Most beautiful small towns? (Seattle, Anacortes: crime, high school, live)

[thelanje]

I'm looking for some help identifying some of Washington's most beautiful small towns. Specifically: population between 1,000-10,000, nice walkable "downtown" area, and something ones a bit remote and disconnected.

any suggestions?

thanks!

[Ira500]

Port Townsend?

[LeftCoastRider]

Port Townsend, definitely. Also Coupeville and Langley on Whidbey Island, and Friday Harbor on San Juan Island.

[NCWmark]

On the east side of the mountains:
Leavenworth, Cashmere, Chelan, Twisp, and Okanogan come to mind.

[AzDreamer]

I have always liked Anacortes, especially the part of downtown that the main road to the ferry terminal bypasses. Lots of old brick buildings, very walkable, and a real good bakery.

[thelanje]

Great, thanks for the suggestions everyone. I'm now realizing I'm particularly interested in locations in the West part of the state that get a lot of rain. Port Townsend sounds pretty good so far, any other suggestions?

[LMB]

Check out LaConner, Gig Harbor and Poulsbo too. Other than Port Townsend, Langley and Coupeville, which have already been mentioned, these towns are all favorites of ours. We moved to Poulsbo nearly two years ago--after basically the same search you're doing (small western WA town, near water, walkable downtown) although we also wanted to be somewhat close to Seattle to be near family. We love it here. You have several choices, all good ones!

Lynn

PS--we haven't received nearly as much rain as we expected. Only 22" total last year at our nearest weather station, Central Market. I think it's been drier than usual the last couple of years in this area.

[Wanderlust07]

I think Port Orchard's an oft-overlooked gem. It has a cute, albeit small, downtown area on the waterfront, facing the marina (photos here: Photo Gallery).

You can count on plenty of rain, unless the weather is like today's!

[WAwannabe]

Omak.. But if you like the rain you don't want to be here. It's in the rain shadow since it's in the Okanogan Valley.. Nice hot summers, some snow during the winter.. great fruit

[jertheber]

Most of the towns listed above are tourist driven and offer little in the way of "small town feel" let alone remoteness. Washington is like the midwest in that our big cities are alive and well but the small towns are like going back in time. Our real small towns are those in the 1000 to 3500 range and have poor economic prospects, that said, it isn't all bad news on the small town front. Schools are good in the main but like I said we have a true poverty in the rural areas, plenty of churches and VFW halls, Eagles, and Moose clubs but don't come expecting any grand welcome, this is life at ground zero for many, and outsiders are seen as part of the problem, not part of any solution. More retiree's are moving to small washington towns and they have mentioned having a difficult time adjusting to the pinned down populace that doesn't socialize much in winter. It's all about local high school sports and hoping for some juicy gossip, but all in all, it's layed back and nobody bothers you, crime can be higher in some areas due to Meth making but no more of a threat than California's pot growing in the forest. Look at our real small towns on the map and see if you can't find one that's suitable, you'll really need to look for yourself as most folks here have a wide range of opinion. Good luck.