Skagit Valley, Washington (Seattle, Mount Vernon, Oak Harbor: for sale, lease, low crime)

[Marinvibe]

Semi-retired, my wife and I had been looking to moving North (Oregon or Washington) and having a house with a nice garden and maybe even room for a horse for her. She can access horse at nearby stables and that could be sufficient. I have some relatives in Washington and we have a few friends there. So now we are leaning more towards Washington State and I am hoping I reach people living in or having lived in the Skagit Valley area. We just had our recent planned trip through Oregon and Washington thwarted by the Corona Virus. I had been getting for sale properties in Poulsbo sent to me as I like the town and it is not far from the Olympic Mountains which I used to love to backpack thru. Also, under consideration are other areas north of there on that side of the Puget Sound. I still have a fascination with Skagit Valley since Another Road Side Attraction author Tom Robbins said it is a "microclimate" that seems to get a bit more sun. Also, it is obviously beautiful and not far from getting to the Cascades. It would be tough to be farther from the Ocean or Puget Sound...but plenty of water, right? Can anyone tell me what it is like there now?

[Hemlock140]

My son works for the county and just bought a house in Burlington. It's definitely a lot less expensive than Poulsbo, but also more crime in the cities along I5. Anacortes, Fidalgo Island and La Conner are along the water, as is the western edge of the county. Cities like Mt. Vernon and Burlington get about 36-38" of rain annually, about the same as Seattle, and less than Poulsbo with 41". They are a bit far east from the rain shadow. Anacortes, however, being farther west gets only 26" of rain. We are also considering that area for retirement in 2-3 years.

[PrincessoftheCape]

Anacortes is beautiful, and is particularly cool because of the tankers always sailing past the town. Burlington is nicer than Mount Vernon by a few degrees, with Sedro-Woolley being the most run-down of the four (not wretched, but not super nice, either). La Conner is small and cute, but very pricey. Edison and Conway are both almost always overlooked, and quaint in their own ways (Edison with more emphasis on the water; Conway being more bucolic and aggie). You also shouldn't overlook Stanwood - it's not technically in Skagit County, but geographically feels like a southern offshoot of the place.

All of Skagit is relatively low crime and fairly mid-of-the-road politically. I miss living there, and hope to eventually be back.

[elkotronics]

When in Anacortes head by Washington Park and park your car. Walk to the south, through the woods and out in to the open. You'll be rewarded of a birds-eye view of Whidbey Island and the Deception Pass Bridge leading over to the island. Absolutely stunningly beautiful spot to sit down on a large rock and rest in beauty.

[mayfair]

The Skagit Valley is beautiful. The valley is a flood plain so that impacts building, but you can find small country acreages and have a horse. The issue is winter mud. Keeping hooved animals in the area, especially on river soils is tough in winter/spring. So much mud.

Look for properties in winter when you can see how wet they get and what the drainage is like. Everything looks great in July when it's dry. Even boarding barns will have more winter mud than you are used to if you come from another part of the country. Also, riding is tough in winter without an indoor arena, so boarding would result in using the horse more. You could bring the horse home in summer, board in winter to avoid mud also. I know many people who do that. Another advantage of boarding barns is that some are near trails, especially on the side of the valley by the mountains, so you don't need to trailer out to trail ride.

There are some nice places up on the hills around Conway/LaConner area which can have valley views and be out of the flood plain. The whole area is great for gardening. Lots of blueberry farms and produce grown in the valley and surrounding areas.

[rkcarguy]

East of the Highway-20/I-5 interchange out to Sedro-Woolley (we called it Skidrow-Woolley as teens) and onward is depressed and a little rough. While the area has grown mainly as a bedroom community for workers else ware, there's less business than there was years ago. The big mall along I-5 is nearing shutdown after a shooter killed several people in the Macy's and more people shop online. The are Latino gangs (one Trooper shot/killed, another Sherriff survived a head shot but now blind), homeless, theft, drugs, still probably much better than California though. Critters turn pasture into mud pits when the wet season arrives, gotta have an indoor arena area or expect to bring in ALOT of gravel and wood chips in every year to keep hoof rot at bay. FYI a great uncle of mine said he spends about $6k a year on pasture upkeep and feed for 3 horses and would like to be done with them but can't even give the animals away.
West side out to Anacortes and LaConner= More money, but much better area with lots to do. Probably my only complaint (so a big compliment coming from me lol) would be during the spring the tulip festival traffic (backs up for MILES on I-5) and then in the summer the tourist and ferry traffic can really stuff up the area.
If you build, pretty much expect 2-3 years in planning, wetlands mitigation, studies, etc, or pay ALOT for a ready to go delineated smaller lot. Family used to have a house/farm in the area and even though there had been livestock on the acreage for ~50 years, as soon as it got annexed into the city and was eligible for subdivision they declared most of the pasture a "mosaic of wetlands" and only about 1/6th of it ended up being usable with the existing barn and part of the house encroaching (severely limits what one can do to existing structures or lose grandfathering). They had a hard time with homeless/druggies helping themselves to things in the barn and squatting on their property, even came back to homeless people IN THEIR HOUSE and two decrepit RV's on the property after being gone for a weekend.
I grew up in the Whatcom/Skagit county areas and can't say things are all that good in many areas. Just throwing out some reality when there are a lot of realtors and cheerleaders of the area that will sugar coat everything.

[CrazyDonkey]

The only "horse" property I'm seeing is this (but has what looks to be a manufactured home):

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2...23359717_zpid/

It is leased through 12/31/24.

Other more or less affordable options exist:

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/3...23382805_zpid/

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/6...23391618_zpid/

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/9...23360455_zpid/

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/94-Samish-Pl-La-Conner-WA-98257/23391094_zpid/

[wolfdog]

We recently settled in Oak Harbor, for retirement. Absolutely love it, minus a stolen bike.
Fighter jets in the air are a bonus. Well within the rain shadow. State parks everywhere. Two ferries, which are always cool. 40 minutes to Burlington, though.

[Marinvibe]

Thank you! I have been surprisingly busy since my original post. I need to get myself an email that someone has responded to this thread! Wow, you have been a long time from S F Bay Area. My last time living in WA state was in Seattle, 1976 -1980.

[Marinvibe]

Thanks! I know Gig Harbor but Oak Harbor sounds like a better location for retirement.