Can anyone recommend a nice area for horses? (Seattle, Vancouver: homes, landscaping)

[Taz22]

Originally Posted by Ultrarunner

Fox Hall is one of the association that maintain bridle trails in the Olympia area...

Foxhall Community Association

What a lovely neighborhood! Thanks for the link.

[Diana Holbrook]

Foxhall is a good example of neighborhoods with an HOA that I don't think is overly intrusive or expensive. Just enough to enforce a few rules that keep the area nice. Nothing in there for sale right now... but they do come on the market from time to time. Good to keep an eye on. There is a range of home values in there, from middle to middle-high end. The overall age of the neighborhood - it's been there many years - means sometimes there are good older homes that come on the market that just need updating. Believe me, if there had been any available when you were looking, we'd have seen them!

[Diana Holbrook]

Originally Posted by Taz22

And my take is this..in the neighborhood I'm in now, I'm more likely to be ripped off because I live in one of the nicest houses around, which makes me stand out and become a target. In a neighborhood of consistently nice houses, I'm less likely to be a target. My neighbors would all have jobs and be more interested in keeping what they have safe, than in eyeing my house. And since they work, they'd be too tired to be out roaming at night.

Without getting too specific, I would just offer a few general thoughts on neighborhood security, told to me by a cop, and I believe it to be true.

Prowlers and thieves don't like to come down private, dead end roads with really long gated driveways and only one way out.

There is no casual traffic on your road. It's a dead end. Anyone who even approaches would feel like they are out in the open and likely to be noticed. If you approach your home thinking like a criminal, will they feel like they can sneak in and out? If they came down the driveway and someone called the police, could they get back out before the police arrived? Criminals like ease of access, more than thoughts of nice things. Even poor homes in crummy neighborhoods have nice TVs these days, and it's easy to find places that are much easier targets than yours, really.

Those considerations should work in your favor and hopefully make you feel better. I would encourage you to call and talk about your area crime with our sheriff's department, and see if there is anyone or anything to be particularly concerned about in the area. They know where any trouble-makers are, and they'll likely tell you and give you tips on security if you ask. They'll likely tell you to please call if you see anything suspicious at all. They'll know you and your place when they are patrolling around.

Are you active on facebook at all? There are several local facebook groups for both communities we are near, where people come together to chat about local issues, news, community events, and crime. So people know what's happening and feel connected. Search for them on facebook... they are closed groups so you have to request to join and they may verify you actually live around here and aren't a spammer, before they let you in. Our fire chief, local deputies and our county commissioners belong to some of them. If you'd like me to send links to these groups, let me know. I'd be happy to share with you. It's a great resource for meeting people in the area and discussing these issues. It's good to know you aren't alone, and really helpful in cases like our recent fire, for sharing information and community news quickly. Everything from "what was that loud noise?" to crime or bad accidents or lost and found pets gets discussed there. When people were told to evacuate the recent fire, people could check in and find out where they could go with their animals. Good resource.

Let me know if there's anything more I can do.

[rantiquity]

Originally Posted by Taz22

The situation is that we moved here a few months ago. I was looking forward to living here and this state is beautiful! The downside is that we are not living in a great area, which is in a small town outside of Olympia. I thought we could get a nicer property in Thurston for the horses and this is true. The house is very nice, but most of the surrounding homes are not. Several neighbors have trash strewn in the yards, confederate flags, the 4th was a nightmare. Constant gunshots and fireworks going on for several days. My spouse was totally freaked out.

I did a through search on Google earth and didn't see these houses as they were hidden by trees. I thought we were surrounded by farmland. It was a case of being in a new area for a few days and trying to find a house. I wanted to rent first and get to know the different areas and should have insisted we do that instead of rushing into buying. If I'd seen these houses, I'd have run, not walked to another area.

Anyway, we don't like this location and don't have much of a warm and fuzzy for Olympia either. This house is a fixer and with my new job, I plan to put money into needed repairs and upgrades and get it on the market in the spring of 2019. That's not far off and in the meantime, I'd like to familiarize myself with the western part of Washington.

Can anyone recommend an area from Clark county up to Watcom? We both work from home, so that makes easy to be flexible. I'm looking for a horsey area with neighbors who take pride in their home. My spouse is very corporate, he enjoys being fairly close to nice restaurants and a more upscale area, and dosen't like the shoot em up country lifestyle. He also dosen't care for an HOA neighborhood.

I was looking online recently and saw the perfect property in Arlington, a house and barn with five acres and the ariel view showed nearby neighbors all had nice houses and yards, no trash piles, confederate flags flying, and probably a quieter 4th. The price was around 500k which is within our price range. Doesn't have to be Arlington, I'm open for suggestions and now that we live in the state, can go check the areas out in person on weekends. The main thing is being in a nice location not too far from amenities, yet still having some land for the horses and dogs.

