What real differences are there Washington & Oregon? (Seattle, Spokane: sales, hotels)

[WestGuest]

Yes I know WA has no income tax and OR no sales tax. I looked all through both for a nice summer place on acreage and finally found some in Skamokawa WA - 40 miles West of Longview. I can see Oregon across the river.


Aside from the aforementioned , what are the real differences? WA has a somewhat better economy. Seattle and Portland are both expensive and have too much traffic. Next to the Cathlamet - Skamokawa area - I found Coos Bay nice, scenic and affordable.


Wouldn't the Western halves of Oregon and Washington have more in common with themselves than Eastern WA and Oregon?



Is there any cultural difference? It seems the Western Portions of each state are more liberal .

[blau808]

I would say Oregon has a much more accessible coastline than Washington and many more towns along the coast too.

[pnwguy2]

One of the biggest differences is where the population lives in each State. While both are focused on the west side, Washington has multiple populated markets on the East side, (Spokane, Tri-Cities, Yakima, Wenatchee), while Oregon really has only one (Bend).

The other difference, IMO, is Washington has more major employers than Oregon. Thus, a population that has almost doubled Oregon's, and perhaps creating a much larger metro area comparison when looking at Seattle vs. Portland. While both metros continue to grow, the growth in the Seattle/Tacoma msa has been explosive. The Seattle skyline is now huge, Portland is somewhat stagnant.

This is not to say one is better than the other. Some prefer less population density, some prefer more of an urban setting.

And, agreed, the Oregon Coast is about 5X better than the Washington Coast!

[Seacove]

IMO Oregon is not as green and the weather is warmer. Seattle has more mist, perhaps due to the Olympics. Seattle is much more corporate.

[grega94]

Originally Posted by pnwguy2

One of the biggest differences is where the population lives in each State. While both are focused on the west side, Washington has multiple populated markets on the East side, (Spokane, Tri-Cities, Yakima, Wenatchee), while Oregon really has only one (Bend).

The other difference, IMO, is Washington has more major employers than Oregon. Thus, a population that has almost doubled Oregon's, and perhaps creating a much larger metro area comparison when looking at Seattle vs. Portland. While both metros continue to grow, the growth in the Seattle/Tacoma msa has been explosive. The Seattle skyline is now huge, Portland is somewhat stagnant.

This is not to say one is better than the other. Some prefer less population density, some prefer more of an urban setting.

And, agreed, the Oregon Coast is about 5X better than the Washington Coast!

It depends on what you are looking for, if you want a cute beach town that is accessible, with plenty of hotels/motels to book, with some nice mountain scenery in the backdrop in, then yes Oregon wins hands down, and the fact that it gets warmer the further south you go doesn't hurt either.

However if you want to experience a wild, rugged, pristine beaches with fewer crowds, then in that regard the 60 miles of Olympic national park's coast line beats out Oregon.

[pnwguy2]

Originally Posted by grega94

It depends on what you are looking for, if you want a cute beach town that is accessible, with plenty of hotels/motels to book, with some nice mountain scenery in the backdrop in, then yes Oregon wins hands down, and the fact that it gets warmer the further south you go doesn't hurt either.

However if you want to experience a wild, rugged, pristine beaches with fewer crowds, then in that regard the 60 miles of Olympic national park's coast line beats out Oregon.

I am hoping I am not repeating a story here, but my family took us kids to a remote beach on the Washington Coast somewhere near Moclips. (circa 1972). We camped out like all Northwesterners are wont to do. This was apparently on the Indian reservation, and sure enough a native came up to our camp and just wanted to chat. My brother and I were not that concerned, but we learned later that parents were scared ----less. Everything turned out ok. But that was a beautiful beach and I have home movies to prove it!

[CrazyDonkey]

Originally Posted by pnwguy2

I am hoping I am not repeating a story here, but my family took us kids to a remote beach on the Washington Coast somewhere near Moclips. (circa 1972). We camped out like all Northwesterners are wont to do. This was apparently on the Indian reservation, and sure enough a native came up to our camp and just wanted to chat. My brother and I were not that concerned, but we learned later that parents were scared ----less. Everything turned out ok. But that was a beautiful beach and I have home movies to prove it!

