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(I wrote this in another part of the forum but I'd also like to get WA's opinion, does WA have what I'm asking for?)
Alright so as the title says, I am 21 years old and I have a fiance and we are both looking to move. Right now we live in Wyoming. I love the small town feel but I want to broaden my horizons. So I am going to list things that are very important to me and my fiance in hopes that you guy's can help me decide on a place to move...thanks in advance for this!
(These are not going to be in order.)
1. We are nature lovers. We want lot's of green trees but we'd also like four seasons. We love the rain. We like mountains, trees, lots of open land. I personally like snow but she doesn't she is sick of it, lol. We also love rain.
2. We are young so money is a very big issue. We need to move somewhere with lots of opportunities and low cost of living...hard to find these days. We have very little money...around (8,000$) but we will probably save up for a little while longer before moving.
3. I am slightly on the conservative side. I guess I would consider myself more of a libertarian but I don't delve too deep into politics. The only thing that really does worry me is the loss of the second amendment..(guns rights). So I would like to live somewhere with decent gun laws. But at the same time I would like to live around more accepting people that also like nature.
4. We would like to live where the population is semi low. Not too many people but a place where there is a decent amount of conveniences like food places, movie theatre, block busters, ect We would like to live within twenty minutes or so away from these conveniences.
5. Crime rate...we would like to move to a decent place without a lot of crime.
6. I would prefer to move into a small town rather than a city. Maybe a small town near a larger city.
If you need more information then please ask questions.
The places that we are considering...(in order)...
What do you do for work? Port Angeles is a small town and there is not a lot of work there except for maybe tourism. As far as guns go, let me put it this way. If you live near a large city, you're less likely to have people rooting for gun rights because they're not into hunting. So, you will want to live in smaller communities out in the country.
Places I would recommend are Longview/Kelso, WA because of the gun rights issue, cheap cost of living, and being somewhat in the country but also close to Portland; Medford, OR; Klamath Falls, OR; Bend, OR; Spokane, WA because of the four seasons; Camas, WA. What you ask for describes a lot of areas in Washington State, Oregon, etc. That's probaby why you don't have many answers on here.
The big question is what do you do for work and how much you expect to make. Will you be looking for your own house or an apartment?
You can basically live anywhere in the Northwest and enjoy the nature areas around it. Anywhere close to Portland, OR requires a short drive out of the city to some of the best hiking, camping, and outdoor activities in the US. You have Mt Hood, Oregon beaches, Columbia River Gorge, numerous other mountains to choose from for hiking and other activities, white water rafting, etc.
In Washington you have Mt. Ranier, the Olympic National Forest, the Cascades, the Olympics, and the Puget Sound is great for kayaking. So, there are really so many areas here that describe what you're looking for. But like I said, unless you live further out you aren't going to have a lot of people support you with gun rights, including myself. Washington and Oregon are both liberal states, but you will find certain areas that are more conservative. Overall we are very friendly people and are open.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Being from wyo / colo border and now 28 yrs in WA (near Portland, but 30 miles east)
Work is tough to get in WA for the most part. (Tri-cities (Richland, Kennewick, Pasco) area is an exception). Walla Walla is pretty nice out that direction, and close to the Blue Mtns in SE WA.
I would look to
White Salmon / Hood River area (if you can find work... CoL is not cheap there, but Quality of life High.
Camas / Washougal if you need metro close (20 min to Portland airport) This area is very central. 1 hr to skiing (downhill or XC), 40 min to wind surfing (Hood River, 30 minutes to Stevenson, pretty good wind surfing too), 1 hr to scenic OR coast, 1 hr to Mt St Helens, 1 hr to Salem (farming valley) 3 hrs to Seattle. 10 minutes to GREAT hiking and water sports. $39 and 1 hr flight to Sacramento, $59 to San Francisco.
Bellingham, WA area (BC is close enough to 'get-away' ~ 45 min) camping and mtns in Canada are spectacular
Colville, WA
Sandpoint, ID (I like Moscow area as well)
NW Montana (along Clark Fork) Missoula to Thompson Falls
I don't recommend OR for a WY person, as taxes and politics would be tough to stomach.
What do you do for work? Port Angeles is a small town and there is not a lot of work there except for maybe tourism. As far as guns go, let me put it this way. If you live near a large city, you're less likely to have people rooting for gun rights because they're not into hunting. So, you will want to live in smaller communities out in the country.
