Your Dream State
 

So I'm getting anxious and wanting to explore and I'm thinking about getting out of California.

Basically I can be pretty much guaranteed a job in any of these states:

CostCo Warehouse Locations

What would you pick?

I like the idea of working in Hawaii but I don't know about the costs of living and stuff like that. Besides, the calling of life as a beach bum would be too tempting :lol:

So what would you pick, and why?

Washington. Or Oregon.

1) I love the West coast laid-back attitude.
2) The PacNW is one of those last surviving outposts of the polite and friendly.
3) The PacNW is the most beautiful area of the country, in my opinion, and I've seen most of the United States.
4) Cost of living has yet to skyrocket here. Housing in most areas is still affordable.
5) Washington is better than Oregon simply because education has not gone down the tubes there. WA schools are relatively well-funded and suffering fewer cuts.
6) Washington has the most restrictive public smoking laws in the nation, which you're probably used to by now in California--and moving somewhere else where people smoke would be a shock. Oregon's laws are patchy--a lot of municipalities and counties have passed smoking bans, but Oregon's workplace smoking law does not cover bars and taverns.
7) People recycle here.
8) If you like the outdoors, there's no better place to go--where I live, the mountains are an hour one way and the beach is an hour the other. Washington is dominated by the beautiful Puget Sound.

Downsides:
1) Seattle traffic is horrible, so look at somewhere like Olympia or Bellingham if you want to live on the Sound.
2) It rains.

If you're interested in the Pacific Northwest, remember it's a diverse place--from the Rogue River Valley in the south of Oregon to the Inland Empire around Spokane, WA, there are all kinds of climates, attitudes, and people.

I wouldn't live anywhere else.

Well, many parts of Hawaii can be as expensive as the Bay Area in California. My brother-in-law is a manager of one of the Starbucks in Lanai, and his rent, with a small appartment is a little more expensive than it is here in San Jose. It's still gorgeous there thought.

I, personally, would try Anchorage; I'm a sucker for cold weather. :D

Oregon is awesome too. I spent two weeks up there on vacation and it was great; I've seldom breathed air that clean. They don't let you pump your own gas there though, caught me off guard.

Alaska.

There are only two states I want to visit before I die. Maine and Alaska. Think of it.... a cabin in the woods a roaring fire place.... waking up to nature..... relatively low cost of living.... and Alaska... every year you stay there the government PAYS you!!!!

To be honest - Right here in Wisconsin.

I haven't lived outside of Wisconsin since I was 4. Most of the time it's been in Northcentral Wisconsin.

It doesn't have much of a nightlife - in the city sense of the word. But on the warm summer nights... when I walk down to the corner of my street, I can watch deer just across the road grazing in the field, some nights I can look out my patio window and watch the northern lights, The city lights (what city lights) don't fade out the stars, the back yard is CRAWLING with froggies that the kids love to catch and then let go before they come in for a thorough bath. The grasshoppers, cicadas, peepers making their night time music. The bats wizzing overhead, the owls or hawks hunting at night.
Then during the daytime - the bald eagles floating over the river nearby. I saw a fawn last spring at the edge of my back yard. I saw two fawns only 3 weeks ago on my way home when I was only about 6 blocks away. There was a Moose downtown years ago. A baby bear cub stuck in a tree on the courthouse lawn.

It's a place you can get close to nature without getting eaten by the mosquitos all the time. What better place to live.

Sure it's cold in the winter time - Aren't snowdays GREAT?

I'd head to Arizona, for the lack of humidity and the versatility. Growing up in the South, the humidity is a killer. Or maybe to the north, where it snows, and it really gets cold. I'd say no to Hawaii. You'd sink with the COL. I'd also say no to the Midwest, since I've lived there and I really hated living there. Alaska would be a fun choice and a true adventure. Also, the opportunity for experiencing the "great outdoors" can't be beat.

Man! You guys sounds JUST like me!

The outdoorsy cold-weather-loving type. It's cool, but freaky at the same time.

