What is Cle Elum really like? (Seattle, Yakima: for sale, real estate, how much)
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We are in the process of buying 3.3 acres in Cle Elum. We're very excited about all the outdoor activities to do there and LOVE the snow. However, I don't really know what the community and the locals are like. It has such a small population and I wonder if it's a tight-knit community. Does everybody know everybody there? Do most people get together for community events/celebrations? Is there "Bob the barber" and "that swimming hole all the kids know about"? Do all the kids grow up together to become the adults of the town or do they end up moving away? Is the community suffering from so many people moving out there? Is there a clash of the classes and are people accepting of each other (diversity)?
I fear I may romanticize the whole small town thing and would love for a local to tell me like it really is. I've always wanted to live in a small town and raise my kids there and be part of a tight community. Any comments would help. Thanks!
I had to register just so I could answer this. First of all if you are buying 3.3 acres you must have lots of $$$ because the property prices here have gone through the roof. Still, I know it's a lot cheaper than the other side.
The good things - yes, lots of outdoor activities, lots of places to go. Problem is most weekends it's too crowded by tourists to enjoy. There might be a swimming hole all the kids know about, but my kid doesn't. The majority of the kids who have grown up here and who have moved here recently can't wait to get out and go somewhere, anywhere else. They want malls, movie theaters, arcades, and all that we don't have (well, we do have one theater and frankly it's far superior to any multi-plex I've ever seen).
The drug & alcohol problem here is HUGE; you won't see it right away, but it's there. We're close enough to Seattle for people to come over here & get in trouble. I've heard some stories....
There are some great community events, and yes, everyone knows everyone else. And everyone will know more about you than you think they do. If you have nothing to hide then it's wonderful. I happen to enjoy chatting with someone every time I go out to run errands, and everyone in town knows my house, and everything we do. I like that, but if you don't then you might want to reconsider.
I wanted to come back & edit my earlier post; I was not in a very good mood when I wrote it and it came off sounding completely negative. Not the case - there are good things about living here.
There are lots of activities for outdoor activity year-round. However, it is becoming increasingly difficult to do because so much of the land is being chopped up into parcels for sale to private owners who, it seems, have the first order of business to put up large fences & "no trespassing" signs. New houses are popping up everywhere you turn.
Most of the people moving here don't seem to be really interested in the community; they may have a Cle Elum address but they don't cut their ties to the westside. The go there to shop, visit doctor's, visit friends, etc. They find that little 'ol Cle Elum just doesn't have what they "need" so they either try to change it or just go elsewhere for it. Hard to be vested in a community when you're spending all your time trying to change it to be more like where you came from.
Lots of people who grew up here are now returning because they see the potential for big $$$. As I mentioned earlier most of the kids here now can't wait to get to the westside; my kid isn't one of them (thank goodness); he can and does appreciate everything this area has to offer. In fact he wants to move to a smaller town (we all do actually).
It's nice knowing that people know who your kid is. They may not know by name, but when you go to the bank and the teller says "hey, I saw your son out with so-and-so", well, I think it's good for the kids to know other eyes are watching them.
I also mentioned the drug/alcohol problem. When we moved here just 4 years ago I had no idea how bad the teen & adult abuse problems were. Out in the hills where the kids go to play you'll find evidence of meth-drop places; up on "7th hill" is where you don't want the kids to go ride their bikes because of the drug houses. I hear the skate park is trying to clean up it's act as a druggie-haven but I have no first-hand knowledge of that.
When you move here, if you want to make friends you have to really want to be a part of this community; go to church, go to coffee, go to the kids school activities. Don't talk about "what this town needs is..." and don't make it obvious how much money you're bringing with you. The newcomers are the ones driving the 4WD suvs, wearing REI gear, hanging out at the coffee shop. The locals - who may actually have a lot more money than you do - buy a new truck or practical subaru only when the old one can't be held together with bailing wire any more. They get coffee at the cottage, not at the coffee shop. They wear carharrts & boots year-round (sometimes with duct tape holding those seams together) - yes, even the women. And the locals will give you the shirt off their back if you need it without hesitation. I guess that's why we are still here.
Thank you so much for your posts, cleelumhome! I needed to hear from someone who lives there what I can expect. I've posted here before looking for info but no one from Cle Elum has responded yet. The reason we're moving there is because a place like Cle Elum feels more like home to us than the area we live in now (west side of the mountains). My husband fishes the Yakima there all the time for years and he, too, gets annoyed by the snooty tourists and "newcomers". We don't want to be lumped in with "the newcomers". We live near the malls and arcades but never go there. My kids would rather go fishing or camping or snowmobiling. I accept that drugs and alcohol is a problem everywhere. We live in an increasingly affluent area and it's a big problem here, too, so I talk and talk and talk to my kids and keep them busy with family activities. We're simple people who live simply and have nothing to hide so anybody talking about our business might get rather bored!
We just want to get our kids out of an environment where their friends constantly compare ipods and brag about who had the best vacations... WHO CARES! My kids get a few new things only at Christmas and birthdays, they get new cheap clothes twice a year and they don't get allowance. I don't want them around the spoiled brats that are infesting our town. I want them around "normal people" who raise their kids to work for what they have and to appreciate things. I know no place is perfect but Cle Elum seems to still have a lot of "down home" people who care more about people's character than what kind of car they drive or how perfectly manicured their lawn is. It concerns me that so many of these same spoiled people are moving to Cle Elum but I'm hoping at a much slower rate than here. We're willing to move on eventually if we have to - maybe Montana or something. We just can't stand our own "newcomers" and miss what our town used to be like. Most of the trails have been devoured by new homes. We're hoping a move to a smaller town might buy us some time from all this development.
