Washington or Oregon coast?? (Seattle, Vancouver: for sale, foreclosure, affordable houses)

[hvnblakes]

Hello please help. Due to the weather ocean nature etc we want to move from Woodstock NY to either Washington or Oregon coast.

I've done some research know some towns but I want to hear from people that actually live there!??

Family with teens seek affordable clean happy outdoorsy town

What do you suggest!!??

[texasdiver]

There are practically no towns at all on the Washington coast other than Long Beach and Westport just north of the Oregon border. The rest of it is mostly wilderness and Indian reservations. All the waterfront towns and cities in Washington are more inland on Puget Sound or the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

by contrast, Oregon has dozens and dozens of beach towns running the entire length of the state.

If you have teens you'll be wanting to move to a large enough town to actually have a decent school system which will limit your choices.

[silibran]

You might look into Eugene OR, which is the home of OU. I have no direct knowledge of the public schools there, but often in a university town schools are good. In Eugene you are one hour from the Coast or an hour in the other direction to the mountains. Do your kids ski?

[CrazyDonkey]

You could consider moving to an area close to Puget Sound. There are several smaller cities, towns, and areas that might suit you:

East Sound:

* Bellingham
* Anacortes
* Whidbey Island
* Olympia

West Sound:

* Gig Harbor
* Vashon Island
* Bainbridge Island
* Poulsbo
* Port Ludlow
* Port Townsend

Olympic Peninsula:

* Sequim
* Port Angeles

All those areas are in the rain shadow of the Olympic Mountains, getting from 17 inches (Sequim) to 50 inches (Olympia) of annual precipitation. The Washington coast gets from 75 to 120 inches. The Oregon coast gets from 65 to 88 inches.

Average Yearly Precipitation for Oregon - Current Results

Average Yearly Precipitation for Washington - Current Results

I grew up in Aberdeen on Grays Harbor, about 20 miles from the Washington coast (Westport and Ocean Shores). While I am VERY fond of the area, it has historically been a resource-dependent area (lumber/pulp, salmon/fish, and clams) and has fallen economically on hard times due to resource-depletion. Poverty is rampant, unemployment is high, and there is a big problem with meth addiction/petty crime. The schools have suffered. And it is WET (over twice as wet as Seattle). The summers can be very beautiful.

Lots of outdoor activities, including hiking, camping, deepsea/lake/river fishing, clam digging, boating, surfing (at Westport), swimming (in the summer at Lake Aberdeen or Lake Sylvia), berry picking (salmon berries), mushroom hunting, etc. Close to the Olympic National Park's rainforests (Quinault and Hoh) and wilderness beaches (La Push area).

Houses are quite cheap. For instance (the first is about a block from where I grew up):

223 W 3rd St, Aberdeen, WA 98520 is For Sale | Zillow

1111 E 2nd St, Aberdeen, WA 98520 is For Sale | Zillow

700 N F St, Aberdeen, WA 98520 - Foreclosure | Zillow

Hoquiam (next door to Aberdeen) also has very affordable houses. Hoquiam High School is rated a bit higher than Aberdeen (Weatherwax) High School (a "5" versus a "4").

[Harpaint]

Coastal Oregon is heavily populated by retirees. There are NO jobs there. I doubt if your teenagers would be happy there. I agree that Eugene might be a better choice.

[StealthRabbit]

Coastal towns are pretty limited in economy / commerce / schools...

as mentioned the few coast towns in WA are quite depressed and very rainy. (Consider Bellingham as an 'inland waters' town with excellent outdoor recreations access. 3 colleges for the teens (Free FT college instead of High School in WA and HI)
Running Start - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Proximity to BC is very handy for more excellent outdoor activities and the 'full meal deal of cultural exchange'. (Vancouver BC is the most culturally diverse city in NA)

Oregon has nice coastal towns, but comes with 9% income tax and poorly funded schools. (and OR has some significant political issues... you either like it, or you will have problems with those who do).

