Coastal living in western WA? Aberdeen? (Seattle, Tacoma: appointed, rent, movies)

[grega94]

Is there any particular reason why you are focusing on the WA coast? From what I hear the Oregon coast is usually considered better, though most of the towns are very small with their industry focused on tourism. However Coos Bay/North Bend is of similar size to Aberdeen/Hoquiam . Coos bay is about 5F warmer in the winter than Aberdeen, but then it's about just as much cooler in the summer. You can look at the average climate tables of both in the wiki article. Not sure how they compare economically, but Coos Bay grew by 2.5% since 2010, while Aberdeen shrunk by 0.8%. That being said Coos Bay doesn't have a Home Depot.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by grega94

Is there any particular reason why you are focusing on the WA coast? From what I hear the Oregon coast is usually considered better, though most of the towns are very small with their industry focused on tourism. However Coos Bay/North Bend is of similar size to Aberdeen/Hoquiam . Coos bay is about 5F warmer in the winter than Aberdeen, but then it's about just as much cooler in the summer. You can look at the average climate tables of both in the wiki article. Not sure how they compare economically, but Coos Bay grew by 2.5% since 2010, while Aberdeen shrunk by 0.8%. That being said Coos Bay doesn't have a Home Depot.

I don't know how long people moving to WA/OR coastal areas are planning to live there. Those beautiful OR coastal towns, some of them with quite a few amenities and attractions, are at sea level. They'll be inundated when sea level rise happens. Half of Tillamook, the main part of town, is in an estuary, for example. Newport looks like a great place to live, but it won't fare much better, though it's got a bit more elevation than Coos Bay. at least. Also, if you go onto the OR forum, everyone will rush to tell you about the tsunami risk. I've never heard anyone on the WA or CA coasts talk about this, as if it were an imminent danger, with the possible exception of Humboldt and Del Norte Counties, bordering Oregon.

An exception to the sea-level rise risk in OR is Brookings, just north of CA, which is situated on a bluff.

Those coastal areas get strong winds, too.

[grega94]

Wouldn’t Aberdeen be destroyed in a tsunami too though? It’s very low elevation as well. I guess the safest coastal town would be Astoria since it’s built on a large hill.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by grega94

Wouldn’t Aberdeen be destroyed in a tsunami too though? It’s very low elevation as well. I guess the safest coastal town would be Astoria since it’s built on a large hill.

Probably. I was wondering the same thing in relation to sea-level rise.

[CrazyDonkey]

Originally Posted by grega94

Wouldn’t Aberdeen be destroyed in a tsunami too though? It’s very low elevation as well. I guess the safest coastal town would be Astoria since it’s built on a large hill.

For both Aberdeen and Hoquiam, there is an elevation rise to the north ending in a ridge ("the hill") and plateau, encompassing the "better" parts of town due to having been out of the floodplain and more likely to have been above low-lying pulp mill pollution. Residents of the "flats" (floodplain), where the "workers" lived, do have "somewhere to run," in other words.

The Ocean Shores and Westport peninsulas would take the brunt of any tsunami wave.

[jertheber]

Having lived in the Elma valley area I can say with some certainty that there are areas of lower cost real estate in Grays Harbor county that offer real bargains. The hills of north Aberdeen, the Central Park area between Montesano and Aberdeen, the south sector of Aberdeen in the hills, and many in town bargains in the old genteel neighborhoods. The city of Aberdeen is and always was the domain of the timber giants who ran the city and county.

Extractive economies like that of the timber towns have been a disaster for the citizenry. Grays Harbor county, like Harlan county Ky, has been used up and forgotten by those who used it for their gain and left it to rot. Poverty, crime, homelessness, amid a feeling of defeat, the city has failed to rally, so, if you need to work, it won't be a good choice of places to move to. On the other hand, retirees are welcome to live in some of the better parts of that scenario and actually have a good life.

[jacqueg]

Originally Posted by grega94

Wouldn’t Aberdeen be destroyed in a tsunami too though? It’s very low elevation as well. I guess the safest coastal town would be Astoria since it’s built on a large hill.

Lots of Astoria could be inundated, especially the commercial part of town, and the main highways in and out. They're at the bottom of the hill.

[Phil P]

I know there's issues with building right along the coast, but I'm surprised that there is not more tourism and development between the coast and the Olympic range. It doesn't look as rugged as coastal Oregon and I'd think it would be a cool spot to live or visit to see the rainforest part of the PNW. I'm surprised somewhere like Forks is not a bigger establishment. I had wanted to visit the wet coastal side of Washington, but was discouraged when I found it would be a lengthy drive from the Seattle airport and there wasn't much lodging available on the northwest tip of the state.

[ScottStielow]

Originally Posted by Phil P

I know there's issues with building right along the coast, but I'm surprised that there is not more tourism and development between the coast and the Olympic range. It doesn't look as rugged as coastal Oregon and I'd think it would be a cool spot to live or visit to see the rainforest part of the PNW. I'm surprised somewhere like Forks is not a bigger establishment. I had wanted to visit the wet coastal side of Washington, but was discouraged when I found it would be a lengthy drive from the Seattle airport and there wasn't much lodging available on the northwest tip of the state.

True. The remoteness of the Forks Area is not near any major hub where people go. But if you like isolation, and rain, that's the place you want to be, for some people.
A note. That is where the Twilight Saga Series of 5 Romance films were shot, if you are into those type of films.

[bartonizer]

It does seem rather surprising that there isn't more development in that area, though a lot of the land is either national federally owned or on reservations. That said, I feel like much of the appeal to the Olympic Peninsula is the isolation itself- you definitely feel "out there" when exploring.

FWIW, there's a decent amount of development on the north coast, and it wouldn't surprise me to see places like Port Angeles grow substantially in the next few years.