Is Port Townsend or Lake Conner scooter friendly? (Seattle, Gig Harbor: co-op, homes)

[jimmneycrimmney]

My husband is extremely morbidly obese and usually rides a scooter to the store to pick up groceries. He can go a couple miles if the road is flat but when he encounters hills it is problematic. We are looking at relocating to Port Townsend, Langley or Lake Conner and have only visited Langley in person. I am wondering if Port Townsend or La Conner are hilly and what is the condition of the roads? Potholes? Are they scooter friendly? I do not want my husbands mobility to be compromised. He suffers from depression and a host of other mental health challenges so getting out and about is vital for his mental state.

I am also wondering if Port Townsend, Langley or La Conner were affected badly by the wild fires in BC because my husband has asthma. Thank you

[Hemlock140]

Those places are all pretty flat, being near water they are in the 50'-15- elevation range. While there will be some potholes they not nearly as bad as Seattle. All of those areas subject to the nasty smoke, and it was that way all the way down to Seattle where my employer passed out masks last summer. Wildfires cannot be predicted. We had no smoke issues at all this year (knocking on wood).

[PartIrish]

Haven't been to Port Townsend, but La Conner is mostly flat. You can use google maps to check elevation by putting in two locations in a city and then clicking the walking or biking icon at the top. The result will show the elevation change between the locations. This more significant issue might be the 8 months of drizzly weather and how that would impact your husband's ability to use the scooter as well as his general mod. Some people find the rain, grey skies and short days depressing, so that is something to consider.

As for smokiness, as Hemlock said, those periods come and go. Over the past three summers I've spent in western WA, 2017 had a week or two of very bad smokiness, 2018 was several weeks, and 2019 had zero. If climate change pushes western WA and BC toward drier summers, there will be more fires and thus more smoke. Something to consider if you are looking to relocate.

[mayfair]

There are also winter inversions when the air is stagnant and smoke from woodstoves and car exhaust hangs close to the ground, sometimes in fog. These result in burn bans, but the air is still bad for asthmatics during that time.

[Diana Holbrook]

The areas are flat, but any homes you consider would need to be evaluated for whether they're really appropriate for scooter riding versus traffic. If you're right in the tourist part of downtown, OK.... but these are small towns, and country roads, not not all are built with shoulders or sidewalks or even bike paths.

Find the path first, then the homes along it.

[Drew8888]

The elevation of downtown PT is around 16 feet; the elevation of nearby Morgan Hill is 292 feet. The highest elevation within the PT city limits is around 340 feet. There are significant areas of the town that will be inaccessible to a scooter!


Reference: https://en-gb.topographic-map.com/ma...Port-Townsend/

[Ruth4Truth]

Pt T is not flat. You could choose a neighborhood, however, that has easy (flat) access to a grocery store. Uptown is one such neighborhood. It also has a public library. You could look also in the vicinity of the Safeway/Albertson's in town (whatever they call it, now). The food co-op is a great place to shop, but it's in an area with a lot of traffic, so probably wouldn't be practical for a scooter.

[Transmition]

La Conner has some pretty steep hills in places but is flat in others. The difference is so great between 1st and 2nd street that there are steps between them at some points. The museum is at the top of a hill, but you can go around the hill if you need to travel from one side to the other.

[mayfair]

You aren't going to find many flat towns near Puget Sound.

[jimmneycrimmney]

Thank you. I think we are focusing on Gig Harbor and Seattle. I know Seattle is hilly but the mental health facilities are top notch. My husband wants gastric bypass but due to paranoia, depression and anxiety he is not considered a candidate.