Especially Lady Sage. I almost went to the University of Maine at Agusta. Unfourtenly, my mom convinced me that I wouldn't be able to make it out there. :( Damn, for once in life, I wish I had done my usual and ignored her.

wow, I am in Anchorage, and it IS GREAT! i was born and raised here and i love the place. I have been to Jersey, and Georgia, and i didnt like it that much. too much fast life stuff. like people trying to keep up with the Jones' and what have you.
I am surprised how many people said Alaska!
See I knew that i liked this place!
Yes AK is great, the winters are a little long but its great, you get use to it, and its not as snowy as CO or other places. Also the summers are great. perfect to me that is. about 80's and mostly 70's. The people here in Anchorage are nice, and down to earth! I love it!

Although I've never had the opportunity to visit there, I'd say the Pacific Northwest for all the reasons onesnowyowl mentioned.

I'm from Missouri, and have lived here all my life, mostly in exurbia. Personally, I prefer cold weather to hot, and I abhor humidity above all else, and so the climate here isn't too appealing. Also, I find the major cities here (St. Louis and Kansas City) to be rather generic in most regards. I now actually live in a small college town in rural Missouri, and I find that I prefer that to St. Louis. It's refreshing to be able to walk to most of the places you need to go to, rather than driving for 30 minutes. It's also nice that all the bars here are within 3 blocks of my apartment ;).

I've also visited Florida, Colorado, California, much of the east coast, and Wisconsin. I'd probably pick Wisconsin over Missouri, but the others seemed to have too many of their own negatives attached to really make a move worthwhile.

I've read a lot about the Pacific NW, and from what I've determined, it's ideal for me. I'm looking into a trip there on my next Spring Break, and, assuming I like what I see, I hope to land a job up there sometime.

Well with all the votes going for the northwestern states, I'm going to seriously look at Washington.

So here's the cities that have CostCos. I'm looking at North Spokane at the moment.

Washington
Aurora Village
Bellingham
Burlington
Clarkston
East Wenatchee
Everett
Federal Way
Fife Business Center
Issaquah
Kennewick
Kirkland
Kirkland (Costco Home)
Lacey
Lynnwood Business Center
North Spokane
Puyallup
Seattle
Sequim
Silverdale
Spokane
Tacoma
Tukwila
Tumwater
Union Gap
Vancouver
Woodinville

Is there a difference between North Spokane and just Spokane? Apartment reviews.com doesn't have a city under North Spokane.

Heh, I read that as your dream state, like in a dream state of mind.

Arizona, Alaska, Colorado, or Washington I'd say. Only one I havn't visited is Alaska, but it just sounds interesting. I don't like the weather here in Az, but otherwise I like it (winters are nice though) but then you could live in Northern Az where the weather is nicer (I'm near phoenix).

Yeah I know. I wanted it to mean two different things to attract more people. ;)

I's smart isn't I? :p

I live in AZ and I do like a lot of it. I'm in the Phoenix area. Although the summers are hell here, as the old addage says, "It's a dry heat". I've lived in Chicago and I hated the winters there. Especially with the evil wind chill. Brrr. At least here there's nothing to shovel up. Also there's several places you can drive to from Phoenix such as Las Vegas and also you can go skiing up near Flagstaff. Also, the job market here is incredible. There are so many different kinds of jobs available.

However, I did visit Seattle and Portland, Oregon a couple of years ago. I absolutely fell in love with Portland. Sure it rained the whole time I was there but everything was so green and alive. They have several large open gardens and woods. There was no sales tax. Public transportation was good. The people were friendly and the air was so clean. The air here in Phoenix isn't that great. There's almost always dust in the air. So now, my dream place is Portland. Though the proximity to Mt St Helen's worries me since they did get a lot of ash from the last eruption in the 80's. Right now I'm actually debating whether I should buy a house here or pick up and move to Portland. The only problem is finding a new job that would pay as well as the one I'm currently at. Oh well, maybe in a few years...

I always hear people say the job market is so good here, but never having lived in another place for long enough to matter, I don't know the difference. What do you do if you don't mind me asking? And what other job areas are so nice, or pay more here?

The state of euphoria, that i am in soo much already.

i kid, i kid. floridas nice buy i would like to give the north a try..perhaps new hampshire or boston.

