[jyl]

For the last 36 years, I've been steadily moving north, always on the West Coast. In Los Angeles CA 1985-1997, in SF Bay Area CA 1997-2006, in Portland OR 2006-now. During the 15 years I've been in Oregon, the weather has gotten hotter and dryer, and in the last several years the wildfire smoke has gotten worse. My friends in the SF Bay are also seeing the trend of hotter, drier and smokier. Taxes in Portland keep going up, with the combined income, business, property tax level now distinctly high if you're what is considering "higher income". Traffic, density, homelessness also increasingly issues.

So I'm looking for alternatives. I'm generally thinking about going further north, more coastal, smaller city/town. The obvious direction leads to WA . . . but I'm not into Seattle (expensive, another big city, also been there/done that since I lived in Kirkland WA as a kid) or Eastern WA (wife grew up in Yakima, she doesn't want to go back).

So I'm thinking one of the smaller cities/larger towns on the Olympic peninsula or around Puget Sound. Not too far from my Portland friends, in fact close enough that I could split time between the two places. Nice and cool climate, still. Not very vulnerable to wildfire, although can still get the smoke from fires in Canada and WA. Taxes going up, but so far still no state income tax.

I have never resided anywhere but a city. Portland is the smallest city I've ever lived in. Living in a small town may be a challenge, or a delight, I don't know.