Looking to escape the wildfires in Oregon (Seattle, Tacoma: crime, to live)

[tsigon]

Greetings,

I moved to Grants Pass OR in 2018 from the the North East in order to get away from the cold winters there. I've loved the climate here in Southern Oregon, however I haven't been able to get used to the smoke and wildfires. They seem to be getting worse and so I'm looking to relocate once again. I am considering the Willamette Valley (Eugene, Corvallis, Albany, Salem) and also expanding my search to include WA from Vancouver to Olympia. I'm not particularly interested in Portland and Tacoma-Seattle.

My concerns are about the homelessness which is a ubiquitous problem all over the West Coast and even here in Grants Pass.

How bad is it in Olympia? How have the fire seasons been there? Do you get a lot of smoke from fires from elsewhere?

Thank you

[tsigon]

Greetings,

I moved to Grants Pass OR in 2018 from the the North East in order to get away from the cold winters there. I've loved the climate here in Southern Oregon, however I haven't been able to get used to the smoke and wildfires. They seem to be getting worse and so I'm looking to relocate once again. I am considering the Willamette Valley (Eugene, Corvallis, Albany, Salem) and also expanding my search to include WA from Vancouver to Olympia. I'm not particularly interested in Portland and Tacoma-Seattle.

My concerns are about the homelessness/crime which is a ubiquitous problem all over the West Coast and even here in Grants Pass.

How bad is it in Vancouver and Longview? How have the fire seasons been there? Do you get a lot of smoke from fires from elsewhere?

Thank you

[Diana Holbrook]

If you're not interested in Seattle, you should post this in the main Washington section, not the Seattle Subforum. I'm from just south of Olympia and don't normally answer Seattle threads.

FWIW, we don't have seasonal fires here, but in past years, we've had days or weeks with smoke from elsewhere.

This year, (knock on wood) we haven't had any of those days. Small local grass fires because I live on the prairie down here, but those are relatively speaking, small and short lived. It's been a very good summer. "smoke from fires" has never been something that was a chronic issue, it is mostly something that happens with very particular weather phenomenon.

[jabogitlu]

Olympia has a substantial homeless population. May be less of an issue in the burbs (Lacey, Tumwater), not sure.

[tsigon]

Thank you for your reply. I shall post a new thread in the main WA forum as you suggest.

[Diana Holbrook]

Originally Posted by jabogitlu

Olympia has a substantial homeless population. May be less of an issue in the burbs (Lacey, Tumwater), not sure.

MUCH less of an issue in the suburbs, I might say especially in Tumwater.

[MechAndy]

I travel back and forth to the Bay Area every 4-6 weeks or so for the last several years.
During times of fires I see smoke start in your area and worsen as I get to the Medford area.
For the most part from what I’ve seen is that Grants Pass is way better off than Medford even though they are relatively close.
Medford has looked like a smokey fog bank more times than I care to remember.

Our area near Blyn has only had noticeable smoke for a day and a half before it got blown away that I recall in the last 4 years and the weather is kinda nice.
I imagine west of Olympia closer to the water smoke would be less of an issue.

I think the “new norm” is that now all cities (larger than rural) now have the homeless, drug and property crime problems .
Nice huh?

[rjshae]

Summer smoke is probably going to be a regular event in the West coast states now. We've had our smokey days here in Seattle over the past few years; a lot of it came down from Canada.

[AADAD]

We have had one season of smoke on Whidbey island. The rest of the time it's gorgeous and no mainland homelessness and crime.

[tsigon]

Thank you for your replies. The impression I am getting is that smoke and fires are just something we will have to learn to live with. Some places have a lot less than others, but nowhere is completely free from them on the West Coast.