Looking to Maybe move to washington...NEED INFO PLEASE (Seattle: crime rate, roughest)

[missouricouple]

Hello, I am right now in missouri, where I have lived my whole life. I have been to washington and oregon, and love it. Very beautiful, and I love the weather. In most parts. Myself,my bf, and our son, Are planing a move in one of the two, but we are trying to deside where to move. We kinda want a smaller town not to far from a bigger city. We love rainy, more spring type weather. I also would like to know how are living expencies? Please anyone that can help give me some info/suggestions on places. Please Do! Thank you to all!

Anna

[kc2sweet4ne1]

I live in Centralia, WA, which is halfway between Seatte and Portland. It's also about halfway to the beaches and the mountains. I really like it here. As for living expenses, you can get a nice 3 bedroom with a great yard for under $240K. My electricity/water/sewer bill runs me about $125 monthly. That rareley fluctuates. My gas (heat) bill runs anywhere from $10 a month in the summer to up to $250 in the winter, depending how cold it is. Of course if you have a fireplace that will be more tolerable. I am a family of 4 and our grocery bill runs about $350 a month (Wal-Mart).

If you have any more questions, I would be glad to help. Hopefully this will get you started! Good luck!

[Ockiss]

I just moved here from So Cal, and I would have to tell you. If you have children you need to concentrate in moving to areas that have good schools. If you have teenagers, they will have to deal with meth issue up here. Big problems, 80% of the crimes is relate to Meth users. If you have a great quality of life where you presently live, good community, good schools, and job opportunity. I would not make a move until you investigate more.

[Leap of Belief]

Hi Missouricouple ~

Interestingly, I also would give you the advice to consider Centralia, WA. This is an area that is really coming into its own. It is located 1/2 way between Portland, OR and Seattle, WA and just 25 minutes south from Olympia - the capitol city.

Centralia and Chehalis are two sister cities and the population is about 45,000 between both. Between the two, I prefer Centralia because of the developing historic district. mod cut: link deleted

Centralia is one of the few nice areas that remains affordable. Like the first poster said, you can get a house here for about $200-240,000 in a great neighborhood. My favorite neighborhood is the Edison District which is close to the historic downtown area. The homes are all built in the late 1800's to early 1900's - full of charm and personality. Home owners are taking an interest in rehabing their homes and the pride of ownership shows in that neighborhood. Plus, the great thing is that it is so close to the historic downtown you can walk or ride your bike. The downtown area is growing and a lot of new shops are opening or have opened recently. There are a lot of old buildings that are being renovated and the city did a lot of work on the streets and sidewalks to make it "walkable." There is also a big outlet mall here with most of the big name stores. Since it is a natural place to stop over on a road trip from Seattle to Portland a lot of tourists come through town year round which brings diversity and economic benefit.

The outskirts of the town are pretty much rural and there are a lot of people who still farm the land for hay and crops. If you are from a rural area you will apprecaite the simple-ness of the people and the pride of the community. They say that 1 in 3 people who live in Washington are a transplant from another state - so the diversity is growing all the time.

Basically, drugs are everywhere - there is no escaping that fact. The crime rate is pretty low for a town the size of Centralia and the schools are improving all the time. If you talk to people from outside the area that have not been here recently - they will tell you that Centralia is a hick-ville.... They have NO clue that Centralia is a hot bed of urban development and on the GROW GROW GROW!!! It is worth considering in my opinion. Best to you! :-)

[Ultrarunner]

This afternoon I met a couple that recently sold their Washington Waterfront home of 15 years and bought a home in Missouri. They told me that they loved Washington, but, cashing out and moving to Missouri enabled them to retire early and be debt free.

Their Missouri homestead has a small, but nice home on 10 acres with out buildings and a pond. Total purchase price $125k

They felt that Washington's cost of living would make retirement a hardship... so they left.

