If there are no stupid questions... (Seattle, Spokane: rental, how much, houses)

[Isabella Tiger Moth]

...let me pose a few that might be simply ignorant.

I know relatively nothing about Washington State, and the little I do know comes from random conversations I've had over the years with people who have lived or traveled there (a woman who thought Spokane was the best place in the world, a cousin who thought he'd like to live in Seattle until he visited and then decided not). I know it's a huge state, and, I'm sure it has varying climates (the woman I mentioned actually said Spokane was very sunny and arid which surprised me because I always thought of Washington as rainy and mostly overcast). So, here are a few things about me, and some questions about what part of the state might suit me and my family best. Hopefully, someone will feel like answering.

My family: We are moderate to progressive (more progressive since Trump) and not religious (spirituality is another thing). We do not attend church (we currently live in Virginia where this is a very big deal). We love to be outdoors and would like an area that is readily accessible to nature and hiking (preferably, right outside our door). We like warmer and sunnier more than colder and wetter. We homeschool and would love a nearby community of secular homeschoolers. We're pretty nice and would like friendly, somewhat laid back neighbors (although barbecues and get-togethers really aren't our thing--mostly we'd just like to be around people who aren't mean). My husband is an electrical engineer, and so, even though we want to be close to nature, we also need to be close enough to "civilization" that he doesn't have a ridiculous commute (within 30 minutes would be ideal). We'd like some land (maybe 10 acres).

My questions:

1. Does anything resembling a place that would suit my family exist in Washington State?
2. (Ignorant question alert) I've read there's a valley in WA that is one of the few places temperate enough year round to grow tea. Does anybody know what this valley is and does it seem to meet any of the criteria of what we're looking for? (I really like tea )
3. Is WA the kind of place with a lot of regulations regarding land use? We'd really like to be able to subdivide our land at some point and let our kids build houses on it. This seems to be an issue in a lot of places.
4. Does the overcast weather really get to people or does it seem to be okay? (I grew up in the northeast, and I know--and don't particularly like, gloomy weather).
5. How's the tick situation? It's really starting to put a damper on our love of the outdoors here in VA. It would be nice to get a little relief.

If anyone's read this far, I appreciate it. Any guidance you could give would be great!

[Isabella Tiger Moth]

Skagit Valley. That's the place where you can grow tea.

[Ruth4Truth]

The Skagit Valley is beautiful, and has very fertile soil. I don't know about tea-growing there. It's known for tulips. There's a spring tulip festival there. It's on the west side of the state, meaning it tends toward rainy/overcast. Spring and summer are glorious, though!

RE: your dream to buy a parcel large enough to later subdivide, for your kids:
Property taxes could make that prohibitively expensive, unless you have a rental unit on the property, Because there's no state income tax, the property tax is the main source of tax revenue for the state.

As to jobs somewhere in the vicinity of the Skagit valley, for an electrical engineer; could be challenging. Bellingham? There might be something at the university there, or with the city. Your best bet might be with Boeing, but that would require you to live somewhere outside Seattle. There are rural areas within commute distance of Boeing (which has two locations, one north of Seattle, one south), where you could conceivably get a 1-acre parcel, or 1.5 acre.

[Edward234]

Originally Posted by Isabella Tiger Moth

...let me pose a few that might be simply ignorant.

I know relatively nothing about Washington State, and the little I do know comes from random conversations I've had over the years with people who have lived or traveled there (a woman who thought Spokane was the best place in the world, a cousin who thought he'd like to live in Seattle until he visited and then decided not). I know it's a huge state, and, I'm sure it has varying climates (the woman I mentioned actually said Spokane was very sunny and arid which surprised me because I always thought of Washington as rainy and mostly overcast). So, here are a few things about me, and some questions about what part of the state might suit me and my family best. Hopefully, someone will feel like answering.

My family: We are moderate to progressive (more progressive since Trump) and not religious (spirituality is another thing). We do not attend church (we currently live in Virginia where this is a very big deal). We love to be outdoors and would like an area that is readily accessible to nature and hiking (preferably, right outside our door). We like warmer and sunnier more than colder and wetter. We homeschool and would love a nearby community of secular homeschoolers. We're pretty nice and would like friendly, somewhat laid back neighbors (although barbecues and get-togethers really aren't our thing--mostly we'd just like to be around people who aren't mean). My husband is an electrical engineer, and so, even though we want to be close to nature, we also need to be close enough to "civilization" that he doesn't have a ridiculous commute (within 30 minutes would be ideal). We'd like some land (maybe 10 acres).