Most probably the crescent shaped beach south of Point Grenville on the Quinault Indian Reservation. We used to go there pretty often when I was a kid in the late-1950s, camped there too. Sometime in the 1970s, I believe, the Quinaults closed their beaches to non-Indians. Later, in the 1990s or so, they issued beach passes, first for a donation, later for a fee. Several years ago they stopped issuing beach passes.

[Thom52]

Washington coastline is mostly The Sound, with a little bit of difficult "real Ocean" access cut off mostly by the Indian Reservations. The 1970's experience mentioned would not have gone as well today. Good boating in the Sound.

Oregon coastline is highly accessible and has 3 distinct zones. Boating not as accessible and the beaches do have the Oregonian rule "Never turn your back on the ocean". (sneaker waves)

Washington mountains are much more impressive and extensive and include Rainier and the North Cascades. They are spectacular and rugged.

Oregon mountains are cute little bumps in comparison, but much more accessible and generally easier trails.

Eastern/Central WA has a lot of variety and a lot of farmland.

Eastern/Central Oregon has a lot of desert and is a tough environment to develop. Much of Eastern OR was homesteaded back in the pioneer days and it mostly went bust due to lack of water.

WA has a much more tech oriented and robust employment picture, and the Seattle area is becoming full of snobby, well paid, urban, conservative techies.

OR is retaining a lot of that more down to earth feel, probably driven largely by the lack of well paying jobs.

Tax differences seem obvious, although when we moved from WA to OR we noticed that WA makes up for the lack of income tax by nickel and diming its residents with many hidden taxes. We are personally convinced we are coming out ahead tax-wise in OR with its lack of sales tax, in spite of the income tax. This is not true if you are a techie couple each making $180k or more a year.

[pnwguy2]

Originally Posted by CrazyDonkey

Most probably the crescent shaped beach south of Point Grenville on the Quinault Indian Reservation. We used to go there pretty often when I was a kid in the late-1950s, camped there too. Sometime in the 1970s, I believe, the Quinaults closed their beaches to non-Indians. Later, in the 1990s or so, they issued beach passes, first for a donation, later for a fee. Several years ago they stopped issuing beach passes.

Yes I think this is exactly where we were. Such a beautiful location with few people other than us. On a sunny summer day in WA it was utopia. I wish I could share my home videos of this but hard to do on this site. Thanks, Crazy. EDIT: yes, Grenville was the spot.

[leastprime]

Originally Posted by Thom52

Washington coastline is mostly The Sound, with a little bit of difficult "real Ocean" access cut off mostly by the Indian Reservations. The 1970's experience mentioned would not have gone as well today. Good boating in the Sound.

Oregon coastline is highly accessible and has 3 distinct zones. Boating not as accessible and the beaches do have the Oregonian rule "Never turn your back on the ocean". (sneaker waves)

Washington mountains are much more impressive and extensive and include Rainier and the North Cascades. They are spectacular and rugged.

Oregon mountains are cute little bumps in comparison, but much more accessible and generally easier trails.

Eastern/Central WA has a lot of variety and a lot of farmland.

Eastern/Central Oregon has a lot of desert and is a tough environment to develop. Much of Eastern OR was homesteaded back in the pioneer days and it mostly went bust due to lack of water.

WA has a much more tech oriented and robust employment picture, and the Seattle area is becoming full of snobby, well paid, urban, conservative techies.

OR is retaining a lot of that more down to earth feel, probably driven largely by the lack of well paying jobs.

Tax differences seem obvious, although when we moved from WA to OR we noticed that WA makes up for the lack of income tax by nickel and diming its residents with many hidden taxes. We are personally convinced we are coming out ahead tax-wise in OR with its lack of sales tax, in spite of the income tax. This is not true if you are a techie couple each making $180k or more a year.

We did the reverse move in retirement mode. Salem to Redmond (WA)
We feel that we come out ahead in WA, tax-wise. Of course the property tax in WA is higher because of the high property values.