What cities/towns are cheap but not too isolated?

Submitted by wtfisreality t3_11avp1n in Washington

I've lived in S Sno Co all my life, but since I'm now getting priced out, I'm looking to buy somewhere else, but can only afford super cheap ($300k max). I've realized I really haven't explored the state much, so I'm pretty clueless about the various places I find homes in my price range (Raymond, Lilliwap, etc.). I have a teenager I don't want to be entirely isolated. I wanted to see if anyone has recommendations for cheaper areas (Western WA) that still have some things (I see a lot that don't seem to even have much in the way of grocery stores) and are preferably queer-friendly (or at least not hostile). I'm checking, since I've seen notes that the Aberdeen/Hoquiam areas are not considered great, and was wondering if there are other places I should avoid.

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this-is-advertising t1_j9ukawg wrote

> super cheap

> not too isolated

> queer-friendly

> Western WA

That seems challenging, but you might find something in Vancouver or Bremerton. Try those areas and see if anything works for you.

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trail_bunny t1_j9wfqig wrote

Vancouver's gotten pretty pricey and I'd be surprised if there's anything in their price range here.

Edit to add: according to Redfin, the median home price in Vancouver last month was $475k.

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katcomesback t1_j9wdgjf wrote

bremerton is super sketchy

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AleshiniaLivesStill t1_j9wf1a5 wrote

Nah it’s fine here. It actually checks the OP’s boxes too as long as they’re ok with 300k getting a 600sf house it’s doable. I’m gay and have gay friends here as well as seeing pride flags. Sure, there’s some trumpies and what not but I’ve been here over a year and had no issues anywhere with that. The queer people I live with have been here much longer. If you just mean drugs and shit by “sketchy” it is no worse than south snoho county. I lived there for years.

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katcomesback t1_j9wk82q wrote

oh, maybe it’s improved. I usually just go for concerts and had my horse in PO for a while, PO seemed fine but bremerton had a lot of car break ins and addicts/homeless, at least in that area

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sneezerlee t1_j9vhzn5 wrote

Be careful moving to rural Washington, your teenager might fall in with some vampires or wolverines and end up eternally damned.

But jokes aside, I can’t think of a place that would be queer friendly and good for a teenager. Is it possible to hold out till they graduate? Or look at renting for a few years?

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Quiet-Context_ t1_j9wqxdv wrote

Forks!!!! Last year someone kept asking about jobs in Forks. Your vampires comment made me think about that post.

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rosesandpiglets t1_j9umis6 wrote

You’re going to have to pick or choose from your wishlist. WA’s cost of livings isn’t very far below CA’s now, at least where people want to live.

All rural areas are going to have a higher per capita rates of homophobics and racists unfortunately. All rural places are also more likely to have poverty issues that result in a lot of petty crime and drug use, compared to the suburbs.

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Round-Mobile-333 t1_j9v668d wrote

Have you experienced homophobic hate in a specific rural area of Western WA? Sucks. Rural places seem so nice and polite to me.

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rosesandpiglets t1_j9vpz4q wrote

Got a bottle thrown at me and my BF in Carnation once, and one time called some slurs in Aberdeen. Got yelled at by some neo nazis outside Ferndale once, but that was mostly racial slurs directed at my friends.

To be clear most people in rural parts of all of the country are nice people, it’s just you’ve got a higher per capita chance of running into a nutter in rural areas.

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Round-Mobile-333 t1_j9vrjkb wrote

:( I'm sorry.

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rosesandpiglets t1_j9vtifm wrote

It’s ok,

I’ve had a similar encounter in Seattle once too, hateful people are everywhere unfortunately, not trying to say rural places don’t have predominantly nice folks

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islandlalala t1_j9xfryr wrote

Got a nice neighbor here on Camano who calls me a dyke because I used to drive a Subaru? I’m widowed 3 kids but you know, big dyke.

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Pristine_Read_7476 t1_j9v9wdu wrote

Exactly, I've lived on both sides and if you're going East with the headspace that everyone there is anti-woke then that's a great opportunity to rethink your news sources.

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Wisconsin_Expat t1_j9vtkwv wrote

Best I can think of is Port Angeles.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1319-W-16th-St-Port-Angeles-WA-98363/114643647_zpid/?utm_campaign=iosappmessage&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=txtshare

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coquigrl t1_j9w2wzt wrote

I've heard good things about Port Angeles, too.

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[deleted] t1_j9w0nny wrote

[deleted]

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wtfisreality OP t1_j9w18nk wrote

I was looking, but the state income tax seems like it would be an issue.

