HELP!!! Need to raise my 3 year old in the best place! Mt. Vernon? Bothel? Whidbey Island?Bellevue? (Seattle: condo, how much)

[Logan's Dad]

Originally Posted by wythors

Skagit and Island counties are a little bit cooler and dryer than Snohomish and King counties. When I lived up there, it rarely got warmer than the high 80's, and then only for a few days a year. Summer temps are usually upper 70's to the low 80's, but again, the summer is not that long here, usually late June through mid August. When you get down towards the King/Snohomish county line, things are just a tad warmer, but not much. The Seattle all time high record is 100. The hottest days of summer may see mid 90's, but it's rare.

70's to low 80's in summer sound like HEAVEN!

I really hope I get a chance to come there!

[brightcopperkettles]

Originally Posted by Logan's Dad

How hot does it get in these cities in the summer?

Mount Vernon?

Whidbey Island?

Bothell?

Anacortes?

Marysville?

To answer your question, may I just say that it is very unusual to find folks with central air conditioning up here. My husband and I have a heat pump, which I insisted on, since I am from the South; we use it for air conditioning maybe two weeks a year period.

Summers are the one time of year that, I think, the Pacific Northwest outdoes any other place in the country. It is GLORIOUS up here then. It's just getting through the other 9 months of dreary weather that I find difficult. Still I have lived up here now since 1993, and I would say only in the last couple of years have I found it to be too "dreary." But I think a big part of that is me working at home by myself and not getting out enough.

If you live anywhere on Whidbey Island, do please get out and enjoy yourself. It is a beautiful place. But "islanditis" can hit you if you don't get out enough. Make friends. Do things. That's the ticket. Good luck!

[Logan's Dad]

Originally Posted by brightcopperkettles

To answer your question, may I just say that it is very unusual to find folks with central air conditioning up here. My husband and I have a heat pump, which I insisted on, since I am from the South; we use it for air conditioning maybe two weeks a year period.

Summers are the one time of year that, I think, the Pacific Northwest outdoes any other place in the country. It is GLORIOUS up here then. It's just getting through the other 9 months of dreary weather that I find difficult. Still I have lived up here now since 1993, and I would say only in the last couple of years have I found it to be too "dreary." But I think a big part of that is me working at home by myself and not getting out enough.

If you live anywhere on Whidbey Island, do please get out and enjoy yourself. It is a beautiful place. But "islanditis" can hit you if you don't get out enough. Make friends. Do things. That's the ticket. Good luck!

I am really leaning towards the Mount Vernon area. Maybe not in Mount Vernon but a small town west of that. (as close to the ocean as I can afford) The islanditis kind of concerns me.

For those of you who live on Whidbey island, is the "islanditis" something you have experienced?

Again, I cannot wait for the cooler weather and a place that is green and clean! Where I live Californians have little respect for the environment.

I just hope that I can have the chance to get a job counseling at Skagit Valley College.

Thanks for everyone's input and keep it coming. I enjoy reading varying opinions!

[ilovewood]

Wow, Logan's Dad, I completely sympathize with you. My wife and I live in Southern California and we are planning to move up to WA and are highly considering Whidbey Island. My wife was born and raised in Redmond/Bellevue and we lived on the Oregon Coast after we were married, so we know what to expect with the whole weather thing. I'd much prefer 60 degrees and drizzly than 80 degrees and sunny in March! But I think the 60-90 inches of rain on the Oregon coast might be a little too much for me.

OK, I would like to know what the prospects for an independent craftsmen (like myself) would be on whidbey island. Is there much a demand for talented craftspeople? Also, I've seen some reasonably priced small parcels of land around the coupeville area. Is there anything to watch out for as far as property taxes, restrictions, school fees, etc? Ideally we would like to buy around-an-acre sized lot, and build a small house.

Thanks for your input!
Hope you don't mind me jumping on to your forum!

[brightcopperkettles]

Coupeville is lovely, good choice. The Captain Whidbey Inn is there; you have to go when they are serving fresh mussels--to die for. My husband and I honeymooned there. But I digress...

