Charming towns for a creative person (Seattle, Tacoma: houses, employment, new construction)

[Zima1349]

I wasn't sure of the best title since "creative" can be interpreted in many ways. Instead of trying to explain, I will create a list.

Warning: Some will probably find it silly, judgmental, and overly critical.

Sometimes it's easier to say what you are NOT looking for. Here's what I want to avoid:

• Run-down (Port Townsend, Port Angeles, most towns in the Cascades)
• Monster pickup trucks, trump signs, guns... (most towns in the Cascades)
• A suburb (Edmonds)
• A retirement community (Anacortes)
• A military base (Everett)
• Overly "ritzy" (Some parts of Bainbridge)

And, here's what I want:

• Liberal
• Intellectual population (and hopefully a little more interesting than the average bay area tech worker, though tech has some of the best people I've met, too)
• It's possible to go out the front door and go for a nice walk through both town and nature
• Has forests and parks nearby
• There are places such as breweries and coffeehouses where one can read a book or maybe even talk to other humans
• Reasonable commute to Olympics and North Cascades (3 hours)
• Reasonable commute to Seattle (2 hours)

So far the two places I've found are Langley and Vashon. The latter is on the run-down side, but close and I know many musicians live there. I only know Langley from visiting but it looks adorable and close to perfect. Isolation is a concern there, but perhaps it's worth it.

The other alternative for me is to live in West Seattle, but Seattle is just getting too big for my taste...

Just for fun, feel free to suggest places outside of the Seattle area or even outside of America. However, I love northern landscapes and moody weather, so I'd limit this to PNW, BC, Alaska, and parts of northern Europe.

[ndcairngorm]

How about Point Roberts, WA? Are you musical? There's a thriving (classical) music scene there, and with Vancouver just 5 minutes away, one can take advantage of all the other music-related activities in that city. There are a couple of local (non-classical) small bands as well, who often play for local happenings. As far as activities are concerned, the border is very fluid, with people going both ways for their arts/music and other intellectual activities.

Very rustic, with people doing a bit of everything. A good visual arts scene there as well, and fast internet. The outdoors, of course, mainly beach-oriented, but many forestry trails as well. It's just outside your reasonable commute to Seattle, tho, at about 150 miles. Coffee shops? check. Both in PR and Tsawwassen, indoor or outdoor seating, depending on the weather. As an example, Petra's in Tsawwassen - https://www.tripadvisor.ca/ShowUserR...er=7&autoplay=

(We'll see if that link worked)

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by Zima1349

I wasn't sure of the best title since "creative" can be interpreted in many ways. Instead of trying to explain, I will create a list.

Warning: Some will probably find it silly, judgmental, and overly critical.

Sometimes it's easier to say what you are NOT looking for. Here's what I want to avoid:

• Run-down (Port Townsend, Port Angeles, most towns in the Cascades)
• Monster pickup trucks, trump signs, guns... (most towns in the Cascades)
• A suburb (Edmonds)
• A retirement community (Anacortes)
• A military base (Everett)
• Overly "ritzy" (Some parts of Bainbridge)

And, here's what I want:

• Liberal
• Intellectual population (but hopefully a little more interesting than the average tech worker)
• It's possible to go out the front door and go for a nice walk through both town and nature
• Has forests and parks nearby
• There's a brewery (or something like it) where one can read a book or maybe even talk to other humans
• Reasonable commute to Olympics and North Cascades (3 hours)
• Reasonable commute to Seattle (2 hours)

So far the two places I've found are Langley and Vashon. The latter is on the run-down side, but close and I know many musicians live there. I only know Langley from visiting but it looks adorable and close to perfect. Isolation is a concern there, but perhaps it's worth it.

The other alternative for me is to live in West Seattle, but Seattle is just getting too big for my taste...

Just for fun, feel free to suggest places outside of the Seattle area or even outside of America. However, I love northern landscapes, so I'd limit this to PNW, Canada, and northern Europe.

Nelson, BC?

OP, IMO your first batch of criteria has eliminated everywhere in WA. Everywhere has run-down elements. You might consider Santa Fe and Taos, in NM, instead, though the occasional monster truck can be seen in town, from the farm communities outside of town. Taos might work better; there are fewer "fancy people" in Taos; there's not the level of ritz that you find scattered around Santa Fe. It's not a spa town, unlike Santa Fe. Summers are hot, though, be aware, though not too bad, due to the altitude.

A brewery? That's where you go to read a book and talk to other humans? What about a good, old-fashioned teahouse or coffeehouse? BTW, the very first time I went to Port Townsend, I thought it was a bit shabby. More recently, I spent a week there, and I no longer see it that way. And since I've been there, there's been new construction; the community is growing. Some don't regard this as a good thing, I don't see it as a bad thing. It is, however, a retirement community, though young people have been moving there, in spite of the lack of jobs. It's popular with all ages.

