The Wallowas

[SlideRules99]

Walla Walla is nice. I love the Main Street / downtown district.

Perhaps you could comment on what attributes you seek in a city/town. Joseph would offer you the closest version of a western mountain town in the Wallowas region. Meaning, living near snow capped mountains, forests, lakes, with a charming, old west inspired Main Street district (albeit small). I usually think of Joseph and Enterprise as one region...they are ~6 miles apart. You are also near Hells Canyon as well as some beautiful high prairie country.

Walla Walla is about 10 times larger, with a distinctly different feel. As noted, wine country is a big part. The region is also bounded by miles and miles of rolling hills of wheat. This gives it a drier/more open and arid feeling. It is a nice area for sure, just different than a mountain locale.

While not it the Wallowas, Sisters OR may be a place for you to research. It has been “discovered” already, but gives you a nice mountain town feel with a surprising amount of activity and vibe for a small town, and Bend within ear shot. I assume it is more expensive these days...I haven’t priced it recently.

[texasdiver]

If you are coming from the east coast, the thing to understand about the Pacific Northwest is that elevation is critical to the year-round livability of a place. The places you are looking at are MUCH further north than where you are coming from in northern Virginia. From an east coast perspective, the OR/WA border is about the same latitude as southern Newfoundland.

Once you start going up in elevation it starts getting cold and snowy really fast in the winter. Here in the Portland metro we can be in 10 ft. of snow just an hour or so up into the mountains to the east. One of the biggest reasons why most of the larger towns are down in the lowland areas and the mountain towns are all tiny is because of climate. Living up in the snow zone means your winters are going to be really long and harsh. Most people find it preferable to live down in the lower elevations where the climate and growing conditions are more temperate and you can still drive up to the nearby mountains any afternoon or weekend that you want.

I'm not really sure what a town like Joseph is like during the winter. I've only been through there in summer. But a lot of those smaller mountain towns can be pretty cold and desolate during the off season when most of the area is basically shut down due to winter.

[NW Crow]

There are folks who consider the Wallowas "best" or even just "accessible" 2-3 months per year. Some people might say 4-5 months in low snow / warm years. Do something in the Wallowas from October to May and you are a winter person and hopefully well prepared.

Fortunately there are lots of nearby areas with less elevation and less snow and longer easier access.

The worst thing about Walla Walla is perhaps crime. In city the property crime rate is 70% above national average. And being somewhat near the Tri-Cities probably influences that, as does being the hub of the local area. Outside city / in county the property crime is about national average.

Might want to check how much home prices are rising. Could be bad news and / or future good news depending on means.

In picking where to live, one should consider how important outdoor recreation is and if you are a prefer to drive up to 30 minutes most of the time type, willing to commonly drive 1-2 hours each way type or a screw it I am driving 4 plus hours each way to get exactly where I want to be if I have to type.

Walla Walla to Joseph is 2 plus hour drive in good weather. A particular trailhead could be a little closer or a little to a lot further in time.

[the_potion_darling]

I'm also eager for the launch of StarLink internet services. You can sign up on the website for updates. In some locations, you can also sign up to be a beta tester. I read of one rural MT beta tester getting 400Mpbs down! I'm skeptical it will be fully rolled out by 2021, however.

[LittleSwissArmyGirl]

I spent last April in Joseph because I was interested in living (retiring) there just like you. After 30 days I can tell you this. It's at the DEAD END of the highway. It's a looong drive up from the Interstate; through a beautiful canyon, but then ranch, ranch, ranch, ranch, Joseph. Joseph is 2 stoplights and 3 blocks of shops, and after a closer look, it's mainly for visiting tourists. Cowboy boots, chocolates and wine, "cruisewear" and the like. Curiously, the town has a bronze art foundry and has installed fabulous western themed bronze statues on its' street corners. So walking down the 3 blocks of galleries and western foo foo shops, with these expensive bronze statues feels like an Atlas-Obscura recommendation. The folks running the only grocery always peered at me closely when I came in to shop. There isn't much to buy there so before long I was loading up my dog and making day trips to La Grande for the dog park, dog treats/toys/chow and their great brewery/pub or to Baker City for the same. People would chat with me in La Grande and Baker City! I began to not enjoy the trek back up the beautiful canyon, the ranch, ranch, ranch aaaand Joseph. My dog enjoyed the snow in our rentals' yard, but there was nowhere for him to run around because it's miles of fenced cattle ranches RIGHT outside of the neighborhood. There is a lake and a wilderness trail at the north end of town that might be a plus. Did I mention Joseph is at the DEAD END of the highway? Lastly, google the news article about the vandalism/signage someone posted all over Joseph last year, to warn (Covid carrying) visitors to get out. I'm with Sliderules99; go check out Walla Walla. Or Baker (City) and La Grande.