Places I would recommend are Longview/Kelso, WA because of the gun rights issue, cheap cost of living, and being somewhat in the country but also close to Portland; Medford, OR; Klamath Falls, OR; Bend, OR; Spokane, WA because of the four seasons; Camas, WA. What you ask for describes a lot of areas in Washington State, Oregon, etc. That's probaby why you don't have many answers on here.
The big question is what do you do for work and how much you expect to make. Will you be looking for your own house or an apartment?
You can basically live anywhere in the Northwest and enjoy the nature areas around it. Anywhere close to Portland, OR requires a short drive out of the city to some of the best hiking, camping, and outdoor activities in the US. You have Mt Hood, Oregon beaches, Columbia River Gorge, numerous other mountains to choose from for hiking and other activities, white water rafting, etc.
In Washington you have Mt. Ranier, the Olympic National Forest, the Cascades, the Olympics, and the Puget Sound is great for kayaking. So, there are really so many areas here that describe what you're looking for. But like I said, unless you live further out you aren't going to have a lot of people support you with gun rights, including myself. You don't have to support me. As long as you aren't trying to take away my rights then you are fine in my book. Washington and Oregon are both liberal states, but you will find certain areas that are more conservative. Overall we are very friendly people and are open.
Does this help?
As far as work goes, I've done hard labor since I was 16.
I'm looking for an apartment. Yes, it does help and I appreciate the honesty. One question though, considering everything that I said in my first post...does Clallam County have pretty much what I am looking for?
I've done research and it seems to be exactly what I want but I want an opinion from someone that has been there. I've also read that it is slightly more conservative which is a plus for me. I'd like a place that is around 45%left/55%right. Since I don't fit in either category.
Quote:
Originally Posted by StealthRabbit
Being from wyo / colo border and now 28 yrs in WA (near Portland, but 30 miles east)
Work is tough to get in WA for the most part. (Tri-cities (Richland, Kennewick, Pasco) area is an exception). Walla Walla is pretty nice out that direction, and close to the Blue Mtns in SE WA.
I would look to
White Salmon / Hood River area (if you can find work... CoL is not cheap there, but Quality of life High.
Camas / Washougal if you need metro close (20 min to Portland airport) This area is very central. 1 hr to skiing (downhill or XC), 40 min to wind surfing (Hood River, 30 minutes to Stevenson, pretty good wind surfing too), 1 hr to scenic OR coast, 1 hr to Mt St Helens, 1 hr to Salem (farming valley) 3 hrs to Seattle. 10 minutes to GREAT hiking and water sports. $39 and 1 hr flight to Sacramento, $59 to San Francisco.
Bellingham, WA area (BC is close enough to 'get-away' ~ 45 min) camping and mtns in Canada are spectacular
Colville, WA
Sandpoint, ID (I like Moscow area as well)
NW Montana (along Clark Fork) Missoula to Thompson Falls
I don't recommend OR for a WY person, as taxes and politics would be tough to stomach.
Thanks, I'll mark Oregon off the list.
Like I ask the poster above. What do you think about Clallam county?
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,759 posts, read 58,170,577 times
Reputation: 46263
Quote:
Originally Posted by GreyEclipse
...does Clallam County have pretty much what I am looking for?
Probably, an OK choice, likely not optimal for you. I have never lived there but have several friends who do. It would be worth a try if you have it targeted, see if your specific job and cost issues work. There can be certain regions / towns that are more open to newcomers, but in general WA is pretty accepting. The issue may be how well you like working hard labor in the rain, that is a big change from WY. There you might take some 'rain-time' to do maint work inside, or run errands. Here you work, live, breath, sleep in the rain. I would recommend spending at least a week in 3 different places that you might want to try
As mentioned above, move where you can find the best job. It may be Port Angeles / Clallam County, it may not be. Let me address one aspect of your post:
Quote:
Originally Posted by GreyEclipse
We are nature lovers. We want lot's of green trees
Great, you'd probably like most parts of the Olympic peninsula!
Quote:
Originally Posted by GreyEclipse
but we'd also like four seasons.
Oh... sometimes I think we have two seasons here- summer and everything else. We do get a handful of days of snow here during the winter but most of the fall, winter and early spring weather consists of fair amounts of gray, rainy weather. We're also farther north here than you are there in WY, so our days are going to be much shorter during the winter months than what you're used to in WY.
Quote:
Originally Posted by GreyEclipse
We love the rain. We like mountains, trees, lots of open land. I personally like snow but she doesn't she is sick of it, lol. We also love rain.
