Move to Port Angeles? (Seattle, Port Townsend: sales, real estate, apartments)

[Just4K]

I've read the posts regarding Sequim and I was wondering if anyone knows anything about Hendrickson Estates Senior Mobile Home Park.

We have been to Sequim before and plan to retire there. The climate sounds delightful after hot summers and hurricanes in Florida. It is also one of the few places which still allows manufactured homes.

[lmbossert]

I am trying to post a thread that shows up to all subsribers such as the one posted that people are responding to now. Can someone help me because I can only seem to send provate messages?
Thanks lmbossert

[Yac]

There is a "new thread" button in the upper left part of the screen

[citydatauser]

Originally Posted by coffeecat

I lived in Port Angeles for almost a year...but that was about 12 years ago, don't know if it's changed much. The whole summer....JUNE THROUGH AUGUST we didn't have one sunny day...that is one summer I'll never forget...and very windy too. But they told me it was unusual.

that is unusual. usually summers around here are pretty nice, with temperatures usually in the 70's or low 80's here and there. but for the last couple of days it has been in the 90's!! Its kinda like PA has a built in air conditioning system, temperatures usually range from 30's in winter to 70's, 80's in the summer.

Originally Posted by silverfox

there is only one thing that would make me consider living here not so good. There is a Major Earthquake threat to the general vicinity that could devistate everything here including Seattle.

i dont think that "WANNAMOVE" needs to worry about earthquakes up here too much because she is coming from southern california where, i believe, earthquakes are a bigger threat there...


PA, on average, receives about 5-10 inches/year of rain more than sequim does. Port Angeles and Sequim are both really beautiful, but i prefer PA. PA is in a good spot because it is home to Olympic National Park's headquarters, 17 miles from the beautiful Lake Crecsent, and it is only a 22 mile ferry ride from Victoria, BC. Sequim has mostly retirees.

[ruby2zdy]

Originally Posted by Ryan

The whole area around the rainforest is pretty wet without exception. PA is a booming town right now. Sequim is as well. Both are getting pricier by the minute. I'd prefer PA. It's an old developer planned city (not ugly, but not breathtaking either) and has a more suburban atmosphere. Sequim is a little too country and not enough rock and roll; LOTS of retirees there. Don't know what else to say. Check Port Townsend out though. It's by far the coolest city on the northern border and the same price as both PA and Sequim.

It's true that I don't live up there (I live in Olympia), but rain stats show Sequim at 12"-17"/yr and Port Angeles around 24". That's not what I call rain forest. Olympia gets 40-50". There's a town on the rain side of the Olympics that gets 200". Some of the Cascade towns get a lot too. And even Olympia's 40-50" is not what I call too much, and I spent 28 years in the Sacramento area where the yearly average is around 13". What gets me here in Olympia is the long stretches of grey winter days (and also the 90-degree summer days -- I thought it was supposed to be cool up here). If it's raining, then complete cloud cover has a purpose. But if it's just grey, it seems pointless & I resent it. Sequim is known as the Blue Hole because it has (if you believe the realtors) 306 sunny days a year. The farther out you get, the more rain & the less grey.

I'm about to go up there (mid-July) to scope the place out to move to. I like the idea that it's across the Strait from Victoria (although the ferry over & back costs a fortune if you take your car), and only a little further from Seattle than Olympia is (for seeing doctors -- Seattle is a Hard Core Big City and has the worst traffic I've ever seen, and I have driven in L.A.), and the route is much nicer, including a (cheaper) ferry ride taking you right downtown.

Yes, a lot of retirees move to Sequim, the town closes up at 6:00, and when the Pacific Plate jerks under the N. American plate along the Cascadian fault, there are going to be tsunamis. So if you think "old folks" are boring (don't forget, those of us in our 60's invented Rock), and you're afraid of an earthquake (BTW earthquakes rarely kill people -- it's the buildings they're in or the freeway overpasses they're under), and you think the narrowing of the Strait won't deflect a tsunami, then Sequim and PA aren't right for you.

