Washington Towns like Corvallis or Bend?

[Upthewazzu]

Walla Walla, Wenatchee, or Pullman/Moscow.

Nothing really identical to the Oregon cities you want.

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by bartonizer

I always feel like Bellingham gets a reputation for being more rainy than surrounding areas. While it's true that the weather is slightly different than the lower Puget Sound- more of a chance of snow due to the Fraser River Outflow- and a little more exposed to storms, I think people would be surprised that it receives less rainfall annually than Olympia, Seattle, Portland, Vancouver BC and Eugene. Again, it's a little colder, a little darker (being further north) and a little cooler in the summer (96 is the all time high temp). But it often gets a slight bit of a rain shadow effect, as a lot of weather comes in from the southwest and crosses over the Olympics and San Juans before reaching the city. A lot of moisture falls apart and re-forms to the east, or clears out early leading to sunsets or sun in the distance at the end of the day.

Of course, it IS along the coast, so like others have mentioned it may be a dealbreaker if the OP absolutely doesn't want to live by the water. But.... I think it has more of a mountain feel than the other towns on the Puget Sound, and in fact it's the only place where the mountains literally touch the sea as the Chuckanuts buffer the city to the east and south.

Ultimately, I would say that Bellingham is easily more similar to Bend than anywhere else in the region, and falls into the same category as Asheville, Bend, Missoula, Flagstaff, etc. if you like that type of atmosphere and size. When we left CO we came to view Bellingham as a coastal mountain parallel to Bend's drier, high desert feel. Both are nearly identical in population and are known for their thriving brewery and outdoor scenes. And like Corvallis and Bend, Bellingham isn't part of a larger metropolitan area and has an independent, standalone identity.

Bellingham is a college town and is easily adjacent to two world-class major cities. Vancouver BC is about 50 miles away and Seattle is about 80 miles away.

Bend has none of that. It has a tiny branch campus of OSU but is hardly a college town. Western Washington Univ. in Bellingham has over 15,000 students compared to about 1,000 at the new OSU branch campus in Bend. Bend is also 160 miles from Portland which is at LEAST a 3 hour drive in the summer but can be MUCH longer during the winter if there is snow on the passes.

The only other city in the Northwest that is somewhat similar to Bellingham would be Olympia which is a similar size seaport and similarly situated between two major cities, Seattle and Portland.

[pnwguy2]

Olympia is obviously the State Capital, but it is still a relatively small town. Real Estate is not cheap anywhere around the Capital, but suburbs such as Lacey and Tumwater can be more affordable. Olympia is truly the southern part of the the Seattle CSA. Bellingham is outside the CSA by definition.

[bartonizer]

Originally Posted by texasdiver

Bellingham is a college town and is easily adjacent to two world-class major cities. Vancouver BC is about 50 miles away and Seattle is about 80 miles away.

Bend has none of that. It has a tiny branch campus of OSU but is hardly a college town. Western Washington Univ. in Bellingham has over 15,000 students compared to about 1,000 at the new OSU branch campus in Bend. Bend is also 160 miles from Portland which is at LEAST a 3 hour drive in the summer but can be MUCH longer during the winter if there is snow on the passes.

The only other city in the Northwest that is somewhat similar to Bellingham would be Olympia which is a similar size seaport and similarly situated between two major cities, Seattle and Portland.

It's true that there's nothing identical in WA. But I've lived outside of Asheville- and outside Boulder, and my cousins live in Missoula, Bozeman and Bend, and in my opinion Bellingham feels a lot like those cities. Yes, Bellingham is between two large metros, but as pnwguy mentioned, it's outside of the Seattle CSA, buffered by the Chuckanut Mountains on the south and the Canadian Border, which helps give the city an independent feel and keeps the traffic down. I also say this because a lot of people assume that Bellingham is a Seattle exurb a la Everett or Bellevue, and it most absolutely is not.

To your point, though, yes- Bellingham has a much larger university presence (which Bend hopes to achieve in the future) and is less isolated geographically. I work remotely in web and social media, and when we more recently pondered a move from Western CO these points helped tip us toward Bellingham as we'd narrowed it down to the two cities as our final choices. We were quite familiar with a difficult drive to a big city, as the distance from Bend to Portland is literally the exact distance as our former home in Glenwood Springs was from Denver, 160 miles over high passes!

Anyway, back to the similarities, Bellingham has the same population as Bend, is also filled with outdoor enthusiasts, retirees and entrepreneurs from other places, and has a well-known brewery scene. Both cities are also in the shadows of large volcanoes with popular ski areas, and have mountain biking and hiking trails galore. Even the people in Bend recognize the kinship: https://www.bendsource.com/bend/rain...nt?oid=4368729.

Of course, this could all be moot to the OP if they really want nothing to do with the water. They specified not living by the coast, but there's always the argument about whether or not living on Puget Sound/Salish Sea is "coastal living"- and it may be different than the traditional coastal images that are conjured up in their mind. Then again, they mention a desire for mild weather and green, forested hills and mountains, and personally I think that suggesting Wenatchee and other central/eastern WA cities is a stretch. Since they mention both Corvallis and Bend, which are two totally different animals, it sounds like vibe and attitude matter a lot to them. Back to my earlier point, if someone likes the size and scene of an Asheville or Flagstaff or Missoula- or likely Bend or Corvallis- I think they'll likely find Bellingham appealing, as we did.