Poulsbo/Silverdale vs Olympia vs Vancouver (Seattle, Bellingham: sales, real estate market, condo)

[MtnSurfer]

If you could live in one of these areas, which would you prefer? What are some of the reasons you like one over the others? Is there one you think is a better value longer term if considering buying a home? Whether you vote, comment or both, I'm interested to hear what your thoughts are on them?

We have visited all three areas and like them for different reasons. We're considering a move to one of them.

Thanks for your input.

Derek

[rantiquity]

None of the above^^^

[trailtramp]

We are comparing the Oly and Vancouver areas too. I just found an old thread in the City vs City forum, posted on it and am hoping for some local WA feedback there also.

I love that Olympia is closer to the peninsula and the ocean, also proximity to Seattle, Victoria and BC. Yet then Vancouver has good proximity to Portland and Oregon coast.

Guessing that since Oly is capital of WA there would be a younger vibe than in Vancouver but not sure. Heading back up in the fall for an extended period to get a better feel.

[jlud]

Poulsbo/Silverdale - lots of amenities, quaint downtown, Sluys bakery...waterfront, haven’t seen any homeless taking over the town.

Olympia is a hard no....try going downtown and see how safe you will feel around bike paths etc around the water with all the homeless.

Cant speak to Vancouver, much cleaner and safer than Portland though.

[Diana Holbrook]

Originally Posted by jlud

Poulsbo/Silverdale - lots of amenities, quaint downtown, Sluys bakery...waterfront, haven’t seen any homeless taking over the town.

Olympia is a hard no....try going downtown and see how safe you will feel around bike paths etc around the water with all the homeless.

Cant speak to Vancouver, much cleaner and safer than Portland though.

Poulsbo is very nice, with a woodsy, Scandinavian Old Salt kind of feel to it.

High prices though, and climbing higher there even faster than here in my area. Wonderful town if you can afford it. We don't know what the OP's budget or goals are.

Olympia is my home stomping grounds, so I don't think it's a HARD no, but I wouldn't want to live downtown or near the freeway either. There are definitely good parts, and some places I would, and do, avoid. It's sad to see the camps. I really hope we find a solution for that. And soon. But it's not hard to avoid.

Tumwater, and Lacey, and the many suburban and small town communities near the Olympia area, have a lot of terrific, beautiful places to live and shop and eat and recreate. While Poulsbo is all expensive, you can find a much WIDER range of home and home types, in the is area. Farm to Condo. Town to rural, New to historic. Really depends what the OP is looking for.

Been years since I've been to Vancouver, so unfortunately, I can't speak to it either! I think we have some other members from around there, hopefully they will chime in.

[MtnSurfer]

Hi,

I'm the OP of this 3.5 y/o thread. We have since moved to Vancouver which we really enjoy overall. That's not the say the others would have been bad choices. Every place has its pros/cons.

Things we really like about Vancouver that led to our decision:

1. Proximity to the Columbia River Gorge. Tons of waterfalls, excellent hiking trails, wildflower meadows, etc...
2. Easy access to Portland and other big city amenities without living 'in' PDX. Can be to the airport in 20 minutes.
3. Less than two hours to the beautiful Oregon coast.
4. 1.5 hours to Mt. Hood skiing, hiking, alpine lakes
5. Closer to economic hub for jobs, especially tech jobs. While not Seattle, nor as crowded, Portland is probably second in the PNW.
6. Lots of lakes for water sports including paddleboarding year round.
7. Closer to the CA boarder for trips to the NorCal redwoods.
8. Reasonable priced homes in decent neighborhoods for kids. Though prices are going up everywhere now. They are still building lots of new homes with no end in sight.
9. Easy access to the eastern WA and OR via the Gorge. No major mountain passed to cross over.
10. Close access to a number of colleges and universities for our kids to attend.
11. Great access to medical care including research hospitals and level 1 trauma center.

Things which we don't care for, though can live with:

1. Fire smoke due to proximity to areas which burn in late summer/early fall. Last year was the pits. This affected much of the PNW.
2. Poor, unsafe roads for biking. These WA roads were never designed with 'bike friendly' in mind compared to other places we've lived. It's just more utilitarian. They're 'just' wide enough for farm vehicles and logging trucks with no shoulders.
3. Not as many public beaches along the Columbia, though there are some nice ones. Too much private ownership of riverfront properties in general - 'I got my piece of the Columbia.' May be more of a PNW thing at large.
4. Too far from Seattle when we want to go there. Though, that isn't very often and so may actually be considered a plus.
5. Would be nice to be closer to the Sound. I have yet to paddle it, but its on the bucket list.

We really love the outdoors, hiking, beach going, paddleboarding, rock climbing, rafting, etc... So, I think all of these places could have worked with their own pros as well as some cons. We still haven't visited Olympia much. I don't really count driving through on the way to somewhere else. Biggest bummer there was what happened to Evergreen College. What a mess for kids simply wanting to get a decent education minus the huge soap opera. Poulsbo is definitely a charming little town close(ish) to Seattle without the same crowds. Though it is more isolated than the other three which in some ways can be a positive.

Derek

[fluffydelusions]

Originally Posted by jlud

Olympia is a hard no....try going downtown and see how safe you will feel around bike paths etc around the water with all the homeless.

I have lived in downtown for 3 years and never felt unsafe. Sure there are quite a bit of homeless but they never bothered me apart from asking for change or a smoke. Not to say bad things don't happen but I haven't had any bad experiences. That said, I lived in NYC for a dozen years so my perspective may be different than others.

[jlud]

Yeah I guess that’s true, I haven’t been assaulted on my trips there. At the same time, I would never let me female family members go down there alone or even without me. One time is all it takes....but yes I am not as used to homeless people as many others are.

[Diana Holbrook]

I do think the homeless camp issue in Olympia - or anywhere - is more of a visual blight than a physical threat, but I would definitely be careful walking alone - common sense.

[Black Picket Fence]

I ended up buying in northern Kitsap, near Poulsbo, because it's so much quieter and more isolated; I'm a middle-aged loner with no kids, and wanted plenty of space to garden and grill and maybe have chickens, with no HOA, that was a bit off the beaten path. I lucked out and found the perfect place back in November, just before the prices started to go up. I would have a much harder time affording an equivalent place to the one I bought, were I looking now.

I did consider the Vancouver area, because I could have gone across the river to Oregon to do my weekly shopping sales tax-free, while living in a state with no income tax. I also considered Lewis County as a midway point between Seattle and Portland--I do like Centralia, and have friends there. But I so much prefer the Puget Sound region, I scratched it off the list.

I briefly considered Olympia, but Oly's got a serious homeless problem, which is already one huge factor driving me out of Seattle.

I used to live in Bellingham and loved it, but the real estate market in Whatcom County has gone insane. I couldn't find anything I liked in Skagit County; and Snohomish County got too hot for me before I got around to buying. So given what I wanted and what I could afford, northern Kitsap County ended up being my best bet. I'm still doing the Edmonds-Kingston ferry thing a couple of times a week, but it's one of the less crazy ferry routes, and so far it's been easy.