Is Silverdale/Kitsap Peninsula in general a good place to live? (Seattle: transplants, apartment)

[KillerK]

Hi all, Silverdale is one place on a long list of potential jobs I've applied to. I'm just wondering what you guys think of Silverdale, or the Kitsap Peninsula in general?

It looks like a gorgeous location from the pictures, and Silverdale doesn't seem too big or too small. And if I wanted to, a trip to Seattle doesn't seem unfeasible. Only thing I notice is a rather high cost of living (even the smallest dumpiest apartment I saw for rent was around $700/month).

But do you guys know if salaries in that area match the cost of living? Or do people struggle to make ends meet? Are the people there friendly, or standoffish? I know it rains a lot there, I'm adaptable and so the weather just about anywhere I go isn't near the top of the list of concerns.

[rainforest338]

Silverdale is basically the hub for three Navy bases. So housing prices and rent are set by the realty industry to start at the lowest expected amount the military is likely to pay. The military pays BAH to members living off base, it is a fixed amount based on rank and zipcode. You can expect to find rents and mortgages falling within these numbers--not too much above or below. Even if the apartment only seems like it is worth $500/month, they can ask $700 because some sailor would love to be there instead of barracks. And family style homes were seemingly all falling in the $240K-$300K range. Kitsap property taxes and other fees were rather high compared to neighboring areas. I knew quite a bit of people that would move to Mason County--Belfair, Union, Hoodsport, etc and commute that way they could have larger houses or horse pastures. Another thing I saw happening was groups of military guys were getting together and forming small companies for purchasing homes. (I saw this mostly in Poulsbo) They were finding rather large, nice homes ($650K-$750K) and were all there as roommates, and would sell their portion of the home to a new member when they transferred.

Kitsap is largely transplants, from all over. Lots of young male (18-25) sailors and marines. Most are really friendly. Native Kitsapers are a bit less outgoing. The area doesn't have much apparent industry but the active and retired military money buffers the area well from the rest of the economic darkness. You can go to BestBuy/GameWorks/Mall/gunstores and there are usually crowds in those places buying 'stuff'.

I lived there for 3 years and personally didn't like it. But I don't have family. To me, it was that bland in between--you weren't rural and you weren't in the city. It was like a big suburbia that took too long to escape. Going to Seattle turned into a 'day trip' (from Silverdale). I had friends in Bainbridge Island and Bremerton that lived within walking distance of ferries and they could easily do Seattle trips on a whim. And if you wanted to head to the woods it usually took at least an hour until you got off of the pavement.

Sorry for such a long post.

[Morwyn_7]

Good response Rainforest. You painted a clear picture from your experiences.

[cabocurtis]

I grew up in silverdale as it turned in from a farm town to todays retail megahub of the Olympic peninsula. For olympic peninsula jobs its likely the best opportunity. The town is right on dyes inlet but its looking like federal way in its retail sprawl. It is easy access to olympic national forest and hood canal. Poulsbo has more character as well as bainbridge. If you could stomach higher housing and ferry commute costs I would suggest bainbridge as the job opportunities and pay is so much better in Seattle.