Sequim, the Jewel of the Olympic Peninsula (Seattle, Port Angeles: 2015, to rent)

[swsha4]

I just got back from a shott trip to the Olympic. My husband and I are thinking very seriously of moving there to one of the towns in the Rain Shadow. I must say I was VERY impressed with Sequim. The people seem so nice and the country is full of natural beauty even now in the late fall.

I was also impressed with the level of arts in the area. There is a very active community theater group and a symphony (in conjuction with Port Angeles). There are several cooperative art galleries as well.

We haven't completely decided yet, but are most definitely leaning toward Sequim.

The other two towns we considered were Port Angeles and Port Townsend. I was very turned off by the stinky paper mill and industral park on the edge of Port Townsend. The town was story book beautiful, like a page out of old Europe, but you have to run the gauntlet to get to it! All that pollution cannot be good to breath! Port Angeles seemed too big and spread out for my taste. No real feel for a downtown. Maybe I didn't look hard enough, but it just seemed to have a lot of the bad qualities of a big city without the big city amenities.

I'd be interested in hearing about other's feelings about Sequim, especially if you live there. I definitely plan to go back and look it over some more!

[chris]

the reasons people move to Squim: lack of rain (relative to W WA), primarily a retirement area, and fairly quiet peaceful.

I'm not a huge fan of Port Townsend for the same reasons you specified, and it's isolated location.

[blazen]

I lived in Sequim for a month. I find it very depressing. The people are nice? Ummm.....not so much. Moderator cut: inflammatory statement removed

[swsha4]

Originally Posted by blazen

I lived in Sequim for a month. I find it very depressing. The people are nice? Ummm.....not so much. [mod]inflammatory statement removed

Gee --- What did you not like about the people? What incidents can you relate? You say you were there for a month. Was it on a job? Vacation? In what ways did you interact with the locals? Thanks.

While I met a few people from Calif there, I wouldn't say they were the majority and I didn't find them unlikable or unfriendly at all. In fact, they seemed happy about being away from California. Most of the people I talked to seemed to be from Washington, either originally from the area or from Seattle, and there were also people from Canada and Oregon too.

Yes, I did see a lot of retired people but it didn't seem like Florida, if you know what I mean. Most of the older folks seemed very active in the community.

[MotleyCrew]

We really loved Gig Harbor and are contemplating a vacation home there. We are formerly from CA and I get a little tired of the CA transplant bashing Moderator cut: comment removed. I suppose we should all just have a number assigned to us and never be allowed to move from that spot.

[Xenobion]

I'd prefer Port Angeles as there is more to do there than Sequim. Also you can take the ferry to Victoria quickly for a fun trip to Canada. :O)

[swsha4]

Originally Posted by MotleyCrew

We really loved Gig Harbor and are contemplating a vacation home there. We are formerly from CA and I get a little tired of the CA transplant bashing from morons. I suppose we should all just have a number assigned to us and never be allowed to move from that spot.

I agree with you, MC. I hate to see people stereotyped. It isn't fair to California and it isn't fair to you. Americans tend to move around more than people from other countries and why not? There is much to see and experience! I started out in Washington DC, and spent 30 years living in Alaska. I've also lived in Japan, Florida, Nevada, Belize and now Seattle.

I hope you find a really nice life in Gig Harbor. My experience with most people from Washington State is that they are really very welcoming.

[swsha4]

Originally Posted by Xenobion

I'd prefer Port Angeles as there is more to do there than Sequim. Also you can take the ferry to Victoria quickly for a fun trip to Canada. :O)

Thats a very good point. I want to take that trip! PA may be a bit too civilized for my woodsy husband though. There seem to be more rural areas in Sequim. We haven't completely committed yet though. Our plan is to rent for at least 6 months before buying anything.

[Xenobion]

You can find a woodsy area anywhere around Jefferson County and Clallam Counties. Port Angeles has very rural areas and a burgeoning wine industry. I'd say the reallllllll woodsy areas are Forks and La Push (although not much there either ) and a lot of remote like housing near Hoodsport and Lillawaup that is in reach of civilization. Olympic National Park is beautiful though and a truly unique area of the world (one of the only temperate climate rainforests in the world)

[swsha4]

Thanks for the info Xenobin. Having lived in a tropical rainforest in Central America for the last 5 years, and having spent many many years in the Alaskan taiga, we look forward to checking out the Park. As soon as it gets a tad warmer we are going to start exploring. It was so cold and rainy the day we were in PA that we really didn't get a chance to really explore much. We never really found the downtown, just all the box stores and used car lots spread all along the highway for miles, which was kind of turn off.