Need info about EASTON, preferably by a resident or frequent visitor. (Seattle: crime, home)

[cspeaker]

My husband and I are looking to relocate our family to Easton from Maple Valley, WA. We moved to Maple Valley 6 years ago to get away from the congestion in Seattle. Now Maple Valley is becoming congested!! We want to move to a small town where growth isn't going to chase us away in a few years. We love to fish, snowmobile, snowboard, mountain bike and almost anything outdoorsy that is impossible in the city. My husband will have to commute to downtown Seattle but can telecommute when that isn't possible and he's able to work his schedule so he isn't driving during rush hour. I've done lots of research and Easton seems to be the perfect fit for what we're looking for. We're not city-type people. We're always driving to places to fish and get away. Otherwise, we're homebodies who spend all our time with our kids. I like how small Easton is and my husband knows it from a fishing-the-Yakima River perspective. I want to know what it's like to live there.

Here are my concerns:

SCHOOL
What type and quality of education can my kids expect to get? They are currently in 8th and 4th grades. We are in a rated 10 school district and I see that Easton is rated 5 but I don't want to solely go by the ratings. I see that Easton has one school for k-12 and the number of kids for each grade is tiny. We're coming from a large school district and don't know what to expect from a one-building school house. I would assume that they would get lots of one on one attention. What are the extra curricular activities? What is the main focus besides learning the 3 r's? Are the grades combined?

ETHNICITY
We are caucasion but my oldest son is half African American and half white. Maple Valley is mostly white and my son gets along fine here, having many friends. My concern is how well he'll be received in Easton, especially being of a mixed race. Kids can be mean and I'm careful about what I subject him to. Could there be resistance by parents if girls want to date him? He's a nice and friendly boy and quite the catch. Of course, I'm his mom!

RECREATION
How close are trails for snowmobiling, atv's, mountain biking, etc? And how good are they? I want to buy land so I can just go from my front yard.

PEOPLE
What are the people like? Is it an everybody-knows-everybody type town? Do the people welcome new-comers? Are most people religious (we're not)? Do you get much tourist action?

DRUGS AND ALCOHOL
I see that crime is lower than the national average but what about drugs and alcohol? I'm especially concerned about teen use. Sometimes kids flock to drugs and alcohol in small towns to alleviate boredom. Is there a problem like that in Easton? I plan on keeping my kids busy with our outdoor hobbies but ifluences are strong.

Those are my major concerns that I can't find through research. I hope my questions didn't offend anyone. These are real concerns that I've had to deal with in the past in another place we lived in. I appreciate ANY feedback.

[rambrush]

As a individual who was in the senior class of 1975 I can say I had a blast. We had sock hops in the area above the gym. total school participation in decorating the halls for homecoming basketball meets etc.
I was in wrestling and it had only a few of us but we traveled far and wide to other meets.
When it snowed it snowed we could get onto the old bus barn roof and bail off into snow drifts below, talk about fun!
They did have a actual paddle for discipline measures which worked great.

Everyone knew everyone, we had total town cleanups everone participated and kept things looking nice.

I always found it interesting when the plows would come through town the center of the road would have massive snow dividers and then at intersections/driveways they would carve a notch so you could get through.
Drugs never used to be a problem, alcohol was the prime vice.
Kids used to get bored as there was not much more than 100 or so people in town they would head out to Clelum (spl) for things to do.
I took drivers ed during the winter and we would go towards elensburg and back as it was the largest place for city driving. That was fun as we had plenty of bouncing vehicles off of snowdrifts.
The bus used to run year around making stops all the way out to Hyak on the pass.
I know this is lengthy but I did love the area. Would recomend it highly.

[RodFarlee]

Originally Posted by cspeaker

Now Maple Valley is becoming congested!! We want to move to a small town where growth isn't going to chase us away in a few years...

Just FYI, it is growing fast, but I hope that won't dissuade you, or chase you away for many years.

Kittitas County is growing at 2.1% per year, three times the rate of King Co., and this growth appears concentrated in unincorporated areas in the west end. (Ref: US Census Bureau)

"The fastest growing counties, in terms of percent change since the 2000 Census, are Franklin County (30.1 percent), Clark County (16.9 percent), Benton County (12.7 percent), and Kittitas County (12.1 percent)." - WA State Office of Financial Management, June 2006

[cspeaker]

Thank you both for the info! It's very helpful in my decision making process. I didn't realize that Kittitas County is growing so fast but I did know that the entire area all around King County is growing at unbelievable rates. I expect that Easton will grow over the years as I'm sure there are more people like me looking for more affordable housing and less congestion. Having a population of only 464, I can't see it growing into the tens of thousands any time too soon and that's what would send me packing! If that happens, at least I could cash in on the land!

Thanks for the bit to think over!

Rambrush, I find your description of the town in the 70's quite quaint and appealing. Something I've always longed for my children to experience since my childhood on a commune (also in the 70's). Living on a commune is much like living in a small town like you described. Of course, I was there from babyhood until I was 6 so my memories of life on a commune are not quite what an adult would remember. I hope Easton has maintained the charm that you remember so fondly.

Thanks folks!

