RAIN IN WASHINGTON:Why so many differing opinions? (Seattle, Bellingham: neighborhood, to buy)

[notnamed]

Originally Posted by pikabike

Nope. The desert states have the fewest mosquitoes.

All bugs, not just skeeters.

[Trigger-f]

WA rain is mostly like the sky is crying, from Oct-to-May(or at least when I lived there). It takes time to get used to it if coming from a place with less cloudy skies.

[Algiz]

Originally Posted by CuppaTea

Thanks everyone for all the info and opinions so far. There's been an incredible amount of helpful input here.

Of all the things that were said, I have to say the story about mosquitoes has just about completely convinced me against going there, even with all the positive things that I've read. The thought of my dog being covered to that extent with them is horrible!

I can't stand seeing ONE!

Of course, I would never leave my dog outside in those conditions....but still, the fact that there are so many from the sound of it....I could not deal with that.

You're probably referring to my post. Note that we do live near wetlands, we don't live in the city but on undeveloped land and are surrounded by at least 5-acre parcels with at most one house on them, and we live in a hollow, where there isn't a lot of airflow (mosquitoes hate the wind). When I'm out walking in Lynnwood or in town in Stanwood, I don't see even ONE mosquito, so my guess is that if you're away from wetlands or a pond or any kind of standing water, you're good. I take my dog walking in a massive field behind a school in Stanwood, and there's even standing water in a gutter that runs all along one edge of the field, and I don't see mosquitoes there, either. I suspect it's the wetlands that make the mosquitoes so bad where we are.

You know, it's just like with the weather - things differ based on location. Nothing seems to be very static around here!

[Ultrarunner]

I can only speak for my little piece of Heaven...

Bugs of all types are scarce... nothing like living in the SF Bay Area.

People that visit and my former tenants have all commented on how tranquil and bug free it is...

We have salt water out back and a Salmon bearing creek nearby... don't know if that has anything to do with it.

[Algiz]

Originally Posted by carolochs

Yes, Algiz...the ever-increasing San Diego DENSITY. I'm already a claustaphobe, but the rate of growth here is suffocating, depressing, and angering. When City officials are telling us out one side of their mouths we have to conserve, conserve, conserve - water especially, followed by electrical power (our Flex Alerts)....then out the other side of their mouth they are celebrating massively-huge new building developments or RE-development projects going forth...you can't help think W.T.H?!?!?!? If you've seen Mission Valley, you know exactly what I mean. Nightmare.

My husband is out in it every day with his work so he tends to be the one most affected & distraught by it. I tend to stay hermited-up in my home workshop, oblivious to *the outside world*, avoid going out in it...heh heh. <- One of the advantages of an online business. But he comes home all road-raged-out and "We were here FIRST!" (he's a city native) ...heh heh. So THAT's the part of it that makes us commiserate with PNW-ers who want to keep newcomers out. We get it. Interestingly, I've read reports that show in actuality, more WA-tonians are starting to leave WA for CA, and more CAians who leave, are leaving for TX. Our daughter currently lives in TX (Houston), and I can only tell you this, if you want to avoid heat/humidity, that is not the place to go. We've been to visit her and it would not be one of my top picks, nor is it hers, but she's there for her career. The area we're interested in moving to in WA has a high military family presence and housing turnover, so we figure they're getting a lot of out-of-area new residents anyway on a regular basis. I doubt they will be quite so hardnosed or resentful about outsiders.

The "wild nature" is EXACTLY what we are looking for! Old Growth Forest. Probably sounds so incredibly simplistic to some, but the truth is, and I've said this before...our main motivator to move is TREES! Yes...trees! If we wanted just any old trees, we could move to the mountains of San Diego and buy in Julian. Not the same. Scrub oaks. Maybe we've watched Lord of the Rings too many times, heh heh...but ancient forest is the existence we crave. And yes...that magic. We feel completely exhilarated and our *true selves* when we are in that environment. Both of us being creative types, it becomes hugely inspiring for our work, too. It's the ultimate dream for us....to spend as much of our free time as possible exploring the forests and trails in the region, as well as hopefully out our own backdoor. Nothing would give us greater pleasure, and is what constitutes "a good life" -- for us. We mountain bike and hike often and rain has never daunted us thus far...we actually prefer to go out and ride and hike in the rain...less people around that way! I'm definitely not the kind of gal who gives a darn about my hair getting wet or my make-up smeared. Bring on the mud! lol! Those gorgeous old growth forests don't get that way WITHOUT rain!!!


~Carol

In the 13 years I've lived here, I've not had one negative comment made to me about being from CA. Now, what the people are thinking, I have no idea, but I don't feel anything negative has happened to me. When my husband applied for jobs, he never felt discriminated against for being from California. He found a job easily, and he's not in IT.

Of course, I read and hear about the resentment toward Californians from Washington natives, and it reminds me of when I lived in San Diego. I don't remember another SD native I knew that voiced any resentment toward people coming to the state. It was never a topic we actively discussed, and if it somehow came up in a conversation, we always nodded in understanding why people would want to come to San Diego or LA or Hollywood, or San Francisco...There's such a mystique that media have always perpetuated. So when I see people from CA say "go home" or "stay away" on forums like this, I know this attitude isn't typical, that these people have an axe to grind. I mean, the only natives I knew there were the kids I went to grade school with, and even they were often transplants! If you are from California, then you grew up with and work with people from all over the country and the world. That's just...normal. And even now, when I go back and visit friends and family, we don't talk about the people moving in with resentment or anger. It's simply a fact of life when you live in such a desirable location. In fact, natives often feel blessed, blessed to have known SD "in the good old day."