Personally, even with the hurricanes and all, I love living in Florida. Cost of living varies depending on where you live. Panhandle areas are cheaper, and they get more expensive the further south you go. I just enjoy the general weather, and winter in my area lasts like 6 weeks! Personally I prefer the warm water and weather. Maybe because I like to scuba dive too much!

i think it would be Seattle. it rains almost every morning and the temp stays between 35-80 degrees F. i like that. not too hot, not too cold & i heart rain

Hmm, anyone got good links on Washington's cities? I'm shorta lookin at Tacoma and Seattle, but I don't want to miss out on another city that may be better.

Who here lives in Maine? I almost went to college there but I didn't. I still dream about it though.

Prescott, Scottsdale Arizona. It's nice.

Tacoma is a bit, erm...ghetto. Because of the large military presence on the edge of town, the income level tends to be lower. However, there are some very nice parts of Tacoma, like University Place.

Seattle is nice and interesting, but expensive.

Traffic is horrible in both places. Tacoma is especially bad at the moment as they are currently lifting the bridge deck for the new Narrows Bridge into place, so people stop to gawk, car and all, on the existing bridge.

If you're interested in moving to the Puget Sound, I would suggest looking at either Olympia (south sound) or Bellingham (north sound). Both are college towns with vibrant downtowns and lots of stuff to do. Olympia has a very active farmer's market and fantastic restaurants (as well as lots of hippies due to Evergreen State College). Bellingham, by contrast, is both a college town (Western Washington University, my dad's alma mater) and a former mill town, so it has an interesting variety of people. Bellingham is also about an hour from Vancouver, B.C. Vancouver is awesome--definitely one of my favorite places to visit. Bellingham is also very close to the San Juans and skiing/snowboarding at Mt. Baker.

And it smells. Don't forget that.

Seriously: consider North Carolina. There are plenty of CostCos here, and it's a cheap, beautiful place to live, where both the people and the weather are warm and friendly.

^ I'll second that!

Some areas are cheaper than others... personally I like the mountains better than any other part of the state but then again I'm biased :D

Actually, it smells a lot less than it used to. Downtown Tacoma is very up and coming, with lots of museums, restaurants, and good public transportation. The Port of Tacoma is on pace to become the largest port north of Los Angeles within the next 10 years. It's already the largest port in the Pacific Northwest.

And while extensive parts of it are still seedy, there are some very nice places too. Even the Hilltop neighborhood has cleaned up considerably in the last 5 or so years, which is saying something.

It's also worth looking at the West Sound--Gig Harbor, Port Orchard, Bremerton/Silverdale, and Poulsbo. That is also an area worth looking at, with relatively low housing costs, good economy (thanks to the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton) and an easy ferry connection to Seattle (a 1-hr ride, but at least you're not in traffic). There, you're very close to the Olympics and the Washington coast, as well as being right on the Sound. My parents live on the Kitsap Peninsula, near the Hood Canal. It's really beautiful, and not quite as built up as other places yet. Once they finish the new bridge to Tacoma, the trip there will also be much easier.

I live in Bellingham, and I do have to say, is probably the best place in the world to live when you think about it. It has EVERYTHING. There's a college, a retirement community, it's close to the border, there's farmland, there's forests and parks, the ocean, lakes, rivers, mountains, beaches. Some parts are pretty urban, a lot of suburban areas, really green everywhere. Prices are fairly low. It's probably the perfect blend that you won't find anywhere else.

Hmm. Bellingham and the surrounding areas vs. Olympia and the surrounding area, what would your choice?

Assume you LOVE fishing (of all kinds), camping, backpacking, shooting (competitively - Imagine biathalon without the skiing), weightlifting, martial arts, and could get into/are interested in snowboarding, hunting, and sportsbike riding.

I don't know what the CostCo in Washington pays, but here it's $ 10 to start.

Ummm... I don't know what other information would be important in determining cities/regions/locale but if you want to know, then by all means, ask.

Asheville. Hands down. :D

You should go to the Bakersfield one first, then transfer to you dream spot. It will give you a whole new perspective on life. :D :thumbsup:

Definitely Bellingham. There is excellent salmon fishing in and around the San Juans as well as good lake fishing in the area. Camping/backpacking--well, you're a stone's throw away from the North Cascades and all it has to offer, as well as the San Juans. Mt. Baker has some of the best snowboarding in the Pacific Northwest, from what I hear, and hunting is very common in the area as well. Like I said, it's a sizeable city about an hour and a half from Seattle (drive your car, or take the train), or an hour from Vancouver, Canada (could be less if there's no border traffic, and again, there's a train too) with plenty to do in and of itself, because it developed on its own, versus as a suburb, and it's a college town too.