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AliveAndThenSome t1_j9w5gyf wrote

But the lack of a sales tax in OR has a lot going for it, too. Our local sales tax in King County is over 9% on non-grocery items.

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Dumbnysos t1_j9x3yw3 wrote

Even though it's certainly gotten more expensive than it used to be, Vancouver still has the benefit of being able to avoid both sales and income tax. If you go outside Vancouver there are cheaper rooms that pop up from developments, and that obviously makes it harder to save on sales tax for more everyday purchases, but you still have that option for larger purchases, and somewhere like Battle Ground has easy access to I-5, feels less crowded, and while it's hardly a hippie commune it's also not a right-wing hellhole

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Draconigae_Camper_81 t1_j9x8ei4 wrote

Moved from Willamette Valley Oregon to Olympia 18 mo ago and feel the same way. WA is gorgeous with all the water and trees and with Olympic National, Mt Rainier and St Helens close at hand. But cost of living is incredibly high here (not like Bend though!). No income tax in WA but you get hit every other way possible. higher car tags, higher property tax, expensive fish permits, expensive snowpark passes, expensive state park passes and sales tax rates in the top 5 of US states. Also, my family is struggling to find medical providers here despite a supposedly more robust medical infrastructure than OR. Because of these things basically everything here to include dining and entertainment is substantially more expensive than W OR.

I was expecting better bike access and sidewalk infrastructure but compared to Corvallis/Eugene most of the W Wa cities are behind in this respect. Also, the state pulls in SUBSTANTIALLY more revenue for schools yet every district is complaining about budget overruns and insufficient funding. From a financial perspective, if you are a six figure earner, WA might shake out better because then your overall tax burden is probably less than what you would pay in income tax to OR.

Plenty of other things to like though. Lots of parks, more water activities, strong job market, great people, and overall more entertainment and dining options.

Bottom line, second the Eugene, OR suggestion. You have a decent airport in town. You will also pick up a few more weeks of sunny days and have access to some nice beaches in Newport and Lincoln City.

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MaidenFae t1_j9vks4f wrote

We are in Shelton. You may not find anything in your home price range but it might be close if you have flexibility. It’s close to Olympia, which is nice. I have a queer teen and it’s really homophobic here. There seems to be quite a few LGBT kids but the outward and internalized homophobia/transphobia in rampant.

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moobiscuits t1_j9w4i00 wrote

Yeah, my family is all from there and we’re no longer on a speaking basis. Ultimately that’s not representative of everyone, but it is worth noting and thinking about.

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PaigeTurner2 t1_j9x2xhb wrote

I’ve lived in Shelton for decades. It gets a bad rap. My kids, now in their mid 30’s had several LGBTQ friends growing up here, including one of ours. Mostly, people keep to themselves, don’t advertise (or debate) their politics and love the landscape around them. Frankly, we love we have the bad rep, because it keeps the judgmental elites out.

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MaidenFae t1_ja08918 wrote

My queer kiddo has been yelled slurs while walking on the sidewalk by cars of adults driving past. They have been attacked several times by high schoolers resulting in police reports.

By the number of “let’s go Brandon” flag in the area I have to disagree that people don’t advertise their politics here.

I’m glad that your kids felt safe in Shelton decades ago, but it isn’t the case now.

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PaigeTurner2 t1_ja0l46t wrote

I still live here. I just don’t see the rampant homophobic behavior, but maybe that’s because we surround ourselves with a lot of diverse people. If that happened to my kid, I’d be raging at the school administration and board. I hope they are responding appropriately because it shouldn’t be tolerated.

There are rednecks here, that’s for certain, but there’s also a lot of professionals who love the beauty of the surrounding area.

As for affordability, not so much anymore at least in the nicer areas.

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footballqween t1_j9w8cxv wrote

Bremerton/Port Orchard area might be an option, you can easily access Seattle (which is very queer friendly) via ferry. I didn’t go to high school there so I can’t speak on that experience, but generally people are not openly hostile to LGBTQ. And there is plenty of easily accessible shopping, groceries, restaurants, etc. Here’s a few homes in your price range:

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Moxie_Stardust t1_j9wds7d wrote

I'm visibly trans and I've visited a friend in Bremerton a few times, eaten at a few restaurants, gone into stores, spent time at parks, and it's been fine so far.

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zthompz t1_j9y7a3j wrote

Honestly, I know it gets a bad rep on Reddit, but Belfair has treated me very kindly. Enough accessible necessities, cheaper than most spots around and I have experienced that people are actually friendly and accepting.

