Are they rural liberal areas in Washington? (Seattle, Spokane: how much, mobile home)

[PS90]

Originally Posted by StealthRabbit

I agree... Snow is nearby... LOTS of snow!!! (Hurricane Ridge)

Liberal, rural, + SNOW means we_tside OREGON or Humbolt Cty, CA

BTW... Liberal is NOT "we would appreciate a place that is mostly progressive, creative with a "live and let live" attitude".

You either think and act like THEY (Liberals) expect / want you to act, or you are shunned... so much for diversity (OK as long as you don't have a differing opinion and certainly no facts please.)

Oregon (group think) is PERFECT if this is what you seek.
"act like THEY (Liberals) expect / want you to act,"

Very LIBERAL. and proud of it

Originally Posted by StealthRabbit

I'm sure all the farmers, employers, job creators, and payers of millions of $$ in taxes every qtr in the rural conservative areas of WA agree with your explicit facts (?). ha

(Are you an employer? do you pay WA DOR qtrly?, do you have employees and legal WA licensed immigrants that sell your tools to the local pawn shop so you can go in every Monday and buy them back? ) (didn't so)

This you will find in rural areas of any western state.... The thieves are protected by liberal state voted agenda!

Any employer is at great risk.

Both excellent posts. Just thought they were worth reposting, since I can't give you any more rep points.

[SwssMiss]

Thanks to all for taking the time to respond. There are a lot of interesting suggestions and some adjustment needed on my part probably regarding description and wording.

Thanks for the listings CrazyDonkey. Some are already on our list. We had our agent check out the Badger Road one just last week.

TrueTimber I am from Geneva, Switzerland. I have lived in Orange County, CA for 20 years now but have kept my political, social and progressive values.
When I mean liberal, maybe progressive would be better suited. I am not sure, French is my mother thong. Whatever is the opposite of conservative. I like your self description though. It's a pretty close fit for us too.

StealthRabbit I thing this answers some your questions too. We are looking at livestock (mostly poultry, some goats, nothing major) and value added products. We are no spring chickens and it seems that we can generate a higher revenue this way. How would you suggest we go about to find a piece of land with some liveable buildings (mostly a good barn)? It's not like we can drive down the farmland roads. I wish I could.

The budget is also a factor as we are pulling stakes and starting new. So no income and cash is king. But that's for us to worry. There are so many factors involved that the price line is fluid..to a certain extent.

I had not thought of Pullman and Whitman counties, will check it out.

About the snow...it's more a "rather" than "gotta have it" type of thing.

Not sure I can jump to page 2 and still keep this response, so posting now..

[CrazyDonkey]

Your wish for "more snow and sun" pretty much eliminates western Washington, but it does describe eastern Washington, which while it is conservative, is not as remorselessly so as, say, southern Idaho, Utah, or some areas in the mid-west. It also has a strong libertarian component, rather than largely being religious in character.

There are also pockets of liberality, in or around cities/towns with universities/colleges or associated with the wine industry: Spokane, Pullman, Cheney, Ellensburg, Tri-Cities, Walla Walla. Even Okanogan County has its fair share of "back to nature" liberals, if you will. See Winthrop and Twisp in the Methow Valley and Omak.

For instance, for the Walla Walla area:

2368 Heritage Rd, Walla Walla, WA 99362 is For Sale - Zillow

539 Yellowhawk St, Walla Walla, WA 99362 is For Sale - Zillow

415 Preston Ave, Waitsburg, WA 99361 is For Sale - Zillow

[TrueTimbers]

Originally Posted by SwssMiss

Thanks to all for taking the time to respond. There are a lot of interesting suggestions and some adjustment needed on my part probably regarding description and wording.

Thanks for the listings CrazyDonkey. Some are already on our list. We had our agent check out the Badger Road one just last week.

TrueTimber I am from Geneva, Switzerland. I have lived in Orange County, CA for 20 years now but have kept my political, social and progressive values.
When I mean liberal, maybe progressive would be better suited. I am not sure, French is my mother thong. Whatever is the opposite of conservative. I like your self description though. It's a pretty close fit for us too.

StealthRabbit I thing this answers some your questions too. We are looking at livestock (mostly poultry, some goats, nothing major) and value added products. We are no spring chickens and it seems that we can generate a higher revenue this way. How would you suggest we go about to find a piece of land with some liveable buildings (mostly a good barn)? It's not like we can drive down the farmland roads. I wish I could.

The budget is also a factor as we are pulling stakes and starting new. So no income and cash is king. But that's for us to worry. There are so many factors involved that the price line is fluid..to a certain extent.

I had not thought of Pullman and Whitman counties, will check it out.

About the snow...it's more a "rather" than "gotta have it" type of thing.

Not sure I can jump to page 2 and still keep this response, so posting now..

Ah Swiss. You would fit in well. Not a lot of livestock folks on the Olympic.Penninsula. rain shadow gives us less rain than anywhere in the PNW. (Does not mean so cal sun though! Olympics remind me of the alps... IMO keep the snow on the mountains and your pasture green for livestock..

I recently moved, starting over pushing 50.
(IMO rural western Washington, while not liberal like Berkeley,. Does remind me of rural Europe. (Me, I spent too much time in Finland, it gave me my not so American viewpoint/opinion.. )

Go for it.. Call.some co-ops, some farm market managers and see.what they think.

