Moving to San Juan County - Need Info

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by Snowman05

It's funny to see rich people acting liberal and I consider anyone living in San Juan islands as relatively affluent.

You would be wrong about that. According to the latest Census: https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fa...gton/PST045222

• San Juan County median household income: $68,577 and poverty rate: 10.8%
  
• Washington State median household income: $82,400 and poverty rate: 9.9%
  
• King County median household income: $106,326 and poverty rate 9.1%

There are plenty of affluent people who own property in the San Juans, but they do not tend to actually live there.

The people who actually do live there actually earn 17% less than the statewide median and 36% less than in urban Puget Sound. While at the same time paying MORE for most goods, services, and housing. Pretty much like any other beach town. The Oregon Coast is no different. Plenty of people own expensive vacation property there, but the people who actually live there year-round are not affluent. In fact, some of the coastal counties in Oregon are among the poorest in the state despite all the high-end beach property.

[rkcarguy]

The San Juans actually have a fair amount of people on them that do the homestead thing with family. Then, anyone with a small business out there is facing high taxes and operating costs, poor availability of goods and labor, and very seasonal clientele.

[Hemlock140]

San Juan county was recently named as the best place in Washington to retire.

https://www.iheart.com/content/2023-...in-washington/

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by Hemlock140

San Juan county was recently named as the best place in Washington to retire.

https://www.iheart.com/content/2023-...in-washington/

Click bait.

The only hospital on the islands is the tiny 10-bed Peace Health hospital in Friday Harbor. That isn't going to work for any retirees with any sort of complex medical issues. Especially if you live anywhere but San Juan Island. There is, I think, only one small assisted living center in the entire San Juans. So the options for aging in place in the San Juans are pretty limited.

[StealthRabbit]

Be a local....
Volunteer, help your neighbors, support local businesses.... Don't bring your past or Florida to WA.

Island life is generally quite chill, (between weekends and during winter). A friend on SJ, heads to Alaska for summers ! Be sure you're ready for island life. (Ferry dependant). We lived in the Gulf Islands (Canada version of San Juans) and just spent 3 months on an island in Greece + lived in Singapore and Hong Kong. I'm not an island person, so it's tough for me. But easier when I'm living on the water, with my boat moored nearby. I'm a prairie farm kid, so I need vast places to explore. (ocean will do if I have access and a boat), but.... International trips might include 6-8 hrs of prep travel, just to get to your departure airport. Of course, you can jump in your boat and take an international trip to Vancouver Island.... If that is your chosen destination (yikes... Another island!)

Suggestion.... Join Master Gardeners, Naturalists, or similar for ocean interests. Some friends on SJ volunteer and are on staff at Marine Science center / university extension. Sounds like you might enjoy that gig.

If you are proud of your tan from Florida.... Take a picture (before you come to PNW). Welcome to the great white anemic bodies. If light skinned...you may stand out for awhile.

[Hemlock140]

Originally Posted by texasdiver

Click bait.

The only hospital on the islands is the tiny 10-bed Peace Health hospital in Friday Harbor. That isn't going to work for any retirees with any sort of complex medical issues. Especially if you live anywhere but San Juan Island. There is, I think, only one small assisted living center in the entire San Juans. So the options for aging in place in the San Juans are pretty limited.

I agree, but people read that and believe it. The same happened a few years ago when Gig Harbor received that title. At least there it's just 1/2 hour to a hospital in Silverdale. My retired in-laws moved there from Sammamish when they read the article, helping the city to grow by nearly double in 10 years. Anyone considering the San Juans needs to go soon before home prices soar.

https://www.gigharbornow.org/news/go...9%20in%202020.

Here is an example, this Gig Harbor home built in 1967 sold for $575K in 2016. . .now on the market for $1,050,000.

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by Hemlock140

I agree, but people read that and believe it. The same happened a few years ago when Gig Harbor received that title. At least there it's just 1/2 hour to a hospital in Silverdale. My retired in-laws moved there from Sammamish when they read the article, helping the city to grow by nearly double in 10 years. Anyone considering the San Juans needs to go soon before home prices soar.

https://www.gigharbornow.org/news/go...9%20in%202020.

Here is an example, this Gig Harbor home built in 1967 sold for $575K in 2016. . .now on the market for $1,050,000.

If you read Oregon Coast forums, there are endless stories of retirees who find their dream home on the coast and settle in for the long haul. Only to discover after a few years that they are REALLY tired of having to drive 1.5 hours across the coast range in mid-winter to find any medical specialists or medical services or even sometimes a vet for their dog or the nearest Costco. And they can't find anyone to clean or work on their homes because what few people there are who do such work are busy with all the AirB&Bs who pay more. So they eventually tire of the isolation and move across the mountains to the Willamette Valley and settle in Corvallis, Salem, Albany, Eugene, or the Portland exurbs.

The San Juans are substantially more isolated than the Oregon cost in a whole lot of ways. I can see happily living there if you are gainfully employed in some way that keeps you busy and engaged. But retired with lots of time on your hands? I think it would become stifling. But that's just me. I like to discover things like new restaurants and do travel. So a place as isolated as the San Juans is not for me.

[rkcarguy]

Originally Posted by StealthRabbit

Be a local....
Volunteer, help your neighbors, support local businesses.... Don't bring your past or Florida to WA.

Island life is generally quite chill, (between weekends and during winter). A friend on SJ, heads to Alaska for summers ! Be sure you're ready for island life. (Ferry dependant). We lived in the Gulf Islands (Canada version of San Juans) and just spent 3 months on an island in Greece + lived in Singapore and Hong Kong. I'm not an island person, so it's tough for me. But easier when I'm living on the water, with my boat moored nearby. I'm a prairie farm kid, so I need vast places to explore. (ocean will do if I have access and a boat), but.... International trips might include 6-8 hrs of prep travel, just to get to your departure airport. Of course, you can jump in your boat and take an international trip to Vancouver Island.... If that is your chosen destination (yikes... Another island!)

Suggestion.... Join Master Gardeners, Naturalists, or similar for ocean interests. Some friends on SJ volunteer and are on staff at Marine Science center / university extension. Sounds like you might enjoy that gig.

If you are proud of your tan from Florida.... Take a picture (before you come to PNW). Welcome to the great white anemic bodies. If light skinned...you may stand out for awhile.

The SJ boating scene is wonderful, but the weather is unpredictable and dangerous with often wrong forecasts. I took dad out on his birthday for a NOAA forecasted "less than 1' seas" that turned into 7' waves, two cracked ribs, both his meals fed to the fish, and a 3 hour return trip to go 15 miles. And this, in a 23' deep vee Alaskan Bulkhead boat that did well in this stuff. Open spans of water = dominant wind direction all too often.