HELP!!! Need to raise my 3 year old in the best place! Mt. Vernon? Bothel? Whidbey Island?Bellevue?

[Mightbemoving]

Hey - My wife and I also are in the same boat. The only drawback were working out is the whole weather thing. Overall we love the rain, but were not sure how 10 months of it would be. Can anyone tell me - is it ALWAYS raining and cloudy - or - are there times when the sun does come out - if only for an hour?

Thanks all

[Midorigreen]

When it rains, it rains -no real breaks of sunshine....sorry to say.... We lived in Anacortes for a year and half and just recently moved to San Antonio, TX. We are much happier here. I never realized how much the rain would affect me until I lived in it for over a year. I think we left skid marks on our departure!

We found it really hard to make friends in Anacortes ( Island mentality???)... If i were moving the area I would choose Mt. Vernon to anywhere on the Islands.

[Enj18]

CA is discusting, I agree. Nothing but drug addicts, and all the bay area crap is traveling to the valley to live cheaply, and make the towns gross. Over populated, always dead grass, and garbage along with ******* drivers and alot of welfare. I'm tired of it, so we're moving to WA... where it actually rains, there is REAL green grass... and No bay area crap.

[scirocco22]

Originally Posted by Enj18

CA is discusting, I agree. Nothing but drug addicts, and all the bay area crap is traveling to the valley to live cheaply, and make the towns gross. Over populated, always dead grass, and garbage along with ******* drivers and alot of welfare. I'm tired of it, so we're moving to WA... where it actually rains, there is REAL green grass... and No bay area crap.

Don't be so sure that you're necessarily getting away from all of that moving to Washington ...or it won't eventually follow you to WA.

[JDTD]

Originally Posted by 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.

I live in a Lake Stevens address (North-East of Everett), but it's somewhat between Lake Stevens, Arlington and Marysville. These are all pretty close to Everett, and they are "smaller" communities. In my opinion, you want to stay away from anything from south of Everett. Areas south are a lot more congested, the traffic is way worse and crime is higher. When there wasn't a Costco in Arlington, I would seriously rather drive 30-40 minutes to the North (Mount Vernon) to go to one rather than drive 20 minutes south into Everett. The reason is that you may not make it back anytime soon once you get down there. ANYWHERE South of North Everett (if that makes sense), your chances of being caught in ridiculous traffic ifor long periods of time increases substantially.

Lake Stevens, Snohomish, Arlington and Marsyville all give you a "smaller" town type feel and are relatively short commutes into Everett. I can drive into Everett in about 20 minutes from where I live. By WA standards, this is good. This is my opinion. Good luck!

p.s. I really do have a newer house on acreage surrounded by excellent neighbors (with several having children between the ages of 1-5) if you are interested (If you happened to read my response to your other post). By CA standards, it would probably even be considered cheap . Seriously though...good luck with your decision!

[ljhall8946]

I transplanted here from Southern California due to my husbands job change in 1995. I it is hardest to get through the winter months for the first one to two winters. About the time you think you cannot bear another day of rain the sun comes out and wow!! It is beautiful. It seems so much more so I think because you do have the winter. It makes you appreciate the summers so much more. There are lots of things to do even in the winter. You just have to decide the rain is not going to stop you.

I wouldn't live in Everett but there are many rural areas around Everett with a country feel and a far cry from the Bay Area congestion. We have our own traffic problems and like all citys we struggle with the politics of getting things done.

[Mod Cut: Advertising]

[haggardhouseelf]

Originally Posted by JDTD

Lake Stevens, Snohomish, Arlington and Marsyville all give you a "smaller" town type feel...

Hi Logan's Dad... I just wanted to add that from what you've posted, it sounds like any of those places that JDTD has mentioned would probably be great. Certain parts of Lake Stevens are especially nice and I have heard that a few of their schools are on par with Bellevue. (Bellevue is known as having the best schools in the Seattle/Eastside area... but I wouldn't recommend Bellevue unless you want to live around lots of traffic, construction, condo's, congestion, and "uppity" people... there's just that sort of snotty vibe there - lots of rich kids in fancy cars with too much time on their hands after school, or horny tech guys prowling on their lunch breaks! That's just the vibe my family gets, anyway!)

I would also highly recommend Redmond Ridge IF you don't mind new construction. It might be a bit of a commute - not sure... but if you come to visit be sure to check the area out. We have lived here for about a year now and it is a wonderful, safe, beautiful community for families. The elementary school here is WONDERFUL (Rosa Parks Elementary) and the community is set up to be a "walking" community - just about everything you need is a mile or less away. We have horse, bike, and walking trails; fire pits for nighttime campfires at the many community playgrounds; a community garden; lots of trees and woodsy areas; and an 800+ acre protected watershed/woodlands area with lots more trails just right across the street. We get snow in winter, flowers in spring, and it gets hot enough in the Summer to swim. Lots of beautiful families here. There is also a church here as well.

Redmond Ridge is also high up on a hill... so we don't have the worries of flooding like many lower-lying communities here have. In fact from many spots in the neighborhood on a clear day you can look out and see Mount Rainier. My son has views of Mount Rainier from his Rosa Parks Elem. classroom. He thinks it's sweet.

Good luck finding your spot!!

~:hhe:~

[haggardhouseelf]

Originally Posted by Enj18

... always dead grass... there is REAL green grass...

I just wanted to say that I totally agree.

My husband and I both were born in and raised in hot southern climates, and we had our children in Texas. We then moved to California (Rocklin, just a bit outside of Sacramento) and spent a hot horrible year there.

Then we moved to Oregon. I remember the first full year of have green grass ALL year. It never got brown and crunchy! It was amazing. We were blown away.

We live in Washington state now. Same thing. Green green green.

Of course - when you go over to the eastern sides of the Cascades in both Oregon and Washington you find that hot hot hot weather and brown grass again... as it's "high desert" over there... but on the western side we stay wet and muddy and moist enough so that our grass is always green and soft - if it hasn't been taken over by moss and mud!

[haggardhouseelf]

Originally Posted by Mightbemoving

Hey - My wife and I also are in the same boat. The only drawback were working out is the whole weather thing. Overall we love the rain, but were not sure how 10 months of it would be. Can anyone tell me - is it ALWAYS raining and cloudy - or - are there times when the sun does come out - if only for an hour?

Thanks all

There are long stretches of time when it's just dark and grey and wet and cold. Many people cope by planning their vacations during that time - they take off for a week or more to some warm sunny location.

The sun sometimes comes out a bit, sort of playing a slow motion game of peek-a-boo from time to time. It can be hard, though. I am a Texan and the weather and light adjustment has been tough on me. Remember that up here you will have shorter actual days during the winters too. It might just be a shorter day by an hour or so, but it might mean the difference between driving home from work while it's still light outside, and driving to and from work everyday in the dark. This can be very depressing - spending all your "daylight" (even though during the day there's still no sun) at work.

You can compare the sunrise/sunset times during various times of the year to see what I'm talking about. Think about the sunrise/sunset times according to your normal work schedule and think about it...

We had a few days this past winter where it snowed a bunch, and the sun came out! It was awesome. Those little bouts of sun are times for celebration, really. That's one thing I will say for the awful weather out here - it makes you truly appreciate the nice moments, an without it we wouldn't have all this nice green stuff all year.

The Summer's are what wins everybody over. They are awesome.

This is our experience, anyway. I though I loved rain, too... when I lived in Texas I used to absolutely go nuts every time the sky would turn grey and a storm blew through... I loved it. Now I'm completely the opposite - for the sunny, clear sky, warmer moments!