Best and worst places to live in WA (Seattle, Spokane: weekend getaway, job)

[BadgerNut]

Hello Washington!

I'm considering a move to your area and was looking for some information. How are the taxes, cost of housing/living and job opportunities out there? I'm currently a Chaplain at a max prison in Wisconsin but have a strong background in sales/management. I'm looking for a community between 10k and 50k people with decent shopping, entertainment, eating establishments and a friendly atmosphere - not asking for much am I?

[GameHog9]

Originally Posted by BadgerNut

Hello Washington!

I'm considering a move to your area and was looking for some information. How are the taxes, cost of housing/living and job opportunities out there? I'm currently a Chaplain at a max prison in Wisconsin but have a strong background in sales/management. I'm looking for a community between 10k and 50k people with decent shopping, entertainment, eating establishments and a friendly atmosphere - not asking for much am I?

A community between 10k and 50k plus all that! Thats insanity!

No, not really .

Allow me to divide the state for you...

Major Centers:
- Seattle (Metro of about 3.5 million ranging from Everett to Olympia)
- Spokane (about 400k people)
- Vancouver (couped with Portland, OR)
- Tri Cities (The towns of Kennewick, Pasco, and Richland = 200k people)

Secondary Centers:

- Yakima (about 80k population)
- Walla Walla (about 30k population)
- Wenatchee (About 30k people)
- Moses Lake (about 20k people)


Anyways,

Under your criteria, I'd recommed Yakima (although Ive heard bad things about that place, start a thread asking about Yak ), and maybe Moses Lake.

I live in Tri Cities, so i will go ahead and lecture you on there

The Tri Cities is the combined towns of Kennewick, Pasco, Richland, and West Richland (I know, 4, you got us) that equal a population of about 200,000. The only thing that stands as a barrier between any of them is the Columbia river, otherwise, they are connected, thus able to promote the name (It wouldn't make sense to call it one area if they were divided by 35 miles of farmland, right?).

The best way to describe TC is as one big Suburb, with no 'urb.'

Thats just fancy talk for saying that you will get Lowes, Sonic, Wal-Mart, Cinemas, Petco, etc. (standard Suburbia stuff) without any major city landmarks (e.g. High-rises, traffic, major crime). All for the modest price of 200k for a home!

Thats right, housing here is very cheap.

TC is about 3 hours from Seattle, so a weekend getaway is definitely an option

This may sound fine and dandy, but best be well-informed.

First of all, there is the wind. Oh the wind! sometimes it blows at 30 mph. Oh, and by the way, TC is a desert, so don't expect a WA forest here...

Secondly the job range isnt very wide here, basically just Hanford ( a nearby nuclear site), and construction. Those two are the Kings.

And thirdly, the diversity here is basically just White, Hispanic, and the occasional Russian. Thats it. If youre looking for another NYC, this is not the stop for youuu.

Other than that, TC is fine, so you might want to take a look at it, as it covers all of you're criteria (except for the 10k-50k thing). Then again, finding all that in such a small town is a little unrealistic.

Thats reporting from this corner of the world in SE WA.

We'll be seeing you soon.

[BadgerNut]

Originally Posted by GameHog9

All for the modest price of 200k for a home!

Thats right, housing here is very cheap.

I bought my house in Wisconsin for $43,000 ten years ago (yes it needed to be fixed up - it's worth $120,000 now). This is for a 4BR/1BA/2000 Sq.Ft. home on almost 1/2 acre. So forgive me for laughing histerically at 200k being very cheap. Don't get me wrong, I'm not making fun of you. As a matter of fact I loved your response, you sound like a very fun person! I'm sure 200k is very cheap out by you, it just hit a funny bone with me - sorry!

Originally Posted by GameHog9

Other than that, TC is fine, so you might want to take a look at it, as it covers all of you're criteria (except for the 10k-50k thing). Then again, finding all that in such a small town is a little unrealistic.

This is kind of interesting also. I guess I would expect all that I mentioned in a city around 10k-20k, but 20k plus I'd expect quite a few of those things - it's here in Wisconsin. Maybe that's because there's not a whole lot to do here ? Wisconsin is a good place, some parts.

But thank you for the information. Do you know much about Pullman and what's the other bigger city out east of the state?

[BadgerNut]

Originally Posted by BadgerNut

histerically

Oops! I CAN spell! "Hysterically" is what I meant to write.

[Ira500]

Spokane?

[janb]

Walla Walla.

Moscow, ID is quite nice ~ 10 mi east of Pullman

[Ira500]

I'll second janb's Moscow, ID recommend. Great town.

[GameHog9]

Originally Posted by BadgerNut

I bought my house in Wisconsin for $43,000 ten years ago (yes it needed to be fixed up - it's worth $120,000 now). This is for a 4BR/1BA/2000 Sq.Ft. home on almost 1/2 acre. So forgive me for laughing histerically at 200k being very cheap. Don't get me wrong, I'm not making fun of you. As a matter of fact I loved your response, you sound like a very fun person! I'm sure 200k is very cheap out by you, it just hit a funny bone with me - sorry!




This is kind of interesting also. I guess I would expect all that I mentioned in a city around 10k-20k, but 20k plus I'd expect quite a few of those things - it's here in Wisconsin. Maybe that's because there's not a whole lot to do here ? Wisconsin is a good place, some parts.

But thank you for the information. Do you know much about Pullman and what's the other bigger city out east of the state?

Oh I love you!

Anyways, that same home in the Seattle Area would be at the very least 400k. At the very least.

Here in TC you can get those kind of nice, big, big homes for a considerably lower price.

_

As for youre 2nd question...

No, there isnt very much to do here in WA (theme park wise ). If youre into fishing/golfing/suburbia-go-to-the-movies kind of life, TC is perfect for you.

However, there are quite a few things to do in the Seattle Area. Plenty of Art galleries, sightseeing (city-wise/forest), occasional exhibition game at Qwest Field (they attracted Real Madrid, big soccer team, a while back).

Oh, and theres Silverwood themepark , about 40 minutes from Spokane.

As for Pullman...

Pullman is a town of about 20k next to Moscow, ID, and is a college town
(the main Washington State University is there). Other than that I have no idea.

Maybe you'd like Wenatchee? Plenty of outdoor style activities there, as Lake Chelan is close to there (and not the I'm-going-to-go-into-the-woods-by-myself sort of activities)

[ckhthankgod]

I thought Pasco had a decent Black population. I know the other two have some, but not as many as Pasco.

[GameHog9]

Originally Posted by ckhthankgod

I thought Pasco had a decent Black population. I know the other two have some, but not as many as Pasco.

A long, long time ago...

Today, the racial diversity of TC is White (Germanic), Hispanic, and the occasional Russian.

Blacks have evaporated.