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Port Angeles is "grittier" and more violent than Sequim.
Not sure what this means unless it's just a broad generalization. Of course things are relative. Before living in Berkeley, I was living in an area that had, perhaps, 1 murder in 20 years or so and where it was rare to see any police activity other than for traffic violations or to check on some rowdy, partying teenagers. Here in Berkeley (and I live in an area that's considered pretty safe where people walk their dogs in the evening, kids play on their own on the streets and the elderly work on communal garden displays in traffic circles), there have been a few murders since I arrived, several shootings within a mile of my apartment and automatic gunfire on the corner nearest my building. Relatively "safe" compared to the worst parts of Oakland, but who needs it? I'm hoping Sequim/P.A. are nowhere near as bad.
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Originally Posted by Dendrite
As a generalization, I think that your observation is accurate. Keep in mind that there is a lot of overlap with Port Angeles and Sequim locations or addresses. IOW, you can be miles out of the Port Angeles city limits and still have a PA address. The same applies to Sequim.
Wow, that seems a little harsh. If your buyers agent actually used those exact words, I think I'd consider finding an alternate agent...
Let me reference my thought by saying that we lived in PA for over a decade prior to building on property outside of Sequim a few years ago. So I have a reasonable feel for both towns.
Port Angeles is 3 or 4 times the size of Sequim. So as often is the case, more people means more crime statistics. Having said that, I wouldn't compare Port Angeles to East LA or inner city Detroit in terms of crime. Most of the crime in PA is property related crime. Is there drug crime is Port Angeles (or Sequim)? Sure, just like there seems to be anywhere these days but it never struck me as being "in your face". Admittedly though, I never spent much time hanging out in downtown back alleys late at night either.
Mev described PA as "grittier" in his above post. If he meant this in the sense of "blue collar" or "working class" (traditionally logging and commercial fishing), then I agree with him. Personally though I never found this a bad thing and I enjoyed having honest, hard working people as my neighbors in Port Angeles. "Dirty" would not be a word that comes to my mind when I think of the majority of the areas of PA.
Port Angeles noisy? Yup, on the 4th of July... Not sure what your agent meant by this otherwise. Maybe he doesn't like the airplane noise from Fairchild or the helicopter noise from the CG station on Ediz Hook? Dunno' otherwise...
So my reaction to painting Port Angeles as noisy, crime-ridden and dirty would be like describing Sequim as "small and boring" or "a town with no character or personality" or the majority of people living there as looking like "nursing home escapees". To say that Sequim is a "retirement people place" would simply be describing one facet of the town.
Anyway, I'd take your buyers agent opinion with several grains of salt. There are a lot a nice things about both Port Angeles and Sequim. Best advice- come for a visit and form your own opinions about these towns. I think you'll like what you see in both places!
Hope this personal perspective helps!
Dendrite (love your user name are you in bio-sciences?), thanks very much for your personal perspective, it is helpful! Yes the agent used some of those words and it did seem like there was an effort to steer my home search to Sequim and away from P.A. (almost to the point where I thought maybe there was an advantage for the agent to sell a Sequim home over a P.A. home). Perhaps some of this has to do with the emphasis I gave her with regard to noise. I've found that I'm really sensitive to noise. It bothered me less when I lived in San Francisco as a student and young professional, but now it seems I tolerate it much less.
Honest, hard working blue collar is fine with me. I was quick to tell the agent that I think we should include P.A. homes in the search, especially if they're more affordable. There'd be a good chance that I would do martial arts training in P.A., so the drive from Sequim 3 to 4 days a week might get old, unless I was very west in Sequim, as you say, with the town overlap.
Older people are pretty much fine with me too, I like older people and have considered getting into physical rehab services (I've done some volunteer work but am not certified). I'd hope living near older people would be less noisy, but that's not always the case.
Yes, the best will be for me to visit and get a feel for myself. I plan to visit the area in May. If it was only down to weather, scenic beauty, the affordability of buying a home and what would seem like a less rushed and crowded area (which may change in the next 10-20 years), I would move today. Yet I have to get a realistic perspective of what it might be like to be remote from some big city perks or health care resources.
Thanks very much!
Jumpindogs,
As always thanks for the information. Wrt the DWR situation my hunch for what I want is that I'd find life less troubling if I bought into a place that was already hooked up. However, the issue is complex enough that it is property dependent and that I shouldn't necessarily rule out a home if it is on a shared well or sewage.
As far as outdoor watering, is it restricted or "illegal" to take a bucket of gray water from a shower or doing the dishes to water some potted plants on the deck or a small 5' x 10' vegetable bed? If so, that seems a bit much.
Not sure what this means unless it's just a broad generalization. Of course things are relative. Before living in Berkeley, I was living in an area that had, perhaps, 1 murder in 20 years or so and where it was rare to see any police activity other than for traffic violations or to check on some rowdy, partying teenagers. Here in Berkeley (and I live in an area that's considered pretty safe where people walk their dogs in the evening, kids play on their own on the streets and the elderly work on communal garden displays in traffic circles), there have been a few murders since I arrived, several shootings within a mile of my apartment and automatic gunfire on the corner nearest my building. Relatively "safe" compared to the worst parts of Oakland, but who needs it? I'm hoping Sequim/P.A. are nowhere near as bad.
Sounds like you're in the wrong part of Berkeley. Where do you live?
You have lived in the Bay Area & you're worried about PA?? Hahahahaha!!!
