Best spot to retire in WA with qualifications

[LMB]

Originally Posted by vanzance

So, why would Bellingham get more rainfall than Anacortes? I had found Bellingham and it seemed great, but if there is something like it with less rain, or gray summer days nearby for some geographical or other reason I'd be very curious. Any new, real nice areas in Anacortes? We want to visit Anacortes on Thursday but have so little time!
Thanks so much
Vanzance

Vanzance, I don't think you'll have that many gray summer days in either place. I've heard that Anacortes is affected more than Bellingham by the rain shadow cast by the Olympic mountains, so it's not "quite" as wet. The annual rainfall in Anacortes is only about 8-10" less than Bellingham, but the amount of rain in western WA can be deceiving--not including the rain forests, of course. I think we probably got nearly as much annual rainfall in central Florida as the Seattle area--it's the difference between a daily summer deluge of 3-4" of rain in an hour compared to 9 months of wintertime light rain and drizzle. Here they make a big deal on the news about a half inch of rain. That would be called a sprinkle in Orlando! Mostly you should have nice weather in this area since you're planning to spend your winters in Florida. Like I said earlier, May-June and October will probably be your "iffy" months weather-wise.

Check out the homes in the Skyline area of Anacortes, which is overlooking the waterfront and marina. It's near Washington Park, a beautiful park with walking/bike trails and nice secluded little waterfront areas with spectacular views. There are other nice areas of town with newer homes, but I can't remember the names. It's a very small town, so just drive around. Try to get to the Rockfish Grill for fish & chips--it's in Oldtown. We need to get back there for a visit, now that we're moved in and mostly settled. Anacortes was one of our top picks for retirement, but we chose Poulsbo, on Kitsap Peninsula, instead. We love our new hometown and feel we made just the right choice for our needs, but during our search we discovered so many wonderful places. Now that we live here, we can't wait to go back and visit them!

Lynn

[NorthTacomaJoe]

Sequim is recognized as a great place to retire for many reasons. An oceanside community with a very Healthy environment, close proximity to Olympic National Park, pristine Lakes, great golfing and it boasts the most sunshine in the state.
On the downside, it is somewhat remote and would require some travel to
get to a larger city.

[Agility]

PDX is alot more expensive to fly out of especially international.

[grampawayne]

We lived in Ocean Shores for 5 years. It was a nice little town with nice little golf course, movie theater but not a whole lot of shopping. Mainly geared to tourists. One main grocery when we left in 2012. We lost a lot of money in selling our home to move closer to our grandchildren. Lots of grey weather....year round which was unexpected for us. Once a week we would drive 30 minutes to Aberdeen to do "big" shopping at the very nice Safeway and Walmart. For holiday gift shopping we drove 2 hours to Olympia where there was a Macy's and medium sized mall. We also had a great doctor in Hoquiem.

We are considering returning to Washington State but this time we will take more time picking a place and it will be driving distance but not at the coast.....too stormy in Grays Harbor and it was also a very depressed economy due to downturn in logging.

[Diana Holbrook]

What kinds of town/scenery particulars are you interested in grampawayne?

Do you like the list in the original old OP? Or something else?

Standing by!

[homesinseattle]

I second the Sequim idea, half the rain of Seattle.

[wolfdog]

10 year old thread revived? OK