I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but you won't be getting away from the i-pods & bragging about vacations here. The division between rich & poor is growing all the time, and that's making it really hard on the poor. There are a lot of down-to-earth people, a lot of good people. But when most of the folks were just blue-collar, hard-working folks - when everybody had pretty much the same kind of troubles (financial) it was a lot easier to deal with.
Now, with so much money moving in the kids and the adults seem really proud to show off their wealth, and then the kids who don't have all the latest greatest toys end up lying about it. Again, probably not much different than most places, but it's painful to watch it change in front of your eyes.
There are lots of parents who are to busy with their own lives to "raise" their kids. I know because I am connected with the schools - lots and lots of very troubled kids & troubled homes. Many of the kids (certainly not all) who have moved here in the last couple of years are extremely unhappy - you will have to work extra hard to make sure your children remember why it is you moved (the good) and what they got away from (the bad).
I never answered here before because it was just my first visit a couple days ago. I desperately want to get out and get away - but some of my family just keeps putting down deeper roots all the time. It's a struggle, that's for sure. I do hope you find what you're looking for - it just may not be as idealic as it seems.
Wow, I really appreciate your honesty. I knew people were moving there but didn't know to what extent and how it was affecting the community. I've heard that it's becoming a bedroom community for Microsoft employees because Cle Elum is actually easier to commute from than Seattle. I was sort of under the impression that more people were building vacation homes there than actually living there.
I'm conflicted about moving from Maple Valley to Cle Elum because I really like Maple Valley but, frankly, we're bored here because we're more outdoorsy than what the area has to offer now since so many people have moved here. It sounds like Cle Elum is becoming what I dislike about Maple Valley but at least in Cle Elum I can keep my kids busier with outdoorsy activities to keep them out of trouble (crossing my fingers). I figure, worst case scenario, I can always home school them if they're miserable or mixing with the wrong crowd (I stay home with them). And becoming involved in the local community is at least possible there. The community isn't very tight here. I know a few neighbors and that's it.
Weighing the good and the bad, I still am excited about all the fun activities the area has to offer (let it snow!). But I will be very careful about who my children make friends with (as I always have) and will expect that I am not running away from the bragging
Too funny cspeaker. My wife and I live in Maple Valley during the work week and then Cle Eum most weekends.
We bought in Cle Elum back in 1987 when prices were real cheap (6 acres on the Teanaway river for $20,000). You could find 5 to 10 acres for $20,000 to $35,000 easy. As you are aware, those days are long gone. Many of the timber company owned property that we used to sled on is now split up into rural housing developments like cleelumhome indicated. Forest Service land is still available to sled on for now.
Cle Elum has definitely changed a lot in the last 15 years. I now consider Cle Elum to be a Seattle suburb. We will be moving there full time in a few years, but I no longer think that we will stay throughout our retirement years as originally planned. Too many people, with their nose in the air, west side, city attitude, that I am better than you types. Sorry, but there are many of those types moving in.
On the other hand, we have met many good people and most of our neighbors are now good friends. We all help each other out when needed, especially during the big snows. That is what I like about a small town, but the small town feeling is going fast.
Too funny cspeaker. My wife and I live in Maple Valley during the work week and then Cle Eum most weekends.
We bought in Cle Elum back in 1987 when prices were real cheap (6 acres on the Teanaway river for $20,000). You could find 5 to 10 acres for $20,000 to $35,000 easy. As you are aware, those days are long gone. Many of the timber company owned property that we used to sled on is now split up into rural housing developments like cleelumhome indicated. Forest Service land is still available to sled on for now.
Cle Elum has definitely changed a lot in the last 15 years. I now consider Cle Elum to be a Seattle suburb. We will be moving there full time in a few years, but I no longer think that we will stay throughout our retirement years as originally planned. Too many people, with their nose in the air, west side, city attitude, that I am better than you types. Sorry, but there are many of those types moving in.
On the other hand, we have met many good people and most of our neighbors are now good friends. We all help each other out when needed, especially during the big snows. That is what I like about a small town, but the small town feeling is going fast.
Thanks for your post CleElum Sledhead! It's funny, I ran into people looking at land next to ours who happened to be from Maple Valley as well. Is there something in the water?
Our land deal has closed and it's official, we own dirt in Cle Elum! (Wish we had bought when you did! The Teanaway is a gorgeous area, by the way!) Unfortunately, I don't know how Cle Elum used to be so I don't know what we're missing. I see how it is now, though, and it still seems to be very quaint and small town to me. We went there for 4th of July and it was so cool how the whole town seemed to be out enjoying the show. We got a better feel for the community and loved what we saw. I see on real estate websites that a lot of houses are for sale there which tells me locals are moving out and new people are coming in. It's too bad that it's turning into a suburb - that's what I'm moving away from! However, I've been reading A LOT of posts on this forum from people who live in small towns across America and it seems that the same thing is happening all over the country. The 60's small town doesn't seem to exist any more. Everybody is complaining of the same thing... city folks are moving into their small towns and ruining it. They move in and want to change the community. I want to move there and JOIN the community. I guess my attitude about it, for now, is that I'll live there as long as I enjoy it and then I'll move on if it turns into another Maple Valley. What we are looking forward to most is playing in the snow!
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