I've lived up here for the past 16 years.....Seattle is the most wonderful city in the USA. 55% of the people have a masters degree, so the city is hip, trendy, intellectual, cutural and beautiful.
Marysville is a typical blue-collar small town. It's quaint and I've always liked it, but the housing market has doubled, so I expect the 'feel' of Marysville to change over the next 5 years. It'll lose the quaintness most likely.
Everett is a tight, crowded town...one of the only towns around here with mainly brick buildings. It sits on a port. Most building and houses up here are made out of wood.
I live over the "hill" in Eastern Washington. It's a high, dry desert out here with lots of powder snow. We have 14 inches right now. I like the snow, so it's no problem.
After my daughter graduates next year from highschool we are moving back to Seattle and we are both going to attend college there. I can't wait because I love the drizzling rain and lush greenery.
Good luck with your decision. Personally, I like Muliteo, Snohomish, Duvall, or Carnation.
Lake Stevens is near Woodenville/Redmond......another great spot to move, but beware of the wicked traffic especially around that area. You have to be able to Zen-out as you drive.
My dad lives out in an area called the Key Peninsula, fairly near to Tacoma and Gig Harbor ("Carmel of the Northwest"), centered on the map below (Vaughn is the closest marked town at this scale). Green and wooded, only about an hour to the airport, with additional access to Seattle via the ferry at Bremerton. Close access to the Olympic Peninsula.
We are very excited for the opportunity, I'm just worried about finding a good house at a decent price in a nice city.
Marysville definately has the housing opportunities I'm looking for but I've heard a mix of good and bad about it the city. I've heard nothing negative about Lake Stevens and I found housing that would work, but the lots are small. I'd love some additional feedback about the city itself...
Edit: I've lived in Arizona for 28 years and when we moved here I was too young to know better about housing and such - so this is the first time I've had to really investigate an area completely foreign to me.
Actually the proximity to Canada (even more specifically Victoria) is one of the many things I'm excited about for our possible move to Washington... more specifically Everett.
A VERY good reason for moving! ;) (bold is my addition, btw)
My daughter's teacher told their class last week, Seattle is the smartest city in America.....Masters....with the second city being San Francisco, third city being San Diego.
anyhow, Seattle is very pricey. Marysville would be over an hour drive to Seattle proper. Good luck with your search, let me know if I can help you futher.
Actually the proximity to Canada (even more specifically Victoria) is one of the many things I'm excited about for our possible move to Washington... more specifically Everett.
A VERY good reason for moving! ;) (bold is my addition, btw)
Love Victoria! I actually live in Port Angeles which is a one-hour ferry ride to Victoria and a two-hour drive/ferry to Seattle. I have one neighbor here who works for Microsoft and telecommutes four days a week. Has to go to Redmond once a week. Not bad and, by the way, Port Angeles is much-much dryer than Seattle.
My daughter's teacher told their class last week, Seattle is the smartest city in America.....Masters....with the second city being San Francisco, third city being San Diego.
I think it says somewhere in there that 17% hold Masters. Pretty impressive, but those sort of figures are going to be high in any city with a strong IT industry.
For the record, I absolutely adore Seattle and have nothing but the most fond memories of my visits there. If I didn't already live in a great town I'd move there in a heartbeat.
The only two things I've heard about Seattle is that it rains ALL the time, and that everyone will sell you weed and the cops don't care, if you're into that sort of thing.
Otherwise, for a photographer, Olympic, Mount St. Helens, Ranier, Canon Beach. ::drool:: And with all the potheads the street photography must be great. ;)
The only two things I've heard about Seattle is that it rains ALL the time, and that everyone will sell you weed and the cops don't care, if you're into that sort of thing.
As you know, all stereotypes are inherently false ;)
The only two things I've heard about Seattle is that it rains ALL the time, and that everyone will sell you weed and the cops don't care, if you're into that sort of thing.
As you know, all stereotypes are inherently false ;)
Yes, and Texans don't like guns and 4x4s, in that order. :P
The area from North Seattle north to Arlington is called the convergence zone. That means it is where weather systems meet most of the time. That equates to more clouds and more rain. The area includes Marysville and Everett.
If you are going to work in Everett you might want to consider moving even further north and closer to Puget Sound. Once you get to around Anacortes and North Camano and Whidbey Islands you are in the rain shadow (caused by the systems splitting around the Olympic Mts) which means far less rain.
Moving south is not an option because that will put you in horrible traffic. Now if you are working in South Everett / Mukilteo then you will have traffic problems whether you live north or south and will likely have to live in the covergence zone.
Hope this helps.
BTW - if interested here are some shots around W. Washington. There are more sprinkled through my other folders and on my Smugmug site.
I lived in the Mill Creek area for 4 years so I know all about that convergence zone. It drizzles all the time with occasional 5 minute sunbreaks! The rain is misty and very pretty, but it does drive some people bananas...I happen to like it, especially over the snow that I have now in Eastern Washington.
You might consider Mt Vernon as an option or Arlington..all nice areas, but they are also located in the convergence zone. You will never have to water your lawn again that's for sure.
Nobody uses umbrellas here... ;) those are the tourists.
cool that will save me a few bucks! I'm selling all my sunglasses on ebay though! [/quote]
haha, sell them here. Don't you know that Seattle buys more sunglasses per capital than any other large city in the US? Apparently we use them so infrequently that we lose them before the next time we need them so we have to go out and buy more.
