Moving to Eastern WA state, please offer your input on cities

[BattleAxe]

I've been working on my wife over the last couple years to get out of CA. She came home today and told me that she's had enough of this state and that she is ready to go.

We've decided on Eastern WA state and are planning some trips in the near future to scout some areas. In the meantime, I was hoping to get some recommendations from some of you.

About us:

Young family with small and middle aged children so good schools are a big thing
Also looking for a younger area, with similar aged families,not a retirement community
We would prefer a low crime area with affordable housing, looking to spend about 350K on our new home.
We live an active lifestyle, hiking, hunting, fishing, camping, bike riding, etc

I personally would like to buy a piece of land and build our own house but my wife is set on living in a "community" so I'd gladly trade my track home in CA for a track home in WA.

I live to hunt big game, deer, elk, pigs, etc so would like to be close to some good public land that holds either of those species.

I've been doing a lot of research online but so far we have only listed Wenatchee as a place to scout. So for those that live in WA, if you could live anywhere in the state, where would it be and why?

TIA,

-BA

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[Nickb]

Eastern Washington has its ups and downs. I live in Moxee. It's about 4 miles east of Yakima. Not a lot of crime out here, a lot of new houses being built. $350 will get you a very nice place out this way.
Yakima has a lot of crime, gangs and a lot of Mexicans (not trying to make anyone mad) labor is cheap for the orchards when they aren't "on the books".

There is a lot of land around here, a lot of hunting, hiking, 4wd stuff. Deer & elk are the big game choices, along with bear and cougar. No pigs but we have coyotes and bobcats. The big game hunting use to be a lot better than it is now, everyone heard how good it was over here and come here to hunt... Now the hills look like pumpkin patches.

I wish I could give you more insight on other areas over here. I've only lived here for about 5 years.

 

[waglockfan]

Congrads on the move from the DPRC. Been on the Western side the whole time I have been here. For the ease of big city needs but the want of small town charm, I would be looking at the Spokane area. I would think there is plenty of employment in your related professions and your children's needs will be met at school. You can live out in the country on a decent sized lot in a nice place for 350 G's. There is no need to buy a cookie-cutter house where you can hear your neighbor flush his toilet or have some BS HOA jackass telling you you can't have a flagpole in your front yard or more than two vehicles parked in the driveway.

I'm sure there are members here in this forum that live in that area to help you out with better recommendations as far as more specific locations.

 

[wichaka]

Check out the Gorge area.

 

[DMcGPNW]

Eastern Washington (especially if you include central Washington) is large and varied. I am assuming you are coming from a suburban area, giving up amenities is something to consider. Spokane area has some larger town amenities but the ability to live a semi rural lifestyle if you choose. If you are open to Idaho Court d' Arlene is a beautiful area. Be ready for the weather. Moving south there is the Tri-Cities (Kenewick, Richland, and Pasco). A growing set of cities on the Columbia Basin. I am always surprised by the development when I drive through. Close to wine country and the Columbia River. Heading back west there is the Yakima Valley. There are some crime issues in Yakima but you can live away from it. North from there is Ellensburg. College town right on I-90. Central to the state close to the cascades with a straight drive to Seattle. There are countless small towns out there but these are a few hubs. I am not as familiar with it but the Okanogan region is rural and beautiful and may be worth looking into if you want to get away from things.

 

[ron]

I grew up in Monitor Washington. 7 miles outside of Wenatchee. Went to Cashmere High School. Crime is very low
good place to raise your family. Check out Cashmere 12 miles outside of Wenatchee. I used to do a lot of Dirt Biking
in the hills surrounding the small Wenatchee valley. Great boating and recreation at Lake Chelan to the north. I still
have family there in the farming business. I must admit the wife and I like visiting our relatives there ( she is from there
too). But we are glad we do not live there. We really like living in Portland area it seems there is always something
to do here. We both thought we could not stand living in Portland when we first moved here but we love it. We live
across the river from Portland in Vancouver. Great schools nice community. I don't know what you do for a living
but good paying jobs are limited in central Washington. Well good luck to each his own.

 

[1200bruce]

Spokane, Wenatchee, would be my 2 choices on that side of the mountains.

