Wanting to move from North Carolina to Washington- I have a lot of questions! (Seattle: apartment, to rent)
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Hello! I am a 22 year old college graduate currently living in Wilmington NC. I came here for school from a small town in Western NC in the "foothills" of the mountains. I came here for the beach life and now I am leaving because of the beach life. I'm ready for something different!
Due to my newfound love of mountains, lakes, and all things outdoors, I picked the Northwest. I figure now is the time to move across the country while my parents are still young. I have several outdoor hobbies- hiking, trail running, paddle boarding, etc. So I would like to move to a town that has a lake or some sort of body of water, with trails and mountains in very close proximity. The closer the better. Here, the tallest hills we have are manmade on top of an old landfill. That doesn't cut it anymore!
I also want to live in a "small town." A quiz I took recommended Kent WA and said the population was 40k, but I actually found out it was over 100k! Not okay with me. Wilmington NC's population is over 100k as well and I can't stand it. People everywhere, bad traffic all the time, and absolutely no nature. It's just all concrete. Bah!
Now due to the fact that I am only 22 I am obviously poor and flying out to Washington to visit will require some time and planning and lots of money. I would like to already have a list of places I want to visit before I start making these plans- Olympia was first on my list but after some research it kind of seemed like another concrete city to me. I just want GREEN! Everywhere. Is it possible? Can it be done? Green, crisp fresh air, mountains/lakes/mountain lakes, running/biking trails everywhere? Can you help me out?
People my age would be cool too. Not a necessity, but it would be nice to have friends in their 20s. Educated friends, that is. In my hometown everyone my age is uneducated-the ones that left for college never came back. I imagine that's the case in many small towns. But oh well.
As far as weather is concerned... I come from an area that gets very little snow. The less snow the better, although I know that's a long shot in Washington. I accept that.
Summers where I live are very hot and humid. A cooler summer would be refreshing.
I work in law enforcement and plan on making it a career, which is handy because every town has a police/sheriff's department. Just have to pick my favorite towns and play the waiting game to get in on the hiring process.
I appreciate any help you can give! Thanks so much!!
Washington has three basic climates/terrains. West of the Cascades ranges from somewhat flat to ruggedly mountainous, doesn't get that much snow and doesn't get that cold, but rains a lot. The moisture causes the cold to be rather penetrating, as I can tell you from the many times I stood waiting for a Seattle bus in it. That part includes the Puget Sound metro area, Bellingham and Vancouver, with plenty of small towns outlying. It doesn't get anywhere near the summer heat/humidity a Southerner is used to. In fact, nowhere in Washington has that.
The north central and east is rugged and forested, with no large towns, though one might well consider the Spokane area to be on its southern border. This area has hot but not usually blistering summers, pretty cold winters, and gets a lot of snow because it has more moisture.
The southeast is mostly some variation of high desert, with few naturally occurring trees outside draws and riversides. Its main urban areas are Yakima and the Tri-Cities (and on some level, Spokane). Summer here is very hot and dry, with triple digit highs quite common. Winter is fairly cold and dry, with little snow. The wind blows a lot.
That's what we got. If you'd like to have less snow, you have to choose between frozen and soaked, baked and mild, since you probably wouldn't like the north central/east. Of smaller cities, Ellensburg, Cheney and Pullman have colleges that make them more youth magnets than others their size. From a LE standpoint, the State Patrol is generally respected for its professionalism. Very small town police/deputies spend a lot of effort running some of the worst revenue-hound speed traps in the country, especially down on the southern coast and in Colfax, a town which all but makes its living giving WSU students speeding tickets. Yakima's police are rather overwhelmed by the general ganginess and crumminess, and in the Yakima Valley all the way to Tri-Cities, knowledge of Spanish is a major plus for police, sometimes even perhaps required. Spokane and Tri-Cities police seem to have a fairly good gig, with not too much crime. The Seattle police have had enough excessive force incidents over the years that I would be more afraid of them than the criminals. In parts of Tacoma, aka Tacompton, not so much, because the criminals there are rather dangerous. So it depends whether you want to spend your time writing tickets for tourists, or fighting the bad guys, or patrolling freeways and lonely state highways.
Washington has three basic climates/terrains. West of the Cascades ranges from somewhat flat to ruggedly mountainous, doesn't get that much snow and doesn't get that cold, but rains a lot. The moisture causes the cold to be rather penetrating, as I can tell you from the many times I stood waiting for a Seattle bus in it. That part includes the Puget Sound metro area, Bellingham and Vancouver, with plenty of small towns outlying. It doesn't get anywhere near the summer heat/humidity a Southerner is used to. In fact, nowhere in Washington has that.
Thank you so much for your reply!
Yes, I definitely don't want to go to Tacoma or Seattle. And it seems like a lot of the cities I was previously interested in (Bellingham, before I found out the population) are ravaged by super high taxes. I don't plan on getting married or buying a house or anything- it'll just be me and my two pets moving and I would have an apartment so I'm not too bothered by the whole tax thing. Starting salary for LEOs in Washington is almost twice what it is in the Southeast, so even if I do pay a lot of taxes I will still feel like a millionaire.
