Moving to the Washington North coast,Aberdeen, Hoquiam. (Seattle, Tacoma: transplants, real estate)

[jertheber]

This area should be thought of as the North coast because it doesn't get the sun that people associate with the Beach. It's windy and rainy at the beach but the landscape just a short trip inland is astoundingly different from the typical coastal geography, hills and valleys dot the area and provide some respite from the relentless wind of the Ocean. The drive through town is somewhat of a dismal trip given the beaten down appearance of so many of the houses on the main throughfare to the coast, that said, the poverty here is shockingly entrenched, it yells at you, it's profane to say the least. I don't know if the home prices are going to get in line with the new reality we face but if they do I'd love to buy on the hills above Aberdeen or Hoquiam, the views are something to behold, the Ocean and Chehalis river meet at the west end of Hoquiam, if you look up at the hills just as you enter the town you will see some great homes, the ones you pass by on the westbound main drag are pretty badly maintained and make the town look bad. If you are retiring out here it can be a great place to relax and kick back, just don't expect any thing from the town itself, the beauty is in the surrounding countryside and it's really worth the time to trip around and explore the rivers and valleys of Grays Harbor county. The youth here are having to leave and go North to Tacoma or Seattle to find work, many join the military just to escape the grinding pace of life that comes with the high unemployment here. All in all it's just another casualty of the extractive economies of this area, lumber mills, timber cutting, small manufacturing and little else make up the available money here and the pile is shrinking daily, I really feel bad for those who have lived here their whole life and have never been included in the American dream of prospering and building a community. To see the dreams of others smashed down so easily is hurtful to say the least.

[kanhawk]

Just a couple of downtown views of Aberdeen to add to the thread

[Fat Freddy]

What time of day were those pictures taken?

It's true, downtown Aberdeen is run down and depressed, but I have never seen it deserted like that.

[outoffla08]

Originally Posted by jertheber

This area should be thought of as the North coast because it doesn't get the sun that people associate with the Beach. It's windy and rainy at the beach but the landscape just a short trip inland is astoundingly different from the typical coastal geography, hills and valleys dot the area and provide some respite from the relentless wind of the Ocean. The drive through town is somewhat of a dismal trip given the beaten down appearance of so many of the houses on the main throughfare to the coast, that said, the poverty here is shockingly entrenched, it yells at you, it's profane to say the least. I don't know if the home prices are going to get in line with the new reality we face but if they do I'd love to buy on the hills above Aberdeen or Hoquiam, the views are something to behold, the Ocean and Chehalis river meet at the west end of Hoquiam, if you look up at the hills just as you enter the town you will see some great homes, the ones you pass by on the westbound main drag are pretty badly maintained and make the town look bad. If you are retiring out here it can be a great place to relax and kick back, just don't expect any thing from the town itself, the beauty is in the surrounding countryside and it's really worth the time to trip around and explore the rivers and valleys of Grays Harbor county. The youth here are having to leave and go North to Tacoma or Seattle to find work, many join the military just to escape the grinding pace of life that comes with the high unemployment here. All in all it's just another casualty of the extractive economies of this area, lumber mills, timber cutting, small manufacturing and little else make up the available money here and the pile is shrinking daily, I really feel bad for those who have lived here their whole life and have never been included in the American dream of prospering and building a community. To see the dreams of others smashed down so easily is hurtful to say the least.

I'm really unclear as to the jest of this post. Is this a food for thought post for anyone looking to move to the Harbor? Forgive me, where is it that you live?
A community is still a community if it has people who live in, regardless of the economic downfall that has swallowed many communities around the nation. This down in the mouth ho hum attitude has to stop. Everyone is suffering somewhere. Communities need to band together and over come the uncertainty of its future. Everyone of us has the opportunity to become something in our communities, maybe you have alway wanted to start a business, sell art really anything that will improve, benefit and aid in the assistance in the rejuvination of an area. But it takes time, patience and effort of those there. Everyone is searching for a new place to live, a new place to start their business and maybe someone right this very minute is reading the post above and is being discouraged to move to the Harbor and invest in its future. And a future is exactly what the Harbor has, cause there are people who live there that want to be there that want it to survive and succeed.
I currently live in Florida. And yes you might add that we have a tourist season that sustains our lives through the slower months, but we too have become engulfed in the economic crunch. Things have been sliding here for years prior though, thats why I am choosing to move back to the Harbor and invest in its future. I love the Harbor. And I believe it loves me back. I will do what ever I can to insure of its success.

