Vancouver (Battleground), Olympia (Yelm, Tumwater, Lacey), Everett (Marysville, Lake Stevens) (Seattle: sales, real estate)
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We are planning to leave Oklahoma in a year and relocate to Washington, my husband is a high school teacher and I am self-employed with a typing and transcription business.
I'd love to hear some thoughts about the places I've listed, because they're areas with schools that will be hiring, the housing is within our price range, and we're going to be making a trip this summer to scout out some areas and towns.
We don't want to live directly in the metro-proper because of housing costs and general hustle-bustle. Anywhere within an hour of the Seattle area or Vancouver/Portland would be fine for us, close enough to go do city stuff when we want but far enough out that there's maybe a more peaceful feel.
Could anyone comment as to if there's stuff we should watch out for in those different areas, or if there's areas that you're just in love with that you would go out of your way to check if you were us?
I lived in Anacortes back in the 80s as a kid, and I love the sound and the islands but I think the cost of housing will just be too expensive for us unless we were to find a teaching job in Oak Harbor or something like that. I can do my work wherever, so it's really going to depend on where my husband ends up applying and working.
We have no kids, so it'll just be us and probably a constant stream of visitors coming to check out the area.
We like access to farmer's markets and stuff like that if possible, mountain or other views would be a HUGE bonus, and we'd rather avoid high crime areas.
Of the areas listed, I would suggest the Vancouver area. However, Battleground has just voted down its latest school levy and might not be the best place to find a teaching job. There are many many districts in Clark County that you might like, but if you go a bit further north into Cowlitz and Lewis Counties, you will find housing prices a bit cheaper. What sort of housing budget are you looking for? Clark County is building rapidly and housing costs are rising accordingly.
Hi Jane, thank you. We will be looking for a single family home and have worked out a budget of up to $400,000 but that's kind of maxed out if we go all the way that high. I've seen a lot of houses listed all over between $300k and $400k, we'll need a 3/2 at a minimum and would prefer 3/2 with a den or 4/2 because I need a dedicated full-time home office.
I'd rather avoid an attached townhouse or condo, and I know that's sort of the direction housing is taking in a lot of the state and especially, it seems, in Vancouver and north of Everett.
We don't need a lot of land, because a lot of land means a lot of maintenance. However, I've noticed a trend on some newer builds of houses that is very different from anything I've seen, where the garage is in the back of the house and the back yard is basically a large deck built out over the garage and driveway. That kind of arrangement wouldn't work for us because we have dogs and would like them to have some room outside.
I've been browsing Washington real estate for a while and seeing how different areas sort of adopt different styles of houses is really interesting to me. But, it also ends up ruling out areas if the trend is moving away from some of the basic necessities we'll need in the house.
Thank goodness we have at least a year to learn all about this stuff.
I'll try to speak for the Olympia, Tumwater, Lacey area, and heading out to Yelm!
You can still find a nice home with 3-4 bedrooms and a nice lot, but not too big, here, in the $300s. You can spend more, too, but you don't have to, for what you've described.
I went to Tumwater High school... of course I think it's the best of the Olympia area schools!
I might also have you consider some of the smaller neighboring districts, Rochester, Shelton or Tenino. Depends really on what kind of lifestyle you're after. These choices are a little more rural, but also growing! More people all the time.
It's about 60 miles, but Seattle, with traffic, is about two hours away from Olympia at most times of day.... I'd plan on that anyway. Hopefully you only have to go there when it's free time or for fun. Not to meet a schedule.
If you have specific questions, ask, I'd be happy to answer more about this area. Lived here most of my life.
Second what Jane917 says. The greater Vancouver area is a good option but Battleground specifically has issues with schools. They are overcrowded and aging and they can't seem to pass levies. The most recent construction levy for Battleground failed with 52% in favor (need 60% to pass). By comparison the surrounding other districts like Ridgefield and Camas typically pass levies with votes in the high 60s.
Since you don't have kids it doesn't matter so much where you live. Battleground is typical suburban sprawl with not much "there" there in terms of a downtown. But honestly most of the greater Vancouver area is pretty similar. Camas and Washougal are the only stand alone towns that have their own historic central downtowns other than Vancouver itself. Most of the rest of the area is pretty suburban. Most of the big builders operate throughout the county wherever they can find sufficient land for subdivisions so there really isn't much difference between towns in terms of what you will find in housing if you are comparing apples to apples. Obviously some areas are higher end than others.
