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My family moved from Mountain View (where we were paying $4800/month rent for a 2 bedroom apartment) to rural Olympia Washington state, where we're paying about

My family moved from Mountain View (where we were paying $4800/month rent for a 2 bedroom apartment) to rural Olympia Washington state, where we're paying about $1500 a month less for a mortgage on a house with five times the square footage and five acres of woods. We moved to the SF Bay Area in 2009. The 11 minute drive from our house into town (capital of Washington state) is ironically shorter than a drive to the nearest Safeway in Mountain View at certain times of the day. My wife and I daily appreciate the fortune of having the luxury of working full time remote. Most people don't have that. We very much enjoyed our time in the SF Bay Area. It's a beautiful place full of excellent people. "things" just got too out of balance over the past decade plus.

Diederich 6y ago
What the heck, I'll go on a little bit more after noting that we loved living in the SF Bay Area when we did. Our electricity is almost all hydro, and so very green. Our only vehicle is a Tesla which we charge at home. Our home is relatively close to the Puget sound but we're nearly 100 feet above it, which will make us proof against 21st century sea level rise, hurricanes (currently impossible here) and tsunamis. At the same time, the very large amount of water near us strongly moderates our temperature fluctuations, similar to but stronger than the same effect on the peninsula in the SF Bay Area. There's no state income taxes. Property tax is slightly higher than in the SF Bay Area. Sales tax is about the same. Finally, this is my current view: https://www.realms.org/pics/woods-outside.jpg https://www.realms.org/pics/woods-outside.jpg
- burnthrow 6y ago
  You may not deal with tropical cyclones, but please understand that where you live the weather can become quite violent. https://www.climate.washington.edu/stormking/mainindex.html https://www.climate.washington.edu/stormking/mainindex.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbus_Day_Storm_of_1962 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbus_Day_Storm_of_1962 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Northwest_windstorm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Northwest_windstorm
  - Diederich 6y ago
    Thanks for these, I was aware after researching (for years!) places where we'd want our 'forever home'. Above, I specifically called out something you can't generally build for, which is flooding. Flooding comes either from water running down hill or from below, due to rising bodies of water. Our house is at the top of a very shallow rise/'hill', so we don't have to worry about the former. That we're more than 100 feet above any relevant body of water protects us from the latter. The other items are generally about high winds, and this house is pretty much proof against that. It was massively over-built. The only thing it could not withstand is a direct hit from a powerful tornado.
  - Diederich 6y ago
    I wasn't aware of https://www.climate.washington.edu/stormking/mainindex.html https://www.climate.washington.edu/stormking/mainindex.html great resource, thanks again!
  - UnpossibleJim 6y ago
    No offense, but you're digging back to 1962 to find that weather. I live in the Seattle area, and the worst thing about it is the seasonal depression. Granted, I'm originally from the south eastern US, so I'm used to hurricanes, but this place is a cake walk. There are occasional winds of 15 miles an hour or so, but compared to the majority of the rest of the country, it's fairly isolated from inclement weather phenomenon.
    - Diederich 6y ago
      Understand and agree with what you're saying! "Easy weather" was one of the big wins in our decision making process to move here. On the other hand, we're planning on the 70 year time horizon, which is basically reasonable MAX_AGE for our teenage son, so looking many decades back was appropriate for us as well. Further, as more and more energy ends up captured in the atmosphere, we expect rare atmospheric events to become a lot less rare. > it's fairly isolated from inclement weather phenomenon. Indeed, we're loving it, especially given that we generally like cool, wet weather as a baseline.
- walamaking 6y ago
  What's the earthquake risk - are you close to any faults? That's always been my concern about the west coast.
  - mikestew 6y ago
    The Seattle area had a big earthquake about 20 years ago[0], which was most certainly felt in Olympia. But that's the only time I've felt the earth tremble in the 20 years I've lived in the Seattle area. But WA does get them once in a while. [1] Personally, it's low on my list of things I worry about. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001_Nisqually_earthquake https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001_Nisqually_earthquake [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_earthquakes_in_Washington_(state) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_earthquakes_in_Washing...
  - Diederich 6y ago
    1 in 3 of a very large earthquake hitting in the next 50 years: https://today.oregonstate.edu/archives/2010/may/odds-huge-quake-Northwest-next-50-years https://today.oregonstate.edu/archives/2010/may/odds-huge-qu... That could cause a large to very large tsunami. The place we selected is proof against any Tsunami, and massively over-built to handle large earthquakes.
    - dartdartdart 6y ago
      Is elevation what makes it Tsunami-proof? Or was there another way you made it Tsunami-proof?
zdragnar 6y ago
Rent was $4800 a month? No wonder I don't know anyone who lives there anymore. 3 of my coworkers moved out in the last year, two permanently, one decided to be a temporary nomad but probably won't go back. I'll keep working remote from flyover country, thanks (lots of beautiful places here too if you don't mind the snow!)
- Diederich 6y ago
  Yeah, it was kind of nuts. It was a bit more than some others because it had a gasp connected garage and two small 'outside' areas attached.
aphextron 6y ago
>The 11 minute drive from our house into town (capital of Washington state) is ironically shorter than a drive to the nearest Safeway in Mountain View at certain times of the day. This is such a huge thing when it comes to quality of life. The traffic in the bay area is completely absurd. There is no rush hour. There's a small window around 10:00am-11:30am where you can just get in the car and run somewhere real quick without sitting in it. Otherwise it turns a quick trip to the grocery store into an hour long affair. I can remember working in Oakland, and living in Pleasant Hill, and if there was an accident at the tunnel, you're literally just sitting at the office until 8-9pm because the entire route is a parking lot. It's the number one thing I am thankful for since moving away.
- Diederich 6y ago
  Right; traffic was one of the main reasons we lived so close 'in'. Over 11 years, we lived in three different apartments, always within 10 minutes bike ride to Caltrain, and every place I worked was within a 10 minute bike ride from Caltrain. Bicycling around takes time, but I considered it worth while since it doubled as good, low impact cardio. We also stayed primarily in Mountain View because of the schools. But yeah, from 2009-2020, traffic went from somewhat manageable to batshit crazy.

