Please tell me about Roslyn.. (Seattle, Redmond: sales, rent, condos)

[Quiltlady]

Hello all,

We used to live East of Redmond in Duvall between 86-93 when we moved back to the CO mountains. I just visited my son in Bothell, WA and now the conversation has arisen "Would we consider moving back to WA?" Hmm.

We're not city folks, more rural, love the quiet, and since we're both on SS disability payments, cost of living is a BIG consideration. Hubby happen to think of Roslyn, so I've been checking it out on the net, but I like to defer to anyone out there to give us 'the real skinny'. You know how sites can be, painting the rosiest picture possible and all. Looks like Roslyn may fit the bill for our needs, but we'd like to know more. So, if anyone has any wise words to share, or other web sites for us to check out, we'd sure appreciate it. I'd love to be closer to my family again.

Thanks, Quiltlady

P.S. How far to the nearest Quilt/Fabric Store, ha ha?

[the dufferz]

You can look farther down the posts to a few days ago and see a related question regarding whether Roslyn is losing its quaintness. There you will find more information about what is happening with Suncadia and the homes in Roslyn.

The real skinny is whatever is the prospective that the viewer has. While I never lived there, it was part of my territory for work for several years. I loved it there and watched the town before, during and after they filmed Northern Exposure.

Nothing much changed after other than tour busses and whatever parts of the show they could keep in tact (the radio station, Dr's office). The town folk are proud of keeping the town the same. The arrival of Suncadia has changed things over there, for better or worse... you decide. What will effect you directly will be the cost of housing.

To answer your own questions about Roslyn, you may want to decide where you want to live. Are you wanting in the city limits of Roslyn? If yes, understand that you will be paying more for a house than you would have a couple of years ago. However, the easy access to I-90 and the pass make this a nice place to live.

If you want the Roslyn area, but not in downtown, you can go north to Ronald which seems somewhat untouched by Suncadia, but it is in an area that is impacted by snow. You mentions SS disability, so you need to determine if being snowbound would create a problem. The cost of living out there is lower but I would recommend a 4-wheel drive.

South east of Roslyn get you into Cle-Elum. Certainly not a quaint as Roslyn, but easier access to I-90, more services and probably a quilt store (i'm a guy. Wouldn't know if you paid me).

You can also venture to S. Cle Elum where I think housing would be even less expensive, but this is considered by most as the low rent area.

You can also west to Easton and find comfortable homes. Expect lower cost of housing, but the issues of snow are similar to Ronald.

So keep an firm but open mind as to what you want, don't limit yourself. If you let the forum know what it is about Roslyn that "fits the bill" for what you need, you may find recommendations for other areas that may fit the bill even better.

Good luck.

The dufferz

[Quiltlady]

Thanks Dufferz,

Thanks for pointing out the other post re Roslyn, I did see that later and gained some insight from it. We live at 9200 feet in the Rockies, so we're used to snow. Since we moved here 13 years ago, the forests have sprouted more roof tops than dandelions in an unkept yard and with each new home the property taxes have skyrocketed. So, we're looking for a bucolic area to live in because we live on a fixed income and don't have the need to commute to work.

The cost of living is the only area of our budget we can cut since our income stays nearly the same.

We have experience with Cripple Creek and Colorado Springs, CO., which sits on old mines, and they have a lot of trouble with unstable foundations, and we're wondering if Roslyn would have that problem?

Is Cle Elum the nearest large grocery, ie. Safeway, QFC, etc? Looks like they have a Medical Center there that might be sufficient for our general needs. As it is, we have to travel a good 30+ miles one way now for our specialists.

What site/source would you recommend to me to get info on utilities for the house, etc? I'm assuming they have dial up, but am curious about high speed. Believe it or not, we still don't have DSL capability here.

I don't know enough about Suncadia to even know what questions to ask re it, but we have experience here too, with golf courses and new housing additions coming in all the time. We are already out priced to live here. We were lucky to move in when we did, and even then we had to take a home that needed TLC, and are 6 miles out of town to boot. Not living right in town is fine by us as we value the quietness that generally accompanies it.

Your sales tax is higher than ours; we're still at 6.9%, but it's due to increase shortly. We did take a peek at Ronald, and was wondering just how much snow they get? We commonly see upwards to 2 -3 feet here at one time during a good year, but we've been in a drought for about 6 years now and are waiting for the switch back. We had to be evacuated for the Hayman fire back in 2002, but were fortunate not to lose anything - 450+ families were not. Any problems with forest fires up in that area? I know parts of WA have had fires lately, but I hadn't paid too much attention to their specific locations.

Well, again, thanks kindly for your insights, both subjective and objective. You're right that ultimately we will set the standard for our requirements based on our needs. This will probably be our last big move, so we intend to be extra careful about choosing the place. Oh, and thanks anyway for a least mentioning my request about the fabric shop - I appreciate that!

