Palouse WA info please! (Seattle, Walla Walla: real estate, for sale, work)

[thehelferfamily]

Hello all,
Our first post here. We would love to get some info regarding the little town of Palouse, WA. My husband is retiring from the USCG in about 18 months and we are looking for retirement areas. He is currently stationed in CA, but was born and raised in Walla Walla, WA. We've been to visit WW many times over the years, but it's getting too expensive and overgrown for our tastes. My family is all in the Seattle area and his family is still in Walla Walla. We think Palouse might be the town for us, since it's "close" to family, but not too close. We have 3 small children, so good schools and small, friendly community are VERY important. Would also love to hear about housing or land prices in the area. Looked on realtor.com and there was only 1 listing! Thanks so much for any info you can provide!!

[jabm67]

We used to live in Pullman. Palouse is a nice little town; we drove through there often to & from points north. Their chamber of commerce site is at Welcome to Palouse, Washington! but you might also look at businesses in Pullman because Palouse is in Pullman's economic "footprint". Pullman's real estate prices are elevated because of the university there, and I don't know how much that spills over into nearby towns like Palouse.

Unfortunately, I don't know anything much about the schools; we left the area before our kids started school. Palouse shares schools with Garfield, up the road a little ways (both are very small towns); the school district is linked in that Chamber of Commerce site.

[thehelferfamily]

Thanks so much for the info jabm67! I'll be sure to look at their website!

[gibsonp]

I was also born and raised in Walla Walla and look forward to retiring there because of its prosperity and vivacity not to mention the great weather, but I also hate the changes it has undergone the last 3-4 years.. Anyways, I lived in Pullman from 1997-2000 and Palouse in 2001 and Johnson in 2002, and though in Palouse you cant beat the view of the Palouse river and BNSF tracks from north on 27 or the back roads to Colfax through Eden valley, the town itself leaves much to be desired and the residents a lot of them on coke or meth and the properties run down and overpriced, some but not all. (Albion is closer to Pullman and just as bad if not worse than Palouse.) You can find all the properties for sale if you search all the links from List of Pullman Area Real Estate Sources . So it would be nice if youre looking for some acreage toward Colfax or the stateline, or maybe E towards 95 if there were any available, but if you were planning on living in the town limits, have you considered Colton, WA or Uniontown at all instead? which I find to be a much nicer place to live and you can probably get a nicer house for the price and it won't take ten years for the neighbors to accept you. I also don't know much about the schools but I've heard Gar-Pal has a good high school but the K-8 is better in Colton but thats just what I heard, I don't have any kids there. Anyways I would hope to help you anyway I can, so email if if you need anymore advice from me.

[thehelferfamily]

Thanks for the info....I'll be sure to check out colfax and uniontown. It's so hard to try and narrow places down when we can't see them in person for awile. We're just trying to get a "general" feel for the area and then when it's time for a decision, spend some time in the areas on our list and figure out where the best place for us will be. Thanks again for all the help!

[lhastings57]

gibsonp, I'm moving to Palouse in September. Could you tell me what one can expect to pay for gas and electric services from Avista? They are asking for a huge deposit stating that it is approximately 2 months service. Is that the gas and electric bill combined? Thanks, LH

[tlewis]

This is probably too late to help the folks looking for info on Palouse, but to set the record straight from a previous post, Palouse is a beautiful little town. In fact, it is one of the most actively growing towns, with the exception of Pullman, in Whitman County. It has a great downtown and, as late, is becoming a destination shopping town with arts and antiques. It was different years ago, but it has taken a turn for the better. I love Palouse! No, I don't live in Palouse, but I do live in Colfax (another great little town).

[mohondro]

I've lived in Palouse for almost 20 years now. It's become an adorable little bedroom community. It's got quite the artsy feel downtown -- a couple quaint little restaurants, antique shops, art gallery, tea shop. It's 15 miles to Pullman so just the right distance to relax on your drive to work or home from work if you work at WSU, the main employer around here. Agree that years ago the buildings downtown needed a little work, esp. after the flood in the 90's but it's up and coming now and quite a lively spot on Saturday a.m.'s. Spring and Summers bring a car show and a blues festival not to mention the monthly Saturday art openings downtown.

Just wanted to add my 2 cents to the erroneous pictorial posted earlier.