Diederich 6y ago

What the heck, I'll go on a little bit more after noting that we loved living in the SF Bay Area when we did. Our electricity is almost all hydro, and so very green. Our only vehicle is a Tesla which we charge at home. Our home is relatively close to the Puget sound but we're nearly 100 feet above it, which will make us proof against 21st century sea level rise, hurricanes (currently impossible here) and tsunamis. At the same time, the very large amount of water near us strongly moderates our temperature fluctuations, similar to but stronger than the same effect on the peninsula in the SF Bay Area. There's no state income taxes. Property tax is slightly higher than in the SF Bay Area. Sales tax is about the same. Finally, this is my current view: https://www.realms.org/pics/woods-outside.jpg https://www.realms.org/pics/woods-outside.jpg

burnthrow 6y ago
You may not deal with tropical cyclones, but please understand that where you live the weather can become quite violent. https://www.climate.washington.edu/stormking/mainindex.html https://www.climate.washington.edu/stormking/mainindex.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbus_Day_Storm_of_1962 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbus_Day_Storm_of_1962 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Northwest_windstorm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Northwest_windstorm
- Diederich 6y ago
  Thanks for these, I was aware after researching (for years!) places where we'd want our 'forever home'. Above, I specifically called out something you can't generally build for, which is flooding. Flooding comes either from water running down hill or from below, due to rising bodies of water. Our house is at the top of a very shallow rise/'hill', so we don't have to worry about the former. That we're more than 100 feet above any relevant body of water protects us from the latter. The other items are generally about high winds, and this house is pretty much proof against that. It was massively over-built. The only thing it could not withstand is a direct hit from a powerful tornado.
- Diederich 6y ago
  I wasn't aware of https://www.climate.washington.edu/stormking/mainindex.html https://www.climate.washington.edu/stormking/mainindex.html great resource, thanks again!
- UnpossibleJim 6y ago
  No offense, but you're digging back to 1962 to find that weather. I live in the Seattle area, and the worst thing about it is the seasonal depression. Granted, I'm originally from the south eastern US, so I'm used to hurricanes, but this place is a cake walk. There are occasional winds of 15 miles an hour or so, but compared to the majority of the rest of the country, it's fairly isolated from inclement weather phenomenon.
  - Diederich 6y ago
    Understand and agree with what you're saying! "Easy weather" was one of the big wins in our decision making process to move here. On the other hand, we're planning on the 70 year time horizon, which is basically reasonable MAX_AGE for our teenage son, so looking many decades back was appropriate for us as well. Further, as more and more energy ends up captured in the atmosphere, we expect rare atmospheric events to become a lot less rare. > it's fairly isolated from inclement weather phenomenon. Indeed, we're loving it, especially given that we generally like cool, wet weather as a baseline.
walamaking 6y ago
What's the earthquake risk - are you close to any faults? That's always been my concern about the west coast.
- mikestew 6y ago
  The Seattle area had a big earthquake about 20 years ago[0], which was most certainly felt in Olympia. But that's the only time I've felt the earth tremble in the 20 years I've lived in the Seattle area. But WA does get them once in a while. [1] Personally, it's low on my list of things I worry about. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001_Nisqually_earthquake https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001_Nisqually_earthquake [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_earthquakes_in_Washington_(state) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_earthquakes_in_Washing...
- Diederich 6y ago
  1 in 3 of a very large earthquake hitting in the next 50 years: https://today.oregonstate.edu/archives/2010/may/odds-huge-quake-Northwest-next-50-years https://today.oregonstate.edu/archives/2010/may/odds-huge-qu... That could cause a large to very large tsunami. The place we selected is proof against any Tsunami, and massively over-built to handle large earthquakes.
  - dartdartdart 6y ago
    Is elevation what makes it Tsunami-proof? Or was there another way you made it Tsunami-proof?

zdragnar 6y ago

Rent was $4800 a month? No wonder I don't know anyone who lives there anymore. 3 of my coworkers moved out in the last year, two permanently, one decided to be a temporary nomad but probably won't go back. I'll keep working remote from flyover country, thanks (lots of beautiful places here too if you don't mind the snow!)

Diederich 6y ago
Yeah, it was kind of nuts. It was a bit more than some others because it had a gasp connected garage and two small 'outside' areas attached.

aphextron 6y ago

>The 11 minute drive from our house into town (capital of Washington state) is ironically shorter than a drive to the nearest Safeway in Mountain View at certain times of the day. This is such a huge thing when it comes to quality of life. The traffic in the bay area is completely absurd. There is no rush hour. There's a small window around 10:00am-11:30am where you can just get in the car and run somewhere real quick without sitting in it. Otherwise it turns a quick trip to the grocery store into an hour long affair. I can remember working in Oakland, and living in Pleasant Hill, and if there was an accident at the tunnel, you're literally just sitting at the office until 8-9pm because the entire route is a parking lot. It's the number one thing I am thankful for since moving away.

Diederich 6y ago
Right; traffic was one of the main reasons we lived so close 'in'. Over 11 years, we lived in three different apartments, always within 10 minutes bike ride to Caltrain, and every place I worked was within a 10 minute bike ride from Caltrain. Bicycling around takes time, but I considered it worth while since it doubled as good, low impact cardio. We also stayed primarily in Mountain View because of the schools. But yeah, from 2009-2020, traffic went from somewhat manageable to batshit crazy.