Considering relocation to Colville, WA

[lilblondsmurf]

My husband and i moved to Colville in 1993 from Cali...wow what a change. We never minded it. We had a house, that needed work of course, about 8 miles out of town, or a 15 min drive. We both found work, not careers, but work, within the first month there. We are honest and hard working. My folks moved up 2 years later. I had a baby a year later, who was born with a heart condition. I found that Mt. Carmel, and the local health clinic were incredible with any assitance we needed when dealing with this. First off, i had to have an emergency c-section and then was almost paralized due to an allergic reaction to the meds i was given. One month later i took my sick baby to the clinic, and found the heart issue, they arranged with the BEST Pediatric Heart specialist-statewide- in Spokane to see my son, we were mediflighted out, and Sacred Heart hospital took care of everything, they arranged our hotel stay, made sure we were aware of everything, every step of the way, and that my family and my son were well cared for. The local clinic and Mt. Carmel did this for us. So though it is a small town, and services may be somewhat limited, they are sure to get you where you need to be for any care they are unable to provide. It is a small community and that is how most small communities work.
There is almost no traffic, and folks are mostly nice. It of course is all in your attitude, if you are friendly they are friendly. I never ran into one person who was outright unkind.
If you are ok with snow and cold weather, Colville is a great town. We moved to Spokane in 1998 so my husband could finish college, and then he found a great job locally. I miss the small town, and miss many of the folks we had made a connection with, such is life. I do recommend Colville as a great retirement community.
We recently found we will have to relocate-yet again-hubby got a great job offer. If you are interested we have 2 seperate properties up there. One a house and one just a lot of land. Let me know
Thanks

[PASeahawk]

No, there are not funky smells in the town.

The only mill left in Colville is Vaagen Bros. sawmill, and it smells like freshly-sawn softwood. Actually a nice smell, but you only get the smell if you're right next to the mill.

Land and housing in Colville have gotten expensive, but there are still some little places in the surrounding area you might try out for a retirement location.

My top pick would be Marcus. Marcus, WA is down on the Columbia River between Kettle Falls and Northport, WA. It is a beautiful spot with Marcus Island State Park as its main feature. Boating and fishing are right there. Each late summer Marcus has its Ciderfest, a classic small town harvest festival.

You'll find yourselves nestled in with a lot of other retirees who've chosen Marcus for many of the same reasons: reasonable housing cost, beautiful area, relaxed pace, fun outdoor activities. This stretch of the Columbia also has a little town called Evans that is worth a look. If you wish to go further south, there are Rice, Hunters and Gifford with Fort Spokane State Park at the confluence of the Spokane and Columbia Rivers.

These are all very small towns with limited access to medical services. Marcus is the closest to Colville's Mt. Carmel hospital. Another option in Stevens County would be the Suncrest/Nine Mile Falls area. It is actually convenient to Spokane on the Little Spokane River.

[Ash12]

So how cold/hot does it really get in Colville and the other small towns mentioned? Thanks

[PASeahawk]

Colville is considered to be the "banana belt" of Northeastern Washington, warmer in the winter and summer than Spokane, often by five degrees or more.

The river communities are a bit colder in the winter. Sometimes you see overnight lows more than ten degrees below zero. But most of the time it's not that bad. Winters may be cold there, but they are beautiful, surrounded by evergreens.

[1046kdf]

Is it possible to commute from the Northern Spokane area to Colville for work? Any info. is appreciated. Thank you.

[scirocco22]

Originally Posted by 1046kdf

Is it possible to commute from the Northern Spokane area to Colville for work? Any info. is appreciated. Thank you.

I don't know what you consider "possible" but yes, it is definitely possible. From northern Spokane, I'd guess it's about 60 miles? It's around 70 miles from downtown Spokane. Driving time on clear and without any weather-related issues will be around an hour to an hour and a half.

[Small and solar]

Do you still have the land? Great post by the way. How much snow do they get?

[Dizzydog]

Lilblonde- do you still have your land?