Nuther 'adventure' venue = White Salmon, WA / Hood River, OR communities (Southern WA). Kite Boarding, Wind Surfing, Kayak, Mtn Biking, Ski (XC and downhill) and <1hr to PDX. (Airport and weird culture and 20+ colleges). IN the midst of Columbia Gorge National Scenic area (not a shabby place to recreate and live).
Recreation.gov recreation area details - Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area - Recreation.gov
Recreation | Columbia River Gorge Visitors Association

With kids...I would choose Bellingham for the recreation / cultural variety / edu options / jobs / proximity to BC.

You can get through the border very quickly in Lynden (except for the required stop for Ice Cream )
Edaleen Dairy Products - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt - Lynden, WA - Yelp

Coming from Woodstock, NY... While looking at Bellingham, be SURE to consider living next door (5 min away) in Fairhaven. It is the 'artsy spot'. with low population and similar benefits.

[Shastadad]

Originally Posted by texasdiver

There are practically no towns at all on the Washington coast other than Long Beach and Westport just north of the Oregon border. The rest of it is mostly wilderness and Indian reservations. All the waterfront towns and cities in Washington are more inland on Puget Sound or the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

by contrast, Oregon has dozens and dozens of beach towns running the entire length of the state.

If you have teens you'll be wanting to move to a large enough town to actually have a decent school system which will limit your choices.

Is Ocean Shores not on the coast ?

Ocean Shores, Washington - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Ruth4Truth]

Oregon coast for sure, OP. More population, lots more summer activity, too.

[bartonizer]

For this thread, it's worth asking the OP if he/she understands that while not on the Pacific shore itself, Puget Sound and Salish Sea communities are definitely "coastal" climates with "coastal" scenery (ships, whales, views) but with much better weather (and smaller waves) than the actual WA or OR shoreline, due to protection from the open Pacific waters. As far as perceptions and definitions go, I'm pretty sure that 99.9% of people you surveyed would consider my view of Bellingham Bay to be "coastal", even though it's on a sea that connects to the ocean. Further, there are actually a lot more safe opportunities for personal recreation on Puget Sound. Many people in my neighborhood regularly take their canoes out from the end of the street to fish for Dungeness Crab. I wouldn't suggest doing the same in the open ocean!

I'd like more information from the OP- do you want a small, isolated town- or a city with any amenities? OR coast is beautiful, with small towns all along the water, while the WA Coast is much less inhabited, but both areas are isolated and tend to not have many amenities of cities, which takes me to the next question- is a job needed? There aren't many in either state, along the actual shoreline. If you're working, income tax (OR) vs. none (WA) is at least a 9% difference in pay, which was a substantial factor in our decision.

Eugene's okay- decent proximity to the ocean and mountains. But it's definitely not going to give you the feeling of actually being near the water. I agree with StealthRabbit, Bellingham is worth looking into (and Fairhaven, where I live, is about as idyllic as one could imagine). It reminds me (culturally) of a smaller Eugene- but actually on the water and closer to both mountains and two large cities (roughly 1.5 to Seattle and 1 to Vancouver). The recreational opportunities are endless, as this is only place where the Cascades (Chuckanut Range- look up views from Oyster Dome, for example) touch the water. So, all kinds of hiking, paddling, mountain biking, boating, and skiing (Mt. Baker is a 50 mile drive east) are very accessible.

Jobs aren't super easy to get in Bellingham, but they're not impossible, either. That tends to be the case in desirable places, and IMHO Bellingham has the same type of mid-size, outdoorsy appeal as more well-known destinations like Asheville, Missoula, Boulder, and Bend.

[RustinginSeattle]

Keep in mind that Newport OR, even as far south as it is, rarely Ever get's over 70 degrees - even in the summer. The Pacific ocean is very cold and our marine air keeps coastal towns very cool and constantly foggy (you won't see the sun much). I'm born and raised Seattle and I hate the weather on our coasts. Also, Forks, a coastal WA town (and Very depressed town) is the setting for vampire books because of how little sun it receives. Don't underestimate what that does to your psyche.

I second the ideas of Bellingham (bigger, closer to the amazing Vancouver BC and Vancouver Island) and Hood River, a small but hip and outdoorsy river town.