Moving to Washington and need some help (Vancouver, Olympia: sales, homes)

[pauhana7]

I am moving from Hawai'i to Oregon or Washington State. Most of Hawai'i island consists of villages to small towns. I am a single man in my late 30s and I run an online business, hence the reason for relocating to the mainland. I chose Oregon and Washington state as I love nature and want to continue to live where it's green and rainy. What part of Oregon is ideal for someone who wants to live in a small town/city, where it's still close by to a small shopping center with minimum traffic?

[CrazyDonkey]

Washington: Elma

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/9...83125424_zpid/

Oregon: La Grande

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2...86340850_zpid/

[TheOrca]

Vancouver, WA is perfect for you and there is a hawain festival every year at esther shore park.

MANY japanese and hawaiin in portland metro area because of proximity to narita and oahu

[Diana Holbrook]

The Washington Coastal area is green and rainy and very affordable.

Would you like to live where you have some close neighbors, or out in the country, just not too far from town?

[pauhana7]

Originally Posted by pauhana7

I am moving from Hawai'i to Oregon or Washington State. Most of Hawai'i island consists of villages to small towns. I am a single man in my late 30s and I run an online business, hence the reason for relocating to the mainland. I chose Oregon and Washington state as I love nature and want to continue to live where it's green and rainy. What part of Oregon is ideal for someone who wants to live in a small town/city, where it's still close by to a small shopping center with minimum traffic?

Hmmm...I was not able to edit my post but I meant to type late 20s not 30s.

[pauhana7]

Originally Posted by CrazyDonkey

Washington: Elma

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/9...83125424_zpid/

Oregon: La Grande

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2...86340850_zpid/

Thanks.

Originally Posted by TheOrca

Vancouver, WA is perfect for you and there is a hawain festival every year at esther shore park.

MANY japanese and hawaiin in portland metro area because of proximity to narita and oahu

Oh, nice. Thank you.

Originally Posted by Diana Holbrook

The Washington Coastal area is green and rainy and very affordable.

Would you like to live where you have some close neighbors, or out in the country, just not too far from town?

I prefer to live out in the country but not too far from town. I will also consider having close neighbors as long as they are nice, quiet and respectful.

[StealthRabbit]

West Columbia Gorge is close to everything Portland (Airport, services, food, music, beer... 20+ colleges)

No income tax if on WA side
No sales tax if on OR side

Really great hiking / fishing / photo / nature

<1 hr to Mt Hood (ski mtn) or St Helens (hiking)
1.5 hr to Oregon coast

Hood River, OR / White Salmon, WA worth looking into.
North Bonneville, WA is very small and sleepy town, but still inexpensive and near Stevenson, WA and very easy access to Portland, OR (A few days / winter may be iced in)
https://www.oregonhikers.org/field_g...er_Gorge_Hikes
https://www.alltrails.com/parks/us/o...al-scenic-area

[rkcarguy]

Online business means you can choose a small, lower cost of living town as long as they have good internet. No reason to move somewhere expensive unless the "livelihood" of a busy downtown or shopping scene is your thing and you have plenty of money to spare.
Internet is a problem here, however. Our providers are pretty greedy and will serve a tight knit housing development, but won't extend fiber the next 1/4 mile to pickup 10 more homes because it's outside of their 10 month return-on-investment requirement. Other places, like where I am at now, have too many customers and there is 21 networks "arguing" over 12 channels of 2.4ghz wireless internet so the wireless service cuts in and out and isn't reliable. Always check with your potential neighbors on internet availability, don't trust a realtor(many cases of this where a buyer had to re-sale their home because of no internet when the realtor had promised internet).
Also, internet needs will depend upon what you do. Wireless or satellite can suffice for things like video email and so on, but live conversations via skype or similar will experience too much lag and won't work well especially on satellite.

[jacqueg]

Originally Posted by pauhana7

I am moving from Hawai'i to Oregon or Washington State. Most of Hawai'i island consists of villages to small towns. I am a single man in my late 30s and I run an online business, hence the reason for relocating to the mainland. I chose Oregon and Washington state as I love nature and want to continue to live where it's green and rainy. What part of Oregon is ideal for someone who wants to live in a small town/city, where it's still close by to a small shopping center with minimum traffic?

I'd look at Astoria and surrounding areas.

The local indy paper is https://www.hipfishmonthly.com, covers a lot of coastal cities/towns.

A more remote possibility is Raymond, WA. I have no trouble getting internet over my cell phone there, but don't know whether local service would be sufficient for your needs.

[fishbrains]

OP,

What do you mean by small town/city? What do you want in a shopping center in terms of stores/selection, and what do you mean by minimum traffic?

Raymond WA is a really, really small town. Elma is really small, but 30 minutes from Olympia, which is a small city.