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There are a few reasons I can think of.
One of them being the fact that you like to do things that aren't available here, like amusement parks and the other offerings in SoCal like sunny beaches, etc. There's no In N Out here.
The reason this bothers me is when people get to a new area and find all the things the new area lacks from where they came from, the tendency is to make your new area more like your old one.
I'm not saying you're going to build an amusement park, but it just contributes to the overall decline of what makes Washington State, Washington State.
I don't believe people from CA are solely responsible for the entire situation as I see it, but y'all are certainly contributing to it on a large scale and speeding it up.
You said you aren't outdoorsy, but you'll learn to be. I'm sure you have great intentions, but the shopping malls, strip malls on every corner, giant movie theaters, and miles of pavement will likely be far more appealing than going outside somewhere with no cell service or paved roads. I'd love to be wrong about this one, but I fear I won't be.
My wife and I live out in the woods, but I know this is not going to last long. I already see tractors plowing down acres of trees and vegetation along the road out to our home just to make room for more apartment complexes, distribution centers, restaurants, and who knows what else they think we need.
No one is thinking of the environment or infrastructure as they build, build, build. All that natural beauty is dollar signs in developers eyes, so off it goes.
People claim they want to come to WA to get away from what they don't like, but they just end up bringing it with them.
Sure, rent for a four bedroom home isn't $3,500 per month in Thurston County, but it's working it's way up quickly. People are selling their homes in days (some, like us, even hours) in Thurston County for inflated prices.
People from CA get up here and think this is like the gold rush all over again with the cheap living. There's a cost but few, if any of y'all, care.
Another reason I can think of is y'all do not know how to drive in the rain.
As for nurse wages, you'll find yourself in the mid to upper $30's hourly. I know this firsthand as I also work in that field, just on the IT side. So while I am not a medical professional like you are, I work with and around them all the time.
As for the 'free country' comment, it sure is. You can do whatever you want. I am not telling you what you can and can't do. I am not the keeper of the gate to decide who is allowed to move to WA.
Just sharing my opinion, which is worth the same as the others who posted.
^^^No one in rural Western Washington knows how to drive, unless you think Demolition Derby driving is “normal”. A seasoned California freeway driver should feel scared driving here! San Diego was a cakewalk!
^^^No one in rural Western Washington knows how to drive, unless you think Demolition Derby driving is “normal”. A seasoned California freeway driver should feel scared driving here! San Diego was a cakewalk!
This is complete B*ll Sh*t. As someone who's driven in the metro and rural areas of several states INCLUDING San Diego, Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland, Minneapolis, etc., Washington drivers are no worse or better than other drivers.
Road conditions (crowding, etc.) and local laws are what makes the biggest difference. No matter where you are, when road conditions are crowded, you are going to see lots of stupid choices because people are stressed.
People in some rural areas are more likely to drive drunk because it's such a big part of the culture and a way to deal with the long winters. I'm thinking of states like Wisconsin, etc. in the snow zone here, but I hear the New Mexico and Texas have this same problem.
But even if it were Washington drivers are so bad, how can you be sure? The DOL doesn't give out "Not Originally From Here" plates, so that "Washington driver" that you're cursing out might really be a Californian that moved here last year. In fact, it's a good possibility. 15% of the people living here weren't born here, and a large percentage of them are from California. Maybe the problem has been California drivers all along?
Better be careful. You may be putting one of your own down when you complain about Washington drivers.
I'd love to think of myself as an "exception to the rule" with my desire to move up that way. More so Whatcom County. from 1993 to 2004 I was a national sales manager for a jewelry manufacturer. I used to travel most all the State of Washington several times a year. I developed many friends and people I provided goods for. My wife and I have traveled the State for many years as it was our preferred place to head for our vacations. I never had any issues with the folks from the State, and have duly noted the massive influx of the "Californication" that had occurred over the last 20 years. I say that C word with a bit of tongue in cheek. I also covered California as part of my territory. It did give me the unique ability to get familiar with the ways of a give area, how the people worked, what their attitudes were etc. I mainly ended up in Utah after leaving a 10 year stint in the Bay Area because the cost of living got nuts there, and they too started building in the community I lived in on the coast (Half Moon Bay) that WAS delightful and had a building moratorium. Well, when they finally caved and took that off the onslaught of building began, and our interest rates rose.
