Best places to move in WA for those with sun sensitivities? (Seattle: 2013, rentals)

[M2788]

Hello, I am planning on moving from Northern California to Washington in the next few months, and have been particularly looking into Gig harbor, Poulsbo, Silverdale, Port Orchard and the surrounding areas. I am a single woman and I will be moving up there with just me and my pets.

The catch is I have a form of SLE, or Systemic Lupus Erythematosus that among other fun symptoms causes me to have an extremely severe sun allergy. The area I am in right now is horrible for it. I am so tired of having to stay inside during the day for most of the year, and I finally have enough saved up to move somewhere cooler and cloudier and purchase my first house. I have family and friends in the areas I mentioned and I was amazed when I visited them that even in June there were cloudy days with low enough UV that I could just go outside. While I have been focusing my search in areas in Kitsap/Pierce County I was wondering if there is anywhere else any of you can recommend in WA that is even cloudier than the ones mentioned?

Apart from cloud cover, other important factors for me are being in a pretty safe area (especially with me living alone; I am afraid my Pomeranian and my Australian Terrier mix don’t exactly have much to offer in the guard dog department), good shopping areas nearby hopefully including pet stores, book stores, etc, and not too expensive as far as housing goes.

Thank you in advance!

[Hemlock140]

Anything west of the Cascade Mountains, North of Olympia will work for you. Most years the only sun is between July 5th and the first week of September. The hood canal area cities you mentioned seem to get even heavier overcast due to the clouds picking up more moisture from the water.

All are really quite safe despite the shooting at the Port Orchard Wal-Mart this weekend. That was very unusual. Of those mentioned I would consider Poulsbo the best. Twenty minutes to shopping in Silverdale or to the Seattle ferries, a very nice old downtown waterfront.

[Dendrite]

What you're after is the city in WA with the lowest UV Index. Google seach will help out here but I'll get you started. This is from the government weather site (NOAA).

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/...pctposrank.txt

Let's see, scroll down to the bottom of the page and for WA it looks like the winner is... Quillayute, WA! Plenty safe and affordable there but, take my word for it, they don't have much in the way of shopping! Blink driving through town and you miss it-

OK (at least for this 2004 ranking) the next "cloudiest" city in WA would be Seattle. Not too suprising I guess. Obviously lots of book stores, pet stores, shopping etc there. So-so in terms of affordability and safety, all dependant upon which part of town you're talking about.

Again scrolling up the list and according to NOAA, the next lowest UV Index ranking in WA went to Spokane (which kind of suprised me). It would meet the majority of your criteria IMO.

Sure, there might be other WA towns/cities that they didn't mention so I'm not sure how exhaustive this particular list is (but to have even ranked tiny little Quillayute seems pretty exhaustive...)

Anyway, you get the idea and this should provide the springboard for your search!

[trixie09]

Originally Posted by M2788

Hello, I am planning on moving from Northern California to Washington in the next few months, and have been particularly looking into Gig harbor, Poulsbo, Silverdale, Port Orchard and the surrounding areas. I am a single woman and I will be moving up there with just me and my pets.

The catch is I have a form of SLE, or Systemic Lupus Erythematosus that among other fun symptoms causes me to have an extremely severe sun allergy. The area I am in right now is horrible for it. I am so tired of having to stay inside during the day for most of the year, and I finally have enough saved up to move somewhere cooler and cloudier and purchase my first house. I have family and friends in the areas I mentioned and I was amazed when I visited them that even in June there were cloudy days with low enough UV that I could just go outside. While I have been focusing my search in areas in Kitsap/Pierce County I was wondering if there is anywhere else any of you can recommend in WA that is even cloudier than the ones mentioned?

Apart from cloud cover, other important factors for me are being in a pretty safe area (especially with me living alone; I am afraid my Pomeranian and my Australian Terrier mix don’t exactly have much to offer in the guard dog department), good shopping areas nearby hopefully including pet stores, book stores, etc, and not too expensive as far as housing goes.

Thank you in advance!

Hi,

I'm doing the reverse move, because coming to the Gig Harbor/Kitsap area from California a few years ago, I found that I have persistent Season Affective Disorder, and can no longer handle staying inside on gloomy days, which are approx. 9 months out of the year. Not making light of your illness, as I know that lupus and sun are a bad mix, but I'm pointing out that you're on the right track looking for a place where you won't be housebound most of the year.

I would say anything on the Kitsap Peninsula, including Gig Harbor, would be a great choice for you. Yes, the summers (july 5th through September 15th) are sunny -- and the sun can be intense. But you will have approximately 9 months were you are more fee to be outdoors. The UV is so low here during the winter that apparently you can stand outside naked from November through February here, and not get any Vitamin D from the sun.

Personally? I prefer Gig Harbor and Poulsbo in the cities you've mentioned. I' have lived in Gig Harbor for a few years, and my Mom lived in Poulsbo. Port Orchard I find pretty depressing, the people seem unhappy whenever I go there, and there is just not much there other than Walmart. Pouslbo is a cute little town, similar to Solvang, if you've been there, but on the water. Cute downtown, and they have a new Walmart. Short drive, without having to get on the freeway, to Silverdale where they have the retail center for the County. Because Silverdale is not actually a city, it really feels sometimes like a big collection of retailers with roads leading to them. I've known people who lived there and hated the traffic around the mall and the fact that there is really no downtown to speak of.