 

[ATCclears]

You didn't mention employment/$. Do you need a particular type of job?

I'm no fan of anything downwind or downriver from Hanford (big nuclear dump), and that would thus include the Tri Cities. My sister-in-law is from there, her parents died relatively young, and she and her siblings have all had unusual health issues.

Peter

 

[trainsktg]

I really, really enjoyed Moses Lake for the few years I was there. Lots of space, a new lake to kayak in every weekend, a 500 yard range in nearby Ephrata. Lots of good little bistros, a great Vietnamese restaurant, a very popular Chinese buffet and an incredible waterpark for the kids. They've got a Big 5, a Walmart and the best Safeway I've ever been in.

The town's namesake lake is really interesting too. Without googling, I estimate its surface area to be at least 100 square miles. There are hundreds of little islands in the NW end, and you can claim your own to camp out on for the weekend.

Grant County itself has cheap electricity so alot of high tech manufacturing and data centers are moving into the area because of it.

Keith

 

[slimmer13]

Please don't move up here to escape CA, and then try to transform this area into a clone of CA. Thanks.

Never lived anywhere else in the state but within an hour of Spokane and it is where I want to be (unless it gets too californacated and then ill border jump to ID). You can be in the middle of nowhere within 30 minutes yet affords the urban amenities if that is your thing. Plenty of developments around town with relatively low crime and good schools, especially the Mead school district.

 

[simon99]

Eastern Washington (especially if you include central Washington) is large and varied. I am assuming you are coming from a suburban area, giving up amenities is something to consider. Spokane area has some larger town amenities but the ability to live a semi rural lifestyle if you choose. If you are open to Idaho Court d' Arlene is a beautiful area. Be ready for the weather. Moving south there is the Tri-Cities (Kenewick, Richland, and Pasco). A growing set of cities on the Columbia Basin. I am always surprised by the development when I drive through. Close to wine country and the Columbia River. Heading back west there is the Yakima Valley. There are some crime issues in Yakima but you can live away from it. North from there is Ellensburg. College town right on I-90. Central to the state close to the cascades with a straight drive to Seattle. There are countless small towns out there but these are a few hubs. I am not as familiar with it but the Okanogan region is rural and beautiful and may be worth looking into if you want to get away from things.

This is great advice^^^^......

Though I grew up in the Seattle area, I spent many a day on the Eastern side of the mountains hunting and fishing. I'm just going to chime in that any of the larger cities, Spokane, Wenatchee, tri-Cities, Yakima, etc. ( like any large city) has an element of crime. Especially, thanks to a large illegal alien population due to agriculture they have gang problems....however, you have to weigh that with having conveniences that living near a city affords. Also, the weather is ALOT different than California. Winters are cold but there are several sunny days as well.

As another suggestion. I relocated from Seattle to Central Oregon. Central Oregon is a high desert, and we have nearly 300 days of sunshine, though winters are cold, summers nice and warm. Lots of great cities, both large and small, friendly people, reasonable housing prices, lots to do, great schools, relatively low crime, easy access to the outdoors and lots of pro-2A folks.....just a thought.

 

[2ndtimer]

You didn't mention employment/$. Do you need a particular type of job?

I'm no fan of anything downwind or downriver from Hanford (big nuclear dump), and that would thus include the Tri Cities. My sister-in-law is from there, her parents died relatively young, and she and her siblings have all had unusual health issues.

Peter

No offense, Peter, but we have lived in Kennewick for over 30 years and I have a good friend who has lived in the Tri Cities a lot longer than that and just turned 93 (and got a deer last year!) I think the West Siders tend to overstate the Hanford issue. I was raised in Tacoma, so I am also familiar with the west side and have NO plans to ever return. I graduated from EWU in Cheney, and love that area as well as Spokane. We raised our 3 boys in the Tri-Cities and my wife teaches 3rd grade at one of the elementary schools here in Kennewick. The Tri-Cities would meet most of your criteria, unless you or your wife has a need for trees. Our winters are milder than the Spokane area, but our summers are a bit warmer. Plenty of housing available and some really nice homes here in the 250K to 350K range. If you prefer a greener area, Spokane or Wenatchee might be more appealing, although I would say that even the Spokane traffic is annoying to me compared to the Tri-Cities. For the life of me, I don't understand why more people aren't fleeing California for quality of life reasons. I, too, just hope that the immigrants don't californicate Washington, (or Idaho, or God forbid, Montana, the last best place in the USA)

 

[Sstrand]

Go a little further east TO IDAHO . . .
Change your destination before it is too late.