Not really worried, I just want to make an informed decision as to whether one area is safer/more violent than another. I did check a 'crime maps' for the area and noticed about 2-3 times more assaults in P.A. over Sequim. Generally, people don't give me any hassles, even around here. A large part of that is knowing where to go and when and just using common sense.
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Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth
Sounds like you're in the wrong part of Berkeley. Where do you live?
Stuff happens all over Berkeley. U.C. students are mugged almost weekly by people from surrounding, rougher areas seeing them as easy prey. I live toward the south-west portion. As I mentioned there are young kids and elderly who share the same streets within a mile of gun-toting gangsters. That's just the way it is here.
As always thanks for the information. Wrt the DWR situation my hunch for what I want is that I'd find life less troubling if I bought into a place that was already hooked up. However, the issue is complex enough that it is property dependent and that I shouldn't necessarily rule out a home if it is on a shared well or sewage.
As far as outdoor watering, is it restricted or "illegal" to take a bucket of gray water from a shower or doing the dishes to water some potted plants on the deck or a small 5' x 10' vegetable bed? If so, that seems a bit much.
Great info everyone, I'm very grateful!
You're welcome. Yes and yes. With a shared well you'll want to pay attention to the flow rate to ensure it's high enough to meet the needs of all served.
From the looks of the DWR map there aren't that many areas where outside watering is prohibited. But perhaps that could change. Don't know the answer to your gray water question although I do know there are restrictions on using collected rainwater. Not that you can't but that you have to follow some guidelines. From the WA DOE:
The rainwater must be collected from the roof of a building constructed for another primary purpose (such as a house or barn). If it is going to be used for potable water, you must also comply with health and building department requirements. Provided these conditions are met, you do not need a water right to use rainwater.
Hi, etartmove. Windrunner here. I would have stayed in Sequim..had a nice rental, reasonable, but my husband said no and we are currently in Spokane and moving back (reluctantly on my part) to Virginia in September. I loved Sequim. But the house we wanted to build was way too expensive for the area. I would have bought one of the other homes we looked at but My husband couldn't get past the big trees, the moss, and the house designs in the area. The people were so friendly and the idea of being by the water again was so nice. Good luck to you. And Jumpindogs helped me alot. We've visited it twice since and I still love it. Guess I'm just a small town gal who loves the water.
Hi, etartmove. Windrunner here. I would have stayed in Sequim..had a nice rental, reasonable, but my husband said no and we are currently in Spokane and moving back (reluctantly on my part) to Virginia in September. I loved Sequim. But the house we wanted to build was way too expensive for the area. I would have bought one of the other homes we looked at but My husband couldn't get past the big trees, the moss, and the house designs in the area. The people were so friendly and the idea of being by the water again was so nice. Good luck to you. And Jumpindogs helped me alot. We've visited it twice since and I still love it. Guess I'm just a small town gal who loves the water.
Hey windrunner!
Sorry to hear you are moving back to Virginia. Change is really hard for some people...prolly for most people actually. You'll just have to plan more vacations to the PNW!
Hope you have a safe trip back and that you are able to find your small beach town in Virginia.
Well I hope you and your husband get to a mutually comfortable situation. I've heard some parts of east Washington is nice and affordable. I have a cousin who lives out that way with her family on an apple farm. Probably an area that gets much too hot for me, but they seem to enjoy it. I like big trees - redwoods, fir and the like, but would also like some of the hardwood trees out east. If I do make the move to the OP I know there'll be times when I miss the great big oak trees we have here in northern CA.
If I do make the move to the OP I know there'll be times when I miss the great big oak trees we have here in northern CA.
Had to laugh...oak trees. Love em and hate em! We have a huge line of red and white oaks on our WI property. The trees are majestic for sure. But they drop so many acorns...poisonous for dogs BTW...that we spend many hours raking them off the lawn into the woods. That also makes for a sizable squirrel population thus numerous holes dug in the lawn and landscape beds where the industrious critters hide their treasures. And the relatively large leaves decompose very slowly which means we have oak leaves everywhere...against the wire fence, around our many (too many, granted) shrubs and perennials...that we spend many hours removing every spring. On our knees. This is getting really old.
I am so looking forward to our Sequim property with it's many conifers and no deciduous.
Stuff happens all over Berkeley. U.C. students are mugged almost weekly by people from surrounding, rougher areas seeing them as easy prey. I live toward the south-west portion. As I mentioned there are young kids and elderly who share the same streets within a mile of gun-toting gangsters. That's just the way it is here.
That's the way it is in your neighborhood, which is known for crime (if you're talking about the part near the Oakland border). Much of the rest of Berkeley isn't like that at all, and is placid and safe. You picked pretty much the worst neighborhood in town. It is far from the norm. It's true that there was a bit of a crime spree around the south and west side of the university down to Shattuck, and along College Ave. for awhile, re: cell phone thefts. But again, even that is a small part of Berkeley. I go through there with no problem at all. North Berkeley's fine. The hills are fine. Elmwood is great, as always. Even parts of West Berkeley are ok. Don't give people the wrong idea about Berkeley.
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Not sure what your agent meant by this otherwise. Maybe he doesn't like the airplane noise from Fairchild or the helicopter noise from the CG station on Ediz Hook? Dunno' otherwise...
With a shared well you'll want to pay attention to the flow rate to ensure it's high enough to meet the needs of all served.
