Moving to Washington... Need advice on loacation and business... (Seattle: for sale, unemployment rate)

[LexiDorri]

My husband and I are wanting to move to Washington before the year ends. We are looking to start a business of either a B&B or a head shop. I was wondering what areas would do good for either of those that has plenty of rain, cool people, outdoor fun and places to ride my horse (besides a designated park like here in Florida... there are becoming less and less places). The more rain the better. At first we looked into going to Oregon but the unemployment rate for the state is one of the highest in the nation (#3)! I see the pictures for Washington and they are beautiful! Forks looks amazing but I don't want to run into a bunch of twilight fanatics that take it too far and I don't know much about Raymond even though that looked good too. We would prefer to stay away from big cities. Any advice would be great before we leave to visit to decide on which place to settle down in here in the next month. Thanks!

[allforcats]

B&B OR HEAD SHOP: I might be too old to be accurate about this, but I believe you'd starve to death very quickly if you opened a head shop here. (Is it even legal in WA?) The B&B idea is much more promising, although very hard work, and would depend on being in a location visited by tourists.

RAIN: Most of western Washington gets lots of DRIZZLE for nine months of the year, during "winter". Rain -- defined here as dense showers, which I'll define as very dense drizzle -- is occasional, but can be expected from about mid-October through much of December.

COOL PEOPLE: What's your definition?

OUTDOOR FUN: Anywhere in western, or eastern, Washington will put you near an almost endless variety of outdoor recreation and sports.

HORSE RIDING: Land ownership limitations apply.

FORKS, and OLYMPIC PENINSULA: If you scroll down on this Washington forum, and go to the previous pages, you'll find many threads about Forks. They all say how beautiful the surrounding rainforest is even if Forks itself isn't actually beautiful, how virtually impossible it would be to make a living there, and how there are almost no resources at all there. Isolated.
HOWEVER, the B&Bs on the west side of the Olympic Peninsula (where Forks is) are by and large quite expensive. That suggests to me that either it costs a lot to run a B&B there, or that there might be room in that market for a mid-price B&B. As a person who roams the Oly Pen rather frequently (as a tourist and bird watcher), I would seriously consider staying at a mid-priced B&B.

RAYMOND: Raymond? It would, I think, be a lovely place to live if semi-isolation is what you want. But to run a business like a B&B that must draw tourists... I don't think so. I'm trying to think of anyone I've ever known here who's ever gone to Raymond. I can't think of anyone (and although I'm odd, I'm not very odd). Which means you'd have to do a massive amount of constant advertising, especially on TV, and invent reasons to entice people to Raymond. That can quickly get very expensive.

B&B: Maybe there's an important point about a B&B that I don't understand, but it would be my expectation that a B&B should be in a location, or very close to a location, where people want to go because there are specific things to see and/or do. Meaning tourist attractions, which covers a great many kinds of activities. I've stayed at scores of B&Bs over the years, but none of them was my destination. All of them were near the "attractions" that were my destinations.

POPULAR LOCATIONS: Popular locations in western Washington where people go to play and need a place to sleep overnight, include the many, many towns at the foothills or in the mountains up and down the Cascade Mountains chain from north to south, along the east-west Hiways 90, 2 and 20.
The islands are also very popular getaway places where B&Bs are expected and wanted.
Also Olympic National Park, on the Olympic Peninsula. But the entrance to the Park is at Port Angeles, on the north side of the peninsula where there's very little rain. If you Google B&Bs for Port Angeles, Sequim and Port Townsend, you'll see, versus Forks.

I hope there might be here some ideas to add to your thinking. Have fun researching!

[LMB]

AFC is right. A successful B&B should be where tourists are found already--a destination area. Instead of running away from Twilight fans, how about embracing your inner vampire and opening a Twilight-based B&B? We just drove through Forks last week on the way to the coast (and the way back), and were amazed at how many Twilight-themed businesses have popped up there this past year. A B&B that offered an over-the-top Twilight experience should do quite well...while the frenzy lasts anyway. I just heard that the number of July Twilight visitors to Forks broke all kinds of records, but who knows how long it will last. Good for Forks--it's been a boon for them, and they certainly needed it. A funny handmade sign we saw as we neared Rialto Beach said "No vampires allowed beyond this point!"

Lynn

PS--AFC, we finally visited the Hoh Rain Forest too. It was beautiful, but my heart is still with the Quinault. Next time it's back there again. :-)

[Ira500]

Head shops are not illegal. there's been one in the Pike Place market for years, and i think there's one in the U district as well, but could you make a living owning one outside of Seattle? Maybe in Bellingham or Olympia. I think you'd need to sell things other than rolling papers and pipes. How about underground comics? Do those things still exist?

[greengirly68]

Lexi,
My husband and I were recruited here to Long Beach- for medical field almost 2 yrs ago. It is so beautiful. There are several B&B's and a historic one in Long Beach is for sale. It's called the Lion's Paw Inn. It was the original hospital I've been told for the peninsula. This is somewhat island type living. Very remote and rugged. Major shopping is 25miles away in Oregon where there is no sales tax. The longest beach in the world, Long Beach is very popular for riding horses on. It is not unusual to see people riding horses in town on the way to the beach. My family drives it often and it takes atleast 20min to drive up to the end to Oysterville.
Weather is something to get used to and either you love it or you hate it and leave. It is ocean mists in the morning, eerie fog comes in when it is hot inland. We sit around 55-65 degrees most of the time. This summer has been gorgeous. Portland and Seattle folks have been flocking here to get away from the heat, so beautiful at 65-75 the last few weeks. Morning rain opens up to sunny afternoons. Winters sit at 40-50degrees and it has light rain most days. The rain wears on some. Several beaches, fishing, crabbing, clamming all available. funbeach.com: Long Beach Peninsula Visitors Bureau. Beach activities, Beach attractions, lodging long beach washington, beach vacation, beach photos, photo contest, pet-friendly accommodations, free desktop wallpaper, washington state international k will give you more info on the region.
You mentioned Raymond earlier which is 50 minutes away. It is a a known speed trap and the police are very enthusiastic there to pull over everyone. I really can't say too many redeeming features about Raymond since it doesn't have the same tourist draw as this area does.
The people make this place though. They are amazingly friendly. Mostly finnish, logging,fishing backgrounds they are receptive to outsiders because it is a tourist town as well. Astoria is nearby, and Warrenton has HomeDepot, Costco, and Fred Meyers. Again, these are 25min away.
good luck on your search...