Rock on Harborites......I'll be back soon

[kanhawk]

Originally Posted by Fat Freddy

What time of day were those pictures taken?

It's true, downtown Aberdeen is run down and depressed, but I have never seen it deserted like that.

I took those on a Sunday morning, coming back form the coast. Hence, the deserted look.

[jertheber]

It's time for the cheerleading squads to get real about Aberdeen and Hoquiam. The trouble in these two towns has little to do with any attitude that would be evidenced here, the 'gist' of my post was based on my own observations of the last thirty five years. All the rosy talk of "investing in the Harbor" is merely displaying a severe lack of understanding of economics 101, business invests to make a profit, it doesn't care about the local social dynamic. Only everyday citizens can make the community what it is. The local folk's are struggling so hard just to make ends meet that they don't have the luxury of thinking about art or music, it's just not somthing that has a broad enough appeal. In order to have a diverse culture you need to have a diverse population and Aberdeen has a monocultural population. This isn't a rant on the people, it's just a fact. Shouting the praises of a town and then having no substantial plan to actually do something about the dire situation in that town has become part of the new, "I'm ok you're ok" thinking. If I want information on a town that I would be interested in moving to I'd want the truth and the truth of these two towns is very obvious, they were, and are, company towns that have been abandoned by the very corporations that built them. Don't come here thinking that low house prices are some kind of real estate anomaly, they aren't, please come and take a look around and then decide if you want to get involved with the monumental task of helping revive these towns. I hope more people will see the Grays Harbor area as a challenge and come here expecting to work within the framework of a very real deprivation of spirit and wealth. These towns need transplants who want to be part of something greater than themselves, that said, I hope I've made my point, is what I've said food for thought? God, I hope so....

[j_k_k]

Do you think Aberdeen's a good place to retire?

[Fat Freddy]

Originally Posted by j_k_k

Do you think Aberdeen's a good place to retire?

That would depend on who you are and what you are looking for.

But one thing for sure is that Aberdeen is a better place to come to retire than to come looking for a job.

[allforcats]

Originally Posted by j_k_k

Do you think Aberdeen's a good place to retire?

Sure. If you love driving downpours, sodden hills, landslides and power outages from October through about April -- and the sweet, seductive scent of the sacred Western Red Cedar everywhere all year long. Mmmm... And fogs so beautiful you'll catch your breath. And if you don't have to depend on others for an income, and could, for example, get income from the internets or investments. If you love herons and a million other kinds of waterfowl and wildfowl, tiny garnets in the sand up on Ruby Beach, excellent fishing, just enough commerce and resources but lots more in Olympia, and peace and quiet. But you gotta love trees. I mean l o v e. More than half the peninsula is trees, forests, secrets known only to elk and bears and Native Americans... and forest faeries. Could be the adventure of a lifetime, eh?

[j_k_k]

Originally Posted by allforcats

Sure. If you love driving downpours, sodden hills, landslides and power outages from October through about April -- and the sweet, seductive scent of the sacred Western Red Cedar everywhere all year long. Mmmm... And fogs so beautiful you'll catch your breath. And if you don't have to depend on others for an income, and could, for example, get income from the internets or investments. If you love herons and a million other kinds of waterfowl and wildfowl, tiny garnets in the sand up on Ruby Beach, excellent fishing, just enough commerce and resources but lots more in Olympia, and peace and quiet. But you gotta love trees. I mean l o v e. More than half the peninsula is trees, forests, secrets known only to elk and bears and Native Americans... and forest faeries. Could be the adventure of a lifetime, eh?

Well, the thinking is that if there's virtually no economic base, it's probably not too expensive to live there on retirement income. Having gone through grades 6-12 in a timber town just as heavily impacted as Aberdeen, I understand that transition (and the pleasure of heavy forests) perhaps better than some. I've been through Aberdeen several times but didn't really linger there. I've always thought I would go home to Kansas to retire, but it's good to keep one's eyes peeled and plan in advance.