My wife's mother lived in Salt Lake and the homes there were actually affordable (then). I moved us there and began a life mostly on the road. So Washington State certainly became a #1 favorite for my wife and I. Frankly, I wouldn't change one thing about the place, so I certainly do NOT fit in with the Californication method of "move and change the place to fit my needs". I'm hoping to make our choice to fit our retirement needs (shopping and medical). The rest is already in place. A 55+ community is our focus and if the lot or 2 that remain available in the place I have my sites on till May, I will likely jump on it and arrange for the MF home to be sited there.
It's pretty easy to paint with a wide brush regarding pigeonholing what people from a given state are like. And sure I often comment on "gee I wish I was one of those Californians coming up there with a boatload of cash from the sale of their absurdly overpriced homes". But I"m NOT. It will be a tight negotiation but I'm hoping it all works out for us. When I sell the home here in the Salt Lake area and leave a bit for savings after the downpayment. Time will tell. I'll just be planning to put it all in place over the next 7 months. The good news is our agent here said he'd have our home sold in about 4 hours after I give him the go ahead. Things are real HOT here in the market to say the least. One of the reasons I'm headed OUT. I'm not into crowds and heavy population. I need some space and peace and quiet. We shall see.......
One of the reasons I'm headed OUT. I'm not into crowds and heavy population. I need some space and peace and quiet. We shall see.......
So the Port Angeles/Sequim area still looks likely? (I think that was it.) Good luck then. I can understand the desire to leave a dry, overcrowded, and smoggy place for a damp, cool, cloudy, and quiet place.
For recreation, you'll be relatively close to the ocean beaches (North Beach: Ocean Shores, Copalis Beach, Pacific Beach, Moclips; South Beach: Westport, Grayland), Hood Canal/Olympic National Park, Mt. Rainier National Park, Mt. St. Helens National Monument.
Everett area, you're looking at closer to $2,200-3,000, due to being closer to Seattle:
The Everett area is dryer than the Olympia area. For recreation: Whidbey Island, Stevens Pass (Hwy 2), Mountain Loop Highway, Olympic National Park, North Cascades National Park, San Juan Islands. Closest to a "theme park": Leavenworth (Hwy 2) and Winthrop (Methow Valley).
Surely you aren't talking to ME CrazyDonkey. You couldn't get me anywhere remotely near the Seattle Metro. I purposely am trying to get pretty far from there in an area fairly separated from any needs there. This is an area that is about 25 miles NE of Bellingham. So close enough for Costco and WalMart Supercenter, doctors and the other basic needs, but far enough for peace and quiet. Especially in an 55+ community with nice CCR's to keep it that way. Believe me I KNOW Washington State in and out all across it. I've considered other areas but right now I've centered on this area being my #1 pick. Rentals near the area so I can spend the 6 months it may take to prepare the place after ordering the MH and doing the site prep are averaging about what I pay for my mortgage now (from $1000-$1200). So nothing like near what your talking about. Just thought I'd clear that up in case you didn't understand my goal here.
Surely you aren't talking to ME CrazyDonkey. You couldn't get me anywhere remotely near the Seattle Metro. I purposely am trying to get pretty far from there in an area fairly separated from any needs there. This is an area that is about 25 miles NE of Bellingham. So close enough for Costco and WalMart Supercenter, doctors and the other basic needs, but far enough for peace and quiet. Especially in an 55+ community with nice CCR's to keep it that way. Believe me I KNOW Washington State in and out all across it. I've considered other areas but right now I've centered on this area being my #1 pick. Rentals near the area so I can spend the 6 months it may take to prepare the place after ordering the MH and doing the site prep are averaging about what I pay for my mortgage now (from $1000-$1200). So nothing like near what your talking about. Just thought I'd clear that up in case you didn't understand my goal here.
You should start your own thread ("Yet another thinking of moving to western Washington", for instance), rather than piggy-backing on someone else's thread.
There are a few reasons I can think of.
One of them being the fact that you like to do things that aren't available here, like amusement parks and the other offerings in SoCal like sunny beaches, etc. There's no In N Out here.
If you believe that because people live somewhere, they can move and learn new things then I'm afraid you've got a pretty poor outlook on people and life in general. You further prove this more as your post progresses.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MJ5150
The reason this bothers me is when people get to a new area and find all the things the new area lacks from where they came from, the tendency is to make your new area more like your old one.
I'm not saying you're going to build an amusement park, but it just contributes to the overall decline of what makes Washington State, Washington State.
