Is it impossible to find a place with all of these desires?

[prncsnyc]

Thank you everyne for the replies.

I don't think we could live in AZ or New Mexico. No, I'm pretty sure we couldn't lol. We need green stuff.

I so wish we could afford to travel and see WA, NE, TN, etc. but we are so badly off right now. I'm afraid we're going to have to choose between not moving for who knows how long and moving somewhere sight unseen which I know is awful bc we did it before.

We even considered Maine but then we discovered they have a terrible time with bugs which freak me out.

This whole thing is depressing. At this point we can't even afford to move our belongings to my parents and live with them. I just wish I knew where to go...if I had a place picked out, it would life my spirits at least.

Anyone have thoughts on the Puget Sound Convergence Zone or Oregon? I've heard Oregon's traffic is just as bad as LA (as is Seattle's).

[StealthRabbit]

OR traffic is not bad compared to LA or SEA, but... jobs and wages are tough to get. If you are strapped for cash BE CAREFUL. I wouldn't even consider the puget sound area as it is too expensive. I would probably not consider moving if you don't have a job, and 6 mo expenses saved up.

I would go to NE, IA, SD, KS and find a farm family that would help me out if I was destitute. I'm afraid the PNW will throw you to the wolves. Not the place I would want to survive a depression. Time to 'team up', its gonna get ugly.

The grass may not be greener elsewhere (certainly not on the Prairie)

[shaunmdaniel]

Having been born and raised in Metaline Falls I can attest to its weather patterns (not so much the other locations you are exploring). There can definitely be cool days in the summer, but just as easily burning hot as well (I recall quite a few 90+ and even 100+ degree days, usually in August). Most of the precip in the form of rain falls in late May through June and ranges from a drizzle to absolute downpour. Earthshaking thunderstorms happen maybe a couple times a summer but are short-lived and transient (I don't know if you can get lots of rain in summer, snow in winter, frequent cloud cover and great thunderstorms all in one place...). In the winter there is plenty of snow with the past few years seeing an average of 3ft on the ground most of the season (Dec-March) and the nice thing is that it stays in place and doesn't blow around into snowdrifts. Winter is cold but not sub-zero (usually in the 20F range for avg daily temp). My mother likes to complain about the cloud cover (something like 165 days of the year are sunless), but I like it.

As an aside, if thunderstorms and some snow are what you really want, I experienced some great thunderstorms while living in Madison, WI for a summer. From what I can tell, all of the Wisconsin-Minnesota area gets great frequent (and long-lived) thunderstorms, some definite rain, not an overabundance of sun, and a fair bit of snow in winter (though it definitely lacks the striking landscape of the parts of the NW you're looking at).

[yukiko11]

I live in the convergence zone about 10 miles north of Everett.
In the 19 years I have been here, rain has been plentiful, and snow has been just enough to enjoy which is a few inches about 4 times a year. It is very beautiful here and basically filled with 100 ft pine trees. I live in an area west of Arlington called 7 lakes, because there are 7 lakes. After the 7 lakes is the sound where you can dig clams on the in season and launch your boat to get dungeness crabs. A couple of miles north is the Stiliguamish river where you can catch salmon. This area is known for shopping, casinos, recreation, and water sports, but it also has a small town feel where people go to church on Sundays and go to the local park with a picnic to enjoy music.
This last year has been very unusual. In December, it snowed very hard and the whole area including Seattle was almost paralyzed. In my area we are all on 1/2-2 acre lots. My neighbors all went away for the holidays and I was snowed in for 18 days. I couldn't even get out with my 4x4 truck which is what most people drive here. It took about 9 days for the snow plows to finally show up and all they did was make a 3 ft wall of snow across the front of my driveway. Usually it rains as late as the end of June and it is hot for a few days in Aug. This year we have had constant sunlight since mid May and as I am sitting here at 10:21 AM it is already about 90 degrees and going up to about 100. That coupled with the humidity is killer. Due to the lack of air pollution, the sun can burn you to a crisp in about 15 minutes. Also, the water is generally so cold you can die in about 10 minutes. We have no air conditioning as it is not necessary in our regular climate.
I have no idea if this is going to get worse or if it is just a weird year. I think you should take some time to visit this area. It is within reasonable driving distance for many IT jobs and retail and restaurant jobs are plentiful.

[angelagardner]

Bellingham has a lot of rain and is within about an hours drive to Mt. Baker ski area which usually gets a lot of snow. It is actually one of the top rated ski areas in the country. We don't get a lot of thunder/lighting storms but we do get a lot of wind/rain storms, sometimes some good snowstorms. Last year we had a few good ones. LOL! Although we have a college and there are a lot of students, people of all ages live here and still enjoy it. I am over 30 and do not ever really feel like I am being overwhelmed by college kids. You can take the train to Seattle for a small price without the hassle of driving or even a coach/Amtrak bus for cheap and they are not dirty "bus" type busses, rather nice actually.

[needing more]

Originally Posted by prncsnyc

Thank you everyne for the replies.

I don't think we could live in AZ or New Mexico. No, I'm pretty sure we couldn't lol. We need green stuff.

I so wish we could afford to travel and see WA, NE, TN, etc. but we are so badly off right now. I'm afraid we're going to have to choose between not moving for who knows how long and moving somewhere sight unseen which I know is awful bc we did it before.

We even considered Maine but then we discovered they have a terrible time with bugs which freak me out.

This whole thing is depressing. At this point we can't even afford to move our belongings to my parents and live with them. I just wish I knew where to go...if I had a place picked out, it would life my spirits at least.

Anyone have thoughts on the Puget Sound Convergence Zone or Oregon? I've heard Oregon's traffic is just as bad as LA (as is Seattle's).

If you are broke then I would avoid the west. Middle of the country is cheaper. My sister lives in kansas and its actually very beautiful there.. Noone talks about the rolling hills on the eastern side of the state and its very green there. I have been everywhere from Canada to Florida.. New York state to western Colorado and the best sunset I have EVER seen was in Kansas. They also have amazing thunder/lightening storms too

We are looking into moving to NW Arkansas. Fayetteville area is an up and coming area and I have heard their storms there are unlike anything elsewhere. Good jobs, young people, and land is still reasonable... unlike west of Kansas.

[frostyrides]

As you've already read, Washington is more sunny in the summer, and cloudy and rainy most of the year. If you're looking for seasons and a reasonable sized town at a moderate living expense, you'd most likely want to migrate away from the west coast. Have you looked at many places near the Rocky Mountains. I used to live in Colorado, and I know the Front Range, i.e. Denver, Boulder, Colorado Springs will take you through the seasons, sometimes all in the same month. However it probably doesn't have near as much rain as you'd like, many of the West-Midwest states are pretty dry.