Is Leavenworth dreary? (Wenatchee, Cashmere: to live, shoppers, moving to)

[MtnSurfer]

Originally Posted by MechAndy

I don’t know if I could handle an area that relies so heavily on the tourist industry.
Our area on the OP sees enough tourists for me and they create traffic issues.
Thankfully I live a bit out of town.
I imagine I’d go nuts in Leavenworth.

About SAD,
I probably suffer from it to a degree.
I think everyone does to a degree and that people handle it differently.
The cold weather doesn’t bother me but I think the lack of daylight does
It makes me lethargic during the winter if I don’t take steps to combat it.
I do a healthy diet with daily supplements, exercise and spend as much time outside as possible either doing chores or walking the dogs.
I’m a very active person, I think if I wasn’t SAD could snowball into something much larger.
I know everyone is different but this seems to work for me.

I think lack of sunlight and daylight does affect most to varying degrees. Since everyone's sense of wellness is based upon different factors, it bothers some more than others. For example, if one is indoors most of the time and not the 'outdoorsy' type, then it might not impact them as much. Hibernating during winter may be an ok thing if pleasure can be found by a warm fireplace sipping tea/coffee as a homebody for the winter months. While for others, they must get outside. The thought of hibernating is like a slow death to the mind, body and spirit. There's a reason solitary confinement is used as a form of torture. Dark, dank places mess the mind. Since the OP is already suffering from this, its likely not a good fit even with adaptive strategies and techniques.

Derek

[rkcarguy]

I agree with others, and will add that the highway 2 corridor runs a river valley for most of it's length on the west side. It's accident prone, dreary, stuffed with traffic, and receives more precipitation and flooding than other wet areas of the state.
Personally I'm tired of the grey and rain, (plus being disabled and nearly killed by the vaccine mandate), will be looking somewhere out of state with more sunshine and we are ok trading the rain for a "real" winter wherever we end up.

[Thealpinist]

Leavenworth averages about 90+ inches of snow a year.

Some years you will get 100+ inches of snow. If you don’t like long winters, probably not the place for you. Summers are pretty nice though!

[rkcarguy]

Originally Posted by Thealpinist

Leavenworth averages about 90+ inches of snow a year.

Some years you will get 100+ inches of snow. If you don’t like long winters, probably not the place for you. Summers are pretty nice though!

A restaurant owner there joked with me that the whole town gets the clap during winter because it's often snowed in, very slow, and nothing to do lol

[CalWorth]

One cool thing about Leavenworth is that the trailhead to the Enchantments is near there.

[MtnSurfer]

Originally Posted by CalWorth

One cool thing about Leavenworth is that the trailhead to the Enchantments is near there.

And fall colors through there is usually quite beautiful. I was all set to head out there for it last fall until the huge fire engulfed that entire region in thick smoke. It was a nasty one. Hopefully, this fall won't be as bad.

Derek

[Wheatridger]

Originally Posted by rkcarguy

A restaurant owner there joked with me that the whole town gets the clap during winter because it's often snowed in, very slow, and nothing to do lol

There should be a town slogan in there... The Cuddle Capital? Anything but The Clap Trap.

[Wheatridger]

Leavenworth is an odd town. It's the only place in WA that reminds me of Colorado. I'm sure they had Vail in their sights, and they seem to have succeeded. In CO, we have 6-10 tourist towns that are busy and thriving, but in WA, Leavenworth seems like one of a kind, with North Bend playing second fiddle. Colorado's prosperity isn't completely concentrated in the largest city, and that's nice to see.

[jabogitlu]

Washington has an adequate amount of tourist towns/areas. Bainbridge, Snoqualmie, North Bend, Leavenworth, Woodinville, and lakeside Chelan/Stehekin come to mind. That isn't to mention the San Juans, which even the esteemed Colorado cannot touch.

I also don't think that the amount or dispersal of tourist towns backs up the claim that Colorado's prosperity isn't concentrated in the largest city. You'd need some more hard data for that, in terms of defining prosperity, which likely includes GDP, home values, etc.

[sera]

Mid-October to Mid-June, Grey on the Olympic Peninsula. Having adapted after 30 years, involved with family, friends, etc. weather doesn't affect me too much. When occasionally, like the pass few weeks of 80's + look forward to cooler temperatures.

Suggest a Thread, here on City-Data, Weather, or City vs City for moderate or sunny weather. Other suggestions from Posters ?