Washington is controlled be the west side just as is Oregon.

Sheldon

 

[nastybynature]

No offense, Peter, but we have lived in Kennewick for over 30 years and I have a good friend who has lived in the Tri Cities a lot longer than that and just turned 93 (and got a deer last year!) I think the West Siders tend to overstate the Hanford issue. I was raised in Tacoma, so I am also familiar with the west side and have NO plans to ever return. I graduated from EWU in Cheney, and love that area as well as Spokane. We raised our 3 boys in the Tri-Cities and my wife teaches 3rd grade at one of the elementary schools here in Kennewick. The Tri-Cities would meet most of your criteria, unless you or your wife has a need for trees. Our winters are milder than the Spokane area, but our summers are a bit warmer. Plenty of housing available and some really nice homes here in the 250K to 350K range. If you prefer a greener area, Spokane or Wenatchee might be more appealing, although I would say that even the Spokane traffic is annoying to me compared to the Tri-Cities. For the life of me, I don't understand why more people aren't fleeing California for quality of life reasons. I, too, just hope that the immigrants don't californicate Washington, (or Idaho, or God forbid, Montana, the last best place in the USA)

I have to agree with 2ndtimer. My stepfather was raised in Kennewick and his father Ira started Coffey's Refrigeration. Ira was a WW2 vet and he died just a few years back at the age of 82 and his wife Mary just passed earlier this year at the age of 86. With her passing, the 2 acres in Finley that his parents bought after they retired, sold their house and started snow birding, has become his. He has made it clear that he would like to keep it in the family. Since making a few trips to the Tri-Cities with him to winterize the place, I have decided that I will likely look to the Tri-Cities as a decent retirement option. Be it that property or something the wife and I buy ourselves. The pace is slow enough to remind me of growing up in Vancouver in the 70's and 80's but there are many services and amenities in the area as well as some beautiful country. I spent many summers at my other grandparents place in Crooked River Ranch growing up and love the Eastern halves of WA and OR. I would get to be close to the Columbia River still, only a days drive to the beach, and most importantly, i would still be in Washington instead of moving to Oregon. I think the Tri-Cities, specifically Kennewick, is a great option.

 

[Brutus57]

Too hot in Tri cities, don't let them fool you. Wenatchee is nice west of river and Spokane has some culture, amenities as well as you can live a bit out in the country with trees if you wish. Clarkston is close to Idaho
My two cents ymmv.

Brutus out

 

[vern357]

Best places to live in EW are Ellensburg or Pullman. Pullman is the best, because you have two major colleges within 12 miles of each other. So you have young populations, very low crime rates, but most of the ammenties of a larger city because of the student population. And if you get just a mile or so out of the "school" area it small town feels with great people.

Ellensburg as EWU there, a smaller school and smaller town, but still less than 2 hours from Seattle, and lots of ski resorts if that is your thing.

Of the two I would choose the Pullman area if I could find work there. Actually I might live just across the border in Idaho so I could get an AR with giggle switch, short barreled, and suppressed

 

[slimmer13]

EWU is in Cheney, outside Spokane. Ellensberg has CWU.

 

[jluck]

Go a little further east TO IDAHO . . .
Change your destination before it is too late.

Washington is controlled be the west side just as is Oregon.

Sheldon

Best advice yet! Heed this warning.

 

[Certaindeaf]

BattleAxe, first thing you do is say "Washington".. "Washington state" is redundant.
If you mean Washington DC, say/indicate so.
as you were

 

[Fast Eddie]

Idaho would be legit, hundreds of lakes, rivers, and mountains. Outdoor paradise. I grew up boating, fishing, skiing, camping, motorcycling, and 4 wheeling in eastern WA and Idaho panhandle, Land of the free.