Sage, is there one in Washington? I could only find references to an Ashville in NC.

Ch’i, what Bakersfield? The one in California? Why?

Onesnowyowl, sweet thanks. I’ll start doing some research on apartments and such. Can you give me more information on general living in the area? Gyms, martial arts, people, culture, restaurants (damn that’s an odd word!), you know stuff like that.

What is the diversity like over there? I’ll be honest and say I don’t much care for my own ethnicity. :o I’m still attracted to my ethnicity, but I’d choose another race over “my own”. I dunno, some weird quirk with me.

Unfortunately, my favorite restaurant in Bellingham closed down a few months ago. It made me very sad when I found out. Fairhaven Pizza was awesome. :(

My cousin goes to Western Washington University, so I'll ask her about specifics.

As for diversity, well, it's a college town, so it's more diverse than most places in Washington. There is a significant Native American population in the area as well as more than a few Asians. But like the rest of the state, it's pretty white :) though that is changing.

Ha ha.

Was talking to some co-workers about moving out and when they heard Washington they bugged out saying it's so boring, nothing to do, etc.

Ha ha. One guy said he even visited Washington just to visit. He doesn't reccomend it...

There are the same things to do as in any other place--movies, shopping, public parks, theatre and other performing arts, rock concerts, etc. But then there's the outdoors--sailing, fishing, hiking, boating, camping, backpacking, skiing, snowboarding, hunting, etc.

Not to mention it's beautiful:

http://a1300101.uscgaux.info/mt-baker.jpg
http://www.aerialarts.com/db_Belling...t__aerial1.jpg

I love Bellingham, I used to go there once a month when I was stationed in Oak Harbor. I grew up in Vancouver, WA though. Being right over the bridge from Oregon I got to experience all of what Portland had to offer, but get to go home to better housing, better roads, and better schools. Down in Vancouver it rains a lot less than it does up in the norther area of the state too.

The problem with Vancouver, Washington is that it doesn't have the urban growth controls that the Portland area does, and so it has become a place of constant construction and sprawl. Clark County, WA is growing incredibly fast, and acres of farmland and greenspace are being eaten up in the process. Furthermore, the people of Clark County have twice refused to have the MAX expanded across the river, and so the only public transportation connection between the two sides is bus, which gets stuck (just like I do) in the traffic across the I-5 and 205 bridges.

Once they get the construction done on that giant section of I-5 that they have torn up (and have had torn up for 5 years now), Vancouver will be a lot better.

Beautiful place.

After thinking about it for a while, it has occured to me that these guys are not the same type of guy I am.

They prefer the more indoor stuff, while I like being outdoors.

So while it's true they don't like Washington, I might LOVE it.

Yes, and I think you will. But a word of warning...if someone calls you a Californicator, don't get offended, it's a joke. It wasn't a joke 10 years ago or so, but now there are so many former Californians in the PacNW we've just about given up. Despite being disgruntled about the Californians taking over, the welcome wagon will still come out. People in Washington, unlike other parts of the country, are still polite.

Ha ha a Californicator, eh?

Because I'm hearing imparied I have a rather wierd accent so people think I come from Russia. :confused:

Needless to say they won't figure out my state of orgin from my accent alone. :p

If I take a trip up there, would anyone be willing to show a fellow TFPer around?

I'm in Oregon, unfortunately, but there are lots of TFP Washingtonians...they just tend to stay hidden :) I also don't get out or get home much as I am but a poor student.

But ask around, and maybe someone will pop out of the woodwork.

No one has said Utah yet???

Hm. I don't blame anyone.


Kidding aside...another for NC here. I've never been to PacNW...but it sounds beautiful too.

North Spokane is more of an area than an actual town. A lot of it is just farms and ranches, slowly encroached by housing developments and shopping centers. It really isn't that far from Spokane, and it doesn't get a lot of traffic problems that plauge the western part of the state.

Spokane itself is a very old looking town, there aren't a lot of new buildings/stuff, and it is pretty conservative. It's also a lot poorer than Seattle/Portland. Not...ghetto poor, but almost in a white trash kind of way. Oh yeah, it's 98% white.

