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My wife and I live a fairly quiet life and are looking for a place to move in the next year or so that has more outdoor opportunities than where we live now (Pittsburgh).
Seems like WW may be a good candidate, but I am a little concerned with the size (too small) and weather (too gray) and being too isolated.
We hate Pittsburgh winters, which are cold, drizzly and cloudy. Ideally we would get more sun and snow. Looks like Walla Walla is not much of an upgrade in this department, but in Pittsburgh there are week long stretches with NO sun. Is it more varied in WW? Like you may get clouds in morning, but sun in the afternoon? Or is the weather overall (from a sunshine perspective) dreary like the coast?
In terms of size, does it feel small? I know this is relative. I've mainly lived in bigger cities, but have found that you only need a solid coffeeshop or two, some friendly bars and a few cheap and tasty restaurants to keep you afloat. Some live music doesn't hurt either. Seems like college towns tend to tick these boxes.
Also, what about airport access? I guess Spokane is the main gateway out? I used to travel more for work, and expect it to pick up post-COVID, but it is mainly to West Coast. My wife and I like to travel as well and would ideally live a bit closer to major airport, but it is a tradeoff.
Anything else worth considering? Like is internet OK in Walla Walla?
Y'know, I went to Walla Walla (on the night before the big Eclipse) for the first time in decades, and I found it quite pleasantly surprising, size-wise.
Its semi-isolation is a good thing, given how the world around us is trending.
Lots of the riff-raff won't want to GO there...
It is home to a college that is something to be proud of, apparently.
Some travel website said last year that Whitman College has THE prettiest campus in the country
(which is perhaps a stretch, BUT, for such a small town, to be on the list is saying something).
ranks the top spots in the nation for lowest average sunshine... (of course completely DOMINATED by Western Washington... but Pittsburgh is SO high on that list that you are surely misrepresenting Walla Walla (aka "Eastern" Washington) in your own thoughts) .
You would find Walla Walla to be nothing at all like either western Washington OR Pittsburgh in the way of gray and gloom.
At times you will find Walla Walla to be over 100 degrees in the summers, with minimal humidity, and at times you will find some cold winters in Walla Walla, but I'm kind of stunned that you liken Walla Walla to gray and gloom in any way.
I would suggest that IF/because you won't have to get up and GO anywhere 5 days a week, that Walla Walla would prove quite comfortable in the present and near future, with the larger places (and plenty of recreation) within comfortable traveling distance.
Yes indeed, IF you have to get up and fly to the east coast suddenly, you might do best to get from Walla Walla OR Pasco, WA... to Salt Lake City, which is a hub, and then go east from there.
(Pasco seems to have non-stop flights TO SLC ) (one-hour drive from Walla Walla to Pasco)
(and don't forget, it would take you perhaps SOME amount of time to get from your present home to the airport in Pittsburgh)
I think your average weather day in Walla Walla would be far more easy to anticipate than that in either Seattle or Pittsburgh.
Summers likely bright and sunny all day long, with warm temps...
Winters likely cold and mostly sunny all day long.
(Pittsburgh and Seattle would have much greater variation that way)
SO I think you should keep considering Walla Walla as a pleasant place, with various larger options for getting away not too far down the road.
Last edited by TheManFromGlad; 01-03-2021 at 06:29 PM..
My wife and I live a fairly quiet life and are looking for a place to move in the next year or so that has more outdoor opportunities than where we live now (Pittsburgh).
Seems like WW may be a good candidate, but I am a little concerned with the size (too small) and weather (too gray) and being too isolated.
We hate Pittsburgh winters, which are cold, drizzly and cloudy. Ideally we would get more sun and snow. Looks like Walla Walla is not much of an upgrade in this department, but in Pittsburgh there are week long stretches with NO sun. Is it more varied in WW? Like you may get clouds in morning, but sun in the afternoon? Or is the weather overall (from a sunshine perspective) dreary like the coast?
In terms of size, does it feel small? I know this is relative. I've mainly lived in bigger cities, but have found that you only need a solid coffeeshop or two, some friendly bars and a few cheap and tasty restaurants to keep you afloat. Some live music doesn't hurt either. Seems like college towns tend to tick these boxes.
Also, what about airport access? I guess Spokane is the main gateway out? I used to travel more for work, and expect it to pick up post-COVID, but it is mainly to West Coast. My wife and I like to travel as well and would ideally live a bit closer to major airport, but it is a tradeoff.
Anything else worth considering? Like is internet OK in Walla Walla?
Not sure where you get your information from but Walla Walla is A LOT sunnier than Pittsburgh for 9-10 months of the year. The only cloudy months will be in the winter and it will still be an upgrade to Pittsburgh weatherwise.
My wife and I live a fairly quiet life and are looking for a place to move in the next year or so that has more outdoor opportunities than where we live now (Pittsburgh).
Seems like WW may be a good candidate, but I am a little concerned with the size (too small) and weather (too gray) and being too isolated.
