Housing in Forks, WA (Seattle, Bellingham: homes, high school, college)

[iluvtherainbbw]

I am a low income mother of two little girls. I have a lot of physical problems which is why I am on SSI, and me and my family wish to move to an area where it rains more. It seems that the worse I get, the harder the heat is on my body. I love the rain and always have. I originally grew up in a little town called Dublin in Texas. Not much there but dairies and you had to drive a ways to find anything, so I am used to a small town and area. But again, Texas get sooo hot, we get big thunderstorms, but still not often enough for me. I am the type of person that if it was cloudy and rained every day I would LOVE it. I have been told that it rains alot all over the Olympic Peninsula, but there are areas where it rains more than others. My household earns between my SSI and my kids dad's Social Security (he is ADD and Autistic) we are currently living in a three bedroom apartment, two story, paying 735 in rent and 198 in electricity, as well as our phone and internet. We have a good history with our current landlord and paid out our recent deposits when we moved from a 2 bedroom to a 3. We are yearning for the mountains though, Shawn used to live up in the mountains with his parents where it snows so bad you can't get to town and I love the rain and the greenery, also it gets really hard for me to breathe at times, so all the vegetation I have noticed when I went to Seattle actually I had an easier time with my breathing. So, we would like to relocate to somewhere on the Olympic Peninsula, I've heard good things about Forks, and Port Angeles, but I really don't want to be in a big city. I wasn't raised in a big city, and I really hate Yakima quite a lot. I want cooler weather and more rain and I don't mind if there's not alot to do, I do enjoy being outside when the temperatures are lower and of course if it is raining I LOVE BEING OUTSIDE, and I love swimming and fishing as those are easy physical activities for me to do. We would like to find a reasonable priced apartment, the job thing we don't need right now unless Shawn wants to get a part time cooking job for some extra money, but otherwise the money situation is taken care of for us right now...Well thanks for any help you can give, this heat really is killing me, I'm ready to get out of Yakima NOW lol

[Fat Freddy]

Port Angeles would probably be a better choice than Forks.

It is not a "big city", has plenty of trees, is on the water, and backs up against the mountains. I don't know for sure, but I think it has pretty good air because the winds through the straights should keep it moving. By the way, Seattle has some of the worst air in the country, even worse than Southern California.

If you want to rent an apartment, Port Angeles has many, but you can also rent a nice house for about the same amount. There are very few apartments in Forks and they aren't very nice, but you can probably rent a trailer or small house pretty reasonably.

Being on SSI gives you the advantage of not having to worry about a steady income, but if you have some problem with your check or food stamps, I don't think there is much in Forks that can help you and you will probably have to go to the Social Security office in Port Angeles.

[heartfocus]

My brother lives in Port Angeles and he swears that Forks is the meth - and illegal immigration - capital of Washington. He says there are a few rivers there where you can fish for salmon, but aside from that, he doesn't think much of it at all. It used to be a logging town, but with the spotted owl controversy, its really nothing now. There are no jobs there.

[Fat Freddy]

Originally Posted by heartfocus

It used to be a logging town, but with the spotted owl controversy, its really nothing now. There are no jobs there.

The logging is gone because the old growth cedar has all been cut down.
I have never seen a spotted owl with a chain saw.

[jertheber]

Forks is like most of the north coast towns, culturally deprived and hard scrabble poverty that typifies the end of logging as an economic base. Even when logging was going gung ho there was never any thing close to a real prosperity in Forks. I was up there last summer and it hasn't changed much from when I was a kid in the fifties.

Your SSDI should get you a place with a subsidy on rent if there is section eight housing, as Freddy pointed out, Port Angeles sounds more suited to your needs, small town with a lot of charm, great for the kids and government offices for help.

[West coast at heart]

Originally Posted by Fat Freddy

The logging is gone because the old growth cedar has all been cut down.
I have never seen a spotted owl with a chain saw.

Good one !

I agree with you about PA being a better place to live. I also would throw in Sequim!

wc@h

[AlohaHuey]

Originally Posted by freethinker09

Im interested in moving to forks also, but with all this twilight movie attention..is it such a good idea? I live in springfield Illinois and I am DIEING for some mountains and forests!

Avoid Forks. You can live in a foothills community nearer to Seattle and have all those things. There isn't much of anything going on in Forks, except the rain. Not even vampires. Jobs are scarce. And a place like Forks is always different than the movies.

Try places like Gold Bar, North Bend, Snoqualmie, Monroe...then decide if you want something way out from the herd.

Now, the rain and mountains are spectacular and worth moving to.

[monankia4eva]

we interested in moving to forks also we are an extended family of 7 soon to be 8 we will need a 4 to 5 bedroom 2 bath place are there any around there?

[Fat Freddy]

Originally Posted by monankia4eva

...we will need a 4 to 5 bedroom 2 bath place are there any around there?

Around Forks that generally means two trailers pushed real close together.

[Dendrite]

Originally Posted by Fat Freddy

Around Forks that generally means two trailers pushed real close together.

Thanks Freddy, I just sprayed my computer monitor with coffee when I laughed after reading this !!!

OTOH, perhaps only those who live on the peninsula realize how much truth there actually is in your quip...

Too funny! Thanks for the laugh to start my day!