[rambrush]

well I am amazed the population has swelled so high 300 or so more over 32 years.
Now going to have to dig out the yearbooks, but I recall some classes were combined. will be like old home week.
Take care

[coffeebls2000]

Hi there. I see that this was written almost a year ago, but thought I'd reply to it anyhow. I've lived in Easton and the Cle Elum area for about 10 years now and am originally from Kirkland, Washington. I'd like to provide you or anyone interested in what I know. I have a child attending the Easton School District and let me tell you- it is WONDERFUL.
First of all, the town itself is very small, but VERY accustomed to commuters (my dad commutes to Boeing every single day) and are very open to newcomers. Unlike Cle Elum ten years ago, Easton is so used to non-locals, that there is really no concern over familiar last names and native Kittitas County members.
Second of all, there is a community church in town, and I was concerned with that factor as well when my daughter started to go to school in Easton. The librarian is the pastor's wife and there are a few parents of students who are active in the church, but it makes for a very friendly, warm atmosphere, and not a pushy one at all. I'm not a church-goer, but everyone who is, treats me the same as they would if I were.
Third, the school is unbelievable with its curriculum. My daughter came out of Kindergarten reading chapter books (well, kind of. Junie B. Jones). The school puts on two plays every year, involving the whole school). There are plenty of extracurricular activities for children your age. There are a ton of sports and during the summer, the school supports a bunch of activities and field trips for kids to stay busy.
Also, I noticed a motherly worry about acceptance of your son's being half African American. There is a lot of ethnic, cultural, and "racial" diversity all over Kittitas County and much so in Easton as well. My daughter is half Native American and there are lots of Yakima Nation Native American descendents, hispanic communities, African American, and Asian, etc.
Ummm...what else? Well, I come from Kirkland, where I had plenty to choose from in every area I could dream of, where it is not so abundant in Easton for shopping and convenience. Still, it is the most beautiful place on Earth, every season of the year, and I can't imagine living anywhere else.
I would like to suggest driving to Easton and checking out Nelson Siding Rd., Golf Course Rd., and Easton. I would reccomend staying away from Cle Elum, Roslyn, and even perhaps Ronald. These areas are booming, but they are not really improving. Nelson Siding and Golf course Rd. are joined together and have a beautiful landscape for building on, plus you can buy 5 acre parcels still and get a pretty decent deal still. Easton is probably more affordable and lush, but the weather in the Winter is a little bit more drastic. Still, if your husband is going to commute, living in Easton is 5 or so minutes closer than Nelson Siding.
Oh, and I wanted you to know, if you do move here and are worried about gas during commutes, there are a ton of people who commute every day (including my father), so finding a ride-share is easy to do! A lot of people do this.
Good luck!

[missyM]

coffee, is Easton where the inner-tubing place is? Do they still have that, or is it shut down?

[coffeebls2000]

Hi Missy,
Yes, Easton does still (to the best of my knowledge) have an inner-tubing place. It belongs to Happy Trails owner, Jack Price, who every year has had sleigh rides that take you to the inner-tubing hills, firepits for roasting hotdogs, hot water, and heated tents. It costs 20$ a person, children are 10$ under 10, and children 2 and under are free. I will give you the website, but note that the directions to Happy Trails are for the summer rides only. For the sleigh rides, you will have to take the second Easton exit if you are coming East and turn right over the bridge. At the stop sign next to the post office, you will turn left and follow the road about a half mile or so and then you will see on your right, a Pioneer Trails sign. Just turn there and follow it into a big parking lot and you'll see a bunch of parked vehicles and a man named Jack Price and probably two sleighs. Now, you are going to have to call him to make reservations for this. Here is his information:
Jack Price
(509)656-2634
FAX (509)656-2753
website: www.happytrailsateatonwa.com/sleighrides.htm (broken link)
The only thing is, this is from last year and there was a rumour that it was to be taken over (the sleigh rides, that is) by a man named Bill Regan and his son. Jack Price is a super nice guy and even if he isn't running it, he'll be happy to talk to you about anything and everything.
My family and I went on the sleigh ride last year and it was a blast. If you do go, make sure to pack coffee, hot chocolate, hot dogs, etc. We didn't think to bring anything and everyone was hungry. There is a concession stand there, but like all concession stands, it is expensive. Hot and cold water, heat, fire, etc. are all part of the package, so take advantage of it.
If this isn't what you had in mind, there was another inner-tube place long ago at the Golf Course (near Nelson Siding Rd. between Easton and Cle Elum), but it has since been closed down.
I promise you, that if you and your family can do the sleigh rides, you would have a realy wonderful time. We had an experience we will never forget. Good luck!

[coffeebls2000]

Hey I almost forgot-
The sleigh rides USED to be over by the Chevron station and Turtle restaurant at the other end of town. It is no longer there, so if you had ever done it before and are remembering that, it is back at the East end of town where I gave you directions to in the first reply.
They used to have kind of a large pit to sled into, but the new one is different. There is just one big hill and it slopes so that littler kids can go on the softer slope and the daredevils can go to the steeper side. It's probably safer in some ways, and possibly less so in others. I rolled off the innertube like a snowball on the "bunny slope" with my then-six year-old and felt like an idiot, but...she laughed, and it was fun.

[missyM]

Thanks so much for the info, coffee!