"I want Paradise" posts (current residents only, please)

[yukiko11]

They are definately talking about Oregon LOL

[KAILANI]

Help me find my ideal place in Washington. Priorities:
(PORT ANGELES for instance

Don't like rain or intense heat. Lots of rain Sep-April
Would like to be near ocean. Right on the strait, 1.5 hr drive to "ocean"
Would like to be able to see mountains. YES!!! Olympics
Four full seasons. wet, rain, gray, some snow, sun, Snow in winter. Yes, but not a whole lot!
Good job market. Healthcare-ok, the rest is no good...
Reasonable housing prices, maybe a few acres. I'd say pretty fair, land prices ok
Short, easy commute. Small town, short commutes-10 mins!
No traffic. 4 main streets, some traffic from 4-6
Ready access to big city nearby. 1.5 to silverdale, 2 to seattle
Excellent schools. BAD high school, the rest are great!
Diversity. Fair..
Active arts community. Fair
Small-town feel. OH YEAH!!
Lots of whole food/vegan/raw food/local produce/etc. options. Sequim has this!
Not too churchy, no Bible-thumpers. Lots of various churches but fairly
reserved. Some "door knockers"
Politically tolerant (I can't tolerate right-wingers). Pretty much!

[jertheber]

Yes, we all seem to looking for paradise in some way or another. even when we aren't looking to move, we entertain the idea via the web, travel sites, relocation forums such as this, and a host of others that appeal to our discontent, big and small, with our present locale.

I recently retired, and I found this site very helpful in making my decision as to where I was going to move to from the So. Seattle area. I was looking in western Wa. exclusively, but didn't know too much about the small towns I'd found on a map.

The trouble with these sites is the fact that so much of what's written is from a subjective point of view, and understandably so. That said, do we not tend toward over generalization when responding to these requests for our description of our slice of paradise? For instance, the Seattle area is usually referred to as being some kind of holdover from the days of rugged logging and fishing types making up the main body of inhabitants. truth be told the area contains as many couch spuds as the rest of the nation on average.

I lived in this state for most of my life, like most people I worked full time, meaning that, in all the years I lived here, I didn't see all of the places I'd liked to have traveled to. Yes we have the Ocean, Mountains, deserts, and everything in between but it takes a long time to see it all and spend enough time in those places to enjoy them. Of course there is the other problem, too many people coming to an area of seeming paradise, and you end up with paradise lost.

It is just that aspect of over population that is hard to convey to all those who are thinking of coming here, as an older person I can attest to the degradation of our pristine surroundings in the last fifty years, it has been said that it takes time to ruin a civilization, but, time is all it takes. if we are going to be living with another million or so newcomers in the next few years we'd better be prepared to lose the good stuff that made the NW all it has been.