Wet and Dry side (Portland, Bend: school, community college, moving to)

[jbob]

What is all this about the wet and dry side. Is this true?

I really dislike lots of rain and never considered moving to the NW coast because of it. Now I hear there are parts of OR, WA lith very little rain.

Does anyone know the name of a nice mid sized tourist/college based town on the dry side?

Thanks

[Ryan]

Anything immediately east of the Olympics and again past the Cascades are in rain shadows and gets less precipitation than the areas west of the ranges. As you're travelling east towards each range, the more precipitation you'll get. In W. WA, I'd check out Bellingham and in E. WA check out Pullman. Pullman is drier and cooler and less green, Bellingham vice versa. WSU is also in Vancouver, which is not as wet as most of W. WA and is a larger city if that's more your speed. For Oregon, Bend and LaPine are the best by far. La pine is much less expensive and conveniently close to Bend.

[dachmom]

Since Ryan covered Washington, I help with Oregon. There is a 4yr state college in LaGrande(Eastern Oregon State College). La Grande is pretty far east. It's only a 2hr drive to Boise, Idaho. You will find many small towns on the eastern side of the state. The biggest, most populous towns are in Western Oregon (the wet side). So you pretty much have to choose...Big town and rain or small town and drier weather. It's really up to your personality and what your prefer. I will add that Ryan mentioned Vancouver, WA. which is just across the Columbia River from Portland, OR. and might be a good compromise. The best thing is to come out here and check it out yourself.

[PNW-type-gal]

Originally Posted by Ryan

WSU is also in Vancouver, which is not as wet as most of W. WA and is a larger city if that's more your speed.

Vancouver is just as "wet" as Portland and the Willamette Valley. Maybe not as wet as coastal Washington, but just very nearly as wet as Seattle.

[pw72]

Yes, let's try and get the facts right here. Vancouver's rainfall is similar to Seattle and Portland. The driest area in Washington is not Pullman, it's the Tri-Cities, in the Columbia Basin.

[Bendite]

Originally Posted by jbob

What is all this about the wet and dry side. Is this true?



Does anyone know the name of a nice mid sized tourist/college based town on the dry side?

Bend certainly fits the description of a mid-sized tourist/college based town. on the "dry" side We've a lot of tourism, a community college and a (small) branch of OSU.

[looopson]

Definitely Bend. I'm from Portland and when I go back to visit I can't tell you how many times it's been sunny over here and as soon as I cross the Cascade mountains it's cloudy / rainy. Bend is definitely mid-sized. Population is about 80,000 but can really rise in the summer.

College is booming out here now. Attendance at COCC is at a record and I've been told they've put a cap on new applicants for the next school year.