Whidbey Island would be a good choice for a craftsman; there are several there, and they do a great job. They do have to travel to the "other side," meaning ferrying across to Mulkilteo to get to Redmond, Bothell, Seattle, or whereever, to do some of their work. It definitely depends on your craft. We looked at one house that was owned by an artist; the home was small but right on the water, and it was filled with pretty things she had done--paintings as I recall. Anyway, I would suggest Coupeville, Langley, or Freeland. Oak Harbor is the largest town, but I didn't like it as well. I loved Langley and Coupeville, though we ended up living in Freeland on the golf course.

Don't know about the particulars regarding restrictions, etc., but a real estate agent could answer that question for you easily enough. Good luck!

[aussiegal]

Logans Dad, Hi: I do happen to know quite a bit about Mt. Vernon. It's a very easy, laid back city with pretty much everything there that one needs to sustain life...some excellent churches (ask me privately for details - I can't list here or give specifics since there are so many choices), shopping mall, outlet mall, very good schools and Skagit Valley College of course (with a very cheap gas station right across the street no less!!). There is tons of new construction of shops, motels, restaurants etc. It's pretty self sufficient. Now as to the weather...it's pretty rainy since it's part of the banana belt weather effect which stretches from this part of WA across to the islands (including Whidbey). And winters can produce snow. Last winter was pretty significant. Summers can be warm but unless you're into Canada, I'm not sure where you would relocate to in the Pacific Northwest that doesn't get warm occasionally. I have to say though that the Mount Vernon area is definitely cheaper than Anacortes if price of housing is an issue.

[birdwomanwa]

Skagit Valley College has a new campus on Whidbey that my son attends. Many retired Navy folks have chosen Whidbey Island. It is beautiful, but not quite as convenient to I-5 as Anacortes or Mt. Vernon. Anacortes is the gateway to the San Juan Islands. Schools seem to have a better rep in Anacortes. We have found Anacortes and Whidbey to be liberal but tolerant. Real estate in the Skagit County is expensive, but a good investment.Property taxes are high in Skagit and Island Counties. Lots of churches and christians in all areas. Trust me, you'll hardly ever be too hot around here. Anacortes does have more sunny days.....

[Cadfael01]

We moved to Coupeville when we retired in 2001 and we love the place! It is a small town (1900 pop) located in the middle of Ebey's Landing Historic Reserve. The scenery is magnificent and you quickly get used to the lack of traffic on the island.
Coupeville is in the middle of the so-called 'banana belt' of Washington where the rainfall is much less than is found over most of Western Washington.
We have a very good, though small, school system here with a lot of community involvement.
As has been said before, Coupeville is the county seat of Island County so we have a number of facilities not normally found in a small city. Whidbey General Hospital is a good example - smallish but efficient and friendly.
About the only drawback of living here on Whidbey Island is a lack of gainful employment for working residents - beyond small businesses owned by individuals and the construction trades, there is not a lot of employment opportunity. Such is available in the Burlington/Mt Vernon area which is about a 40 minute drive.

[RiffRaffQueen]

Skagit County is nice, but it's getting awfully built up because of its proximity to Interstate 5. If you like to go to Seattle frequently, it's nice to be near the Interstate, but if you want to live in a beautiful, friendly and lower-crime area, Whidbey Island is the place to be. Oak Harbor is kind of an ugly town (even though it's surrounded by spectacular natural beauty, the town looks like like one big, cheesy suburb!), but the rest of the island is lovely. My favorite place is Coupeville, which is basically in the middle of a scenic national park. A good way to learn more about the community is by reading the local paper, The Whidbey Examiner. You can find it online at http://www.whidbeyexaminer.com.

[Enj18]

Hey. My husband and I are in the same boat. We're moving out of the central valley up to washington soon with our 3 year old and our 6 month old. I am so unsure about it, not leaning in a bad direction but just very unsure. He got a job offer in Everett, but Im pretty sure I dont want to live in that city. If you have gotten any good input or suggestions, please let me know. Thanks.