East Wenatchee (Seattle, Ellensburg, Bridgeport: apartment, rentals, house)

[cjg5]

Well, it's looking more and more likely that East Wenatchee is where I will be calling home before 2011 is out.

I love the Wenatchee area, and am excited and looking forward to the relocation. To have 4 real seasons in an area of such beauty and year round outdoor activity will be awesome.

However, I have heard rumors of gang violence. How bad is it?

I have also heard rumors of poor schools. My son is a few years away from starting school, and I would hate for him to have bad schools. Not that the Seattle district, where I went, was anything special, but still, how are they over there?

During the spring, is the wind speed a problem there? I have been in the Sun Lakes area, as well as the Bridgeport area, many times around spring, usually memorial day weekend, and experienced on numerous occasions horribly strong and consistent winds. Does the Wenatchee area experience the same during this time of year?

When is the earliest you all start to plant your gardens and how late into the year do they normally hold up before the frost comes in to kill everything? We'd be planting both flowers and vegetables. (On a side note, would also love to get an apple tree, I understand they do extremely well over there, Wenatchee being the apple capitol of the world and all!)

Oh, and what are home (or even apartment) rentals normally going for over there? What is the current housing market like there?

Thanks!

[509]

Gang violence is there. Most times it is restricted to gangs only.

More of an issue with schools. There is a good Catholic and Christian school in the valley. Our daughter attended both Eastmont and Wenatchee School District. She liked Eastmont better.

Wind blows in the spring. If you end up living in East Wenatchee make sure your backyard faces EAST. That way the house blocks most of the wind and you will have shade in late afternoon in your backyard during the summer.

If you go to raised beds you can start your garden in early March. The wind is the problem and I kept mine covered until May. There is only one killing frost on average in March. Earliest I ever had ripe tomatoes was April 28th, but then again underneath the raised beds I put in heating cables. With electricity under 2 cents a kilowatt hour it was a no brainer. Killing frost in the fall is usually mid-October or later.

Make sure you house has irrigation water. Domestic water is expensive. We currently pay more for water than electricity on a monthly basis, since we "lost" our irrigation water.

Check to see if your house has PUD fiber line service. At 100 MbPS for under $40 a month you will get spoiled fairly quickly. Forget Charter cable, there are three or four local cable companies that provide internet, cable and phone much cheaper than Charter.....AND it is YOUR locally owned PUD lines you will be using.

Forget growing apples. Plenty of great apples to buy. Plant soft fruit like peaches and nectarines. Make sure you have at least one tree of Rainier cherries. None of the commercial soft fruit is picked ripe. You won't notice the difference in apples, but you will in soft fruit.

Don't know about rents, but Wenatchee is an expensive housing market. Always has been. Right now you can plenty of choice since it is fairly slow.

Good luck with your move. Most services are shared between Wenatchee and East Wenatchee except for the much cheaper electric rates in Douglas County it does not make much difference if you live in Wenatchee or East Wenatchee. EXCEPT for the commute to Wenatchee. I would not drive across the old bridge on a daily basis. I guess the new construction will fix this in a year or so, but I would not bet on it.

[cjg5]

Thanks for the quick and informative response! Will most likely be making the move late summer or early fall.

Is the old bridge ridden with heavy congestion most of the time or something? Are they building a third one? Always thought it was strange there were only two bridges crossing the river over there!

Will take your advice to plant something other than apples.

Sucks about the wind. Does it blow there all the time, or do you at least get breaks? I remember at least two camping trip to Eastern Washington off the top of my head where we all left early because of the constant, non stop high winds during spring! But then again, wind like that is horrible while camping, not too bad if you are living in your house! lol.

Also, how do you know if your water is irrigation or not? I suppose that is something that would be disclosed to you at sale..... Probably will end up renting first, will have to save more before I can think about buying!

Like the low electricity cost! That will be nice!

Any other information or advice welcomed! Thanks again!

[mkcurran]

Originally Posted by 509

If you go to raised beds you can start your garden in early March. The wind is the problem and I kept mine covered until May. There is only one killing frost on average in March. Earliest I ever had ripe tomatoes was April 28th, but then again underneath the raised beds I put in heating cables. With electricity under 2 cents a kilowatt hour it was a no brainer. Killing frost in the fall is usually mid-October or later.

How deep are your beds? This sound like an almost do-able idea for my gardens.

[cjg5]

Any more info to know?

Also, if anyone knows, how does the Eastmont school district compare to the Seattle school district? Not that we may have much of a choice if we end up staying in East Wenatchee when the kid starts Kindergarten in a few years, but since I went through Seattle schools myself knowing a comparison would be a good starting point to know what to expect of the district when the time comes.

[Saaethefam]

Hello,

We are also contemplating relocating from just north of Seattle to Wenatchee area. The wsu extension is a great resource for gardening info. Ive been researching gardening conditions all over the east side of the cascades and Wenatchee seems very ideal. Also about the wind- I have known many people who grew up in Wenatchee and consider it their favorite place on earth, never once have heard mention of lifestyle-altering winds. Whereas places like sun lakes or ellensburg they are bombarded by constant wind. Good luck with your move!!

[Diane0512]

Thanks for that response Saaethefam. My husband and I are putting an offer in on some property in Wenatchee Heights and wind was one of my concerns. You have confirmed what I have heard from others too --- that it isn't like Ellensburg!! We have been on the "rainy side" for 21 years now and are looking for SUN!! Have talked with current residents of Wenatchee and past residents and they all love it there!

[Saaethefam]

Originally Posted by Diane0512

Thanks for that response Saaethefam. My husband and I are putting an offer in on some property in Wenatchee Heights and wind was one of my concerns. You have confirmed what I have heard from others too --- that it isn't like Ellensburg!! We have been on the "rainy side" for 21 years now and are looking for SUN!! Have talked with current residents of Wenatchee and past residents and they all love it there!

Hi, just curious does anyone say anything about winters being really visually ugly there? We are driving there tomorrow to check out what it's like because our family is so down on Wenatchee saying that they don't think I could take how "ugly" it looks in the winter! We are skiiers so I'm thinking it would be amazing in the winter to be so close to mission ridge. That's exciting about your offer on property! Yay!

[509]

Wenatchee weather is identical to Seattle weather in December and January. Cloudy, with rain or snow.

Just ugly. But it is ugly just for those two months. Seattle is that way for nine months.

[cjg5]

Still have fingers crossed for that job. Likely won't hear anything though until the place I would be transferring to is closer to opening. Still under construction right now.