Best spot to retire in WA with qualifications (Seattle, Vancouver: real estate, oceanfront)

[vanzance]

Wife and I are in Seattle Sept 14 and can drive around WA Thurs, Fri, Sat only. We know that's not much time but it's all we have. We're seeking a great spot to retire to. We have home in FL so we'd spend May-Oct in WA.
Here's what we're seeking:
- lots of sunny days
- population of town perhaps 70,000. But, if it's a small town (10,000) and within 30 mi. of big town that's ok
- minimal auto congestion
- we love water, so we'd like to be on coast but I'm guessing that means a lot of fog/mist/rain. Am I right? Fog/mist between Nov-April is OK but we're seeking great, sunny summers.
- within 100 miles of SEA airport
- if not on coast we'd like to be on or near a beautiful, rushing river or a lake,
but if we can find an area on/near coast that meets our weather and other criteria, great.
- lots of nearby golf courses
- good air quality, not a lot of pollen
- no mosquitoes. We're from WI and they drive us nuts in summer
- I like to fish, fly fishing nearby is a plus.
- movie theaters and good shopping within 10 miles
- we'd like a nice neighborhood and can spend $400K to $650K on a home.
- not seeking a poor area with high unemployment
- low crime
- nice restaurants. It's OK to have McDonalds but there needs to be nice independant restaurants.
- nice people with an opportunity to meet other nice people.
- near National Parks a plus, we love clean air, a lot of greenery and pine trees.
- it's not important for us to be near sports, or the arts, we prefer the outdoors.
- good hospitals and medical centers

- Been to WA many times and love your state!

Thanx so much for your help.
Vanzance

[xboxmas]

Anacortes might be a good place. It's in the banana belt, and not too far from Bellingham.

[bmsea]

Check out Grays Harbor County...
- lots of sunny days... The same amount of sunny days as anywhere in the PNW
- population of town perhaps 70,000. But, if it's a small town (10,000) and within 30 mi. of big town that's ok Aberdeen/Hoquiam is about 60,000 population... Westport/Ocean Shores are 2500/6000 respectively
- minimal auto congestion... no traffic whatsoever
- we love water, so we'd like to be on coast but I'm guessing that means a lot of fog/mist/rain. Am I right? Fog/mist between Nov-April is OK but we're seeking great, sunny summers. We are on the coast... you can still buy oceanfront property within you price range, with a lot of growth in prices expected (search for Westport in these forums for more info)
- within 100 miles of SEA airport... about 2 - 2-1/2 hours from Sea tac
- if not on coast we'd like to be on or near a beautiful, rushing river or a lake,
but if we can find an area on/near coast that meets our weather and other criteria, great.
- lots of nearby golf courses 18 hole golf course in Cosmoplis and Ocean Shores, new scottish style links course being constructed in Westport (world class, search The Daily World for more info)
- good air quality, not a lot of pollen - Check
- no mosquitoes. We're from WI and they drive us nuts in summer - Check
- I like to fish, fly fishing nearby is a plus. - Check, Westport is the salmon fishing capital of the world, check more info for fly fishing; Cabelas being constructed in Olympia as we speak
- movie theaters and good shopping within 10 miles
- we'd like a nice neighborhood and can spend $400K to $650K on a home. Check out Cohasset Beach, (www.cohassetbeach.com; (broken link) www.westportwa.com; (broken link) or Broadway hill in Aberdeen)
- not seeking a poor area with high unemployment ... Unemployment is changing as time goes on
- low crime ... VERY low crime compared to anywhere in WA
- nice restaurants. It's OK to have McDonalds but there needs to be nice independant restaurants. Check out www.islander-westport.com (broken link) or google the quinault casino or Discovering Westport for info about the dining scene...

- nice people with an opportunity to meet other nice people. Absolutely
- near National Parks a plus, we love clean air, a lot of greenery and pine trees. Minutes from the Quinault Rain Forest and Olympic Natl rain forest
- it's not important for us to be near sports, or the arts, we prefer the outdoors.
- good hospitals and medical centers.. Grays Harbor Community Hospital just received a gold medal for their facilities... Olympia has 2 first rate hospitals only 45 minutes away.

[LMB]

Anacortes is a very good suggestion, but what about Bellingham? It seems to fit the criteria better as far as size of city, and it has many of the other qualifications too. I'm not sure about their traffic issues or rainfall amounts, but probably both are higher in Bellingham. Not that "banana belt" Anacortes doesn't get its share of rain, wind, and power outages. We were there last winter during a severe storm. Just something to keep in mind. Even though you'd miss most of the severe winter weather, May-June and October will probably be chilly and wet. Coming from Florida (we also moved here from the sunshine state), the Banana Belt description of any of the areas up here has to be taken with a grain of salt.

