Anacortes - good place to raise family? (Seattle, Vancouver: new home, neighborhoods)

[mswendy]

Hello,
I tried looking all over on the forums for an answer to this. Forgive me if it's already been posted and I just couldn't find it.

My husband and I are selling our home this month. I suspect it will sell quickly. We had plans on moving to CA but now we're getting drawn into Anacortes. (Long story) We want to get settled into a new home before our daughter starts school in the fall. But we just don't know where yet. We just know we have to get away from where we are now.

My husband went on a daytrip to Anacortes today and has already reported back how gorgeous it is. (It really helps that the sun is out and it's clear skies today!)

Just wondering... how are the schools? From the research that I could gather, I read that the schools are good. Our daughter is currently in first grade. Can anyone provide more details?

Also, from my research, I found some people post that Anacortes is more of retirement community. But other posts I found said it was a great place to raise a family (but there weren't many details). Can you please comment on if there are many families. We are concerned that there won't be many children for our daughter to make friends with.

What kind of family friendly activities are there?

Is there a lot of wind on the island? Hubby says that some residents told him that Anacortes has really mild weather and that they often experience days like today (sunny, clear skies, no wind). And then someone else told him that one of the island is more "windy" than the other. Can anyone enlighten me about that?

We both work from home. We are looking for a slower pace of life. We are trying to escape a place where most everyone is trying to keep up with the Jones'.

Thank you in advance for any feedback that you can provide!

[rkcarguy]

I personally like Anacortes, biggest thing is jobs(which it sounds like you both have in the bag working from home), and having enough capital/income to break into the housing market. I have a few friends that live there only because they were able to get a house through family. They commonly joke about it as "Can't-afford-us".
You're in a central location there with ferry/boating access to the San Juans and Victoria Island, and about an hour in either direction to snowy slopes, downtown Seattle, or the Canadian border.
I think everywhere has their "keeping up with the Jones" neighborhoods and choosing one that matches you is more to do with that than your town you live in IMO.

[elkotronics]

Plus head up the hill through Washington Park in Anacortes and hike up the trail and then look down to the waterway below. Gorgeous view looking south towards Whidbey Island. Worth the short hike!

[mswendy]

Thanks Everyone! I really appreciate your responses!

[ironbrewer]

We just moved to Bellingham from Denver Colorado. We narrowed our home search down to Anacortes and Bellingham. The pros for Anacortes are good school, cool little downtown, there is great mountain biking, great hiking trails, cool parks, nice little farmers market, couple good grocery stores, some nice restaurants, biggest downside is not much culture, not many restaurants, need to drive for any major shopping. To tell the truth I would have probably pushed towards Anacortes.

We ended up in Bellingham. Bellingham is a college town, has more culture, lots more restaurants, great mountain bike and hiking trails. active vibrant community, schools are pretty good, We are in an older neighborhood with many turn of the century homes, which we like, phenomenal farmers market, we can walk to everything, nice water front that needs somne improvement.

One thing you should be aware of is that in Washington most of the waterfront can be and is private property. This was a shock to us.

Overall I love it here. We are a mile from the sound, an hour from high peaks of the cascades, there are trails everywhere. I am having a hard time finding good roasted green chilis though.

good luck on your decision

[lucy1965]

mswendy, I'm also in Bellevue and my husband and I are looking at moving north as well: I've got extended family in Bellingham and on Whidbey Island and the Husband needs to go to his company's offices in Vancouver once a month; the rest of the time he works from home. We don't have children at home, so the schools aren't as big a concern for us.

Whatever you decide, I wish you good luck!

[lucy1965]

ironbrewer, if you don't mind my asking/wouldn't mind answering privately, which neighborhood in Bellingham are you in? My family's out by Lake Padden Park, but I'd rather be in a more walkable part of town. (High speed Internet is a necessity, too.)