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Those that tell you 'it rains soooo much' are either California transplant-ees or 'born-n-raised old school Pac NWers' that really hate the influx of transplant-ees.
The Seattle area has REALLY mellowed out in the rain department, and after living there for 18 years, I can tell you the locals have been perpetuating the rain propaganda for some time now and have always taken pride in how it's been fairly effective in keeping people out.
The facade seem to be gone with climate change and more and more global companies moving in.
Great post, Algiz....and thank you for your time composing that! Always nice to run-into a fellow San Diegan who's walked the path we hope to! Funny the SD streets you mentioned. Mission Gorge Rd. is right near where we live, and Morena Blvd. where my husband's business is. And my husband has extended family who live up in Stanwood! In 13 years time though, San Diego has grown exponentially. Yep, we have lots of freeways, but they are also looking more and more like L.A. Both sides of Friars Rd are completely developed up & down and way far back and even trying to use that as an alternate route is a joke. This article may give you a bit of a peek: Get Ready for Mission Valley's Massive Growth Spurt
I can't even say I hate or strongly dislike San Diego. The increasingly hotter weather has been trying, but it doesn't kill us. It's far from the only reason we'd like to try living in WA. And I don't feel like I have to condemn one place to move to another. San Diego will always feel like home to us as well. We've even strongly contemplated whether or not we may be able to pull-off keeping our current house and renting it out when we move to WA, as a back-up plan for if we really do grow to dislike the PNW, or want a sunnier climate in our elder years with easier conveniences. Whether we'll be able to afford to do that or not is something we're working on right now, may delay our actual move, but may be worth it for that bit of peace of mind. Or it could be a monumental headache being a long distance landlord, too! Might have to hire a property manager. Although we do still have one son living in SD who could handle that. Lots of possibilities we're considering. But yes, if the gloom really does get to us, we still have roots here in SD that we'll likely always have, and can hop on a plane and come get sunburned.
Everyone has such unique reasons for moving and what motivates them. My husband and I are not really trying to escape a place we hate so much (although the heat factor is a big one for me), but we're really looking for a new adventure to try at this chapter of our lives, and the terrain and available properties of WA is where it appears a lot of the things we want to do would be most optimal! I've been studying the area well over two years now and have made a LOT of connections.
We could stay safe and secure where we are now, where everything is a known entity and we never have to wonder how to figure out where a new DMV is, or find a new veterinarian, or a whole host of all the usual stuff one takes for granted in their familiar town......but then you might also always wonder what adventure you missed out on in life just because you were so comfortable, or scared off by the whatifs, or unwilling to accept that every place has it's drawbacks and disappointments, positives and not-so-positives.
We're ready for that adventure!!!
I greatly appreciate your input and hope you find the place you're most happy at, too!
~Carol
Oh, Carol, how similar we sound! First, you know, I've visited San Diego at least twice a year, and usually more, since I left, so I know exactly what's been going on. Last April I went to the Costco near the Stadium and what a holy mess! It's one huge reason why we won't be returning. I will say this...after you leave such a dense place and come to a place where you can breathe, it's hard to go back. Of course, we do live an hour out of Seattle, so it's rural. Seattle can get crowded, too, like any city.
If I had to do it over again, I would have kept my house and rented it out. If there is any way at all that you can swing it, I can't recommend it enough. We could have done it if we'd bought modestly up here, but oh, I wanted the land and the gorgeous house. Well, I got it, but I do regret selling the house I grew up in. Since you're thinking about it, perhaps it would be a good idea to figure out how to make it happen. It's very wise financially, and it leaves you with more options.
I had the same concerns about finding all new everything, esp a vet and dentist! And like you, I worried that if I didn't follow through with my dream I would wonder what I missed. I am so grateful for having had the courage to do it. I love the weather, I love the cool, I love the wind blowing through the trees 100 feet up, the swishing sound, hushed and soothing. There is something magical here, special. It's more than the trees and terrain, for the northern CA redwoods don't have it. I think it's the wild nature of the wilderness, the immersion in nature wherever you turn. Wishing you your dream come true and the greatest adventure of your life!
I'll keep my eyes open for you on this site - I hope to run into you again. Anything I can answer, just ask!
I await the arrival of Fogust and its moody, cool, enveloping grayness. Despite some assertions that summer is sunny and clear, there can still occur more than a few days of showers and drizzle. Three years ago, August brought two or three days in a row of actual all-day downpour, announcing an early end to summer. September that year continued in the same vein.
