Looking for a suburb (Seattle, Everett: crime, movie theater, pharmacy)

[circa81]

I'm looking for a small town not to far from the city which has a great public transportation between them, like a shuttle bus. I'd like to keep the distance within 10 miles, and the more forested, the better. In-town amenities must include a supermarket, a wallmart or similar store, first run movie theater, pharmacy and library. I'd prefer it be more inland and obviously much cheaper then the city, but not crime ridden. Oh, and I'd prefer the average cloudiness to be less then the city as well. Any ideas?

[Inkpoe]

Originally Posted by circa81

I'm looking for a small town not to far from the city which has a great public transportation between them, like a shuttle bus. I'd like to keep the distance within 10 miles, and the more forested, the better. In-town amenities must include a supermarket, a wallmart or similar store, first run movie theater, pharmacy and library. I'd prefer it be more inland and obviously much cheaper then the city, but not crime ridden. Oh, and I'd prefer the average cloudiness to be less then the city as well. Any ideas?

All this? Not in Seattle/Western WA. Which of the requirements/requests are you willing to give up?

[circa81]

Um, none really. Maybe I'll have more luck on the Portland forum

[mkarch]

Doesn't exist.

[Hemlock140]

Originally Posted by circa81

Um, none really. Maybe I'll have more luck on the Portland forum

I doubt that. Small cities don't usually have good public transportation, and within 10 miles there is not going to be any noticeable difference in the weather. In either city you can find woodsy areas within the city itself or 10 miles, but small towns are going to be more like 20-30 miles away, but are not going to have big stores and theaters. In this area North Bend has supermarkets and a small theater, plenty of woods but it's more like 30 miles from Seattle and gets more rain. Many of the small towns around Seattle are more expensive than the city, until you get more like 40 miles away.

[circa81]

I guess I was just being overly optimistic, wanting the best of both worlds. So just take out needing to be near the largest PNW cities from my OP.

[Hemlock140]

In that case, North Bend, Monroe, and Snohomish, have all but the proximity to the city, though the latter two are close to Everett.

[circa81]

OK then, here's my revised parameters:
I'm looking for a small town, about 15,000 people, that's not to far from a larger city, the former having a great public transportation system. I'd like the town to be really forested, both within the town and the surroundings, preferably near a national forest. In-town amenities must include a supermarket, a wallmart or similar store, first run movie theater, pharmacy and library. I want it to be much cheaper then Seattle. Oh, and I'd prefer the average cloudiness to be no more then Seattle. Any ideas?

[Inkpoe]

You don't seem to understand how the climate system works here. Western WA:Puget Sound essentially is equally cloudy, it's actually the rain that's the differential. If you want less clouds, go to Eastern WA.

With that said, small towns usually aren't equated with great public transportation-- so it really narrows down what you're looking for. At most, I'd say Bremerton, Poulsbo and Bainbridge Island is probably the closest to your ideal. Though it's not forested within town, but definitely surroundings. All have supermarkets, libraries, pharmacys and movie theatres. Bremerton is closest to Walmart (and equivalents, Fred Meyer's, Target, et. c); it is also the biggest (@ ~40K, but still retains the rural feel). The nearest National Forest is the Olympics Nat'l Forest. PT is decent for for the size of those towns.

[flyingsaucermom]

Do you realize that your revised parameters are not different in any meaningful way from your original post?

I have no clue, but I would imagine that you could follow I-5 up and down from Seattle until you find a community that best matches your criteria as the Cascades force you to take a N-S direction. Sounds like you are looking to live in a Twin Peaks episode. I would check out N. Bend.