Rain? No problem here from October or so all the way through to about March. You may be suprised to hear that summers here are actually relatively dry. Open land? Hmmm, not so much. Certainly nothing like the high desert vistas of WY you're used to seeing. Let's see if I can find a picture. OK, here you go:
Canned tourism photo but it works. See how Port Angeles sits at the base of the Olympic Mountains right on the Strait of Juan De Fuca? Most of the town is rolling hillside and trees. You can't see for miles and miles in every direction like you can in the high desert.
Really it's going to come down to living where you can find work. I wondered if perhaps the Idaho option you mentioned might give you more of what you're looking for from your OP list. The smaller towns around Boise in the Treasure Valley might be the ticket. Maybe on the outskirts of Spokane as eastern WA has much more of the 4 seasons you seek weather wise (but... more snow!)
Otherwise, check out the local Port Angeles paper online. You can see what apartments are going for and can see if any of the listed job ads tickle your fancy:
Probably, an OK choice, likely not optimal for you. I have never lived there but have several friends who do. It would be worth a try if you have it targeted, see if your specific job and cost issues work. There can be certain regions / towns that are more open to newcomers, but in general WA is pretty accepting. The issue may be how well you like working hard labor in the rain, that is a big change from WY. There you might take some 'rain-time' to do maint work inside, or run errands. Here you work, live, breath, sleep in the rain. I would recommend spending at least a week in 3 different places that you might want to try
I love, love, love rain. It is one of the reasons I am so interested in living up there. Love it more than the sun and that's for sure.
I appreciate all your help and advice. The thing that I am worrying the most about is being able to get a job and a place to live.
I am in a horrible financial bind right now...
I am not in any debt or anything of that sort but I have lived in Georgia, I tried to get a job there for years and I couldn't even get an interview. But as it goes, I am very good at saving money so I moved to Wyoming and I'm having the same problem getting a job here. I do have one last way to get money (it is legal but it is something that I WANT to do just because it involved lawyers and my father, I don't really want to as it is probably more trouble that it's worth, I could also get registered with my tribe (native american) and I would get the benefits of that) but I don't want to rely on anyone or any of those because it is my last resort.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dendrite
As mentioned above, move where you can find the best job. It may be Port Angeles / Clallam County, it may not be. Let me address one aspect of your post:
Great, you'd probably like most parts of the Olympic peninsula!
Oh... sometimes I think we have two seasons here- summer and everything else. We do get a handful of days of snow here during the winter but most of the fall, winter and early spring weather consists of fair amounts of gray, rainy weather. We're also farther north here than you are there in WY, so our days are going to be much shorter during the winter months than what you're used to in WY.
Rain? No problem here from October or so all the way through to about March. You may be suprised to hear that summers here are actually relatively dry. Open land? Hmmm, not so much. Certainly nothing like the high desert vistas of WY you're used to seeing. Let's see if I can find a picture. OK, here you go:
Canned tourism photo but it works. See how Port Angeles sits at the base of the Olympic Mountains right on the Strait of Juan De Fuca? Most of the town is rolling hillside and trees. You can't see for miles and miles in every direction like you can in the high desert.
Really it's going to come down to living where you can find work. I wondered if perhaps the Idaho option you mentioned might give you more of what you're looking for from your OP list. The smaller towns around Boise in the Treasure Valley might be the ticket. Maybe on the outskirts of Spokane as eastern WA has much more of the 4 seasons you seek weather wise (but... more snow!)
Otherwise, check out the local Port Angeles paper online. You can see what apartments are going for and can see if any of the listed job ads tickle your fancy:
Thank you, I honestly think that me and my fiance would be the happiest in Washington but I don't know if we can afford it, honestly. It's very hard for us as we are in a money crisis. BUT...
I think we are going to take a huge risk and move out there no matter what. She has repeatedly told me that she wants Washington and for the most part I agree with her. BUT COL, jobs and money is the big issue.
I think we're just going to risk it and dive into Port Angelos.
It will either be a huge mistake or it will all work out.
And there's no telling how it will go unless we just do it.
I've been looking around...the ads that I've seen say 650$ a month for a furnished apartment.
This sounds doable if I can find a job within that area...maybe one for my fiance as well.
I'm probably looking to move either in August or perhaps January...
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Washington and Oregon are both liberal states, but you will find certain areas that are more conservative. Overall we are very friendly people and are open. 