That said, we loved Anacortes. It's definitely small town, slower paced living. After searching for years, Anacortes was up among our top three choices for retirement. The deal-breaker for us was the heavy traffic through the Everett/Lynnwood area traveling to and from Seattle on I5. We have family in Seattle and visit frequently--also we wanted to be somewhat closer to SeaTac. It didn't seem to matter what time of day (or day of the week) we made the trip from Anacortes or other towns along the I5 corridor north of Seattle, there was nearly always a massive backup around the Alderwood mall area. Maybe there's an alternate route we didn't know about though.

If trips to Seattle are infrequent, Anacortes (check out LaConner too) is a good choice. Beautiful area with outdoor options in any direction!

Good luck with your search!

Lynn

[Sandy Nelson]

Vanzance,

I would recommend Olympia.

Located on Puget Sound and with views of Mt. Rainier and the Olympic Mountains, the area offers extraordinary scenery.

April through October the weather is very pleasant. Olympia has a population of just under 50K, but since the city has grown together with Tumwater and Lacey, the combined population is over 100K.

Olympia has two hospitals, two new, large movie theaters, 7 golf courses, shopping galore, lots of parks and plenty of unique dining opportunities.
It will be no problem to find a beautiful home (water-front, views, golf course) in a lovely neighborhood within your target price range.

Olympia is just a little over an hour's drive from Seattle, and 45 minutes from SeaTac airport, and definitely worth a visit if you're going to be in the area. If you come down on the 15th, you can visit the annual Home and Garden Show at Saint Martin's University, the "Pasta Dash" at the Olympia Farmer's Market, The Lacey "Summer's End Specialty Car Show", "Family Fun Days" at Olympia's Percival Landing, and you can watch the salmon return home and jump up the Deschutes River water fall at Tumwater Park.

To find out more, visit Visit Olympia, Lacey, Tumwater | Washington | A Vacation Destination | Fine Dining | Great Lodging | Arts and Culture | Attractions | Entertainment | Festivals

Sandy

[earls]

Previous responders forgot the persons rule for 'LOTS' of sunny days, Lots of Golf courses. Can't say sunny and Washington in same breath! We always get rain in May and June sometimes a Lot, Oct it is starting to get cold.- Maybe you should consider just August. - Within 100 mi of SEA covers nearly whole state. What is wrong with being near PDX (Portland) less traffic to get there, better parking. Vancouver WA satisfies a majority of your specs. Somewhat close to many golf courses, fishing, medical, shopping, eating.

[vanzance]

TO BMSEA...Hey thanks. I found some really facinating areas we have to visit in Gray's Harbor County. I spent an hour plus searching. Aberdeen, etc, seem to have income levels far below WA state average. We are seeking an area with a lot of nice, hopefully new, homes, perhaps near/on the beach where the rain isn't as heavy as Seattle.
Vanzance

[vanzance]

Dear LMB: You say "Anacortes is a very good suggestion, but what about Bellingham? It seems to fit the criteria better as far as size of city, and it has many of the other qualifications too. I'm not sure about their traffic issues or rainfall amounts, but probably both are higher than Anacortes! Not that Anacortes doesn't get its share of rain, wind, and power outages."
So, why would Bellingham get more rainfall than Anacortes? I had found Bellingham and it seemed great, but if there is something like it with less rain, or gray summer days nearby for some geographical or other reason I'd be very curious. Any new, real nice areas in Anacortes? We want to visit Anacortes on Thursday but have so little time!
Thanks so much
Vanzance
Vanzance

[vanzance]

Dear XBOXMAS: You say: "Anacortes might be a good place. It's in the banana belt, and not too far from Bellingham."
What is the "banana belt"? Being from cold Wisconsin we never heard of a banana belt. Also, is Bellingham in it as well? How far does in extend?
Thanx so much

Vanzance

[vnodak]

Interesting comments---people here are vit D deficient for a reason--- the freeways are parking lots. The area is green for a reason too. People had allergy problems this year---who never had before. Weather in Portland area is much the same as here and personally I would rather drive in the Seattle area than Portland. Oregon drivers are rude for the most part. I lived in Oregon for over 20 years. Read the city data for the stats. Of course, real estate agents want to sell their city---in the morgage crisis, you can not blame them. If you find that perfect place, let me know as I will move there----especially if their are friendly people. Read the thread on friendly people.