moving from alaska to? (Spokane, Vancouver: home, construction jobs, construction)

[miller32579]

we are wanting to sell everything and start a new life somewhere. pretty much alaskan dwellers since birth, my husband, two small children, and i want to find a place that you can actually get out and do stuff outside minus the freezing tempuratures! where's the best place to live in washington? my husband is a carpenter. somewhere with good year round tempuratures, and not a huge city. i hear spokane has good weather?

[mustang34]

If you don't mind hot (80's) summers, Spokane isn't bad. It can get below freezing, and they get snow sometimes. Metro pop. of Spokane is about 500,000.

[earls]

In my opinion you would like anyplace south of Olympia. The snow wont last very long like in Alaska and even though it does rain you can deal with it with out a big problem. Every city south of Olympia is not big until you get to Vancouver. Cities with more construction jobs would be closer to Olympia like Centralia/Chehalis area. Yelm is more rural but I hear lots of construction going on. Hope this helps. Oh we consider cold 18 above!

[daytripper]

We are also from Anch......heading for Everett, Wa.

[AngelaE8654]

Originally Posted by earls

In my opinion you would like anyplace south of Olympia. The snow wont last very long like in Alaska and even though it does rain you can deal with it with out a big problem. Every city south of Olympia is not big until you get to Vancouver. Cities with more construction jobs would be closer to Olympia like Centralia/Chehalis area. Yelm is more rural but I hear lots of construction going on. Hope this helps. Oh we consider cold 18 above!

Heck, I was relating the story of driving someone home to Yelm from Olympia in 26 degrees. That's COLD!

[marita]

Western wa is green all year round with mild weather.I have lived here 20 years without a winter coat,rain coat or boots.Do not own a umbrella.
Puget Sound, Washington State, USA

[Jer-B]

The weather is milder on the west side of the Cascade mountains, more extreme on the east side. Here in the Puget Sound region we basically have two seasons. Summer runs from late June to late September, usually about 70-80 degrees. The other nine months are a cloudy-rainy mix of autumn and spring. We get cold snaps, but nothing like Alaska... 25 degrees above zero is frigid for us. Snow is even more rare, and it usually melts in 24 hours. I live in Yelm. The housing is affordable, but it is rural and it's a bit of a drive to get anywhere.