Best Place to live in WA? (Seattle, Spokane: hotels, mobile home, price)

[RachelSent]

Tell me the best place to live in WA.

I dont mind the rain and overcast and love a bit of snow. I want to see mountains and would love to see both mountains and water. More liberal then conservative. Don't like track housing. Jobs are not really an issue but must have good internet service. Do not want to live in Seattle.

Tell me the best place to live in WA and why.

Please


RachelSent

[509]

Well, if internet service is important to you. Your choices are Grant, Douglas, and Chelan counties in central Washington. They all offer fiber service at speeds up to 1 Gbps. Standard service is at 100mbps.

They have all stopped expanding the fiber network so only 70% of Chelan counties households are on the fiber network.

My choices are Spokane, Wenatchee, and Walla Walla. Wenatchee and Spokane are now metro areas and have all the problems of big cities. Though we moved to Wenatchee in 1985 and have never left. However, it is not the same community it was in 1985. Immigration from western Washington has really affected the community. So it goes, you just cannot control who wants to live in your community.

Not sure what you mean by more liberal than conservative. The important thing is people that care about your community. The politics do not matter.

[Hemlock140]

There are many places in Puget Sound area where you can see mountains and water, but there is a high price to be paid for a home with those views. In general all of King County is liberal, as is most of the areas west of the Cascade Mountains, while east is more conservative, more so the further east you go. I would suggest the following towns to look at for more reasonable priced homes with either water/mountain views:

Poulsbo
Silverdale (along the hood canal)
Seabeck
Brinnon
Quilcene
Cle Elum

[sll3454]

Are you the kind of liberal who must be surrounded by like-minded people, or the kind that appreciates diversity and can even live with conservatives neighbors? In general, the west side of WA is much more liberal than the east side, and the Seattle area is the most liberal. However, liberals can live happily on either side of the mountains, as can conservatives, moderates, and libertarians.

Is climate important?
Western Washington has mild weather: summers are warm but rarely hot, with some rain but not a lot. Winter has a lot of days in the 40s, with nighttime temps usually (not always) remaining above freezing. Temperatures don't change very quickly. There is a lot of rain, but it doesn't usually come in buckets. It's a little bit almost every day. You will not see much sunshine during fall, winter, and spring. Of course, if you get up into the mountains you will have colder weather and more snow.

Eastern Washington has hotter summers and colder winters. There is more snow, but also more sunshine.

Mountains and Water: This sounds like most of Western Washington.

You can get decent internet service (either DSL or cable or both) in most places.

What else would you like to know?

[RachelSent]

Thank you all for your responses.

It has been many years since I've moved from one state to another and this is a big move and will probably be our last move. We are both involved with the Arts and love diversity. We currently live in an area that was all cowboys and ranches in the past and the town has since grown and is changing but the 'good ole boy' attitude still permeates anything to do with the community and the 'founding families' still pull all the strings. These are the types of politics that we could do without.

Western Washington def. sounds more amenable and we were thinking of the Sequim/Port Townsend area and their surrounds and intend to spend some time there this coming February.

I appreciate your taking the time to give me your responses. If you have info on Sequim or Port Townsend or particularly great areas around there, I would love to know.

[rainforest338]

In general all of King County is liberal, as is most of the areas west of the Cascade Mountains,

I would say that as you head west away from Puget Sound it begins to become conservative again. I think Port Angeles/Elma on west to the ocean begin to increase in 'redness'.

We currently live in an area that was all cowboys and ranches in the past and the town has since grown and is changing but the 'good ole boy' attitude still permeates anything to do with the community and the 'founding families' still pull all the strings. These are the types of politics that we could do without.

This is found in the timber areas of Western Washington, too...just replace cowboys and ranches with loggers and millworkers. You'll find it a little in PT/Sequim, but not too bad. Different story in Port Angeles/Forks/etc. Mostly people that are owners/managers of logging companies/tree farms/trucking.

[Hemlock140]

I'll be in Sequim this weekend. When you go visit be sure to stop by Sunny Farms, on 101 at Mill Rd. Also, just out of Sequim toward Port Angeles take a left on Blue Mountain Rd. and drive to see the views at the top, where there are multi-million dollar homes just a few miles above the older mobile homes and horse properties. There are nice homes not too expensive down toward the water but it does get windy there. In Port Townsend, you will enjoy walking around town and seeing 100+ year old hotels and shops, probably a dozen galleries.

[Tall Tiger]

Originally Posted by RachelSent

Tell me the best place to live in WA.

I dont mind the rain and overcast and love a bit of snow. I want to see mountains and would love to see both mountains and water. More liberal then conservative. Don't like track housing. Jobs are not really an issue but must have good internet service. Do not want to live in Seattle.

Tell me the best place to live in WA and why.

If you want less rain and more snow, then Wenatchee is a good spot as it's right next to the mountains, about 2 hrs from Seattle, has about 30K population.

The west side of Cascades gets more rain and is overcast. Depending what size city you want, Bellingham is nice and has about 100K pop I think.

If you're liberal, don't mind rain and snow and overcast, you're going to love Washington.

[NW-to-SE]

There isn't a lot of diversity in PT/Sequim. (Skwim, pronounced). You also don't have great internet service there- I have friends who live there.

Bellingham has more diversity and a lot of art. You see Mt. Baker from Bellingham, and you see Bellingham Bay. If you're looking for diversity, mountains, water, and art.. you may consider Bellingham. It's close enough to Seattle that you can drive there in 2 hours, and also has Vancouver, BC 2 hours north.

[xboxmas]

Sounds like the Bellingham area/Whatcom county is what you are looking for. It is close to the Canadian border and not too far from both Seattle and Vancouver.