As far as departments go, I definitely don't want to work for the kind of po-dunk departments where the employees are uneducated and adverse to new ways of thinking. That seems to run rampant in the South, especially with county departments. It would be hard for a progressive young person such as myself to be happy in an environment like that.
I guess I have more research to do! Based on your descriptions, I think West of the Cascades is closest to what I am looking for.
I am also considering Oregon and Colorado- maybe northern California but I highly doubt I would find anything there. Do you know anything about those areas?
We moved to Washington after five years in Burke County, NC. Most of Western Washington gets about the same amount of snow as Hickory - that is, some years a foot, some years none, rarely a lot. One evening this past winter we had a couple hours of flakes that disappeared before morning, and that was it. People above about 250 ft probably had snow that stuck.
Most of Western Washington is the green you want as soon as you get outside the city - so it isn't so much a matter of which city you're near, it's just a matter of getting outside that city. On the map, follow I-5 from Marysville up to Blaine. What you are looking for is probably in that area, east of I-5 to be closer to the mountains. You will see plenty of lakes in that area, too.
We moved to Washington after five years in Burke County, NC. Most of Western Washington gets about the same amount of snow as Hickory - that is, some years a foot, some years none, rarely a lot. One evening this past winter we had a couple hours of flakes that disappeared before morning, and that was it. People above about 250 ft probably had snow that stuck.
Most of Western Washington is the green you want as soon as you get outside the city - so it isn't so much a matter of which city you're near, it's just a matter of getting outside that city. On the map, follow I-5 from Marysville up to Blaine. What you are looking for is probably in that area, east of I-5 to be closer to the mountains. You will see plenty of lakes in that area, too.
Ahh I am from Hickory! What a coincidence!
Thank you for your input! Where in Washington do you live?
Starting salary for LEOs in Washington is almost twice what it is in the Southeast, so even if I do pay a lot of taxes I will still feel like a millionaire.
. . .
I am also considering Oregon and Colorado- maybe northern California but I highly doubt I would find anything there. Do you know anything about those areas?
Thank you very much!
You might not be as rich as you think. Salaries are higher because the cost of living is higher. Minimum wage is higher in WA, so eating out is noticeably more expensive (including fast food). (But groceries, overall, are not more expensive, if you find the right stores.) Gasoline costs more. Rent is more than in NC, but less than CA. You can probably find a 1 br apartment for $700.
If you want an apartment, then my last post is in error. You will probably have to be in a town. If you're willing to rent a mobile home instead of an apartment, you could get out of town. (Mobile home dwellers here don't have tornadoes and hurricanes to think about.)
California's taxes are even higher than WA. Washington has some high taxes, but it has to to make up for the lack of an income tax somehow. CA has high income tax plus all the others.
If you choose Oregon, again - stay west of the Cascades.
Snohomish County will charge you an annual registration fee for your pets, Skagit will not. I never checked the others.
Maybe an apartment in Sedro-Woolley would interest you. If you go any further up Hwy 20 you get more snow and more "po-dunk."
Or possibly Stanwood, in Snohomish County.
Shew! I have a lot to think about. The lifestyle I lead is very active and healthy- no fast food here. I'm all about the grocery store In Wilmington, an apartment that won't result in gunshots is at least $800. So it seems as though apartment pricing is similar in Washington. We also have a pet tax here- I think I paid $30 for my two pets? Something like that. Gas will be the kicker, especially if I'm semi-far from trails. I want to run in ultra marathons so I need to get as much "dirt" trail-running in as possible, which usually requires mountain biking or hiking terrain. I'd need to live somewhere pretty close. I can sacrifice my paddleboarding I suppose. I will do some more research when I get home from work. Thanks again for all of your input!
My mom is from Burke County too- East Burke High, class of 89 or something like that.
I also want to live in a "small town." A quiz I took recommended Kent WA and said the population was 40k, but I actually found out it was over 100k! Not okay with me. Wilmington NC's population is over 100k as well and I can't stand it. People everywhere, bad traffic all the time, and absolutely no nature. It's just all concrete. Bah!
Now due to the fact that I am only 22 I am obviously poor and flying out to Washington to visit will require some time and planning and lots of money. I would like to already have a list of places I want to visit before I start making these plans- Olympia was first on my list but after some research it kind of seemed like another concrete city to me. I just want GREEN! Everywhere. Is it possible? Can it be done? Green, crisp fresh air, mountains/lakes/mountain lakes, running/biking trails everywhere? Can you help me out?
Ok... I'm scratching my head about your comment about Olympia being "another concrete city"... Have you seen the photos? It can scarcely be called a "another concrete city". Personally IMO it's got the whole Mayberry ambience down. Its definitely a small charming town. Kent is not. Kent is a full-blown suburb and shouldn't be considered a "small town" at all.
Oh man, Bellingham is pretty green for a city of its size. And search Youtube for Bellingham police harrassment. You'll find a bunch of hilarious videos from one nutjob. It will make you want to be a cop here.
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