I'd greatly appreciate any suggestions.

Kentucky

[Taz22]

Originally Posted by rantiquity

Kentucky

Thanks, but at least for now, we're staying put. We've only lived here a few months, but this seems like a great state with lots of potential and outdoor activities. I'm not going to let a bad apple neighborhood put me off. There are better areas, I just need to find them.

Anyway, the spouse hates guns, I bet there a lot more of them in a southern state than here.

[Taz22]

Originally Posted by Diana Holbrook

Without getting too specific, I would just offer a few general thoughts on neighborhood security, told to me by a cop, and I believe it to be true.

Prowlers and thieves don't like to come down private, dead end roads with really long gated driveways and only one way out.

There is no casual traffic on your road. It's a dead end. Anyone who even approaches would feel like they are out in the open and likely to be noticed. If you approach your home thinking like a criminal, will they feel like they can sneak in and out? If they came down the driveway and someone called the police, could they get back out before the police arrived? Criminals like ease of access, more than thoughts of nice things. Even poor homes in crummy neighborhoods have nice TVs these days, and it's easy to find places that are much easier targets than yours, really.

Those considerations should work in your favor and hopefully make you feel better. I would encourage you to call and talk about your area crime with our sheriff's department, and see if there is anyone or anything to be particularly concerned about in the area. They know where any trouble-makers are, and they'll likely tell you and give you tips on security if you ask. They'll likely tell you to please call if you see anything suspicious at all. They'll know you and your place when they are patrolling around.

Are you active on facebook at all? There are several local facebook groups for both communities we are near, where people come together to chat about local issues, news, community events, and crime. So people know what's happening and feel connected. Search for them on facebook... they are closed groups so you have to request to join and they may verify you actually live around here and aren't a spammer, before they let you in. Our fire chief, local deputies and our county commissioners belong to some of them. If you'd like me to send links to these groups, let me know. I'd be happy to share with you. It's a great resource for meeting people in the area and discussing these issues. It's good to know you aren't alone, and really helpful in cases like our recent fire, for sharing information and community news quickly. Everything from "what was that loud noise?" to crime or bad accidents or lost and found pets gets discussed there. When people were told to evacuate the recent fire, people could check in and find out where they could go with their animals. Good resource.

Let me know if there's anything more I can do.

You're right about the dead end. It was a selling point for sure. Still, if I'd seen some of the neighboring houses, I'd have run not walked away.

The remainder of the time we're here, we won't be taking any vacations. I haven't done much with facebook recently. Just got a new job, and am going out of town for a training class next week. Fortunately, hubbs will be here to feed the animals and watch the place. Thanks for the offer to send the links, you can send them if you like, although right now, I've got my hands full getting ready for the trip and trying to get some last minute painting done. The laundry room and possibly kitchen should be finished by the time I leave.

[Diana Holbrook]

If they might just get lost now, ask me when you're ready. Or just search facebook for groups in both Rochester and Tenino

[Taz22]

Originally Posted by Diana Holbrook

If they might just get lost now, ask me when you're ready. Or just search facebook for groups in both Rochester and Tenino

Ok thanks.

[razmatazzy]

Regarding fireworks, I agree with the other comments. I used to live in a neighborhood with many million dollar homes on 2 acre lots in rural unincorporated king county. Those neighbors in those homes were obsessed with fireworks. I worried each year about fires as there were many trees and it was very dry. They would start a week before the 4th and continue through the 4th. The streets would be littered with debris, and we would have to go up on the roof to sweep off fireworks debris. It is a real problem around parts of rural western WA. They would also go off with every touchdown the Seahawks made, and every new years eve.

[Taz22]

Originally Posted by razmatazzy

Regarding fireworks, I agree with the other comments. I used to live in a neighborhood with many million dollar homes on 2 acre lots in rural unincorporated king county. Those neighbors in those homes were obsessed with fireworks. I worried each year about fires as there were many trees and it was very dry. They would start a week before the 4th and continue through the 4th. The streets would be littered with debris, and we would have to go up on the roof to sweep off fireworks debris. It is a real problem around parts of rural western WA. They would also go off with every touchdown the Seahawks made, and every new years eve.

What is it with fireworks in this state? Maybe they should put on more public fireworks displays to discourage random shooting of fireworks for days on end. I wasn't aware that million dollar homes in king county were into this fireworks obsession. I don't get it, but can tolerate it as long as guns aren't in the mix, because of worry that some drunken yahoo will accidentally shoot one of the horses.