Regards, Quiltlady

[the dufferz]

Well, Suncadia is million dollar vacation homes, large developement, probably the largest in Central Washington. Obviously this will bring money and increased property value.

The Safeway in Cle is a short 5-7 minute drive.

Roslyn is build on mines and you will see little to no new building in the town. Since most of the homes in the town are very old, most of the settling has been done, but you never know what surprises are in store. I would watch out for the east side of town up on the slope in that there seems to be more mines in that area, but I'm not 100% sure.

Our sales tax is high but we do not have the income tax so that may help, or not.

As for snow, I can tell you specifically about Cle Elum in that I just completed an exhaustive project with my company regarding snow depths and loads. Cle Elum averages 5-9 inches of snow. The average record depth is 35". The extreme record depth is 84" in 1996. Due to the location of the mountain range, the amount of snow increase substantially by the time you get to Lake Cle Elum (4 miles north of Roslyn). That is the next available weather station. Roslyn does not have a weather station, but from personal experience I think you will find that 2 feet of now will be pretty typical for the area.

High speed? Not 100% sure, but I would not bank on it due to the remote location. Satelite might be available?

Best wishes and happy quilting.

[deeptrance]

This summer I spent several days in Ellensburg, which is east of Roslyn and Cle Elum but not that far down the river. I loved Ellensburg! It has really nice neighborhoods, it's affordable, it's larger and has more amenities than Roslyn, doesn't have much of a tourist scene to contend with, and it's a college town.

I think Ellensburg is an up-and-comer and am considering buying a house there, living in it during summers and then renting it to students the rest of the year. Central WA State U is planning to expand quite a bit and there are plenty of other reasons to expect that the area is going to prosper. Plus, the surrounding scenery of that entire region is just spectacular!

As for high speed internet, it's pretty much available everywhere via satellite, but in Roslyn, Cle Elum, Ellensburg, etc., there is also DSL and cable. It's really not that remote, it's on an interstate and barely over an hour away from Microsoft.

[the dufferz]

Glad you enjoyed E-burg. It is a nice town, and is quite the mix of college and farmers.

Cle Elum and Roslyn are certainly on the interstate and 90 minutes from Microsoft, but until the recent development next to Roslyn was approved, there really has not been much contruction in that areas, plus the majority of folks in the area are seniors who usually are not the high driver for getting the newest high tech.

The average residence in Roslyn does not want anything to change in town, so the idea of stringing lines or digging is not a high priority.

Not saying that it eventually won't get there. My company is bringing a natural gas main from Ellensburg to the Suncadia development. Roslyn, however, while only 2 miles away will not be getting gas.

[Tom1202]

Hello everyone, Last year I moved up to Roslyn, WA from Colorado .. I spent a year living there and loved it. This week I just rented a place in Seattle to be closer to work .. I lived at the top of the hill on the East side of Roslyn -- never heard of any mine issues there in town -- it's actually the most desirable part of town because it faces the Cascade Mountains .. the hill also backs up to the Roslyn Ridge Open space which is protected by the city from development.
I also loved it in the Colorado mountains -- I spent a lot of time in Summit County, but mostly lived in Littleton, CO in the Denver area. There are a lot of people coming to town up in Roslyn because of the Suncadia resort. The private upscale community of Suncadia has a lot construction happening now. Now might be a good time to buy up in Roslyn though -- you can still get a house for 250k or so .. (not cheap), but the condos in the resort go from $350k (400sqft) to $2million +. And there are many million dollar homes under construction .. It's a great small town feel, lots of outside activities to do, and also a good long term investment (in my opinion).
The properties I looked at in the outer areas -- Ronald, Easton, etc., etc. were mostly more expensive because most of the properties outside of town are 1,3,5+ acres. There's not much to chose from for under $300k anymore. Also, there is high speed internet access and cable in Rosly, WA.

If there's anything else I can share with you -- have just lived up there for a year -- let me know!!
btw, I miss the home prices in Colorado!! throw that out the window if you're moving to the northwest .. :-)
Tom

[KidBlue]

I live in the motherlode (gold mine country) in NorCal and this year a man was killed in Placer County when his living room collapsed (he was in the room at the time) into an abandoned gold mine. His wife was in another room and escaped. The home had been there for many years, but the record rains washed away some of the soil causing the collapse.

[mitchmountain]

Ronald and Easton would be on the same type of mining land as Roslyn? Anyone know if DSL is out to those two towns, and also, if the natural gas is not to Roslyn, then it is propane, for Roslyn, Ronald and Easton? Is is haul water, or is there a local water company or private wells. Thanks

[the dufferz]

Some mining is Ronald, none that I know of in Easton. Not 100% sure about the DSL for either Ronald or Easton. There is municipal water for most of the areas in both Easton and Ronald, where not, if there is a house, there is a well. I don't think you can build a living structure without a water source.

Indeed, propane is available but is expensive compared to electric. you would need to get propane at or below $1.81 per gallon to match or beat electricity.