He's right -- Port Townsend is way cooler.

[timetogo]

Hi,

I checked out city-data and Port Angeles does not have 300 days of sun . In fact, it has more cloudy days then some areas such as Aberdeen and the same as other Puget Sound cities.

[Ryan]

Originally Posted by ruby2zdy

So if you think "old folks" are boring (don't forget, those of us in our 60's invented Rock)

With regards to "old folks", boredom and rock & roll- Sequim is just a very quiet country town with not a lot to do and a lot of retirees. Great if you're settled down/older/retired; probably not so much if you're the typical 25 year old. To each their own; I'm just stating the facts.

[suburbiancat]

Coming a little late to this, but here goes. I grew up in Port Angeles and now live in the greater Seattle area. Truthfully-Seattle gets way more rain than Port Angeles. It does get colder by about 10 degrees. I can always feel the temprature change as I am coming off of the pass onto hwy 101.

I still have quite a bit of family in the area so am there for a visit 4-6 times a year. No, the city of Port Angeles isn't much to look at-but you can't beat the views of the water & the mountains.

No, there isn't much night life there either, but if you are going to move there because you love the outdoors & nature-you have it all. Fishing, camping, hiking, boating, wildlife viewing, and just a little bit of skiing.

Jobs are however another problem, that is why I am now in the Seattle area. The main source for jobs is the Mill, think forrest & lumber industries. Unless you have a job you can take with you or skills for a higher end paying job, employment salaries may come as quite a bit of culture shock. Rental costs can also be a bit of a shock based on the salaries there as well-but nothing like CA. Because so many people have retired to the Sequim area it has driven prices up for property.

As to the sun factor....we have been having an unusal amount of warm weather over the last 3 years and temps in the summer have ranged from the high 50's to the mid 90's and at times we have gone weeks without rain. It does however rain alot in the winter months. Since I was born & raised in western washington I probablly tolerate it better than others....what's a little rain?

It is only about an hour and a half to get to Seattle if you are feeling the culture shock too much, so I wouldn't let that discourage you.

The major earthquake threat that has some people worried? Well-if you live in CA now-i doubt that would bother you too much, and so far threat is all it is. Where are you going to go to get away from mother nature threats? Can't stop or change what will be and certainly shouldn't live your life worried about what is around the next corner-may as well find a bunker to crawl into and not come out.

As to being dirty or drug use? Hmmmm - you will have that anywhere you go. If people think it is dirty I wonder where they have been living? Port Angeles is a logging & shipping town, so you certainly are not going to see the height of fashion on every street corner. People are very down to earth there and just as friendly as anywhere else. If you go looking with bad-negative attitude, you will get what you are looking for. People will mirror what they see in you.

Safeway does have Starbucks, but no it isn't Seattle with drive thru coffee houses on every corner. The area has a lot to offer if you invest a little time in the community. K-Mart is gone and has been replaced with Wal-Mart, one in Port Angeles and one in Sequim. Summer is high traffic time as it gets a lot of tourist thru the area. When I first moved to the Seattle area-no one had ever heard of Port Angeles. They always asked me " Where's that"? With in 2 years, it had become the place to go to get away from Seattle and just spend some time in the beautiful Pacific Northwest.

[straightarrow]

It is also one of the few places which still allows manufactured homes.[/quote]

That is one of the serious flaws about Sequim, or the other rural areas of the Olympic *****ula....too many trailer parks and not enough quality housing.

[Nature Girl]

Originally Posted by tommy pieyed

Port Angeles is an ugly city! Go to google, type in the name of any city, followed by the state name, then the words---detailed profile-----This will do it for all info. Go back to google, and hit ----images----at the top of the box, then the town and state in the box. This gets all avaliable photos of the town and area...

An ugly city? Are you kidding! I did what you advised and when I went into the detailed profile the pics that were there were so stunning! It is beautiful there from what the pictures showed!