This weekend we’ll look at a few western states to consider how “friendly” they are for retirement and homesteading for the small farmer/homesteader.
One of the things you’ll quickly find is that some states could give Mafioso loan sharks a run for their money when it comes to ripping off seniors. Or, is it just sound public policy? We’ll leave that to you to decide.
After some headlines and our Trading Model, and coffee, of course.
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Vancouver, Washington. State with no income tax. Across the river is Portland. No sales tax in Oregon. Marijuana is legal in Washington, as well as medical MJ in Oregon. 45 minutes from the ocean/beach, 25 minutes to mountains. PDX is 10 minutes. Portland has lots of good restaurants and entertainment, microbreweries, shopping. Seattle just 2 hours away. Only problem is gloomy weather in the winter.
Your travel times are way off unless you’re seriously speeding and driving at 2 a.m. Real estate market in Vancouver stinks. Only houses under quarter of a million are in mobile home parks, previous meth labs, mold infested, right next to the freeway, you get the idea. Not much land left unless you drive out an hour on roads you wouldn’t want to drive on in a typical winter. From someone who lives here currently, drives to the coast at least 3x a year, both Oregon and Washington beaches, and has a husband that drives from Vancouver to Portland and back multiple times daily, and had been looking for a home to buy for more years than I like to count. Not a good place to retire IMO. Better place would be Sequim, WA. Much less crowded, less traffic unless you call slowing down for the local elk herd traffic. Lots more dry days. Word is pilots call it the blue hole as it lies in a rain shadow. There’s a Costco and farmer’s market. Lots of local farms. Can head to Seattle for the day or ferry over to Victoria, as well as day trips to mountains, ocean, and forests all within sight. We also like Ocean Shires peninsula if the beach is your thing. Not much in the way of groceries around there and parts of town get awfully crowded during nice summer weather.
My (smarter) little sister move to a home in Sequim in Feb this year….maybe she’s still smarter than me
^that would be Ocean *Shores. George, you understand.
I hope she loves it there. We’ve only visited a few times so our experience is limited but seems like a great place.
Another thing to understand about traffic between Vancouver and Portland is the lack of a good second and a third bridge between the two as traffic can be a bit*ch at certain times of the day. Even the Glen Jackson will get crowded – not to mention that if you go over the edge like a car full of people did years ago – you are toast and because of the Columbia river’s swift current it will be a bear to find you.