Whidbey Island (Seattle, Oak Harbor, Camano: how much, to live, restaurants)

[bellringer]

I am contemplating moving from Tucson to Whidbey Island. Would be interested in hearing opinions.

[allforcats]

Hi. Welcome to the idea of Washington.
What would you like opinions about?

[bellringer]

The people, the weather, fun things to do. Are people friendly? Is it easy to make new friends? Is it cold? Does it rain all the time? I would like to live somewhere where winter doesn't last from October through April(Omaha). And, I would like to live somewhere where summer doesn't last from April through October with 100 or more triple digit days(Tucson).

[bellringer]

Festivals? What is the music scene like?

[allforcats]

The internet has tons of info available about weather, climate, jobs, and so forth, so Googling will get you lots of info. Clicking on City-Data.com in the upper left of this page will take you to a gaggle of statistics.

Have you read these threads on City-Data, which will probably answer most and maybe all of your questions?

Whidbey Island is one of my three favorite places in western Washington and I'm always happy when I'm on the island.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/washi...ey-island.html

http://www.city-data.com/forum/washi...need-info.html

http://www.city-data.com/forum/washi...ey-island.html

http://www.city-data.com/forum/washi...ey-island.html

http://www.city-data.com/forum/washi...e-whidbey.html

http://www.city-data.com/forum/washi...d-west-vs.html

http://www.city-data.com/forum/washi...ey-island.html

http://www.city-data.com/forum/washi...h-whidbey.html

[bellringer]

Thanks allforcats! What is a rainshadow?

[allforcats]

Rainshadow
Since you're in Tuscon, I kinda want to kid you and 'splain what "rain" is... Okay, seriously folks: the rainshadow is this. The clouds pick up moisture over the Pacific Ocean. When the clouds move eastwards over land, when they near the Olympic Mountains they have to drop their moisture (which weighs down the clouds) in order to be able to climb up the west side of the Olympics and travel over the mountains to the east side. So the west side gets lots and lots of rain (in fact, there a huge, magical temperate rain forest on the west side of the Olympics, where rain falls almost every day of the year). On the east side of the Olympics, suddenly those clouds aren't carrying rain for a brief time, and that absence of a lot of rain is called the rain shadow. Whidbey is mostly in this rain shadow. Take a look at this terrific graphic:
http://www.nationalatlas.gov/printab...precip_wa3.pdf

Music and Festivals
I found some goodies for you -------

Whidbey Island from A-Z

The Island Festival 2007 - Whidbey Island

Welcome

Whidbey Island Kite Festival

Events, Festivals, Performances, Tours and Tastings Calendar: Whidbey Island and Camano Island

[bellringer]

Thanks again for the links. I'm not sure what I was supposed to see on the precipitation chart though.

[allforcats]

Well, on the precip chart you can tell how much annual rain every area and every city gets. You just need to open Mapquest or whatever, learn what Whidbey Island looks like -- where it is in relation to the water and the land forms, and what it's shaped like (it's very long and funny-shaped). Then you can see that it is, in fact, in the "rain shadow", which is depicted in that almost-white color. Then the legend in the left column of the graphic shows how much annual rainfall the island receives. Compared with Seattle, for example, it's quite a bit less.

By the way, Whidbey Island is not in the Seattle/King County area. Close, but not in. So this thread might be moved by the moderator from the Seattle forum to the Washington forum -- just in case you're looking for it tomorrow and can't find it. Look in Washington.

[Ira500]

Whidbey Island is physically very large, so one part of the island can be very different than another both in types of people and activities, and even weather.
For example, Oak Harbor is the " big city" on the island, and is near the naval air station, so has a bit of a military flavor, but it's still surrounded by amazing natural beauty, and has plenty of shopping and restaurants...Oak harbor is warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer than Seattle, and rains less.

Langley is a gorgeous old town on the water with a couple of great restaurants, and a hipper, more artsy flavor.

Coupeville is another really nice town on the water, also a bit more artsy. And Freeland and Greenbank are also nice places on the island.

...and Double Bluff Beach Park is the most amazing off leash dog beach I've ever seen. Really nice walk on the beach, even if you don't own a dog.

Coupeville is another gorgeous town