That being said, you can look in the local newspaper for cool old apartments downtown, and not expensive at all, probably could find a 1br1bath for $500-700, while in a newer apartment complex on the skirts of town it'll run $400-600.

There's the everyday city stuff (malls, theaters, downtown, bars, etc..) but a lot of it lacks the newness and trendiness of Seattle/Portland.

It has tons of mountains, forests, rivers, lakes, & skiing. I grew up nearby in North Idaho/NW Montana. Beatiful mountains. Gorgeous trees, a mix of pines, cedars, firs, and deciduous. Millions of acres of hunting property. Definately very rural and sparsley populated, something that you don't really get in the Cascades.

Temperatures are more extreme than by the Sound, with warmer summers (90's often) and colder winters (negative temperatures, snow) however it usually suffers from the same endless rain in spring/fall.

Be forewarned: Due its northerly location it has really short days in December and really long ones in June, the same goes for West WA. We're talking 6 hour days in Dec., 16 in June. Well.. thats exaggurating a bit, but it feels like that!

It depends on what you're looking for. Western Washington is more urban, has a lot of high-paying jobs, is more expensive, and is far more crowded. Spokane is less expensive, also urban (but not world-class urban), mildly conservative, and definatley less crowded. Both are pretty cool places. Visit.

I love Spokane. It's a little too extreme for me temperature-wise, but it's such a nice place to visit in the summer. We went there for conferences every year and my aunt used to live in the area. Riverfront Park: http://www.spokaneriverfrontpark.com/ is definitely a great place to visit and have some fun--regardless of the time of year. I got kicked off the carousel when I was 11 because I kept getting the brass ring, lol.

They've updated a lot of the downtown and while it's not as urban as Seattle or Portland, the shopping areas downtown are pretty new and nice compared to how they used to be. http://www.riverparksquare.com/

North Spokane is pretty much one giant strip mall, but some of the outlying areas, like Cheney and so on, are very beautiful with great lakes for water skiing and fishing. Coeur d'Alene is also not far.

If anyone visits Spokane, I highly recommend eating at the Onion: http://www.theonion.biz/ They have the best onion rings I've ever had.

And it is a lot cheaper than the west side, but as said, it's very white, more conservative, and not as temperate.

Medusa, I was told about Utah, and it's Mormons who tend to cast a doubful eye towards you if you're not one of them. I have family in Utah, but... the Mormon thing.

Painted, and onesnowyowl, thanks for the info on North Spokane. Interesting stuff, but doesn't sound like my kinda place...

On a different matter, I remember visiting a link LONG ago where you completed a rather long quiz and it gave you a list of cities that matched you. All I remember about it was a little dog (Spot? Something like that) and a forrest green background (I think :-/). Anyone know what site I'm talking about?

Okay I'm looking at tickets to Bellingham, WA. Considering staying for a few days.

I'm wondering about the "best" way to get there. Bus, train, or airline.

Bus takes 23 hours and 20 minutes and costs $ 274 round trip.

Train is 22 hours 33 minutes and $ 168 round trip. Only goes to Seattle though.

Airline is a 2 hours and $ 406.50.

I've never ridden bus or train so I don't know what that's like.

I selected Jan 1st to Jan 10th. Is that a good time to visit?

Any good hotels in Bellingham? What are some reccomended places to visit?

Thanks!

Jason, How would you describe yourself?
I grew up in Washington
Seattle through the early years then up to Bellingham
Bellingham is somewhat small - 100,000
I would describe the people as hippie, outdoorsie, or wanna be gangster.

Obviously being 100,000 people there isnt any major sports teams. have to head to Seattle or Vancouver for those (Bellingham is right in the middle @ 1.5 hrs away)
I would say Bham has a drug problem, but that is me going to HS there and knowing everyone. I'm sure if you moved there and got in the right crowed you would have no problems with this.

personally since I've experienced bham before, if I was to move to Wash and pick a place to live from the above list, I would take a look @ woodinville.
or actual Seattle if nightlife and big city is for you.

oh btw
google seached it:
http://www.findyourspot.com/

EVERYWHERE has a drug problem these days. Meth is ravaging where I live, where my parents live, where friends have moved to. Having worked in drug/alcohol treatment, I can tell you that we got kids from EVERYWHERE in the PacNW--no community, no matter where you live, is exempt from meth or other drugs. Most people are just blissfully unaware of how bad the problem truly is in their community.

