Washington quaint towns (Centralia, Chehalis, Poulsbo: job market, gated, living)

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by Amberyl

That sounds wonderful! What cities would you recommend in those counties? In the N/E corner of WA?

not much for cities there... Colville / Newport

[iamtickled]

Hi Amberyl!
Just a thought have you looked into Colfax, Washington? It has a population of approximately 3,000 people! Also is is 15 miles from WSU (Washington State University) in Pullman (hooray). Just pull up Colfax, Washington on the internet, they have their own home page. Very interesting.
Good Luck in you in your new endeavors!

[teesalz]

We live in Birch Bay. We are 45 minutes from Vancouver BC and 2 hours from Seattle. A very small beach town. We love it here, but my family is too far away, in Ca. So we are moving back. Our home is for sale!!! Good luck!

[horse98260]

Affordable historic town....old victorian houses to new....houses under 300k$ easy or go for big 1mil$ homes....minutes to Everett, 1hr to Seattle, lots of local work or commute. Idealic farms but not too expensive and overrun like the Redmond-Carnation-Seattle area.

[soggy]

Cheney, Leavenworth and Rockford are the only ones that will get snow. Rockford is tiny, yet only 30 minutes to Spokane and Coeur d'Alene. It has beautiful, rolling hills of wheat called the "Palouse" (a name for the region) and is totally an agricultural community, with some "gentleman farms/estates" popping up.

Cheney has a good sized university right in town.

Levenworth has no college near by (2 hours to Western WA University) and about the same for UW and more. It is very quaint and has a large tourist market. The locals seem to be tight knit, though. Definately has 4 seasons! We went for a Christmas sleigh ride a couple of years ago! Loved it! Many B&Bs, unique shops and restaurants, art and music in the park, lots of festivals.

[jamesandveybe]

Since I have seen responses naming towns that are far too large to know others well, enjoy a walkable size, etc., I wanted to chime in here on the "town" qualifier. One man's town is another man's city, so you would need to define what you think a town is, for various people to answer you knowledgeably.

Ideas:
1. One stoplight or a dozen signals?
2. One post office or three?
3. How far from the city is enough?

Your answers to these will be a better start for valid answers. A town for me is one stoplight blinking night and day, only one post office, peaceful nights without traffic noise and a location a few hours from the city lights but only an hour from Walmart. I can think of a dozen Western Washington spots you could consider. What is your definition of a town?

[ysabella]

How about Twisp, WA? It's really small, though. Less than 1000 people. And I've got no idea about the schools.

[Auburn]

Do some research on Colville, Wa. Small town feel good schools and when you want a shopping trip North Spokane has everything you'll ever need. Costco, Malls all just an 1:15 away. The area has just a great mix of mountain forests and farm land. The area is surrounded by National Forests and Canada is just up the road. We are in western wa. right now. Just as soon as the house sells we will be building on acreage just southwest of Colville. The Hospital is getting a $34 million dollar up grade and has Helo service for emegencies to Spokane med. facilities.

[uwcharliet]

Touchet, WA

Good schools (Have web page), near Walla Walla which has three colleges and good healthcare, friendly people, reasonable cost of living...

Originally Posted by Amberyl

I live in Mesa, Arizona and I am considering moving to Washington because I have been without the four seasons for too long. I really want to live somewhere where each season gets equal time share.

I also have two small children (5+6) who will both be starting school this year, so I want to move before school starts so they will not have to switch schools later on. I need to move somewhere that has great education either in the town, or very nearby, so we could commute.

I am looking for a quaint town, much like the town of Stars Hollow in Gilmore Girls. I want to live somewhere where everyone knows everyone else.

I would like to be close enough to at least one larger city. And close enough to a decent college.

I am planning for this to be my last move. I want to settle down and raise my family. Can anyone please suggest a town that sounds like what I am looking for?

[j_k_k]

Originally Posted by uwcharliet

Touchet, WA

Good schools (Have web page), near Walla Walla which has three colleges and good healthcare, friendly people, reasonable cost of living...

But Touchet's in the desert, and I think the OP said she didn't want to live in the desert.