Relocating to Okanogan County (Seattle, Olympia: homes, neighborhood, buying)

[racechick73]

NCWmark- A question for ya. Is Wenatchee similiar to the Omak and Twisp areas in regard to their acceptance of newcomers? I know that we're known as "coasties" over here, and I've met a lot of people from Omak/Twisp and surrounding areas that were surprised at how nice I was. I was told that the general consensus is that we're all a bunch of rich jerks over here, which is understandable b/c there are quite a few of those, ha ha! So I'm wondering if that's a Okanogan County thing, or are they like that in Wenatchee, too?

[NCWmark]

Racechick-

Well, let me see. I haven't lived in Okanogan or Omak, so don't know how to compare to a situation I haven't experienced, but... I moved to Wenatchee about 6 years ago and never had a problem with acceptance or making friends. Now, I wasn't a "coaster" (we used to call you guys 206ers) as I'd moved here from the Tri-Cities area.

A great many west siders retire to Eastern Washington, and that causes the only "wariness" of coasters that I'm familiar with. Basically, it works like this. Seattle area residents retire to Wenatchee/Chelan, with the influx of retirement age people and the money they made in higher paying areas, the property values go up. Suddenly, people who could've afforded waterfront property on the Columbia River or Lake Chelan ten or twenty years ago now cannot. This is where the sour feelings come from. I actually know of an older person who has lived in Wenatchee all her life and she had to sell her house because new housing had built up around her and the property value had raised so much (and along with it, her property taxes) and her income had not.

This is not a new situation, it's the same thing that happened years ago to Issaquah and the Lake Sammamish area, and then North Bend. The same attitudes were there when I lived in Missoula, Montana about ten years ago. People there were seeing these large ranches subdivided into housing tracts and Californians and Washingtonians moving in. It wasn't that they held anything personally against the newcomers, it was that they didn't want what they loved about their area changed. That's the biggest complaint here in Wenatchee. There used to be apple orchards all over the place inside the city limits, now there still are some but most have been ripped out and turned into housing. Can't blame the farmers, because who would turn down that kind of money. Gotta blame someone, I guess... so why not blame the "206ers"

That being said, I've never heard anything close to hatred or even too resentful regarding outsiders. There may be a little more warming up period before people put too much trust in you, but that's more situational. Remember unlike Renton or Bellevue, most people in Omak have known about 90% of the people in their town for 20 years or more... if someone new moves in they stick out as a stranger. You can welcome them to town, but you still don't "know" them like you've known your longtime neighbors.

All in all west siders are welcomed with open arms and people are pretty friendly, and remember from Leavenworth to Chelan to Twisp and Winthrop there's a lot of focus put on tourism so that contributes to the acceptance.

Well... I rambled more there than I had planned on. Hope its decipherable and makes sense.

[racechick73]

Yeah- of course that makes sense, thanks! Actually, we have the same issues here in Whatcom County with all the Californians moving in. The same thing is happening here- the Californians move in with the big money, jack up the housing prices, and since they're either retired or are able to work from home, they don't have to find a job to pay for that big fancy house. So what happens when you have more people move into an area? You have more new businesses that give jobs to the locals, but then only pay minimum wage, therefore causing the locals to be forced to move elsewhere, because they can't keep up with the rising housing prices and the wages suck because they're service jobs catering to all the growth.
Sound familiar?!
We're planning on getting out of here- but we plan to move to Wyoming by the end of summer. Why Wyoming, you ask? BECAUSE IT IS THE LEAST POPULATED STATE IN THE NATION, THAT'S WHY!!
And hopefully it will stay that way for a long time, ha ha!
Thanks NCWmark, for your honesty. I absolutely understand why there is a little hesitance there- we feel the same in our neck of the woods.

