Bambooflyguy
Life of the Party
So true Shawn......but I shoot back!
Washingtonians- Do you like where you live? Either way, why?
- Thread starter skyriver
- Start date
So true Shawn......but I shoot back!
Grew up in Ballard, bought my first home in Marysville, sold after 5 years and moved to Yakima. I’ve been here for almost 18 years. For an outdoor guy there is plenty for me to do around here. But I’m ready to move on.
The wife and I recently bought property just out of Oroville. that’s going to be the end game for me. We will be retiring out there in the next 5 to 6 years.
The wife and I recently bought property just out of Oroville. that’s going to be the end game for me. We will be retiring out there in the next 5 to 6 years.
RCF
Life of the Party
And Oregon...The good thing is that Washington is right beside British Columbia.
RCF
Life of the Party
I lived there from 1954 to 1978 or so. I fully understand why you say that. Seahurst, Point Pully aka Three Tree Point to Normandy Park and SH Park are special places to me along with the 'Indian Trail'. There is also M creek that introduced me to skinny blue lines. You are lucky to live there for sure.
I have an old fashioned cabin in the woods and you can definitely find one for less than the cost of that truck/camper combo. After spending most of my time up there doing repairs and maintenance over the last couple years, I frequently find myself wishing I had the camper instead. The flexibility would be nice, but it's nice to have a place to call your own. The cabin is definitely part of my retirement plan, but since mine is in the national forest there are a lot of restrictions on use and they are definitely second homes. My cabin is on HWY 410 a couple hours' drive east of my house in Seattle so it provides some balance to the urban environment. I like Seattle, but I grew up in Yakima and still need some of that dry heat or decent snow on the other side of the pass. I'm about 10 or so years from retirement and don't see this balance changing for a while.
singlehandjay
Life of the Party
Washington state to me is like steelhead, I'm watching something I truly love and cherish die a horrible death. Washington is turning into California, a dirty crime and traffic/ people filled turd.
That’s a spot on summary. Bellingham/Whatcom County is beautiful from a wide lens, but so are many other places around the country, just different features. I was born, raised, moved away for 14 years and came back. Bellingham has really grown… some good things came, some real bad things came. Urban planners have failed to plan for growth… eg traffic. Homeless/Crime/Drug abuse/Mental instability issues really plague downtown and any other place within walking distance of a public transportation stop including our parks. As I sit here at McNastys and have a McDouble, the heat showed up to deal with a homeless dude verbally abusing the staff. The BPD’s hands have been tied by the politicians/voters, and now we have much more nonsense. Like I said, it is a beautiful area, but if it weren’t for being close to family, I would pull the ejection handle and be gone tomorrow.
JayB
Steelhead
A fair amount of my ruminating about where to retire is dedicated to trying to find to find places in the overlapping zone of a Venn-diagram where one circle says "Places I want to live" and the other says "Places where the government will enforce the law as necessary to provide safe, clean, orderly public spaces, and will likely continue to do so for the next 20 years." The overlapping zone is small, and shrinking much more quickly since the rise of remote work and dramatically increased outmigration from California.
wifes niece in Boise Idaho complains about the number of Oregonians that have moved in the past three years, driving up housing prices and adding to the congestion...a neighbor did so last summer, sold for well over asking to one of the Californians moving into Oregon...when the Idahoans sell out because of the damn Oregonians ruining their state and move to Montana, Old Man can complain about them damn Idahoans moving in and ruining the state..
Yak
Just Hatched
We went from Woodinville to Wenatchee area for retirement and is nice. Live in East Wenatchee with a beautiful view looking west.
Weather - dryer, warmer (too warm at times), smoke from fires at times. Colder winters with snow but Mission Ridge is close for good skiing.
Medical - decent but for Medicare limited to Health Alliance. Look into this one as other locations will have other choices. Many more in Western WA.
Fishing - Yakima 1 hr in light traffic. Many other smaller rivers & streams. Good lakes and then there is the Columbia.
Typical grocery stores but is an agriculture area so nice fruit and veggie stands (and good climate to grow your own).
A lot of growth in the area and real estate reflects it with increasing values. Also some higher traffic on the main arteries in town. New bridge over Wenatchee river coming so may help but will have construction hassels while it is being built.
Nice parks, trails etc for walking, biking etc.
Access to the Cascades from the East is really nice compared to the traffic routine coming from the west.
Weather - dryer, warmer (too warm at times), smoke from fires at times. Colder winters with snow but Mission Ridge is close for good skiing.
Medical - decent but for Medicare limited to Health Alliance. Look into this one as other locations will have other choices. Many more in Western WA.
Fishing - Yakima 1 hr in light traffic. Many other smaller rivers & streams. Good lakes and then there is the Columbia.
Typical grocery stores but is an agriculture area so nice fruit and veggie stands (and good climate to grow your own).
A lot of growth in the area and real estate reflects it with increasing values. Also some higher traffic on the main arteries in town. New bridge over Wenatchee river coming so may help but will have construction hassels while it is being built.
Nice parks, trails etc for walking, biking etc.
Access to the Cascades from the East is really nice compared to the traffic routine coming from the west.
TylerSadowski
Just Hatched
Just don't attempt to do this during rush hour, you will go nowhere fast. Been in Kirkland 37 years and although the Eastside is great place to live its overpriced, almost doubled population in 10 years and is now home to all the big tech companies and all the problems that comes with. Not to whine but too much of a good thing is what's happening here. Totem lake has been turned into dense apartments and condo living but it is close to evergreen medical facility which is only growing and 405 is right there. The culture definitely has changed too, lots of teslas, luxury goods etc nothing wrong here again but rapid change and our weird culture to begin with makes you happy to be born here and already have friends and family.
Last edited:
