Help us find 'the place' (Spokane, Bellevue: real estate, colleges, income)

[JHRD1008]

My husband and I are in the Washington/Oregon area trying to find a beautiful place to move to. We have been driving endlessly since friday and have until tuesday to find a beautiful place to move our family to. We would like the following:

- Nearby city that has colleges, shopping malls, etc.
- Nestled in or around the mountains, rivers, trails etc with lots of recreational activities. My husband is an avid fly fisherman, and definitely would like some great trout streams/lakes nearby.

Currently, we are in Washington and have checked out the following locations:

- Leavenworth - no nearby cities, looks like a tourist town
- Fall City - not pretty enough from what we've seen
- North Bend - same as fall city
- Bellevue - too much city

We've also been to the following places in Oregon:

- Bend - Although very pretty, it isn't nestled in mountains like we would like. We didnt checkout the Mt. Bachelor area, I wish we did though.

We really liked the area around Mt. Hood, the tree's and scenery, but it was too far away from a city for us. We also loved the drive from Bend to Portland, the Detroit Lake area (can't remember the road name) was gorgeous. Might have been the scenic by-way.

Two weeks ago we flew to Colorado and checked out the Boulder/Ft Collins area. We really didn't like the area, and think Oregon is much prettier!

[Ira500]

It sounds to me like Bellingham might be your kind of place. College town, very pretty, nearby mountains and fishing, lots of stuff to do, good shopping and restaurants, great views....or, if you want it a little drier, maybe Ellensburg in Central Washington, also has views and fishing and a college..

[StealthRabbit]

Cashmere or Wenachee are worth a look

[Prple]

In WA, I would suggest Bellingham, Olympia, or Bainbridge Island/Poulsbo.
In Oregon, I would suggest Corvallis.
Both Corvallis and Olympia came up in this article:
Most Secure U.S. Places - Yahoo! Real Estate--

[StealthRabbit]

I think your husband is gonna be doing a lot of driving to fly fish if you settle on the west side of the Cascades. There are a few short season times of decent fly fishing on the we_t side, but the best is on the east side. Okanogan in WA (North central) ~ 100mile Radius from Bend, OR mostly to the NE and SE

Sisters is more nested in the mtns than Bend, Remember the OR 9% income tax.

If you don't need the beach or a high paying job, I personally would only consider the east side, I've had enough rain to last me (26 yrs wet, since I came to PNW from Colo). I will have to sell all my 'rusty' stuff that has been ruined on the we_t side and has no value to the eastern folks. (Mowers, tractors, tools, bulldozers, moldy cars...) good riddance

[Rooter48]

Give Spokane a look. The mountains are close. There are colleges and shopping and good medical care.

[sean98125]

Take a look at Missoula. It has the cultural advantages of being a college town, it is nestled in the mountains, and the fly fishing is phenomenal.