Odd.....thought my post was here....anyway...

I'm very partial to North Carolina, Tennessee and Missouri. The cost of living in all 3 is very good and the cities are cleaner than any here on the east coast. Tennessee and Missouri are both landlocked, but you have the Smokie Mountains in Tennessee and the Ozarks in part of Mo and the plains of Kansas to the west.
What I've seen of South Carolina I liked too. Maybe I was a southern belle in a previous life :lol:

Temp, what am I like? Well first off I'm a Gemini so I have two personalities. :cool:

I like people and activities, but prefer closeness over numbers. I have only a handful of friends, but they are VERY close. I get along well with everyone, but only a select few know the true me.

I also like to be a loner. There are times I've gotten grumpy and that's when I need isolation time from people, civilization, anad the world. Thats when I go camping.

A personality test reveals I am an introvert. That explains that.

Drugs? Pssh, I live near Oakland. Infamous for drugs/crime/you name it.

NgDawg, I considered the east coast but the population seems so dense over there, it'd be hard to get jobs and the like (don't plan on working at CostCo forever!)

Found some interesting information about Bellingham.

http://www.findyourspot.com/images/r...linghamWA1.gif

http://www.findyourspot.com/images/r...linghamWA2.gif

http://www.findyourspot.com/images/r...linghamWA3.gif

http://www.findyourspot.com/images/r...linghamWA4.gif

Addressing the train/plane/bus thing...

If you can afford to fly, fly. I took the Greyhound to Southern California from Salt Lake about 8 years ago, thinking I'd save some money instead of flying. The trip was about the same length as yours...21 hours I think. Boy, did I regret it...it was an awful experience. I've never ridden a train for more than a few hours, so I don't have much experience with that. Take a plane over a bus if you can...the $125 extra "savings" on the bus is totally not worth it.

Haven't looked at this thread for a while and now some places have been mentioned that I can input on.

I grew up in Spokane, but moved away 5 years ago for school and now live in Charlotte, NC. I miss it dearly as it will always be home. It does offer almost everything. You seem outdoorsy and I think Spokane would fit the bill for you. Mountains, desert nearby, huge amount of clean lakes, sunshine, some snow, hot and dry summers and 2 Costcos. Cost of living is pretty good. A previous poster mentioned negative temperatures in the winter. It is true that occassionally (once every handful of years) that might happen, but if it snows it is usually gone the next day except for the hills. Spokane is also a MUCH drier climate than western WA. Don't let people fool you on that. Traffic is a million times better also.

North Idaho is an outdoorsman's wetdream. If you want to occasionally find isolation, the drive won't be long to get there.

Since you already live on the west coast, find plane tickets for Southwest airlines. They should be cheap.

Connecticut, for obvious reasons.
http://images.google.com/images?q=tb...%2520River.jpghttp://images.google.com/images?q=tb...tle_winter.jpg[IMG]http://images.google.com/images?q=tb...cut_1236_m.jpghttp://images.google.com/images?q=tb...onnecticut.JPGhttp://images.google.com/images?q=tb...uide_image.jpg

~~

As someone who has been looking for work since graduating in March, 2005, I can definitely say, jobs are scarce, unless you want to drive a limo, delivery truck or have your CDL...the drivers needed in the classified is by far the most listings....jobs suck here.
Financial jobs are big in Charlotte, NC. Tech jobs are pretty abundant in the Kansas City area(it's like the midwest version of Silicon Valley around there) and parts of Alabama (the outskirts of Birmingham). I don't know about Tennessee, jobwise, I just know that it's laid back, polite, cheap and very very pretty and open...you can drive quite a while before coming across someone in your way.

The Pacific NW, especially Portland, seem very attractive and may be a place to move to in a few years after graduating from college. I find the rainy and temperate climate appealing. The strong labor market for college grads and a pretty cosmopolitan feeling, all without many tourists, attracts me as well.

So, what are the disadvantages of living in Portland ?! The only one for me, really, would be being 2000+ miles from friends and family back home (in cleveland).