We hate Pittsburgh winters, which are cold, drizzly and cloudy. Ideally we would get more sun and snow. Looks like Walla Walla is not much of an upgrade in this department, but in Pittsburgh there are week long stretches with NO sun. Is it more varied in WW? Like you may get clouds in morning, but sun in the afternoon? Or is the weather overall (from a sunshine perspective) dreary like the coast?
In terms of size, does it feel small? I know this is relative. I've mainly lived in bigger cities, but have found that you only need a solid coffeeshop or two, some friendly bars and a few cheap and tasty restaurants to keep you afloat. Some live music doesn't hurt either. Seems like college towns tend to tick these boxes.
Also, what about airport access? I guess Spokane is the main gateway out? I used to travel more for work, and expect it to pick up post-COVID, but it is mainly to West Coast. My wife and I like to travel as well and would ideally live a bit closer to major airport, but it is a tradeoff.
Anything else worth considering? Like is internet OK in Walla Walla?
How about Spokane? It's a bit larger than Walla Walla but not too busy. From our house on the South Hill we can be driving through the Palouse in 15 minutes. We've got great health care, arts, the Zags, lovely and diverse neighborhoods, lots of outdoor activities, and traffic is wonderful compared to larger cities. Most big city amenities can be found here yet we're 5 hours from the nearest major metro area. We moved here from Miami five summers ago and love it. A true four season climate with gorgeous summers. Many say that fall is their favorite time of year here. We spend considerably more time outside than we ever did in Miami. It does get gray here in winter - it snowed on Christmas day and most of it's finally gone. But, we have snow related activities like snowshoeing, cross country and downhill skiing, etc. Our home is in a suburban area but hiking trails are just a 1/2 mile away. Not at all unusual to see turkeys in the yard and even the occasional coyote running down the street. Haven't seen a moose in our neighborhood but they're here. I hike about 5 miles almost every day rain or shine. Since Christmas I haven't missed a day - just layer up and use YakTrax if it gets slippy. GEG, our wonderful little airport is literally a 20 minute drive away and on our last trip TSA took about 5 minutes and when we arrived home the place was empty. Lots of direct flights from Spokane to regional hubs so even connecting flights are easy. Flying to Seattle, you start the descent about 30 minutes after takeoff. The major California airports are less than 3 hour flights. Finally, if the gray skies give you the blues, get away. In the last couple of winters we've been to San Diego, Maui, PVR, Cabo, Mazatlan, Scottsdale, Vietnam, Thailand, back to South Florida, and the Big Island in early December. Honestly, we love our trips but always love to come home even on Christmas day with six inches of snow on our Outback in the $6 per day airport parking.
I drove out to Walla Walla a month or so ago with my daughter to visit Whitman College which is one of the colleges that she is considering. I had been there before, but long long ago so I hadn't seen it before with fresh eyes. It is very remote and isolated. The Tri Cities would be your closest metro area for shopping and amenities that Walla Walla doesn't offer and google maps estimates that to be a 1 hour (50 mile) drive. It was a 3.5 hour drive for us to get there from the Portland metro.
Note, the degree of isolation you get in Walla Walla is orders of magnitude what you find in rural PA. I've lived in Central PA (State College area) and know Pittsburgh. In your part of the world you can drive in any direction and continually come across small towns and farming communities and such. Walla Walla is not like that at all. There is pretty much NOTHING in any direction larger than wide spot in the road with maybe a gas station. The countryside is utterly empty. Milton Freewater OR (to the south) is the only nearby town that could even be called a town.
The city has a very pretty main street downtown area with lots of fairly upscale shops, cafes, bakeries, and such. Probably an exceptional selection of amenities for a town that size. Once you are off the main downtown area it is somewhat leafy residential streets and Whitman College, which is a top liberal arts college that has a gorgeous campus. We didn't really explore more than that. It doesn't take long going in any direction until you are back in rural farmland. There are definitely a LOT of wineries in the area. Everywhere you go you run into rural wineries so it is almost becoming a Napa Valley type of place. Because of covid we didn't stop at any. To the south you can see the Blue Mountains but they are not next door. It is really the rolling bare hills of the Palouse.
There are reports that the crime rate in Walla Walla is high. But more than that I don't know whether it is something that random residents suffer, or mostly just within one subset of the population. You might want to investigate that more.
Would I want to live there personally? For me it is probably too small of a place. But if you are looking for a smaller town/city in the dry side of Washington then it is a pretty nice place. Other places to put on your list would be:
Wenatchee (somewhat larger than Walla Walla and less isolated with more dramatic scenery)
Spokane (mid-size metro area of about 1/2 million with a lot of more rural suburban areas around the urban fringe if you aren't looking for urban life)
Tri Cities. They have a separate forum. I don't know the area well but I think Richland is the more upscale part of the metro and Pasco is the most downscale. The area is growing in popularity with Seattleites who want to flee the rain and urban headaches.