While the It Always Rains claims are false, so are the Summer Is All Sun and Fun statements. That lie, We Get 300 Days of Sun Per Year, is so blatantly false I am astounded it gained any traction whatsoever.
Yes, Algiz...the ever-increasing San Diego DENSITY. I'm already a claustaphobe, but the rate of growth here is suffocating, depressing, and angering. When City officials are telling us out one side of their mouths we have to conserve, conserve, conserve - water especially, followed by electrical power (our Flex Alerts)....then out the other side of their mouth they are celebrating massively-huge new building developments or RE-development projects going forth...you can't help think W.T.H?!?!?!? If you've seen Mission Valley, you know exactly what I mean. Nightmare.
My husband is out in it every day with his work so he tends to be the one most affected & distraught by it. I tend to stay hermited-up in my home workshop, oblivious to *the outside world*, avoid going out in it...heh heh. <- One of the advantages of an online business. But he comes home all road-raged-out and "We were here FIRST!" (he's a city native) ...heh heh. So THAT's the part of it that makes us commiserate with PNW-ers who want to keep newcomers out. We get it. Interestingly, I've read reports that show in actuality, more WA-tonians are starting to leave WA for CA, and more CAians who leave, are leaving for TX. Our daughter currently lives in TX (Houston), and I can only tell you this, if you want to avoid heat/humidity, that is not the place to go. We've been to visit her and it would not be one of my top picks, nor is it hers, but she's there for her career. The area we're interested in moving to in WA has a high military family presence and housing turnover, so we figure they're getting a lot of out-of-area new residents anyway on a regular basis. I doubt they will be quite so hardnosed or resentful about outsiders.
The "wild nature" is EXACTLY what we are looking for! Old Growth Forest. Probably sounds so incredibly simplistic to some, but the truth is, and I've said this before...our main motivator to move is TREES! Yes...trees! If we wanted just any old trees, we could move to the mountains of San Diego and buy in Julian. Not the same. Scrub oaks. Maybe we've watched Lord of the Rings too many times, heh heh...but ancient forest is the existence we crave. And yes...that magic. We feel completely exhilarated and our *true selves* when we are in that environment. Both of us being creative types, it becomes hugely inspiring for our work, too. It's the ultimate dream for us....to spend as much of our free time as possible exploring the forests and trails in the region, as well as hopefully out our own backdoor. Nothing would give us greater pleasure, and is what constitutes "a good life" -- for us. We mountain bike and hike often and rain has never daunted us thus far...we actually prefer to go out and ride and hike in the rain...less people around that way! I'm definitely not the kind of gal who gives a darn about my hair getting wet or my make-up smeared. Bring on the mud! lol! Those gorgeous old growth forests don't get that way WITHOUT rain!!!
What I quickly began to assess in sifting through forum feedback was, that we aren't your average bears when it comes to what constitutes deterrents or drawbacks. During this current time frame, until we can actually move, I spend time every day doing *something* to prep. Whether it's looking up options for all those take-for-granteds (like dentist, vet, DMV, etc.), or locating trails to hike, and getting recommendations from locals I'm meeting there online who give great advice, checking out property tax codes, as well as BO business taxation, etc.....we're laying groundwork! I can say with confidence that I don't think we'll be ones who arrive in WA and be surprised by anything. I've already had a friend I've met there say to me "Boy you really HAVE done your homework! You know more about this place than me and I've lived her over 30 years!" ....so I'll take that as a compliment.
Sometimes in the back of my mind, I do worry about the unknowns of life as a someday elder. I already know that once we live rural again, we'll never want to go back. I've done that already, grew up rural, having horses and animals. Rural life gets in your blood and it's forever hard to accept life in the burbs. But rural life can obviously be harder for old bodies. Options for how to make that work someday simmer in my thoughts too..... Some of my friends I've already made up there, we jokingly talk about how one day, if we're all a bunch of old widders, we could move in together and take care of each other so no one has to end up in an Old Folks Home. Hey--worse ideas occur! But always thinking of the future.....
I'm sure I'll be plying you with questions, too! And very nice to make your acquaintance!
I find it interesting that a couple of posters on this very thread mentioned how miserable they found the density of their previous city, yet seem to want to encourage growth here.
Yup, that's it Seacove....wanna come up there and turn it into San Diego! Top of my Priority List! heh heh
(I find it interesting that some posters lament others coming to WA, yet so many WAtonians are leaving and going to CA, adding to CA's density. Hm.)
