTrudy]

8. Cool

We'll check out Tacoma too. Cheaper rents sound good to me. I'm tired of glitz and glam, having lived in L.A. my entire life. Thanks!

[caa]

10. port townsend

my,wife I,retired to Port Townsend 14 years ago from sfo bay aera best move we ever made rain fall is a 11 to 18 inches a year snow is a trace to 3 inchs some years we have a great 25 bed hosiptal & great Doctors.we two first run movie theatres & a drivein movie and a little theatre ,great Restaurants even a drug store with a soda fountain as far as a hot day here it's in the very low 80s we live in Lynnfield development a small homeowner asso dues are $150 a year it's location is behind the county fair grounds 49th and Jackman St homes here sell for 250k we have great builder in Joe Campbell

[icymist]

11. Way cool! I love Port Townsend!

I even have been trying to determine if I want to transfer my job up there (from Port Orchard) and eventually move!

[uppityperson]

12. Hey, hi! We're all here because we're all not there.

Welcome to PT, this is a fine place to live. Do we know each other? Welcome to DU also.

[AgingAmerican]

18. We stop there when we sail

...up into Anacortes and the San Juans. We were in the marina overnight there last Thursday. Just love that part of the peninsula.

[uppityperson]

13. Come to PT. The town is small, lots of arts, boating, good mix of lot of libs and some

not so much. If you want to live in town, it is a pretty place. We've a place nearby, outside city limits so only have to deal with county and stste regs.

The Wooden Boat Festival is coming up, first weekend in Sept. Town gets qute full, bu it is very fun also.

It is 2 hours by car or ferry or both, a littoe more via public transit twice a day, to Seattle. Fort Worden is our big state park intown that has Centrum doing week long workshops and shows, music, dance, etc. Also many groups rent part of it for workshops, we had the big marimba conference several years ago.

While it is grey, we are in the rain shadow leading to 18 inches a year. It rarwly gets over 80, is greatngrowing conditions for broc, peas, slugs, deer. You nees a hot spot or greenhouse to get much in the waynof tomatoes though. There are quite a few small farms in the area, with 3 farmers markets a week at different places.

Moving out, south along the peninsula, rain builds up fast. On a clear day you can see 2 volcanos, Mt Ranier and Mt Baker, as well as the Olympic and Cascade mts.

[PasadenaTrudy]

14. Thanks for replying

Can't wait to visit. Low 80s sounds heavenly for a high temp. I love the rain and I feel healthier in cooler weather. We hope to come up there next August. Too late to travel this summer. My boyfriend is an art teacher and artist so, school holidays and all. I may go up there before next summer on my own for a visit

[blindersoff]

15. I live north of Sequim, in Dungeness

I love it here; the weather is perfect for me (almost never above 80 in summer and not usually below 30-35 in winter; not much rain compared to the rest of WA). We moved up here from San Diego in 2004 and live in a pretty rural farming area, which is so green and refreshing after all the craziness and dryness of SoCal. Beautiful hiking, biking, boating, crabbing and reasonable housing prices compared to California. In fact Sequim was just voted one of the 5 best places to retire to (which I don't totally agree with, having seen some of the things they listed as features, which really aren't -- e.g. beaches (where??), legal marijuana (grow permits in the city of Sequim have been put under a moratorium by the local repubs), and some other things in the article that left us scratching our heads..

HOWEVER... the only place really liberal on the Olympic Peninsula seems to be the Port Townsend area. We thought Western Washington was pretty liberal before we came up here, but that's mainly Seattle and King County. The Peninsula, other than PT has some pretty red rednecks and I find myself having to bite my tongue a lot at some of the things that are just usual around here.

The down side to that is that there is only one road to PT (one way in and one way out--no alternate routes -- of which there really aren't many on the Peninsula either). Not trying to discourage you, but also it is misleading to see that Sequim or the Peninsula are "just" 65 miles from Seattle... the Peninsula is quite isolated from the big city and it is a real day trip to go over to "the other side" -- lots of planning for ferries etc. So we mostly stay over here where there are fewer choices for shopping, restaurants and other "fun" stuff; but we do have the added bonus of a very quiet, peaceful lifestyle (I don't care much for shopping anyway, but the lack of restaurants is difficult).

Anyway, that's my two cents. I'd be happy to tell you more if you wish.

[PasadenaTrudy]

16. Thank you!

Sounds interesting. I may go up in the Spring on a solo trip to scope things out. So do you have to take a ferry to get there, or can you drive south of Tacoma and loop back up? I'd be driving from SeaTac airport. You would not believe how hot and dry it is here now in SoCal. It's really scary and very uncomfortable I wonder if we'll ever see rain again!

[blindersoff]

17. either ferry or drive around

You can take the Bainbridge ferry from downtown Seattle or drive around the long way. The drive around (south through Seattle and the other suburbs {which I can't remember the names of}, Tacoma, Gig Harbor, Bremerton, Silverdale) is longer but you would get a good idea of some of the small towns along the way, then across the Hood Canal Bridge and across the top of the Peninsula. It really is a beautiful drive, all secondary roads (watch out for deer and some elk).

I think one of the things that sold me on this area was how GREEN it is and how it doesn't feel arid. After 30+ years in San Diego and before that growing up in Denver, I got used to not-green landscapes. I think my soul needed the green, so I couldn't be happier. The wind does blow quite a bit during storms coming onshore, but nothing like the Santa Anas.

My husband is a nurse and he and I both worked at UCSD for many years in San Diego; when we came up here he and I both started working at Olympic Medical Center (I'm an admin assistant), he's an OR nurse. He is also a very talented potter (I kind of gave it up); we have a nice little studio in our back yard... all in all quite a nice place to retire to in about 1 year. (Check out bauer haus pottery if you are interested).

Here's a website for the Peninsula that might give you more info. http://www.olympicpeninsula.org/ and another one: http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/road-trips/olympic-peninsula-washington-road-trip/

Hope to hear from you if you decide to come up... Andi

[PasadenaTrudy]

21. Thanks for the info

I am also in love with northern NM, especially the Santa Fe area. It's a totally different geography but, boy it's pretty. Those big wide open skies and the red earth. It does get cold and snowy there too. But, I must check out WA too.

[AgingAmerican]

19. Bellingham is awesome

Very liberal city. The best skiing in the state at nearby Mount Baker. Twenty minute drive to the Canadian border and less than an hour to Vancouver BC. Really good sailing if you are into that with access to the San Juan islands. Bellingham is one of the top rated retirement cities in the US.

[PasadenaTrudy]

20. It looks beautiful

No, I don't sail...can't even swim! It's on my list of cities to visit when I'm up there. Thanks!

[GP6971]

22. Washington liberals / democrats are in 3 western counties

Snonhomish, King and Pierce. Thurston county (in western WA' south of Pierce county) looks like it is becoming more progressive, but, it will probably take awhile if the trend continues.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

23. Skagit and Whatcom Counties are getting more progressive.

San Juan County's fairly liberal but an expensive place to live.

[LeftOfWest]

24. Steve Hobbs Senator from Snohomish County is a right wing racist US Chamber of Commerce tool.

He is big into busting the Washington Teachers Union.

Enough.

For Sale to the highest right wing bidder Rodney Tom from Medina with a D by his name caucasing with the rethugs blocking the liberal agenda this past session is scum of the 1% right wing earth.

No more.

No more.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

25. Is this Brett Bader posting?