My questions:

1. Does anything resembling a place that would suit my family exist in Washington State?
2. (Ignorant question alert) I've read there's a valley in WA that is one of the few places temperate enough year round to grow tea. Does anybody know what this valley is and does it seem to meet any of the criteria of what we're looking for? (I really like tea )
3. Is WA the kind of place with a lot of regulations regarding land use? We'd really like to be able to subdivide our land at some point and let our kids build houses on it. This seems to be an issue in a lot of places.
4. Does the overcast weather really get to people or does it seem to be okay? (I grew up in the northeast, and I know--and don't particularly like, gloomy weather).
5. How's the tick situation? It's really starting to put a damper on our love of the outdoors here in VA. It would be nice to get a little relief.

If anyone's read this far, I appreciate it. Any guidance you could give would be great!

Eastern Washington has a much more arid and warm climate, including straight up desert in places like Yakima. It's also much more conservative (all counties east of the Cascades voted for Trump). Western Washington is much wetter and more damp but it has very liberal areas (e.g. Seattle proper) along with moderate and conservative areas as well.

Here's a county-by-county map of the 2016 Presidential election results. The areas in blue are generally the more populated and economically thriving counties:

[CrazyDonkey]

Skagit Valley is in the Olympics' "rain shadow". However, less rain does not necessarily mean sunnier and warmer weather, but simply that the clouds overhead have already dumped their water (on Forks and environs). It is also north of a convergence zone, meaning that it is colder, not warmer, than Seattle. As to the 30-minute commute - fugetaboudit! Think 45-minutes, if not an hour or more, to Boeing (or a subcontractor) south of Everett.

As to buying acreage you can subdivide among the kids (each with their own well and septic), even if not a hop-skip-and-jump from civilization, see my comment on the 30-minute commute, and the Hurst Decision. You're at least 20 years too late for that. Maybe look at the Idaho Panhandle, with a commute into Spokane possible...

[Ruth4Truth]

OP, you won't get sunny, warm in combination with liberal or progressive, in WA State. And unless you want to blow a good bit of your nest egg, you won't get 10 acres anywhere near a job for an electrical engineer.

I don't quite understand these expectations; are you able to have acreage where you currently live, near a major job center? This might work somewhere in the vicinity of Kansas City, or Bozeman, MT, or Idaho, as someone suggested. Or maybe even Oregon's Willammette Valley, within a decent commute time of Eugene, or Salem. Or heck, I don't know what property values are like outside of Olympia, WA; that might work. (The weather wouldn't suit you, though.)

Something's gotta give with your expectations; prioritize your wish list, and decide what's most important, and what you can live without.

[Isabella Tiger Moth]

Thanks, everybody! This is mostly just a wish list and since I don't know too much about WA, I thought it would be a good idea to leave it up to the locals for suggestions on an area that might suit us. We're in VA right now and could probably get some acreage with a reasonable commute time, but I'm a little fed up with several aspects of life here and am looking for something different. People seem to like WA, and my husband has family out west, so it seemed worth looking into. The land thing is a bummer, though (not a deal breaker, just a bummer ) . Thank you again for all the replies. Very helpful!!

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by Isabella Tiger Moth

Thanks, everybody! This is mostly just a wish list and since I don't know too much about WA, I thought it would be a good idea to leave it up to the locals for suggestions on an area that might suit us. We're in VA right now and could probably get some acreage with a reasonable commute time, but I'm a little fed up with several aspects of life here and am looking for something different. People seem to like WA, and my husband has family out west, so it seemed worth looking into. The land thing is a bummer, though (not a deal breaker, just a bummer ) . Thank you again for all the replies. Very helpful!!

Well, you still might be able to get land, but not 10 acres. Scale down your requirements. What would you do with 10 acres, anyway? That's a lot of land to tend. Are you from a farm background? It's expensive to tend to multiple acres.

There are liberal enclaves in sunny, hot, eastern WA, but with global climate change, I wouldn't want to be invested in a place that tends to be dry. You'd want to be sure in 20 years that you have a reliable water supply, and that would be where the rain is. That's how I see it. That's why I gave up on moving back to CA, where I'm from; I'm planning to move "back" to the Puget Sound area, where I went to university, and stayed a good while afterward. And btw, even western WA is getting warm; the Seattle area had a heat wave in the 90's in June, it's the second time that's happened in the last 3 years. Normally it's 20 degrees cooler in June.

[Ruth4Truth]

Well, OP, I just heard from someone on this forum, who lives in Stanwood, and her husband is an engineer, who found work in Bellingham. They, like you, prefer a rural setting with acres of land between them and their neighbors. So apparently it's doable, though I don't know how much land they have. Still, you could have something very close to your Skagit Valley dream. You could locate closer to Bellingham, for a shorter commute.

[Hemlock140]

Spokane does get a lot more sun, but also a lot more snow and colder in winter. I suggest Sequim, or better the more rural area in unincorporated Port Angeles just beyond Sequim. There continues to be growth there, so more work in the construction industry, much more sun and less rain, many outdoor activities. Two of my parents' neighbors in the Blue Mountain area homeschooled. That area has many reasonably priced properties with acreage.