As for traffic. Vancouver is pretty easy to drive in as long as you are not trying to get to Portland during the morning rush hour. So cross town commutes are easy as are reverse commutes. The only hassle is if you are stuck trying to commute south on I-5 or I-205 along with all the other Portland commuter traffic.
The whole Vancouver area is growing fast and all the districts seem to be hiring and building new schools. For the Vancouver area I'd get online and follow the job listings for the following districts: Vancouver, Evergreen, Camas, Washougal, Hockinson, Battleground and Ridgefield. And if you want to push a bit further north there is La Center, and Woodland. Even further north is Kalama and Longview/Kelso which will be substantially cheaper than the Vancouver area but more blue collar and downscale for the most part.
Second what Jane917 says. The greater Vancouver area is a good option but Battleground specifically has issues with schools. They are overcrowded and aging and they can't seem to pass levies. The most recent construction levy for Battleground failed with 52% in favor (need 60% to pass). By comparison the surrounding other districts like Ridgefield and Camas typically pass levies with votes in the high 60s.
Since you don't have kids it doesn't matter so much where you live. Battleground is typical suburban sprawl with not much "there" there in terms of a downtown. But honestly most of the greater Vancouver area is pretty similar. Camas and Washougal are the only stand alone towns that have their own historic central downtowns other than Vancouver itself. Most of the rest of the area is pretty suburban. Most of the big builders operate throughout the county wherever they can find sufficient land for subdivisions so there really isn't much difference between towns in terms of what you will find in housing if you are comparing apples to apples. Obviously some areas are higher end than others.
As for traffic. Vancouver is pretty easy to drive in as long as you are not trying to get to Portland during the morning rush hour. So cross town commutes are easy as are reverse commutes. The only hassle is if you are stuck trying to commute south on I-5 or I-205 along with all the other Portland commuter traffic.
The whole Vancouver area is growing fast and all the districts seem to be hiring and building new schools. For the Vancouver area I'd get online and follow the job listings for the following districts: Vancouver, Evergreen, Camas, Washougal, Hockinson, Battleground and Ridgefield. And if you want to push a bit further north there is La Center, and Woodland. Even further north is Kalama and Longview/Kelso which will be substantially cheaper than the Vancouver area but more blue collar and downscale for the most part.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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for your needs / skill set... SW WA will be a very ez and nice transition.
School jobs: Hockinson, Camas, Evergreen, Green Mtn, Ridgefield, Washougal, VSD (apply at these districts in that order)
Typing and Transcription... Portland / Salem metro is >3m + add Longview and Hood River / The Dalles for additional clients + online. 30+ colleges within 1 hour (admissions / immigration / legal transcriptions) (2) significant law schools + university research hospital and huge Veteran's support structure + federal agencies like Army Corp of Engineers and BPA and US Forest Service). Many huge employers in need of transcription services.
I appreciate PDX, ez and cheap flights, and FAST in and out.
Work and live in income tax free WA,
Recreate, EDU, and eat in sales tax free Oregon (5 minutes away).
Find a way to enjoy the area in spite of the weather (indoor hobbies + rain gear + 'no-fear' of getting wet (wash-n-wear))
Last edited by StealthRabbit; 04-27-2018 at 11:27 AM..
Thank you ALL for your amazing insights! This is the kind of information we've been trying to find out and I feel really lucky to have stumbled upon you. Your perspectives on school districts vs suburban sprawl are also REALLY helpful!
I'm soaking all of this in like a sponge and I'm going to have my husband log on and read it all too, so if you have other feedback or suggestions we would definitely love to hear them.
Here's some weather questions: I lived in Washington when I was younger and Alaska when I was even younger than that, and I'm aware of the rainy weather. It doesn't bother me much, especially because where we are now, we get rain that throws things at you and tornadoes that knock houses over.
Is there a dividing line, for example, from W to E across the state, that would separate winter weather into "gets snow" and "rarely gets snow?" I miss snow. It's not a dealbreaker for me, but knowing I might see a sprinkle on the ground a couple times a winter could be a bonus for me. Working at home, I tend to sort of watch the world outside my window while I'm working.
