gig harbor washington. neatest place i ever lived.

Finding a nicer place than Chicago may be fairly easy, weather wise.

1984. That's the year I quit my job downtown Chicago and moved to Colorado. What an improvement!

Ptoverly, I've never been to Gig Harbor, but it's the birthplace of my McAlister, so it's just gotta be a great place to live If I do get up to Gig Harbor some day, I'll have to say howdy to Roy.

I wouldn't trade one rock in Colorado to live anywhere else. Over 300 days of sunshine a year, 4 full seasons, beautiful mountains, nice folks, good economy (depending on your trade). My only complaint is the dry climate. The fact that more often than not Coloradans aren't natives is quite telling.

IMHO it is hard to beat the Pacific Northwest. There is the beauty of the sea and the mountains. Last year I saw a murder of crows attacking a bald eagle in the tree across the street from me and I live in Seattle’s suburbs. I am five minutes away from Puget Sound. I love to take my dog to the beach. My wife who teaches in Seattle has a great view of Mt. Rainer from her class room. There are great hospitals in the area and several universities.
There are many micro climates in the Pacific Northwest but in Seattle, it does rain more than I would like. The tax system is regressive (sales tax with no income tax).
I hitchhiked to Seattle back in 1970 and decided that someday I wanted to live here.

Peace,
Rip

My best friend- and best man at our wedding, in probably more ways than one- lives in Issaquah. Very cool. Proximity to salmon doesn't hurt. That whole ocean/mountain proximity thing is pretty hard to top. tom

Great ideas! I would encourage everyone to move to Washington. Hoquiam, Sequim, wonderful places. Maybe event Kent or Black Diamond. How about Tacoma.

Don't even think about Oregon. It's really icky here.

Jim

Yeah. Right. The Willamette Valley sucks. All those lush pastures, all those orchards and vineyards, all the Mt. Hood and other high country backdrops. And Bend's ugly, too. What. Ever. tom

quote:

Originally posted by sonoman:
Yeah. Right. The Willamette Valley sucks. All those lush pastures, all those orchards and vineyards, all the Mt. Hood and other high country backdrops. And Bend's ugly, too. What. Ever. tom

Well, but it does rain all the time. Your Collings' will get to moist. Better not chance it here.

Funny. there was a bumper sticker in the late seventies, I think, or early eighties that said something very much like "welcome to Oregon. Enjoy your stay. Now go home". I believe the fear of "californication" was valid. One "Golden" state is enough. We peaked about 1960 and it's been pretty much downhill since then. The wine country is very pretty, but yuppie infested, and the music scene is bleak. so, keep playin' up that "it rains all the time" meme. That's what we did with Jackson Hole and winter. didn't work. the valley is now 10 percent rich snobs and 90 percent waiters, waitresses, and motel cleaners. Jeez. Oh well; like the Don Henley song said "call someplace paradise, kiss it goodbye". Move to Barstow. You'll be safe there. Hot, but safe. tom

Actually Tom, that was a sentiment widely shared here in the late '60s, early '70s. Governor Tom McCall always addressed visiting groups with "Enjoy your visit, but don't stay." I believe the signs at the borders said "Welcome to Oregon, Enjoy your vist." Alas, that worked as well here as it did for y'all in Jackson Hole. The Bend area and environs in central Oregon have become highly yupified and it has driven the cost of living to a point that most "working" people can no longer live there. I'm sure they've probably been hit very hard by the current economy. Seems to me like the unemployment rate in that part of the state is now in the neighborhood of 15+%. The state's overall unemployment rate is now 10.8%. Not a really happy topic here right now. The bride and I had planned on retirement in the next 12 to 18 months, but now not sure we'll be able to. I believe you're familiar with that tune.

Jim

Unfortunately, I know all the verses to that dirge. We left Jackson Hole out of economic necessity, even though all six family members worked- the kids started working in their very early teens, and my wife and I, both college graduates with excellent resumes, were lucky to get jobs making 20K a year. No benefits. No vacations. We'd do it again, but we're getting a little long in the tooth- or at least I am. Oregon's a great state, and remarkably sane in many ways. too bad about Bend. we used to go through there in the early seventies, driving from Berkeley to Jackson Hole the "back way". Great times. the Deschute River. Gorgeous. tom