Where should I move? Looking for community… (Tacoma, Vancouver: for sale, renting)

[jmeecakes]

Me:42, platonic life partner, 1 dog, WFH, interested in the arts, getting involved in community, no kids and don’t much like them, love live music/festivals crafty things etc.

My partner: 42, avid hiker/biker, introverted, loves music and nature; job prospect’s complicated but would ideally prefer to work in the photography industry but not directly with clients/customers/retail. No kids. Just dogs.

We are looking to buy our first home as partners. Here are the must haves:

MUST HAVES:
- Within 20 mins to “things” (grocery/hardware etc)
- Hippy/Artsy/Creative scene
- Active/vibrant/community
- Definitely not a big city: open to Olympia size at max
- Price range: $300-420k for at minimum 2b/2ba with a decent sized yard

NICE TO HAVES:
- spitting distance to gorgeous mountains/hiking (not hard up there I’ve learned)
- gets some snow (or a lot is fine too)
- on/near body of water
- interesting architecture (Victorians, turn of century old homes, historic preservation downtown type of thing)
- active theatre, art classes/jr college/adult school options
- local festivals, summer music in the park type things
- walkable downtown/Main Street
- cute shops, coffee shops, mom’n’pop restaurants (prefer less large chains)
- DECENT HEALTH FOOD store/scene/restaurants

We are from the Bay Area currently living near Yosemite and am looking for a more lush, green, wet and cooler environment. We have visited the OP a bit (Shelton, Hood Canal, Poulsbo) and loved it but felt a bit too rural and definitely not that affordable. Wish I’d gone to Olympia but thought I would try the small towns first. Looking for that happy medium of conveniences without diving back into a “city”.

Thank you thank you thank you Washingtonians!

[Ruth4Truth]

Have you looked at Port Townsend? Has a spring through fall weekend festival calendar, is artsy, has cute shops, coffee shops, locally-owned businesses ONLY, except for a couple of national grocery store chains (but there's a great co-op, and a local grocery chain, too), Victorians, downtown historic preservation, definitely. It ticks all your boxes! It's also a sailing town, has small downtown marina. Half a spit's distance to the Olympic Mts. Cheaper than Poulsbo.

There are homes classified as "condos", even though they're SFH's with a yard. Some back onto Ft Worden park, so they basically have the huge park as their backyard. They're classified as "condos" because they're in a small development of "affordable housing", and are all designed as 2-br. homes. I don't know what they're priced at these days; they may be near the higher end of your budget (they were at the lower end when I was looking in Pt T a few yrs ago).

Great co-op scene. And a plus is, that when ungodly heat waves hit the Puget Sound area (brought to you by Global Warming, Inc), Pt T remains fairly unfazed, due to its fortuitous location at the confluence of the Strait of Juan de Fuca (ocean breezes) and the Georgia Strait (bringing Alaska breezes down the Inside Passage along the east side of Vancouver Island).

Otherwise, you might be hard pressed to find all the amenities you want within your budget. All that stuff will cost you. The most affordable locations don't have anything like that. Well, a few have Victorians and some are on or near bodies of water. But the communities are not vibrant, no theater scene or local festivals, small populations. However, as more people move to WA looking for affordability, those places may grow and acquire some of the activities and amenities you seek.

[xPlorer48]

8 out of 72 SFHs in Pt are within your budget. Western Washington has fewer lower priced homes for sale unless you try the Olympic Peninsula where PT is at the upper end. Maybe Astoria, Oregon?

[StealthRabbit]

Ferndale and nearby region.

That gets you a great western WA location + easy access to great recreation in BC.

Shelton will be a cheaper option, but not nearly as accessible to a variety of things to do in your interests.

'biking' means Mtn Biking? Touring / road bike riding is best in Colorado (Which would be another option to consider)

Your housing cap will require you to find a bargain and live further from town center (but likely within 20 - 30 minutes of a bigger town and 5-10 min to a smaller town with most services and groceries and coffee / food options.)

I would suggest you stay within 20 - 30 minutes of a college town. Bellingham / Ferndale has 3 colleges to choose from for activities and entertainment.

You can consider renting for keeping housing costs lower. When RE prices are excessive, your money is better spent renting, and buying income property elsewhere that returns 7-10% net income. (400k @ 8% net will cover pretty high rents anywhere in the world you choose to live) Tacoma, Tahiti, Tokyo, Toronto, or anywhere in WA.

Don't get all worried about 'average prices' of homes. There are bargains everywhere if you look long enough. Of 40+ properties I have bought, very few were listed for sale. (If FS... lots of competition for buyers and inflated prices for commissions)/ Just get connected in the community and dig up proposed future sales. (I found (6) future props for sale today, without even looking. I just expressed an interest in an area while volunteering at a community event. Now I have a bunch of Propeties to go evaluate (none are listed for sale yet))

[mayfair]

Mt. Vernon has a few amenities like a nice natural food coop, farmers markets, a small historic downtown by the river and a historic theater. It has some hippies. You might check it out. Downsides: flooding (downtown has a flood wall), some gang issues in areas of town, train tracks through town, you can hear navy jets at times. Very scenic area close to the North Cascades.

[jmeecakes]

Thank you all- this is helpful so far.

I definitely want to check out PT and PA for sure. I realize my budget is a disappointing one and fear the swap for CA prices to WA ones may not be that big of a gap. I
Hoping the market cools down a bit and perhaps the doors will open for us.

I’ll definitely check out Astoria and Mt Vernon. I’ve also come to the conclusion that indeed I probably want a college town as I’ve always loved Eugene, OR also.

For nature activities we typically do hiking/walking with the dog and I prefer a rainforest to climbing hills or mountains. My partner is mainly a road cyclist.

One other thing I forgot is access to healthcare. Prefer Kaiser but can do private also. It does seem like getting it all will be a stretch but one can hope!

[pikabike]

Originally Posted by xPlorer48

8 out of 72 SFHs in Pt are within your budget. Western Washington has fewer lower priced homes for sale unless you try the Olympic Peninsula where PT is at the upper end. Maybe Astoria, Oregon?

Something like that. At that budget, it’d be fixer-upper projects. There are some real DUMPS right in town that somehow evade code enforcement. One of them was a genuine fire hazard; it caught fire and singed a neighboring house. The lots are tiny.

Introverts, apparently fairly extreme ones, living in such close proximity to others...SHUDDER.

PT is not at all the accepting, diverse town it likes to brag about being. But maybe you would like fake diversity with a superficially “nice” face.

[MechAndy]

As much as I like Port Townsend I don’t think your budget would do ya there properly.
Port Angeles would probably be a better fit imo.
Have you ever heard of Joyce?
It’s just a bit out of Port Angeles and is a pretty cool little area.

[NW4me]

And (if you haven't already), at least take a look at Arcata, CA... up in the redwoods.

[Diana Holbrook]

Gig Harbor is a touristy fishing town vibe with a lot of art and antique and small shops in a walkable beachfront downtown. Up the hill by the freeway, you have all the major shopping, but downtown is small and quaint.


Also consider Belfair or Shelton if you want to get more for your money in little towns that are growing.