General Washington question (Seattle, Ocean Shores: for sale, oceanfront, vacation home)

[mar99]

I was just curious why there seem to be less people and no major cities on the coast of washington (or within even 50 miles) from the coast. Coastal property is usually most-prized in other states -- why not in Washington?

Thanks for the input; I'm from out of state, and totally clueless about this.

[StealthRabbit]

think - "native american reservation"

A lot of the western coast of pennisula is in reservation (and it is very rugged and beautiful.) Public access is very limited

The southern WA coast is pretty flat and like a sandbar (that could be a problem WHEN tsunami arrives.)

[AzDreamer]

It's the same down through Oregon and most of California. There are lots of reasons, the coastal weather is pretty rough and safe deep harbors are found in Puget Sound.

[brightcopperkettles]

Here's a map that shows where the Native American reservations are in WA:
http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/mapsdata/geo...dianresjpg.htm

Another reason we probably have less development on our oceanfront is the weather. My husband, who has lived here all his life, tells me that the oceanfront gets even more rain than we do on the Kitsap Peninsula; we get rain from Oct-June (well, my husband swears through July 4). If the oceanfront gets more rain than that, that would explain the lack of oceanfront communities for me...

[Fat Freddy]

The weather probably has a lot to do with it. Not everyone likes rain every day. Take a look at Ocean Shores, the most popular tourist beach in Washington. It has a population of about 3700. There are about 1000 houses listed for sale. Some of these are uninhabited vacation homes, and some are homes of permanent residents. Obviously some people bought or built and found that life on the Washington coast wasn't quite what they thought it would be.

[escapetacoma]

Reservations are one reason. I think that much of the northern coast is protected. The southern coast tends toward the marshy. There's also the little matter of the weather. We tend to think of Seattle as rainy but compared to the coast it's a desert:

[chris]

two words:

cold

isolated


However, if they opened up a major highway out to Ocean shores you would see a major increase in population though imo.

[aullori]

its the same in Oregon - I think it's a combo of stubborn sellers (kind of like maine on east) and the winters are brutal. (Or at least that's what us in wa tells the world - I mean Lewis and Clark lived thru the rainfall I guess...)

[diggitydot]

It could also have something to do with the fact that it takes a certain type of personality to enjoy the seemingly continuous winter storms and not mind the constant drizzle during the non-tourist months.

Personally, I would live on the coast in a heartbeat. I love it. And I don't think the winters are all that horrible. Wet, yes. But certainly not horrible. You see snow on the coast very rarely. You'll see it in the coast mountain range, but rarely on the beaches themselves.

[Seattletony]

Most of coastal Washington is ruggred shoreline and also think that some of it is being preserved by the state.