How hot does it get in the summer in whatever area of the state you live? I lived in Arizona for 23 years and now Oklahoma for 13, and we can't survive in either place without air conditioning. The house listings I have seen either don't specify if they have it or not (which I tend to believe means they don't) or they hype that they have some A/C -- I would say 5% of the houses I've daydreamed about on Realtor.com say they have A/C. We'd be looking for homes built post-2000, and ideally towards the newer range of that -- do I need to give up on my dream of summertime air conditioning?
I personally love the idea of living somewhere that has a little bit of its own personality in terms of a town with an actual downtown rather than a sprawl with a walmart neighborhood market somewhere on the corner. I wouldn't mind being in a small town peripheral to the different general areas I've mentioned, as long as it's not somewhere that's run down and not quite on its feet after being a logging town, or the like. We were considering Port Angeles because it seems to be on an upswing and a really pretty place to live, but they probably won't be hiring for teachers in my husband's specialty for multiple years as they said they were fully-staffed when he was at an education job fair in March.
In the most perfect world ever, down the road I'd trade in my typing for an apron and have a little local cafe of some kind. I mean, that's really just a daydream at this point but a town or area that appreciates and supports local businesses is just good mojo, in my opinion.
Here's some weather questions: I lived in Washington when I was younger and Alaska when I was even younger than that, and I'm aware of the rainy weather. It doesn't bother me much, especially because where we are now, we get rain that throws things at you and tornadoes that knock houses over.
I have witnessed one thunderstorm in OK that the locals said was quite a normal, every day kind of storm... with straight line winds in it that would have taken every one of our NW tall trees to the ground. We don't get anything like OK weather.
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Is there a dividing line, for example, from W to E across the state, that would separate winter weather into "gets snow" and "rarely gets snow?" I miss snow. It's not a dealbreaker for me, but knowing I might see a sprinkle on the ground a couple times a winter could be a bonus for me. Working at home, I tend to sort of watch the world outside my window while I'm working.
The most obvious change in climate line from West to East is the mountains. On the West side, you're wetter and not as cold... on the east side, you're in high desert, with more heat, and less rain... but colder winters too and snow that sticks around sometimes.
On the West side, you'll get more snow the further you are from Puget Sound or the ocean. Both tend to moderate the temperatures and keep things cooler in summer and warmer in winter. At our beach house, we'll get rain on winter days when it's real close to freezing, when just a half mile up the road away from the water, they're getting snow. The further from sea level you get, both in elevation and in distance, the more often you'll get snow and the longer it will last. And... some winters we just get more than others. It really varies.
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How hot does it get in the summer in whatever area of the state you live? I lived in Arizona for 23 years and now Oklahoma for 13, and we can't survive in either place without air conditioning. The house listings I have seen either don't specify if they have it or not (which I tend to believe means they don't) or they hype that they have some A/C -- I would say 5% of the houses I've daydreamed about on Realtor.com say they have A/C. We'd be looking for homes built post-2000, and ideally towards the newer range of that -- do I need to give up on my dream of summertime air conditioning?
Newer homes may have AC... but most of the locals think it's a weakness to use it. This is not like hotter climates, most typical summer days are 70-80... but we have our cold snaps when it's hotter, and we suffer it for a week or so until the wind changes.
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I personally love the idea of living somewhere that has a little bit of its own personality in terms of a town with an actual downtown rather than a sprawl with a walmart neighborhood market somewhere on the corner. I wouldn't mind being in a small town peripheral to the different general areas I've mentioned, as long as it's not somewhere that's run down and not quite on its feet after being a logging town, or the like. We were considering Port Angeles because it seems to be on an upswing and a really pretty place to live, but they probably won't be hiring for teachers in my husband's specialty for multiple years as they said they were fully-staffed when he was at an education job fair in March.
Olympia has that quaint touristy down town area... so does Gig Harbor, which you haven't mentioned, but is another possibility?
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In the most perfect world ever, down the road I'd trade in my typing for an apron and have a little local cafe of some kind. I mean, that's really just a daydream at this point but a town or area that appreciates and supports local businesses is just good mojo, in my opinion.
The smaller the town, the more the local business appreciation. We're very into that in Rochester where I live, but Rochester may be smaller than where you're thinking of going now.
Thanks! Gig Harbor is/was on the list but I can't really find any homes there that would work for us and the HGTV putting their million dollar house there didn't help!
That was super good info!
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We don't get anything like OK weather. 
This is not like hotter climates, most typical summer days are 70-80... but we have our cold snaps when it's hotter, and we suffer it for a week or so until the wind changes. 