[missouricouple]

Well I know when i get finished with school I would be a psy/soci/ major. I wanted to be a counseler or social worker. My bf, has tons of exp. in managing. Right now I am dancer at local strip club. I hope knowbody looks down on that Im not the sterotype stripper. So untill school was finished thats what I would be doing. I dont want to small of a town next to the city not like a bump in the road type town. I know that I really love Newport oregon, Thats where i visited, but thats to far from any cities. Im looking to be 45 mins or less from a city. Im not to sure how living exp. are there so im not sure the price range. Because usually if the living is more the pay is more. My aunt use to live in newport oregon and now lives in a bigger city in washington, im not sure the name. Its beautiful in both places. I also have son that will adventually be going to school, so a good public school would be nicein the area too. Thank you for your help!!

Anna

p.s this is more info. That the other post from oregon asked for...

Thank you all for the info you have giving me so far!

I agree that missouri is great that living exp are way less. But for us there is very little for us here. And also since we have both lived here for a very long time its getting old and we want a change. We have both wanted to live up there in oregon or washington, for awhile. Missouri is diff. cheaper.

[lin44]

As a life time Washingtonian, with parents who originally came from MO, come on up, the weather is fine. You have pretty much anything you want up here, I suggest you do some research on the computer... via each towns site, to check what hey have to say about schools, prices and all other things you may be interested in. We all have our opinions but t hey ARE opinions and not always factual in how they me be for you personally. The computer search is your best bet for sure, to start and then hone in and investigate you say last 3 choices, first hand if you can. Chamber of Commerse, that is where you get your info on the towns/cities.
As for the meth problem, up here, come on.. people, we all know the Northwest is way behind the rest on this stuff. Anyone from anywhere in US is going to probably have seeen more than we have. What the person who stated the "meth problem" being resposible for 80% of all crime up here, forgot to tell you how much crime there was "up here" compared to say CA. I raised 4 Children in one of Spokane, WA's roughest schools. Never had a problem. They are all successful adults now. If that's awful, well I guess. Actually, speaking to the young lady, your choice of jobs, Spokane wouldnt be a bad place to consider cept we don't have the ocean near for that kind of weather you decribed. Look around.. you will find your nitch...Lin

[missouricouple]

Thank you!

Originally Posted by lin44

As a life time Washingtonian, with parents who originally came from MO, come on up, the weather is fine. You have pretty much anything you want up here, I suggest you do some research on the computer... via each towns site, to check what hey have to say about schools, prices and all other things you may be interested in. We all have our opinions but t hey ARE opinions and not always factual in how they me be for you personally. The computer search is your best bet for sure, to start and then hone in and investigate you say last 3 choices, first hand if you can. Chamber of Commerse, that is where you get your info on the towns/cities.
As for the meth problem, up here, come on.. people, we all know the Northwest is way behind the rest on this stuff. Anyone from anywhere in US is going to probably have seeen more than we have. What the person who stated the "meth problem" being resposible for 80% of all crime up here, forgot to tell you how much crime there was "up here" compared to say CA. I raised 4 Children in one of Spokane, WA's roughest schools. Never had a problem. They are all successful adults now. If that's awful, well I guess. Actually, speaking to the young lady, your choice of jobs, Spokane wouldnt be a bad place to consider cept we don't have the ocean near for that kind of weather you decribed. Look around.. you will find your nitch...Lin

[reynaniteraven]

Hello, I live in Kenmore, WA...beautiful place, about 15 miles north of Seattle...however..VERY expensive to live in.

My husband and I are considering moving to Camas, WA in the near future..mostly because we have heard the school district there has one of the better autism programs in the state. Plus we hope to be able to buy a home and here in Kenmore..where homes range from 300,000 on up (averag around 500,000 for something nice.) we know if we stay here we will never be able to buy.

Camas, WA is a nice area..its close to Vancouver and if you cant find work there, Portland is just a hop skip and a jump across the river.

You and your family may like the Camas/Vancouver area because I see it as you have the "best of both worlds" you have WA and Oregon right side by side, plus good schools and cost of living isnt bad.

Any of the other places that people have mentioned (Centralia, etc) are also nice areas. You still are close to the ocean, you have the mtn views, and if you like to fish the Columiba River is right there, plus the ocean...lots and lots of outdoor rec in this area too.

Good luck in your choices, if you have any further questions dont hesitate to ask. We are pretty new to the area too...we have only lived in WA (from WI) almost 2 years.

I wished I knew about Camas, WA sooner, but its all a learning experience. :-)

[RiftReaper]

Clark College is great if ya want to attend a community college.