Gig Harbor. Well.. that'd be the first choice. If I could hang with the weather here I would stay here. People are ridiculously friendly. The town is clean and picturesque. There is a lot of civic pride. There is now retail popping up, and a nice movie theatre and some great new restaurants. It's just over the bridge from Tacoma, and there are some nice things over there to visit. The Trader Joes is 6 miles away over the bridge. Also, you have the POint Defiance Zoo and gardens, and giant park, just over the bridge. Unless you're looking to own horse property, you'll want to avoid living over the Purdy Bridge in Gig Harbor. The traffic getting over that tiny bridge is horrific in the late afternoons... just not worth it to get a little bit bigger house. Gig Harbor is like Sausalito 30 years ago.

You haven't mentioned your living situation or budget, but the prices seem to be pretty much equal in those areas. You can find cheaper rentals in Port Orchard or Bremerton, but not where you'd want to live. They're not particularly unsafe, but just really run down and there seems to be more drug activity in the past few years.

Did you check out Bainbridge Island? Now that is probably my favorite place up here. It's more expensive because it's just across a short ferry to the City. But it's got a very cool Northern California vibe, and if nothing else, a fun place to spend a rainy day.

I think with your requirements, you would love it here.

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by trixie09

...I would say anything on the Kitsap Peninsula, including Gig Harbor, would be a great choice for you. Yes, the summers (july 5th through September 15th) are sunny -- and the sun can be intense. But you will have approximately 9 months were you are more fee to be outdoors. ...
Personally? I prefer Gig Harbor and Poulsbo ...Silverdale ...
You haven't mentioned your living situation or budget, ...
I think with your requirements, you would love it here.

Need a job? Veterans Home

Need less sun. Try Grays Harbor and area. or just go to the coast in the summer, it is frequently cloudy and foggy in several places there. (annualized data may be too broad). Look to monthly charts and keep a cheap place in each location, or use 'furnished' rentals. Possible you could house-sit. I have a relative that has house-sat for 30 yrs in Hawaii Just moving from place to place while residents are traveling elsewhere. A few regular customers who are avid travelers and you're all set.

[LMB]

Originally Posted by trixie09

Yes, the summers (july 5th through September 15th) are sunny -- and the sun can be intense.

Trixie is right! Summers here are usually very sunny and bright, with long hours of daylight (5:00am-10:00pm). If you have health problems from the sun, just be aware of that. What may seem like a short summer to most around here could be a long miserable season for you. We moved to Poulsbo from Florida, and definitely know sunny--but the sunlight in summer up here is much brighter and more intense (except for a few short-lived heatwaves, it's a LOT cooler and less humid though). Maybe it's the clean PNW air.

We love living in Poulsbo, and being so close to the Olympic Peninsula. We really enjoy visiting Gig Harbor too. Both are lovely communities.

[Myhedhurtz]

Originally Posted by Dendrite

Again scrolling up the list and according to NOAA, the next lowest UV Index ranking in WA went to Spokane (which kind of suprised me). It would meet the majority of your criteria IMO.

If Spokane International still holds the record for the most airport closings in the U.S. due to fog I'm not surprised.

That's some great information regarding UV index and the brighter days but the sun "season" is relatively short lived. It will just depend on your tolerance level. Considering the area you are in now, the change will be significant just in cloud cover alone and you may find it to be a polar opposite from what you are dealing with.

[Lauralei63]

I am so glad I found this post! I have SLE and love on west Texas. The sun is doing me in! We are now thinking of moving to WA.
I was wondering if it helped by moving there?
Where are good cities for jobs?

[waviking24]

Originally Posted by LMB

Trixie is right! Summers here are usually very sunny and bright, with long hours of daylight (5:00am-10:00pm). If you have health problems from the sun, just be aware of that. What may seem like a short summer to most around here could be a long miserable season for you. We moved to Poulsbo from Florida, and definitely know sunny--but the sunlight in summer up here is much brighter and more intense (except for a few short-lived heatwaves, it's a LOT cooler and less humid though). Maybe it's the clean PNW air.

We love living in Poulsbo, and being so close to the Olympic Peninsula. We really enjoy visiting Gig Harbor too. Both are lovely communities.

No way is the sun more intense up here than in Florida even on the sunniest day in July. Unless maybe you are on top of Mt. Rainier. I keep an eye on the uv index during the summer because i like to get out in it when its the highest and it rarely goes above 8 up here and very very rarely above 9. Florida is pretty consistently above that year round. As for the OP's question, i went to Port Townsend for a week and that place made even Bellingham feel sunny.

[Olympian2]

Originally Posted by StealthRabbit

Need less sun. Try Grays Harbor and area. .

That's true. But you forgot to mention the heroin problem :

http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/defau...roin%20Use.jpg

(I didn't attach the image out of concern that it would be flagged as copyrighted even though it is "fair use".)