Yup, that's it Seacove....wanna come up there and turn it into San Diego! Top of my Priority List! heh heh
(I find it interesting that some posters lament others coming to WA, yet so many WAtonians are leaving and going to CA, adding to CA's density. Hm.)
I'm not even particularly anti-California. I think they are more suited than other states. But when I see posts complaining that locals discourage growth, while waxing poetic about Washington beauty, followed by complaints of the density of where you are coming from, there seems to be a huge disconnect. You want to know why we promote the rain?
1. A lot of people legitimately complain about the rain and the low hanging clouds and the short days. We have our own weather thread. It is a legitimate complaint and some people find they suffer from SAD and get seriously depressed here and leave.
2. We know the weather affects some people and we know how much we love this place. So we simply make sure people understand that the weather in July through September is not the same as the weather in November through January. We are doing people a service. Think how much money that saves them in moving costs if they realize the weather really will be difficult for them to handle. You have lunch with a co-worker in another city and they ask about the weather? You answer how brutal it is. And for some people that really is true.
3. We're selfish NIMBYs. We cling to that wet weather like a security blanket. It keeps out the riffraff. Look what happened to California and it's not even green. And like one of you said, you can't be sure you wouldn't feel the same after living here because of this:
I or anyone can *selectively* post articles as well (depending on what publication/web site/slant I or anyone wants to cherry-pick from) that show how many WAtonians, presumably due to the rain, the rain, the rain, leave WA and come to CA (that THAT'S *OK* with you, of course), ....and I could conveniently take the same tack as you and position myself on a forum telling anyone interested in CA about the heat, the heat, the heat, etc. and hope they stay out of my backyard as well. But guess what? Doesn't work.
San Diego's politics and governing that allows alot of what's happened here was not my or many resident's doing, not aligned with my votes, nor my own personal (heavy) activism against development. I'm a perfect example of how you can fight it tooth-n-nail (and actively DO fight it, not just talk about it on a forum), to absolutely no avail. But let's not pretend WA doesn't have a lot of it's own government and legislature issues, that have nothing to do with people migrating in, and solely to do with crooked and greedy politicians. Gets old when every problem is blamed on the newcomers ::yawn:: Especially when it's ex-Californians who migrated to WA themselves...
But if you really want to protect WA from us invaders, I can only suggest activism on your own part, keep up with the "You'll hate it here!" propaganda and good luck with that---seems to be working with some, they come back to CA, as you planned--thanks alot for the bounce...perhaps it will all start to eventually even out. But use your votes in whom you elect. See if you have more success in keeping your economy and growth small. Every state just LOVES "small"...heh heh. And everybody's a NIMBY and a victim when it's their own turf they are concerned about.
To the OP of this thread...hope you're a bit more enlightened re: your confusion over all the varying response re: WA rain. heh heh. As I said in an earlier post - - set about on your own research, never take any one or few's opinions as gospel. As Deezramblin, an actual WA resident aptly pointed out: ....after living there for 18 years, I can tell you the locals have been perpetuating the rain propaganda for some time now and have always taken pride in how it's been fairly effective in keeping people out.
Hasn't changed our own plans one iota. If we get there and don't last 10 years, I'll eat my umbrella, on camera, and post for all to enjoy watching me choke on. Tap-tap no-erasies, 2016. And that's no waxing poem....it's a promise! I get more forward MOVE progress done researching real estate listings, local logistics, talking to members of the community I want to buy in, than bantering with bitter hostiles over who, or whether anyone deserves to move to WA or not.....heh heh....off to be productive.
Last edited by carolochs; 08-06-2016 at 02:56 PM..
(PSSSSST! T'were it me, I'd go with the Ring of Fire subduction zone mega thrust BIG ONE! You'll get far more *SCARE* factor off that with wannabe WAtonians. Rain is just....well, wet.)
(PSSSSST! T'were it me, I'd go with the Ring of Fire subduction zone mega thrust BIG ONE! You'll get far more *SCARE* factor off that with wannabe WAtonians. Rain is just....well, wet.)
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In 13 years time though, San Diego has grown exponentially. Yep, we have lots of freeways, but they are also looking more and more like L.A. Both sides of Friars Rd are completely developed up & down and way far back and even trying to use that as an alternate route is a joke. This article may give you a bit of a peek: 
Anything I can answer, just ask!