(BTW, Cleveland is a pretty underrated place itself. It's lower cost of living, diversity of people, a big city, and nice cultural ammenities. There's four seasons of weather as well. I find that the people who dislike Cleveland the most are the people who live there and don't take advantage of what it has to offer and its potential).

catcha back on the flipside,
will.

the northwest is a very scenic place, but I simply DONT do winter. you'd likely find me in the southwest given the choice (Texas, NM, AZ)

New York is the first state on my list. The winters would suck but in the end it would all be worth it. My brother lives in Portland so if I ever leave California I might just head out there. Although Salt Lake still has a large chunk of my heart.... hopefully I never have to decide where I'm moving next, lol.

I can't really think of any. Excellent public transportation, generally progressive government, polite people, decent cost of living for a metropolitan area, 1 hour to the beach or 1 hour to the mountains, and the highest concentration of microbreweries in the country...yeah, Portland's awesome.

Oh! Oh! I thought of one: The Portland Public School District is kind of bad. They have had problems managing funding in recent years, though it seems as if that is turning around. Here's hoping.

Well, I'm seriously getting ready to move up there. Probably gonna ask my boss to fill out a transfer application today.

Been looking at apartments to live in while I'm there.

http://www.pomgrp.com/ Seems like a good place, though I don't know. Rates pretty high on apartmentratings.com

I'm wondering though, since I don't have a car, would there be a benefit to buying one in Bellingham, rather than here?

Ermm, any good threads about moving that I should read? I don’t like running into strange situations ill-informed.

Thanks for all the help!

Get ready for rain buddy. The actual inches that fall on the ground are not that much but for the days that are cold, gray and dark before 4:30pm are more than most other places in the country almost all in fact. When the the rain stops on that first sunny day of spring it feels like you just woke up from a long 6 month nap. Awesome feeling but the nap sucks.

Other than the shitty weather Washington is a really nice place to live. I have lived in south west Washington for 13 years and I hated it at first but now love it. I live right on the Columbia mouth right across the river from Astoria. If you get a chance to vacation next summer and don't have extensive time or money I would suggest Cannon Beach Oregon. It's one of the most beautiful places in the pacNW. In the summer sometimes you would swear you're in Hawaii and not in Oregon. It's nice just to go and spend the night sometimes. That's what a lot of the locals do around here either that or Lincoln City for gambling.

California or New York!

CA is hella expensive ...and I suppose so is NY!

Hum tough choice but i would say hawaii or montana hawaii for all the easy to figure out reasons. its tropical and who wouldnt want to live there. But im sure cost of living would be a hassle. Montana just because if you can get a job in a place like that that pays good. it would be very very relaxing. Wouldnt be too hard to just get away from all the annoyances in life and space out and hang out with some trees. But i wouldnt mind being a hermit if i could get myself a cabin in the woods with broadband.

I'd have to vote you to come to Bellingham. I lived there most of my life and still work there but now I live in Burlington. Although Burlington does have a store too. Its alot smaller city/town then Bellingham is though. I realy do like both but Bellingham definatly has more...culture then Burlington. Lots of outdoor activities, fishing skiing snowboarding hiking bird watching camping boating on lakes rivers and the ocean surfing...Oh, and one of the best clay oval sprint car tracks on the west coast, Skagit Speedway (shameless plug, I race there).
And did I mention thats just your first day here? when you wake up the next morning there is all the wonderful coffee that Washington is so well known for.
I cant be much help on where to rent or buy a car. If you could get yourself an apartment in the fairhaven area You would be well pleased though.
As for how to get here...plane would be good, but that would likley only get you to seattle. Bellingham dose have an airport but I dont know how cost efective it would be to get a flight to there. If you can get someone to pick you up from the airport though its only a little over an hour to bellingham depending on traffic.
Feel free to look me up when you get out this way and I can help show you around a bit. Also with enough warning time I might be able to help out with the airport pick up if you need it.

I agree, although CO, or any of the mountainous states would rock. Lotsa snow, with low humidity in the summers. The seafood makes me sway towards Alaska, tho.

Burlington used to be a town...

Now it's just one big shopping area.

Though the Krispy Kreme is nice.

Lol, Yeah, burlington is pretty much just a big sprawling shopping center now.
Krispy kreme was cool when it first opened but now I almost never get anything from them.