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Rocketgirl8097 t1_j9we6pw wrote

Don't know if it's still true, but Spokane has been known in the past to have a number of gay bars. So assuming you'd be okay there.

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RinShimizu t1_j9wp2ky wrote

If you want to be relatively close to Seattle, look into areas around Tacoma. I live in unincorporated King county near Federal Way. It’s much more reasonable than areas closer to the city, but is still less than an hour from downtown.

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ImpulseBimmer t1_j9w4brh wrote

Uh... (East) Lake Stevens/Granite???

I would say Monroe, et al. But HWY 2 and 522 aren't getting any better and there's no plan as of yet to fix that. (Everett to get Light Rail around 2035.)

Most days it's 35 minutes to Everett from Granite for me.

My kids have identified as LGBTQ+ or been active with Gay/Straight Alliance with one harassment issue and that was quickly and definitively handled by the school district.

Sure. There are alot of full sized trucks being used as commuter vehicles, but it's a pretty quiet town with a fair bit of community participation.

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Sammy12345671 t1_j9wrdd2 wrote

Monroe is expensive now, at least much more expensive than $300k

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dokelyok t1_j9yx62g wrote

Same with Lake Stevens, it's insane how expensive housing has gotten.

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ClassicHat t1_j9wmxhy wrote

Agreed on avoiding Aberdeen/Hoquiam, there’s not too many places more depressing and poverty stricken of that size in the state. If your teen has a car and can drive, somewhere within 30 minutes of Bellingham might be viable for $300k, but even then you might be pretty limited. Otherwise places decent for walkability/bikeability/public transport are gonna be outside your budget unfortunately unless you’re looking at 0b/1b condos

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CobraPony67 t1_j9virne wrote

Lake Cushman is pretty cheap, leased indian land, buy one with a cabin or an empty lot and put an RV trailer or mobile home on it, or build your own cabin. There are several small grocery stores. Hoodsport has a grocery store, and other stores. Has a public golf course nearby. Not too far from Shelton, Olympia. Also close to lake for fishing, mountains for hiking, Hood Canal for kayaking.

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sneezerlee t1_j9wy2sf wrote

But imagine life for a teenager on lake cushman.

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Greyze t1_j9vse3x wrote

La Conner might be a good choice. They do have houses in your range. Small and need some love, but there. It’s a tourist town, so lots of opportunities for teen jobs. Drive to Seattle and Everett for fun is doable. I’ve only met very friendly people there.

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lalaluna05 t1_j9whqp6 wrote

SW Washington. Clark County has become expensive over the last few years but Cowlitz is less so. Lewis County is another one.

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Quiet-Context_ t1_j9wr701 wrote

Lewis County is probably too ultra conservative.

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yeorgey t1_j9yqabd wrote

Democrat here. I live in LC. It’s becoming more mixed. Still pretty conservative but the town of centralia, chehalis, and Napavine are at least trying. It seems.

But yeah. More so still pretty red.

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lalaluna05 t1_j9wrfyt wrote

That might be true; depends on where for sure. Cowlitz would be better for that.

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will-ut t1_j9xljpt wrote

The problem is, you’re looking for something that a lot of other people are also looking for and is super popular right now: quiet small town charm with a progressive culture. Thus the demand is driving all the prices in these places up. Even the bad places are getting pricey.

Edit: sorry I’m not all that helpful in answering your question. In hindsight I’m probably just stating the obvious

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Jamieobda t1_j9xpf56 wrote

White Salmon/Stevenson

Kalama

Morton

Raymond/South Bend

Centralia

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OceanPoet87 t1_j9zw4d4 wrote

Skagit County used to check most of those boxes with housing prices not too bad until about 2-3 years ago. But now it's hard to find stuff there for less than $350. Burlington and Mt Vernon had occasional listings for livable homes for less than $200k about 5 years ago.

It's tough. If you were wiling to consider EWA, you might like Spokane although it's tough to find homes in it's suburbs for less than $300k these days. For Spokane proper, yes but the property crime is high there.

Tri Cities or Walla Walla are also options but smaller and might fit your needs, but again they are in EWA.

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Unique_Engineering_3 t1_j9wm6i5 wrote

A friend of mine moved from Seattle to Shelton and she likes it. I think Shelton is still low Tiflis because it’s got a bad reputation from back in the day.

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Cali1985Jimmy t1_j9x42p7 wrote

A lot of Trump people out there.

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Quack68 t1_j9vurp8 wrote

Western WA? 😂🤣😂🤣

It’s like turning back the clock a hundred years.

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hyrailer t1_j9waozd wrote

Well, eastern WA must be 300 years behind then.

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