Both Walla Walla and Wenatchee have produced slick chamber of commerce promo videos
If it were me, I'd pick Wenatchee over Walla Walla. It is a somewhat larger area with more amenities and closer access to hiking and skiing. But I think it is also more expensive due to closer proximity to Seattle.
Last edited by texasdiver; 01-03-2021 at 08:05 PM..
Agree with texasdiver on how remote Walla Walla is. I drove down there to buy a bike and it was 2.5 hours of relatively tough driving. The fields in the Palouse had recently been plowed and it was really windy. I could see dust devils on the hilltops for mile after mile. It was other-worldly. If the fields were full it would have been beautiful but still lots of curves and very remote. OP mentioned airport access. Wenatchee and Walla Walla are both 2.5 hours away from GEG and Wenatchee is also 2.5 hours from SEA. Driving through the Cascades after a return flight into SEA would not be my idea of fun.
Walla Walla and Wenatchee are much smaller and more remote than Spokane. Spokane proper is in the 250k population range but the greater Spokane metro is closer to 500k. This doesn't include nearby CDA and Post Falls Idaho, both of which are larger in size than either WW or Wenatchee.
It was a beautiful blue sky day here today. It's been cool, mostly highs in the low 30's. Today we got into the 40's and I had to laugh when starting my walk. Passed two guys in shorts and short sleeves.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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I frequent Walla Walla for college, AG, and energy events and conferences.
It is quite a nice community, with lots happening. Nearby Waitsburg is a favorite for interesting architecture older homes.
Yes, it is a bit remote from the eyes of an urban dweller, but plenty huge from a country perspective. (It has stoplights! I don't do stoplights. )
Airport access is distant for direct flights, so I live closer to airports during early retirement, but that season too will pass. WW would be good if you are a gardener, or gleaner, and prefer rolling prairie terrain. Nearby but closer to mtns Moscow, ID is a very nice college town, as are some areas near Spokane. (Which was my original first choice, but I relocated for a job, that was better elsewhere).
PNW winters are much grayer than Colorado, WY, NM, UT, AZ. But you can mitigate by travel or indoor hobbies. As a farm kid who prefers to be outside every hour of daylight... PNW is a struggle. Less so as I age and cannot survive outdoor activities 24*7.
Closest dry(er) area to an airport would be Bend, OR or Goldendale, or Ellensburg, or Cheney, WA
Wenatchee is ok, and was great, but the last 5 yrs has really suffered high growth of second home / bit coin (data mining) land and property issues. I much prefer Cashmere (nearby), but it too has degraded from second home buyers. They do not bring stability and commerce to a rural community.
Lots of options besides Pittsburgh.
Look into Spearfish, SD and Sheridan, WY on your trek west.
Loveland / Estes Park CO. were superb locations, but chilly and windy much of winter.
I'm currently using SWWA as a home domicile, with another home in central texas (Hill Country, near San Antonio / Austin) + Colorado and frequent trips (100+ flights / yr). NZ would be nice, if I was under age 32. BTDT.
Last edited by StealthRabbit; 01-03-2021 at 10:58 PM..
I am going to disagree with Stealth on a couple of issues here.
Walla Walla is not as isolated as some make it out to be. It is actually just 45 miles to Pasco (Tri-Cities). It is part of the Tri-Cities media market (TV, radio), and shares a similar climate, though being closer to the Blue Mountains provides a bit more rainfall and snowfall, but generally a dry climate. It does not have a cloudy climate.
Walla Walla does have a somewhat different feel than Tri-Cities, however. It is a more established town, has a historic downtown, plus Whitman College is a strong base. You definitely feel more of a historic feel in Walla Walla than in the ever-changing Tri. But the Tri-Cities is definitely the go-to for the big box stores and other retail, such as the only regional mall, Columbia Center, with Macy's, Penney, etc. That said, there is a cool vibe to local retailers in WW, plus it has an excellent wine tourism industry. As for airport access, Tri-Cities is the nearest with nonstops to Seattle, Salt Lake, Denver, San Francisco, Los Angeles (atleast before the pandemic). Walla Walla also offers limited air service, I believe they do have non-stops to Seattle.
If you are looking for a relatively dry, sunny climate but still close to mountains, Walla Walla is an excellent choice.
Wow! I think you could find something similar to WW much closer to Pittsburgh! I lived in WW, although that was back in the early 80's and visited family there until I moved away two years ago. WW is a nice, smallish college town. Lots of wineries there now. Summers are SUPER HOT, although not humid. Pioneer Park is a jewel. WW is definitely isolated. The Tri-cities is not all that exciting. It is, as others mentioned, about a 4 hour drive to Seattle or Portland. I understand that one gets tired of crowded cities, but having moved to a semi-rural area here in Ohio, after living 20 years in Bellingham/Seattle, let me warn you, that small towns/nature get old fast. Nice places to visit, but not for permanent relocation. Of course, this is just my opinion. However, I think you would miss being in/near a city with lots to do without driving an hour or more. My advice would be take a nice, sunny vacation during the winter and/or look for a nice college town in PA or nearby. Just my opinion.
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