I'll be interested to see what suggestions others come up with. IDK, maybe Olympia? Not sure how it stacks up on the run-down scale, but other than that, I'd say it has a solid "creative" element, due to the presence of Evergreen State College, which is an alternative-school for the college set & meets your other criteria. IMO, if you want non-run-down, you need to go to CA (expensive), and other parts of the SW.

P.S. There are LOTS of places that meet your criteria in California, but you have to be able to afford them.

[jdhpa]

Try a college town away from any large cities. Marquette (city, not the college, which is in Wisconsin) in the Michigan Upper Peninsula seems like a pretty good match.

[Diana Holbrook]

Warning: Some will probably find it silly, judgmental, and overly critical.

This. I don't think I can help you. I think unless you can seriously open your own mind to people who might be a little different than you, you'll honestly be happier just looking at pretty pictures of the NorthWest online.

For now I am leaving Trump signs out of it, because they are unusual, and temporary.

You want a well paid population (no run down or poor-looking houses) with time for creative endeavors (music and art) and recreational leisure time (social scene and breweries), but you don't want them to be too old (no retireds) too well paid (no ritzy) too nerdy (no tech workers) and probably want none of the employment opportunities or development that would support such a population (walking distance to forests and parks).

You want a young intellectual population who live in the woods with no pickup trucks or guns. You want to live in the pretty forest without any of the people (loggers, excavators, mill workers, road builders, construction trades people, utility workers, farmers, firemen, hunters and others, who make life in the sticks possible for you.

You want a fairy tale version of what rural life is like.

There are wonderful places to live in Western Washington. Beautiful places with gorgeous views and wonderful natural places I could show you. Small towns with good people in them. Diverse people. Not the Seattle definition of diversity... actual diversity where people think differently, and value individual freedom and property rights and neighbors who just go about their lives and mind their own business, and actually get along pretty well, most of the time. We will accept anyone here from pretty much any background, except for those who want to tell us what to do, and thieves, we help each other guard against those.

I know lots of creative people in my town... musicians, artists, crafters, writers, hippies. They all would fail your litmus test in at least one category. But most of them are happy here... At least, the ones who are willing to find their own balance in life, rather than expecting everyone else to provide it around them.

If you think you can widen your horizons and open your mind a little, maybe I could help you. I wish you luck.

[gentlearts]

Sorry, if you only meant WA....

Savannah is a charming town with a creative community, artists and musicians are active here, and now the film industry is doing a lot of work here. But otherwise you probably wouldn’t like it. You don’t seem open to new experiences or ideas, you just want the same old ones in a different place.

[CrazyDonkey]

Yeah, "rundown" and "creatives" tend to go hand-in-hand. That's why they're fleeing Seattle for less "ritzy" places like Tacoma, Everett, etc.

One place that might be shoe-horned into the OP's "tight" requirements is La Conner and environs, although I preferred it when it was still a rundown artist haunt. It does have more "galleries" than pretty much any small town I can think of. Not sure how many artists actually live there any more...

Since when is Anacortes just for retirees? A fair number of creatives do still live there. There is a very successful arts festival there.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by CrazyDonkey

Since when is Anacortes just for retirees? A fair number of creatives do still live there. There is a very successful arts festival there.

Yeah, this is what I was wondering. I've never heard of it discussed as a retiree town. I mean, almost anyplace is a "retiree town", depending on how you measure that. Bellingham, certainly, but just because retirees flock there, doesn't mean it's a retiree town. It's also a college town. Same with Pt Townsend; people could say it's almost the quintessential retiree town, but that's not really true. More so the nearby hamlets of Port Orchard and especially Port Ludlow are the retiree towns. Pt. Townsend is an arty town, a political activist town, a sailing town, scenic as heck and as close as you can get to hiking, parks, etc., and is popular with a younger demographic, as well as older. It's many things. It's not Sequim, which undeniably is a retirement town.

Bellingham is liberal, has parks and nature right outside your door, practically, depending on what part of town you're in, and certainly has.a mix of ages. I find it shabby-looking though, but I've found a few corners of it, via internet research, that appeal to me. Olympia might suit the OP.

Affordability will be the issue. In order to get all the cool characteristics the OP wants, including the absence of "run-down", the OP will need $$$$.

[Unicorn hunter]

Bellingham popped into my head immediately and agree it's getting pricey. Lots of good hiking, trails...lots going on with the university. Beautiful setting. Lots of creative, intelligent people, liberal......pretty much ticks off the boxes, if it's affordable for the OP.

[Canamlian]

Sounds like the op is looking for a Disney type of village reconstruction