I have a question about washington. (Seattle, Spokane: rent, college, live)

[mnurse74]

Does anybody have any advice about a medium size city to move to. I have 3 kids and a rottie. I am a certfied nursing assistant. My husband is a mechanic. we want a city that has descent snow and semi-cool summers.We hope for a city that the rent isn't so exspensive..thank you!!

[mthomson]

Decent snow will have you looking towards Eastern Washington. Western doesn't get much real snow.

[mnurse74]

thanks

[j_k_k]

If you mean decent skiing snow, the primary location for that is the Cascade range that roughly divides the state into eastern and western halves. Glance at a map and follow the range: that's where most of the skiing is.

Ellensburg would put you within striking distance of a lot of the state's skiing, as would virtually anywhere in the Puget Sound area.

If you mean just liking to drive in snow and shovel snow, and likelihood of a white Christmas, most of eastern Washington gets it regularly, especially the north and central parts. The southeast, where I live, is a high desert with so little moisture that snow isn't very common. I'm guessing Wenatchee and Spokane could arrange for generous amounts of annual snowfall.

[noplacelikeWA]

Spokane is exactly what your looking for in Washington.

[mnurse74]

thank you sounds good!!!

[StealthRabbit]

Also look into Newport and Colville & Kettle Falls, while you are in Spokane area. (Cheaper rents and cooler summers) Also Sandpoint, ID

to be closer to the west side (Puget Sound) I would look to Wenatchee, or Cashmere.

You can also look to the towns at the base of the main snow Mtns.(Rainier, Baker and the two main passes near Seattle) The west side of Cascades would be slushy snow and frequent rain, but work might pay better. If you can drive a few moments to snow, also look into Port Angeles.

Not knowing where you are coming from, and where you want to go, I would also look into MT. Rents in CO, WY, and UT are pretty steep at the moment, but they are decent snow states with more sun than PNW.

[Ming_on_Mongo]

Would also check out Wenatchee. Less crowded, but growing, with very affordable housing, and close to the Cascades & skiing. It even gets some snow in the winter, although most of the time the climate is dry and hot.

[DBM]

MnNurse-

The answers you are getting are all correct, but they're only focusing on one part of your request -- decent snow. You also mention cool summers -- and that doesn't apply to Eastern Washington. It's varying degrees of HOT on that side of the mountains in summer. If you want cool summers, you'll need to look to Western Washington.

My call for a mid-size city that meets your criteria would probably be Bellingham. It definitely has cooler summers than Eastern Washington and Minnesota (assume the MN stands for that). It won't have as much snow as Eastern Washington, but it does get more snow than Seattle and southward, and the Cascades are right next door (check out Mt. Baker for skiing/snowboarding). It's also a picturesque college town with easy access to Canada -- Vancouver is an awesome city.

Good luck!

[noplacelikeWA]

Spokane, Spokane, Spokane, is where you want to be for snow AND semi-cool (85degree highs) summers in WA. It is a four season area, it is a good size city with plenty of work and affordable for a family of your size.