edmonds information seeker (Seattle, Spokane, Bellingham: crime rate, home, living)

[DOOWOP2020]

how is life in Edmonds? Cold winters short summers? How would you compare the cost of living with say san jose calif? Thanks for any and all input

[Hemlock140]

The cost of living is much less than San Jose, with the median home at only $840,000 now. The Puget Sound area has many micro-climates as affected by water and mountains, and Edmonds gets only 37" of rain, a bit less than Seattle and much less than east of Seattle. The summer rarely gets above 90, winter not below freezing very often, very mild compared to much of this region. It's one of the best places to live around here with a crime rate much better than San Jose. City-Data shows Edmonds crime rate index (lower is better) at 162.3 and San Jose at 257.2.

[DOOWOP2020]

Thank you !

[Ruth4Truth]

Not sure why you're expecting summers to be shorter, in the Puget Sound region, OP. Summers have actually been getting longer, with climate change, with the exception of this year and last year, which saw extended rainy springs. The dry season has extended back in time to include May (once upon a time, it didn't begin until July), and forward to include September as a general pattern, allowing for some exceptions.

The thing that's different from San Jose, is the winter daylight hours. It's dark by 4:30 in the afternoon, and is still dark by the time office workers go to work in the morning. That takes some getting used to.

[texasdiver]

Edmunds is further north than any other major city in the US as well as Toronto and Montreal. So fall and winter will be longer and darker and much drearier than you are accustomed to. Spring and summer though can be great. Flowers bloom early and the region greens up quickly in the spring.

What puts many off from life in Puget Sound is the winters, not the summers.

In any event, it is suburban Seattle and will get the same basic weather patterns as Seattle.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by texasdiver

Edmunds is further north than any other major city in the US as well as Toronto and Montreal..

I don't understand this statement. Edmonds is not a major city,for one thing. Population is only 42,000. Bellingham is farther north than Edmonds, and has over twice the population.

I'd say, Edmonds is much more scenic than San Jose, with cooler summer weather, generally. It's on Puget Sound, so it has beautiful views of the Sound, and ferry service to the other side of the Sound. It has nice beaches (though different from California ocean beaches; they're not sandy), and various forms of boating (sailing, canoeing, kayaking) are popular in the area. It has a quaint "downtown".

[mayfair]

The downtown of Edmonds is in a bowl surrounded by hills and on the water, so you often get marine layers in the morning and also inversions in winter when the clouds and woodsmoke settle in the bowl area.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by mayfair

The downtown of Edmonds is in a bowl surrounded by hills and on the water, so you often get marine layers in the morning and also inversions in winter when the clouds and woodsmoke settle in the bowl area.

Good to know.

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

I don't understand this statement. Edmonds is not a major city,for one thing. Population is only 42,000. Bellingham is farther north than Edmonds, and has over twice the population.

I'd say, Edmonds is much more scenic than San Jose, with cooler summer weather, generally. It's on Puget Sound, so it has beautiful views of the Sound, and ferry service to the other side of the Sound. It has nice beaches (though different from California ocean beaches; they're not sandy), and various forms of boating (sailing, canoeing, kayaking) are popular in the area. It has a quaint "downtown".

Just that there are no major cities anywhere in the US that are further north of Edmunds. It is north of Seattle, Minneapolis, Detroit, Spokane, etc. And even Montreal, Toronto, and Halifax Nova Scotia in Canada. So one should not expect some sort of Mediterranean climate or short winters. You will not get that.

It is also part of metro Seattle. One city just merges into another up there. It is really a bedroom community for Seattle. The northern border of Seattle and southern border of Edmunds are about 3 miles apart. So same basic area.

You don't go to the northernmost corner of the lower 48 and expect San Diego weather.