Where should I consider moving to in Washington, Oregon or California?

I was born in Seattle, Washington and have lived here most of my life.
 I like most aspects of it except the lack of sunshine and warmth, and
I would like to live in a smaller town or a rural setting near a
medium-sized town.

What I don?t like about Seattle:

Rains too much, too many cloudy days
Quiet serenity is miles away
High overall stress-level lifestyle
People are not outgoing; sorta cool, reserved, not as open to
strangers as some places
Expensive real estate
Hard to be a big fish in a big pond (very competitive environment)
Traffic is really bad
Mild to moderate air pollution


What I do like about Seattle:

Pretty town
Reasonably intelligent, hip population
Big enough to have everything
World-class markets
Entertainment, night life, shopping
Nice water, mountain, ski access
Very few insect/animal pests 
Internet, cell access
Temperatures are mild
Not much crazy weather, storms


I would like to buy a house on acreage with outbuildings and amenities
for $200,000 to $300,000.  I am more concerned with the property than
the house; I can repair, replace or add to the existing structure.  I
do need a large shop, garage or barn.  When I speak of amenities, I am
referring to features like waterfront (lake, ocean, river, creek,
private pond), view, privacy, trees, vineyard, meadow or pasture,
mountain, forest paths, waterfall, brothel, or whatever.  I?m shooting
for a minimum of 5 acres, but would prefer 20-40 acres, partially
treed.  Most of all, I want beautiful land in a beautiful area.  I
want to wake up in a happy place.

Ideally, a 10-30 minute drive would get me to a town with an excellent
grocery store, decent restaurant, and a bar that makes a good
margarita.  A hardware store, gas station, coffee shop and music
venue would be nice touches as well.  As long as we?re dreaming, lets
populate that town with some artists, musicians, students, activists,
philanthropists and pretty, friendly women of all ages.  Rednecks are
allowed as well, but shouldn?t exceed 50% of the population.  And if
possible, lets locate a ski resort within a two-or-three hour drive
and provide high-speed internet and digital cell service (I can be
flexible on the skiing and communication issues).  The
business/employment climate is not crucial, but a depressed economy
would be less undesirable.

How much rain can I take?  Certainly no more, and preferably less than
Seattle gets (30-40 inches /yr).  Actually, it?s not the rainfall
total, but how it arrives- I would seek to minimize the number of
cloudy or rainy days.  How much sun can I take?  360 days would be
just fine.  Temps over 90 may be considered undesirable, unless
boating plays a major role.  I love the greenness of the west slopes,
and the sunny weather of the east slopes.  Where is my utopia?

What have I seen that interested me?  Bend, Oregon was a nice little
town.  The people are friendly and un-stressed, getting around is
easy, there?s skiing and river fun nearby, and I found the good
margarita bar.  The Hood River area in the Columbia gorge has appeal,
lots of healthy young people, good weather.  Some entertainment.

Two people have suggested the area around Mount Shasta and the Trinity
Mountains.  Another suggestion was lake Tahoe, but I suspect that the
price of real estate will rule that out.   Another idea was Ashland,
Oregon.  A friend lives in Mendocino and that area is interesting, but
the weather might be a little too damp/rainy like Seattle? 
California?s central valley might work, but I haven?t found the town
yet.

What have I seen that I don?t like?  I don?t think I want to live east
of Cle Elum, Washington, or east of Bend, Oregon.  I may be wrong, but
I suspect that Southern California is too expensive, too crowded, too
polluted, too hot, or some combination of those factors which would
cause it to not match my criteria.  The ocean coast of Washington does
not seem to have a viable town for me, and the rain is worse.

Details of interest to me regarding potential sites include
rainfall/sun days, avg. temps, liberalness of govt., data on age,
income, marital status, race, population density, and noteworthy
unique aspects such as local organizations/causes,
landmarks/attractions, major industries, and whatever the area is
known for or notorious for.

Help! Where are the cool, hip, funny, intelligent, friendly and
beautiful people hiding?

Get out of Seattle (and washington) that's for sure: a change will be good for you.

Forget California (unless you feel comfortable with earthquakes).

So, it's got to be Oregon.

Go for it!

I would choose to live *outside* Eugene, and I think that better fits
into your hopes. There are a number of smaller towns that would match
your expectations. In that area, they get a lot more sun than Seattle,
but less than California. :)

I would say that almost anyplace in CA where you can get the kind of
property you want, it will be out of your price range. Besides, folks
in Oregon are a lot nicer. (As a native Californian, I can say that
without offending anybody, right???)

Kriswrite

Here were the original recommendations.  MrGoogthing's comments on
them have been excised but Bellingham and anything north of Seattle
were ruled out; anything east of the Cascades in WA ruled out; all of
Nevada ruled out; Redding, CA too industrial; Eugene, OR is too wet.

The original recommendations:


1.  THE OLYMPIC MOUNTAIN RAINSHADOW
=====================================

You know the state of Washington already and have paid your vehicle tabs.  

You've apparently ruled out the east side of the Cascades (Wenatchee,
Ellensberg, Chelan, Twisp), which depending on location can have a lot
of what you seek.  Remember, in particular, that populations soar with
Seattle escapees during the summer but then become more isolated in
the winter.  But land is inexpensive; outdoor life is near; skiing is
nearby; it's sunny; and both Ellensberg and Wenatchee have CWU
campuses.  Only Wenatchee's reputation from the child abuse witch hunt
would rule out that area east of the Cascades for me:
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
"The Power to Harm" (undated)
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/powertoharm/

So we'll go a different direction to get sunshine -- and it's known as
a pretty progressive community with interaction with Canadians and a
university of its own:
Bellingham!

