We're actually from WA. We moved here (MN) two years ago because the Washington schools were bad for kids with autism (outside of Seattle) and the cost of housing was spiraling out of control. I think we got out at a good time.
The skyrocketing cost of living is now everywhere, even here. It's, in part, due to realty investment firms buying up investment properties (30%), and in WA, the tech industry is attracting people from all over. I've talked to several people that moved from MN to WA. I think most Californians are actually migrating to TX, where it's cheaper and regulations are loose.
My son also has ASD, but his diagnosis comes with cognitive delays. His elementary school in Olympia was fantastic, but as he got older, the schools got so much worse. His high school in MN has been amazing, but we definitely stick out in the community. We're not mid-westerners and it shows.
Long story made short, we actually loved living in some parts of WA (mostly Clallam County), but WA isn't the place you want to be if you have a verbal disability and/or can't afford $3K rent or a $700K home in the Seattle area.
I definitely miss the nerdiness and cosplayers of the PNW. Now that my son's graduating high school, we keep circling back to WA, but we're also looking closely at CA. It's expensive, but I feel like CA has better supports for adults. I don't mind paying higher taxes if it means better social supports. I just worry about what will happen to my son if anything happens to me. We don't have family so we need community.
Thanks for the input! Too bad we didn't get to talk when we still lived there.
auntblabby wrote:
OP wondered about "the good things about" various areas, i can tell you that in south puget sound, southwestern washington and northwestern washington on the west side of the sound, the cost of living is tolerable at least, the weather is generally temperate [a good snow on average once every blue moon or so], no state income tax [but watch out for those property taxes if you have a view property]. best come here soon as the californians are bidding everything up/snapping everything up they can and property values are skyrocketing as a result.