[Barina]

I didn't think the Wenatchee area got a lot of snow since it is further south. I have been looking into the Okanogan area mainly due to its heavy winters, so that is good news I will check into the area and the house prices there now. Thank you all again

[Corkyrae]

Just thought i would give you all my opinion
well... i really think that winthrop/twisp would be a really great place for you to live, i went to school there and i liked it a lot better than okanogan school, i ended up quitting okanogan school because the teachers dont really care what or how you learn. winthrop is one of the best places to raise children and what not. i just graduated recently from worksource and i really wish that i could have finished my schooling in winthrop, and it is really not that far away from okanogan. about 1 hour if you need to go there...i also would like to point out that winthrop is a lot more accepting to newcomers, and it is a great environment for friendly people. i would have to say that the best parts of winthrop are the people and the schools. <3 corky

[RiftReaper]

Originally Posted by racechick73

There is one hospital in Okanogan County- it's located right between Omak & Okanogan, and I know there's a good-sized Medical Center on the north side of Omak.

Just thought I would point out that there is three hospitals in Okanogan County. The one she mentioned, One 30 miles south of Omak in Brewster and one 25 miles north of Omak in Tanasket

[KellyC]

Hello-

In truth Omak isn’t as bad as members make it out to be. I have lived in the area since 1976. There are 3 public hospitals in the county. North Valley Hospital (Tonasket), Mid- Valley Hospital (Omak) and Okanogan/Douglas county Hospital (Brewster). All are looking for qualified people! There are many other medical facilities in the area as well. Jobs are not hard to come by in the medical field- check their websites.
As far as the not trusting ‘coasties’, it is mostly the impatient attitudes that will get on the wrong side of the locals no matter where you are from- that and the weekend Rambo style hunters.
The schools aren’t that bad (Okanogan is better than Omak in my opinion) and the drug problem doesn’t seem that bad to me compared to the bigger cities.

[C.O.]

Hello~I was raised in the Okanogan valley,and so my view may be a bit prejudiced;but in my opinion it's still the most beautiful place to me.It will always be home.Things have changed alot there in Omak & Brewster, but if you're looking for that small town feeling; you can probably still find it in Okanogan & in the country round Malott.The country is beautiful , the summers tend to be hot and dry, and winters can be hard at times; but it's worth it if you want to live in a place that's not as populated.The schools tend to be on the rough side.I'd recommend home-schooling, but that's not to say it couldn't work.The problems stem from alot of people coming in there from other places, and are usually not caused by people that have lived there most their lives.Good luck to you

[509]

Originally Posted by racechick73

NCWmark- A question for ya. Is Wenatchee similiar to the Omak and Twisp areas in regard to their acceptance of newcomers? I know that we're known as "coasties" over here, and I've met a lot of people from Omak/Twisp and surrounding areas that were surprised at how nice I was. I was told that the general consensus is that we're all a bunch of rich jerks over here, which is understandable b/c there are quite a few of those, ha ha! So I'm wondering if that's a Okanogan County thing, or are they like that in Wenatchee, too?

There are very few native eastern Washingtonians left.

People forget that there was a mass migration into eastern Washington from the coast since 1990. Half the homes in Okanogan County are owned by coasties that still live on the dark side. That does not even count the coasties that have moved into eastern Washington.

In my neighborhood 20% are natives, 20% came from other states, and 60% came from the coast. Otherwise known as "coasties".

The "coasties" are not very friendly. Most just live in their houses and refuse to talk or mingle in the neighborhood. So most of the people we talk to in the neighborhood are "natives". Oh well, everything changes and Wenatchee is now a big city.

So before people put down the unfriendlessness of "locals" check to be sure that they are really "local".

That said there are exceptions to all rules....there are some coasties that are friendly. I guess most of them just have not lived in small towns or mingled with the neighbors.

The coasties from small towns are definitely friendlier.

The key is to talk to people.

[C.O.]

I agree.Most of those people that have lived there most their lives are usually friendly, down to earth people.Although, I'm sure I can't speak for everyone. When I was growing up there, everyone in town knew each other. I can still go there and see people I knew growing up. Alot of their children are still there.The ones I talk to really hate to see changes, but I don't believe they dislike newcomers.I've seen alot of newcomers welcomed into the community.I think it's more that they don't want to see those that are shiftless coming in and crime escalating.There used to be alot of pride in the small towns there.Towns were clean and neat and so were businesses.