I don't believe people from CA are solely responsible for the entire situation as I see it, but y'all are certainly contributing to it on a large scale and speeding it up.
If I said I was move to Washington solely for the cheap real estate, you may have a point. As I've said in multiple other posts we are thinking of leaving because we don't like it, considering that as a family we have live in 4 states, all of which are pretty different that one another with the exception of being very populated. VA is known for their natural beauty and good outdoors which we loved, however is almost as expensive as California so we tried Maryland but same problem unless you want to commute 3.5 hours to be able to afford a 300k house on a $22/hr job. We moved to Colorado, which is also well know for their outdoors and snow, doesn't have a ton of theme parks and again we loved it but got sick of the 2-4 feet of snow a year and when I became a nurse I don't have the option of calling in on a snow day, so whether it's 6 inches or 6 feet I still had to risk my life driving with the other morons on the road who thought 4x4 mean you can do 70mph on 7 inches of snow, or when I'm at work risk having to do a 12hr shift and then another 12 hour shift because my relief couldn't make it in. So we moved to California, and yes we love the sun and the beaches and the theme parks but hate the freeways that make your traffic seem like a cake walk. We also hate the dumbass politics and micromanagement by the politicians, and the sky high house prices(take your ****ty house and you'll still pay 400k for it in the ghetto). If we wanted to stay in CA and enjoy all the other stuff and afford a house we could move to plenty of other places in the state, but we want a change and to slow down.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MJ5150
You said you aren't outdoorsy, but you'll learn to be. I'm sure you have great intentions, but the shopping malls, strip malls on every corner, giant movie theaters, and miles of pavement will likely be far more appealing than going outside somewhere with no cell service or paved roads. I'd love to be wrong about this one, but I fear I won't be.
See above post for how much we like the outdoors, and want to learn to do more and see more
Quote:
Originally Posted by MJ5150
My wife and I live out in the woods, but I know this is not going to last long. I already see tractors plowing down acres of trees and vegetation along the road out to our home just to make room for more apartment complexes, distribution centers, restaurants, and who knows what else they think we need.
No one is thinking of the environment or infrastructure as they build, build, build. All that natural beauty is dollar signs in developers eyes, so off it goes.
Maybe living out in the wood has screwed with your brain, but this is not the fault of the people moving in but the people that current and former washington residents have voted into office. See anyone encroaching on any national parks? No because the citizens who live near them have fought hard to ensure that their beautiful lands stay that way. Perhaps you should come out of the woods and start fighting for the land you love and start petitioning your representative to protect the lands and petition for national park status. Also, perhaps you need more housing because from what I've read there is a huge homeless and migrant population, that isn't just the fault of those moving into the state, check your representative again.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MJ5150
People claim they want to come to WA to get away from what they don't like, but they just end up bringing it with them.
Sure, rent for a four bedroom home isn't $3,500 per month in Thurston County, but it's working it's way up quickly. People are selling their homes in days (some, like us, even hours) in Thurston County for inflated prices.
People from CA get up here and think this is like the gold rush all over again with the cheap living. There's a cost but few, if any of y'all, care.
Again, it's not just the fault of people moving into the state that is raising costs or even the population count. Last I check, housing costs have been rising for decades, EVERYWHERE, I think inflation and supply/demand may be at fault. According to 2013 data(just a quick search) Washington is tied for 18th place in highest birth rates. So it's not just us moving in who don't care.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MJ5150
Another reason I can think of is y'all do not know how to drive in the rain.
Nice generalization, same could be said for people who seclude themselves in the wood and anti-social and wired. Just saying
Quote:
Originally Posted by MJ5150
As for nurse wages, you'll find yourself in the mid to upper $30's hourly. I know this firsthand as I also work in that field, just on the IT side. So while I am not a medical professional like you are, I work with and around them all the time.
Thank you for the information, this is about what they pay nurses here in Orange county, which is sad because at this rate, unless you work overtime may nurses earn less that what the CA government has listed as below poverty level in Orange County. You wonder why we want to leave this state. $76k a year and it's still considered poverty...
^^^No one in rural Western Washington knows how to drive, unless you think Demolition Derby driving is “normal”. A seasoned California freeway driver should feel scared driving here! San Diego was a cakewalk!
I've driven around rural Western Washington many times, and encountered no problem at all. The driving was downright sedate. Always.
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