In an interesting twist to our being from California and moving to the PNW, the people who bought our house were from Bremerton, WA. The wife told us she'd long wanted to move to San Diego, so she and her husband left Bremerton and rented a cheap apartment in SD and started to explore the city to see where they might want to live, and they saved like mad. Two years later they had saved enough, and they bought our house.

Eighteen months later, they sold the house for $500,000 - $160,000 more than they paid for it. (We'd bought it in 1991 for $170K and sold it to them 12 years later for $340K, a reasonable appreciation given its location and time passing.) Then they took the money and ran. Hmmmm....

So take all the negative comments about Californians with a grain of salt. I never hide where I'm from, don't feel embarrassed, but neither do I announce it unless asked, and people are nice to me even when they know. Maybe it's all in the delivery!

Have fun with all your research and exploring, but make sure to come up and explore in person as much as you can. There's no other way to really know it.

[carolochs]

I never experienced "negative about Californians" comments till I came to City-Data....heh heh. Sorta makes ya just want to wrassel those Negative Nellies to the ground, give 'em a gnuggie, rub your CA tan all over them & slap 'em with your flipflops....LOL! ::wink::

Re: your home sale story, I actually already had a forum lady from WA approach me about wanting to possibly trade houses when we're ready to move, or let her know as she'd be very interested in buying here in San Diego. So yeah....everybody's off on their own *adventure*. And often adventures cross paths. Not everyone sees the same Promised Land. And many get to their perceived Promised Land and change their mind. Live and let live....

[pikabike]

I have heard locals make a few negative comments about Californians, in real life. But some locals have also made snide remarks about those from OR, CO, east coast, and basically anyone who paid their dues in a big-city area before buying a house here (western WA). A lot of it comes across as sour grapes. As in, "I can't afford that house and I was here before you, so you shouldn't be allowed to move here!" Childish.

BUT then there are the transplants who roar in telling residents how the town is inferior to the one the transplant just left! Specific example from only two weeks ago:

A man wrote to the Port Townsend Leader newspaper, complaining that the RV park at Point Hudson is an eyesore. He said he was "soon to be" a homeowner in PT and his old city, Cape May NJ, did not allow those kinds of eyesores along the beach. He also suggested that the RVs should go to the county fairgrounds instead, revealing just how ignorant he was of PT. There already IS an RV park at the fairgrounds. Also, people here do not want to emulate New Jersey!!!!!! The repeated statements that Cape May does things better made me wonder why he was leaving there if PT compared so poorly.

Also, the revenue from the RV park at Point Hudson helps a town where jobs are few and low-paying. The RVs being there does not forbid public access to the beach. You just shouldn't walk right through someone's site. DUH.

I am a transplant myself, but letters like Mr. Cape May's make me angry. He hadn't even moved yet and was already bossing people around.

[Ultrarunner]

I do think it is unfortunately common with transplants.

My area is semi rural and not unusual to see horses or even a few cows out grazing... a new transplant had a problem with wild animals where children are...

Then there are problems when a tree drops or culverts for storm water... standard practice is we simply take care of it... some of the new people expect more from the county as they are use to city living.

[carolochs]

We've had to listen to transplants here to our San Diego 'hood come in with bossy, high falutin, or directing-traffic tones, too. I just accept it as bad upbringing/bad manners and am really good at ignoring jerks.

No Banana-Bread Welcome Basket for them!!!

Incidentally, we had some new neighbors move in late last year from the midwest who I took a welcome basket to. The husband answers the door, peeks in the basket and says "What? No pot brownies?"

Wasn't sure how to respond initially...like....Is that him being funny? Or DO I LOOK LIKE SOMEONE WHO WOULD BRING POT BROWNIES???? LOL! Or did he think that's what ALL So. Cal Welcome baskets must contain? ::head scratch:: We live on about the most un-pothead-user street you could possibly imagine with 90% of the residents over the age of 80. My husband and I are the "kids" of the street in our late 50's! Regardless, all I could think to say on-the-fly was "No, you have to PAY for those!", hoping he'd take the hint that he just rec'd a basket of FREE stuff, so act appreciative, Jerk! LOL!

[pikabike]

Originally Posted by carolochs

We've had to listen to transplants here to our San Diego 'hood come in with bossy, high falutin, or directing-traffic tones, too. I just accept it as bad upbringing/bad manners and am really good at ignoring jerks.

No Banana-Bread Welcome Basket for them!!!

Actually, I think that attitude has more to do with the individual's perception as The Boss (despite no longer being the boss) than what state he or she comes from.

Another guest at a dinner, someone who did a lot of volunteer work in town, said a lot of people who signed uo to volunteer were used to telling other people what to do and treated their volunteer role in a new discipline in a new town as an automatic extension of their old job status. And this guest thought that was why it was so difficult to get anything done: People were so used to getting their way that they tolerated no disagreement or compromise.

Too many chiefs and not enough Injuns!