The extent of the Olympic Mountain rain shadow is shown in summary form here:

Precise and localized climate summaries are available at this state
site.  Less rain that Seattle?  How about Bellingham?  Less than that?
 Mt. Vernon.  Less than that?  Anacortes.  Less than that?  Parts of
Whidbey Island or the San Juan Islands:
Western Regional Climate Center
"Washington Climate Summaries"
http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/summary/climsmwa.html


THE GOLD COUNTRY, CALIFORNIA
==============================

California's Central Valley is an agricultural breadbasket but is HOT
during much of the year.  However, in the foothills of the Sierra
Nevada mountains are a series of towns that are being discovered by
retiring Californians.  Gold Country centers around Amador County, but
includes Auburn, Placerville, Jackson, Columbia,  San Andreas and
Sonora -- in 6 different counties.  The towns sit generally about
2,000' above the valley floor, making them cooler and drier.  They're
all along CA Highway 49 in an area with up-and-coming wineries.

Both Sacramento and San Francisco are easily accessible.

Let's take a look at Amador's County seat: Jackson, as it's one of the
larger towns -- it has some good restaurants and a historic town
center:
City of Jackson, CA
http://ci.jackson.ca.us/

For excellent demographic and climate comparisons as you go from
town-to-town, I can generally recommend the City-Data pages but for
some reason they've skipped Jackson, CA -- but we they have several of
the nearby towns, including Placerville, where the gold rush started:
City-Data.com
Placerville, CA
http://www.city-data.com/city/Placerville-California.html

The foothills and Amador County are part of an up-and-coming wine
region, which the county's growers profile well at this website:
Amador Wine Country
http://www.amadorwine.com/

Note, too, that Sacramento is only about 45 minutes away.



CARSON CITY, CA
=================

Living at Lake Tahoe is expensive, as you'd noted.  However, many
people avoid the cost (and the snowy weather) by going just a little
bit east of the mountains to the Reno-Carson City area.  Two friends
did just that -- settled in Carson City, NV.  East of the mountains
(just as in Washington), the weather is warmer and sunnier.  Yet, ski
resorts are nearby and it's a quick drive to Tahoe.  And, as in
Washington state, there's no income tax in Nevada.

The casinos in nearby Lake Tahoe and Reno bring in quite a bit of
night life.  And Reno has its own branch of the University of Nevada. 
Outdoor activities are plentiful, ranging from the annual "Burning
Man" Festival to natural hotsprings all along the lee side of the
Sierras.  Being just a modest Google researcher, won't comment about
the brothels ;=)
Burning Man
http://www.burningman.com/

Nevada Hot Springs
http://www.hotspringsenthusiast.com/Nevada.htm

Here's the comparative City-Data page (how's 10.5" of rain sound?) and
a link to the Carson City Convention & Visitors Bureau:
City-Data
Carson City, NV
http://www.city-data.com/city/Carson-City-Nevada.html

Carson City Convention & Visitors Bureau
http://www.carson-city.org/

Note that Carson City is almost due east of Sacramento and right
across the mountains.


EUGENE, OR
===========

Eugene is not just the home of the Oregon Ducks because it's a
fighting mascot -- it's cloudier and rainier than Seattle:
City-Data
Eugene, OR
http://www.city-data.com/city/Eugene-Oregon.html

But it's a lively outdoors area with beautiful agricultural land
available throughout the Willamette Valley.  (There's at least one
Google researcher in the area -- we'll see if we can get her to chime
in.)

This profile of the Eugene community was written by Unique
Opportunities, a publication oriented to recruiting physicians:
Unique Opportunities
"Eugene Community Profile"
http://www.uoworks.com/pdfs/cp/EUGENE.pdf

But I won't linger on Eugene, knowing that it really is too web-footed
for your criteria.






BEND/SUNRIVER, OR
===================

The Bend/Sunriver area is one of the fastest growing in Oregon,
attracting people from all three states to retire and acquire vacation
homes.  Proximity to skiing, golf and sunshine are key reasons.  It's
really only missing a good higher education environment.

The Bend Chamber of Commerce has quite a bit of data on its website:
Bend Chamber of Commerce
http://www.bendchamber.org/

and City-Data:
Bend, OR
http://www.city-data.com/city/Bend-Oregon.html


REDDING, CA
=============

Redding is the northernmost town in the California central valley,
sitting just south of Mt. Shasta.  I'm actually surprised that it gets
this much precip, as it's always clear when I've flown over it, even
if the Siskyous and Mt. Shasta are hurling sleet:
City-Data
Redding, CA
http://www.city-data.com/city/Redding-California.html

Beyond the area immediately surrounding Mt. Shasta, the manmade lake
Shasta northwest of the town is stunning, with dozens of miles of
shoreline:
Shasta Cascade Tour Association
Lake Shasta
http://www.shastacascade.org/forest/shastrin/lake1.htm

Northern California National Forests
http://www.shastacascade.org/forest/regnf.htm#6

What about the town?  It's the only one that I haven't visited (though
I've often been into nearby Red Bluff, CA).  Here's a description from
the Chamber of Commerce of all the key institutions:
Redding, CA Chamber of Commerce
http://www.reddingchamber.com/aboutred.shtml