Considering Colville - small farm and orchard (Seattle, Spokane: house, live)

[avanight]

I should add I lived in Deer Park before the new road improvements through Riverside (Hwy 2). Hwy 2 looks good to me. I think it's safe. Again I have no statistics.

I did move away from Deer Park because of meth addicts who owned a house across the street from me and would harass and throw things at us. And stole everything from my garage the day we moved in while we were at the post office. But I'm kind of a ***** so if you've got the balls to give meth addicts the smack down Deer Park could be an OK home. There are a$$holes everywhere.

goatgirl: December and January are really the worst. In March the roads should be clear. But check weather forcasts. When in doubt I always try to drive bad roads between noon and 2 or 3 pm when the sun is out and the roads will be melty. Then around 4 things start freezing again and the roads will get dangerous. And avoid Friday and Saturday nights when the drunks are out.

[MT2WA]

FARS is the Fatal Accident Reporting system located here FARS Encyclopedia: Reports (http://www-fars.nhtsa.dot.gov/Main/reportslinks.aspx - broken link)

It contains reports by state as we ll as by contributing factors (alcohol, time of day etc).

[MT2WA]

This FARS report shows various types of incidents for Washington. Between 2006 and 2007 there was a drop of 10% in fatalities from

FARS Encyclopedia: States - Crashes and All Victims

633 to 529 fatal accidents.

Interestingly enough the numbers on all the reports do not quite agree, it looks like there were 26 rural interstate fatalities in 2007 for the whole state.

In those accidents the driver died 52% of the time and the passenger died 22%, the difference being made of of motorcyclists, bystanders, pedestrians, and "others".

[karinfreeman]

Originally Posted by goatgirl

That stretch of highway sounds horrible. We were going to drive it the first part of March, should we be worried?

This is an alarmist attitude that you've been fed. I don't think that 395 is treacherous! i live inChewelah and many teachers of the schools have lived in spokane and we never had a fatality. The coach was pretty very old and wasn't a coch any more. Just use your head and in the early morning and evening keep your deer eyes out! It is beautiful! The view as you come over the ridge into chewelah is a wondor of the world. Sand point is the new toffie nosed mecca of the upwardly mobile. Furthurmore I think that big highway unpleasant! from Arctic/Chewelah lady

[MT2WA]

I am used to Thompson Pass in the spring and fall so I'll be fine. Some of the replies are humerous.

[teach1234]

A "growing" problem with drunk drivers? They've always been there, far as I can tell. Meth is a new thing but you gotta check your neighborhood before you buy/rent. Tens of thousands of people drive 395 every day without mishap. In my opinion, it used to be much more dangerous, then the state patrol started some zero tolerance policies, pulling people over for going 60 in a 55, and DOT performed some much needed roadwork. I don't like driving it because of the traffic. Take a look at some of the little communities on the Columbia river-not much in the way of entertainment, but they are quiet and beautiful in the summer, with the added benefit of taking the Columbia river road to 2, then it's about 30 minutes to the Spokane airport, all with little to no traffic.

[MT2WA]

Two Questions:

#1 Which communities are you thinking of (along the Columbia)?

#2 Where is the meth problem the most and least problematic? I know this is a sort of subjective vague question but in some cases they're small communities that are either particularly afflicted or free of this problem.

I know that in parts of rural Montana where law enforcement is vigilant the problem is relatively "less". Of course, people travel etc etc.

[teach1234]

Look on a map--starting with Kettle Falls, there are around 6 very small towns on the river road (Hwy 25?) that parallel the Columbia River south. Rice, Daisy, Hunters, Fruitland, etc. There are also many people living on the Colville Indian Reservation--there's a free ferry every half hour that crosses the river. These towns are beautiful in the summer with great swimming holes in the Columbia, fall is spectacular, early winter and early spring are grey and drizzly. There is very little local industry--people either farm or are retired, or commute to Colville etc. for work. The river and southern exposure give a 2 week longer growing season and slightly milder temps than Colville and points further east. There are some really interesting places, such as the Quillisasket goat cheese farm and a lot of local organic farms/orchards. My impression is that the meth problem is pretty rare on the towns close to the river but more severe further east. However, these things change so rapidly that my perceptions are certainly outdated.

[MT2WA]

Yes thank you for the reply. The ultimate goal is to be in an area with small farms and orchards and little other industry.

What are your perceptions of living on the reservation land versus adjacent to it somewhat? Upsides, downsides? I know that in Montana the 'downside' can be the water rights are handled differently in some cases and water can be expensive (relative to off the res) however there are largely no differences. Despite that there is a price differential in some cases. Any thoughts on that topic in this area of Washington?

[teach1234]

My impressions are that Inchelium (the largest town on the res) is quite open to other races. I know there are quite a few non-Indians who own houses there. Best bet is talk to a realtor who has handled transactions there. I don't have any leads on that. If your ultimate goal is small farms, I think this strip of country is the best you're going to find. Due to the lack of paying jobs there is little transient activity--most people who move are retired and generally tend to stay, unlike Colville or larger towns. If it had good paying jobs and the winter/spring wasn't so grey and drizzly I've live there year-round.