[dubfan]

The San Juan Islands are quite liberal. San Juan County voted 68.29% in favor of Initiative 502 to legalize cannabis, the highest percentage in the state. Ralph Nader did relatively well there in 2000, getting just over 10% of the vote, though Gore still won the majority there. Nowhere in the state except perhaps the core of Seattle is universally liberal, and you should try to come here with an open mind towards people with opposing political views.

[TrueTimbers]

Swiss miss,
Not sure what value added goat and chicken products you are considering, but do look at the counties commercial or processing kitchen regulations, also slaughter regulations.

It is my opinion Oregon is slightly more friendly to the small operator. But Washington (western, has a better customer base.)

Have you considered Mendocino in CA? The county is good with small business.

(I strongly considered selling eggs, and.using the past prime hens for chicken sausages.)

So again, if processing is in your plans. DO talk to the state and the county you choose before buying.

[SwssMiss]

Again, thanks for the feedback. This forum rocks. CrazyDonkey you did it again! Thanks for the listings.

TrueTimbers, your mention of raising chickens and using the spend ones for sausages is EXACTLY one of the projects we have! More precisely in addition to heritage hens, regular layers, I want to rehab some layers from commercial operations to give them a chance at a good life before they get their bad day. What made you abandon the project?

I have started to look at commercial kitchens and farmers' markets locations. Also easy access to urban areas is a must of course. After all we need to sell the stuff ! The West side of WA seems more suited, as you mentioned, for our kind of lifestyle. However this mean higher RE and therefore less land. Do you know by any chance if they are county health regulations in addition to state and federal ones?

It seems that your philosophy and new chosen lifestyle align with ours in general terms. Would you care to give us some specific advices as to areas of relocation based on your experience?

This forum gave us a lot of very good inputs which we are all going to explore. Maybe we can take the snow out of the equation and settle for a few inches and distant views (don't want to make it too hard on you all). Besides the idea of dredging in 2-3 feet of snow early morning to take care of the livestock will get less and and less appealing as the years go by probably.

Most grateful to all for your time and input.

[CrazyDonkey]

Originally Posted by SwssMiss

This forum gave us a lot of very good inputs which we are all going to explore. Maybe we can take the snow out of the equation and settle for a few inches and distant views (don't want to make it too hard on you all). Besides the idea of dredging in 2-3 feet of snow early morning to take care of the livestock will get less and and less appealing as the years go by probably.

Not likely, in western or eastern Washington, unless you're getting up in the mountains.

There are going to be some drawbacks, no matter where. Focusing on factors that impact commercial viability seems the best approach. While the central "East Sound" provides the best markets, it has much higher real estate values, especially for acreage, which pretty much pushes you north, south, west, or across the mountains.

West: The trouble with the Olympic Peninsula is that property values in Port Townsend and Sequim are relatively high. The further west you go, the worse the weather gets, fast. Because you're ferry-dependent (please do check the ferry fares at WSDOT - Ferries - they ain't low), you're pretty much stuck with Port Townsend as a market. Port Angeles is still largely a timber and pulp town, although it is getting "greener".

North: We already covered north-central Whatcom County (close to Bellingham). Further south, you need to identify less favored but reasonably priced areas that have farm-type houses with acreage in your price range: the Concrete/Granite Falls area, for instance, .

60697 State Route 20, Marblemount, WA 98267 is For Sale - Zillow

7751 Wilde Rd, Concrete, WA 98237 is For Sale - Zillow

8238 Emmanuel Ln, Concrete, WA 98237 is For Sale - Zillow

39829 E Whitehorse Dr, Arlington, WA 98223 is For Sale - Zillow

(More later.)

[CrazyDonkey]

(Continued.)

South: Look south or west of Olympia. South of Olympia:

167 Elk Creek Rd, Chehalis, WA 98532 is For Sale - Zillow

1503 N Pearl St, Centralia, WA 98531 is For Sale - Zillow

115 Highway 603, Chehalis, WA 98532 is For Sale - Zillow

10648 Langworthy Rd SW, Rochester, WA 98579 is For Sale - Zillow

1219 Koontz Rd, Chehalis, WA 98532 is For Sale - Zillow

204 Sommerville Rd, Chehalis, WA 98532 is For Sale - Zillow

137 Glenoma Rd, Glenoma, WA 98336 is For Sale - Zillow

67330 Nehalem Hwy N, Vernonia, OR 97064 is For Sale - Zillow (Oregon)

The market for products from these properties would be Olympia or, possibly, Portland.

[CrazyDonkey]

West from Olympia:

67 Melbourne Rd, Montesano, WA 98563 is For Sale - Zillow

25 Larson Rd, Mccleary, WA 98557 is For Sale - Zillow

460 E Satsop Rd, Elma, WA 98541 is For Sale - Zillow (2 houses)

1831 S Bank Rd, Oakville, WA 98568 is For Sale - Zillow

4 Blue Slough Rd, Montesano, WA 98563 is For Sale - Zillow

Market for products from these properties would be Olympia. See: The Farmers Market of Olympia and https://www.facebook.com/wolyfarmersmarket

You could also potentially sell products through the Grays Harbor Farmers Market: gh-farmers-market

There's also a farmers market at Ocean Shores: Moderator cut: link removed, competitor site