Where to look for rental properties in WA.

[Jumpindogs]

Originally Posted by sciencemagic

Thank you jumpindogs for your reply. Yes, I can see even if I can avoid buckets of rain, it will be cloudy. Interestingly, two different weather sites I checked show vastly different weather for Sequim. One does show the "rain shadow" weather, the other shows about 50 inches of rain. No comparison! So, the sites must have had two very different locals within Sequim?

LOL! 50 inches? No way. Sequim is pretty much the closest to the center of the rain shadow that you can get: Olympic Rain Shadow Map and Location Can you share that website? Something is fishy there.

Temperatures and wind do vary widely by location within the Sequim area with temps cooler and wind speeds higher near the strait versus temps warmer and winds calmer near the city proper as well as just south of 101. If you do some extensive research (beyond two sources) for annual rainfall amounts for Sequim you will find that they all...well, apparently not *all* ...quote around 16-17 inches a year.

Any chance you can ride the ferry as a walk-on and use public transportation for those Seattle visits? The fares for walk-ons are pretty cheap. And I think Seattle has some good pubic transportation. But you'd have to drive to Bainbridge Island and take that ferry to Seattle. It's a little over an hour drive to BI from Sequim...and prolly a similar drive from Port Townsend (shorter distance but 20 has slower posted speeds and is not as easy to drive as 101 IMO)...but if you're retired you have the time. A day of parking near the BI ferry runs around $10-13: U-Park Locations But your Seattle public transportation fares might kick that total up near $24. Alternatively you could bus to and from Sequim/BI...route #3 on this link is cost effective but I have no idea how long it would take: Transportation Connections: Trip Planner You'd prolly need an overnight stay in Seattle to accommodate your round trip bus time and that defeats your purpose of spending less than that $24 car ferry fee.

I don't think you can find a comparatively dry place to live close enough to visit Seattle 2/3 times a week without paying. If there was such a place I suspect it would be overrun. Ferry is a fact of life if you want the Rain Shadow and Seattle both.

All that said, if you appreciate the city more so than the country I think you'd favor PT over Sequim. PT has a cool downtown and it's coastline is fairly citified. I am a country girl...PT does not float my boat whereas I am very much at home with the natural beauty and country flavor of Sequim.

[Jumpindogs]

Originally Posted by sciencemagic

sll3454,

Thanks for your reply. No, rain is not the only issue. I'm retired so employment is not an issue. I can pretty much get along with just about anyone. I do want to enjoy the scenery. I can also see if I were to live in the Port Townsend/Angeles/Sequim area I would have to always take the ferry to access the greater Seattle area and it's attractions. Being I would probably venture into that area several times a week, the travelling expense would get old taking the ferry. So, I gave thought to the less populated area's north of Seattle, that may not get all the rain it gets, and also be along the coast. Hence, Mt. Vernon.

Or maybe you could limit your Seattle excursions to once or twice a month. Where we live has a much greater impact on our happiness than where we visit IMO. But if you like the big city so much that you'd consistently want to visit Seattle several times a week you might actually be happier living in a big city...a big, dry city.