10 minutes? Not in the mornings, it takes 15 minutes just to get across the Ebey Island tresle (Hwy 2)

I've driven through the Lake Stevens area. It looks pretty nice...

Seattle...Moscow...both are very scenic and both have similar politics. But then, the same could be said about Portland.

Dude, are you KIDDING? That's exactly what I'm waiting for. Hoping for. The Seattle area will be a VERY nice place to live, once the mess gets cleaned up.
Cause all the scardy-cats will move away. :D

What is your wife's medical specialty? The clientele in Seattle may be markedly different than Rochester's and may be worth giving serious if not primary consideration....that and if Rochester is the same as it was 10-15 years ago, the odds of having a crime commited against you, yours or your property approaches zero....what price do you put on that?

My wife and I have been looking in south Skagit county (Mt Vernon.) She works in Everett and I am out of the Navy soon. The commute into Seattle will be pretty brutal, but living and working north would be a great thing. Lk Stevens is pretty nice, but as was pointed out the trestle traffic is a nightmare. There are only a couple of paved roads into and out of the city, so one knucklehead can screw it up for everyone REALLY easy.

Otherwise, you couldn't pay me to leave. The Navy sent me here from Utah, and I intend to stay until I die.

One more plug for Skagit county is the taxes. You aren't paying for Seattle and its myriad social problems (like those effin stadiums.) Gas is quite a bit lower, property taxes are lower, sales tax is lower. Just my .02

Micah

Been here 36 of my 40 something years -

Dreary rain from November thru Feb especially
Awesome weather from March through October
People are a bit passive/aggressive
Traffic from 3-6:30 is a b!tch - everywhere
Huge variety of terrain - mountains, hills, trees, water, snow all within 30-60 minutes.
Occasional earthquakes, but no hurricanes, locusts, or other extremes.

Right you are. If you are looking for places that are less educated and liberal, you'll need to consider the ugly locales. Spokane is a local conservative area that comes to mind. With just a few exceptions, the Pacific Northwest is neither ugly nor uneducated/conservative.

Hi, Paul.:cool: