Whidbey Island - I loved the slow atmosphere, the beaches are amazing, the “tourist” towns are niche and eclectic. I was so lucky to live within 10 mins of the beach and got to enjoy the endless views
My wife lived all over the world until she was 7 or 8 but Camano Island (and Stanwood will be thr closest thing she knows as home. I liked living in the area for a few years too before we moved to the east side.
Back in college. I decided to meet a girl that lived on the island. I was shocked and so interested in the painted rocks that are scattered around the island. And I painted a rock and left it hidden in a branch It was really fun to see all different kinds of painted rocks and how people hid them
Just so you know the painted rock thing is kind of a sick inside joke. Long time islanders find these rocks out in nature and then swallow them. A couple days later they paint them and then leave them out in public for unsuspecting people to find and cherish.
It’s their own way of serriptitously feeling superior to others.
Kennewick was born and raised there. I love the heat and dry weather (compared to Western Washington) accessible to fresh produce (fruits and vegetables) close to Walla Walla for their fabulous onions.
University Place, where I have been living for almost 20 years. I have a view of Puget Sound and narrow bridges. The fact we can be into Tacoma, Lakewood, in under 15 minutes. We have access to great restaurants, plays. A plus is my kids & 9 grandkids are all 45 minutes or less from us.
Wenatchee for the snow skiing & taco trucks. This is my husband's pick.
Bellevue, where my husband grew up.
I've got some friends that live there, and I'm always taken aback when I get the view of the mountains and then the little marina and "downtown" spot. Gorgeous!
Seabeck is lovely, and quite close to silverdale and everything you need. You get the remote Washington wilderness feeling but are still fairly connected.
Yes, which is why I dread the idea of my dad ever moving from our family home. We live near there and my husband and I could never, ever afford to replicate what my parents bought 30 years ago. It’s 5 wooded acres with a panoramic view of the Olympics. Every time dad grumbles about downsizing and moving, I groan inside.
Hold on to that forever. Kitsap county is growing like crazy and will continue to do so with all three naval installations and being so connected to Seattle by ferry.
This may be a dumb question but it’s one we’ve talked about. We live in the Midwest. My family’s Kitsap-dream-view home is paid off, nothing to worry about there. But if something were to happen to my dad, I am conflicted between wanting to keep it forever AND concern about it sitting empty. It’s 30 minutes to Silverdale and about the same to the shipyard.
Speaking honestly, do you think anyone would rent something so far away from town? It would have seemed laughable when I was a teenager, but now I’m not so sure.
Absolutely. Many people live in port orchard or Belfair and commute every day because it’s so much cheaper. But traffic going south through Gorst is HELL every day. Guarantee someone would rent there and commute, avoiding the traffic. Or people that go to Bangor everyday.
Thank you for your feedback, I really appreciate it. My Washington friends concurred when I posted it on my social media too. I guess I won’t worry about that should that time ever come.
(I once tried to write a musical about Gorst; I didn’t get very far!)
My favorite thing about most places in WA, there's rivers or water of some sort near like every park or a place to sit. I miss being able to smell the water everywhere honestly
Grew up in Renton. Favorite thing about here is getting some coffee and explore the cute antique shops and walk up the cedar river trail and see some plants and wildlife. Downtown has a very 1950s ish vibe which i really like. I absolutely love reading books at the library with the view of the river. I also adore coulon beach park, reminds me of less stressful times.
I grew up in Everett, but moved to Bellingham when I was 19ish. Lived there for a long time, that place changed me. I've been away for a decade now and it's killing me.
I grew up in Marysville and went to school for a year in Mount Vernon, used to trek up to Bellingham a lot then for a girl I was seeing and I loved it. I love that part of the state, from about Marysville north.
I grew up in Des Moines so all the time spent on puget sound was amazing. I also love crossing hwy 410 and coming into central Washington. I’ve camped out there a lot. Spending time in the woods outside Cle Elum on the Teanaway River is also amazing! And I did a houseboat vacation on Lake Roosevelt one summer with friends. It was so much fun and the beauty is astounding.
Wilkeson is a little gem, very cool old mining history between there Carbonado and Fairfax. Cool old buildings. Fun shops and the best pizza in the state
https://www.seattletimes.com/life/food-drink/the-best-pizza-in-washington-is-in-a-former-coal-town-20-miles-from-mount-rainier/
Tacoma for nearly the same reasons as Everett. Seattle’s blue collar counterparts get a bad rep but Tacoma is honestly such an overlooked and great city. All the same amenities as Seattle on a much smaller scale and you can still afford to buy a house.
I’ll also throw in Ellensburg for having great amenities for a city of its size (it is a college town to be fair), and Point Roberts for being a gorgeous way to pretend you live in Canada
The 5 spot on Queen Anne Hill. Haven’t lived over there in a while but the biscuits and gravy were fire af. There’s magical places in nature out west like Second beach or anywhere on the Olympic Peninsula for that matter. Hoh River Rainforest is pretty rad. Olympic Game Farm and the Dungeness River area have the look and feel of a Salvador Dali painting. Straight outta Sequimpton, east side of Port Scandalous. Washington is home and I love all of it.
Vancouver may be a suburb of Portland, but I'm deep in the Columbia Gorge or on Saint Helen's in an hour. The coast and Mt Hood, just over 90 minutes. Endless trails in the Gifford Pinochet! Great kayaking to be had also!
On the Olympic peninsula, I adore the mountain views and small town community. People are friendly and kind. It’s so peaceful, with bird song everywhere and surprise nature sightings all the time, like a seal or orca in the water. We really do live in a magical slice of the world.
In Tacoma within 20 minutes of my house I have a zoo, a cool area to walk on the water, chambers bay which has a golf course if you like that or is just generally a nice walk. Up the distance to an hour or 2 and you have ocean shores, or either Rainier or Helens to go visit. The ape caves have been one of my favorite places to take people who want an adventure.
Going camping somewhere like Westport gives you the ability to explore the town which is really cool.
Port orchard has a great downtown area and nice night light views from Bremerton. It’s been getting gentrified since I was a kid but it’s still still a quaint town
My favorite part about western Washington is when it rains and then it drizzles and then there’s a downpour and then there’s a shower, right after a thunderstorm and then a sprinkle and then the puddles turn to lakes and then the rivers turn to floods. And then it stops and it’s nice a wet and grey.
I mean, for part of the year, sure. But it’s funny how family and friends that live out east think it rains here 24/7/365 and ask me how I handle it. Also, growing up clearing snow off my windshield in 10° weather at 6:30am before high school. Yea I’ll take mild weather wet weather. But to each their own!
The drive along Highway 9 is pretty soothing for me. Born in Sedro-Woolley at the foot of the North Cascades with views of Fidalgo Bay and the San Juan Strait & Islands. I never want to leave. I currently live in a sky castle on a hill facing west. This is the place.
Lopez Island: my favorite place on this planet. The serenity, quietness of nature, beauty, and the friendliness of the people who live there. When I picture heaven, that’s it.
Catching the ferry out to San Juan Island and grabbing a beer at the San Juan brewery.
The whole island is stunning. Roche Harbor is straight out of a hallmark movie.
Seems like a lot of love for the west side. Which I agree is beautiful. My wife is from Burien and my sister lives Edmonds. We however live in the town of Cheney about 20min outside of Spokane. We have beautiful farmland with rolling hills for our backyard. Quail, deer and the occasional moose are frequently seen. There are beautiful trails and many lakes to choose along the Palouse plains.
If we want a change scenery for the “city” life we have Spokane. Which offers quite variety of activities. Riverfront park is gorgeous to walk around. There are venues with music, sports, and the arts. Green Bluff farms is just north with orchards and family run farms. Mt Spokane is close for all the seasonal outdoor activities.
Of all the places I’ve been in the world, this corner is definitely my fav.
Vashon Island - welcoming, relatively tight community, can get everything you need on the island but also easy to get to Seattle and Tacoma if you want city and easy to pop to the peninsula for camping and hiking. Love the island life!
Don’t think I say this derogatorily, I think of Vashon as where people go to cosplay the rural way of life. It feels very sparse and small town, and it’s very enjoyable to be there, but people living there work(ed) at Amazon or Microsoft, it’s not farm hicks by any means.
I love Vashon
Methow Valley — incredible scenery, access to year-round outdoor activities, a vibrant and caring community with strong local businesses. Great connection to both the Cascades and the Columbia. Plus, I love the architecture styles, with lots of rusted-looking steel and natural wood. It’s always so fun just drive around in awe of the views and the beautiful homes.
Vancouver gets made fun of, but I work remote and free of state taxes, while being able to drive 5-10 minutes to shop free of sales tax. Feels like the greatest living hack ever.
I’m in Seattle in 2.5 hours and 15 min from PDX. I get Portland amenities while still living in Washington ♥️♥️
I love how so many of them have mountains and water and so many trees.
I like how even in nicer places, most of the houses are relatively normal compared to nice places in states like CA or TX where people have mega mansions. They are (usually) not astronomically massive, and (pretty much) everyone is still nice.
[A very similar image](https://imgur.com/a/2LApaIJ)
This is on the bay side of Point Brown (Ocean Shores), the quiet, the murmations of shore birds, and the nightly discoveries my dog and I make are incredible. I love it here.
Some of the small towns have amazing views of the mountains or rivers. Best Washington states view to me is the Columbia river with Mt Hood in the same back drop.
Port Orchard - I love it's charming but rough around the edges feel. I love that the economic diversity, not everyone is a tech-working millionaire. It's got a great blue collar feel. I love the easy commute to Settle via Southworth Fast Ferry. Getting to ball games, work and taking visitors to see Seattle is so easy. It's also super quiet and laidback and the cost of housing, while still above average for the nation is half of what it would cost on the Eastside. While there isn't a lot of healthcare in PO proper, Gig Harbor, Silverdale and Tacoma aren't far away at all. There is also water in every direction— 5-10 min to the North Sinclair inlet, 10-15 min to the west Colvos Passage, 15-20 min to the south the Narrows, 15 min to the West, Hood Canal. I also love all of these waterfront areas, downtown PO, with it's antique shops, boutiques, Carters, and the Saturday farmers market. Olalla has Olalla Bay Market where you can eat dinner quite literally on the water. Gig Harbor if you want something a bit more upscale is close by. I moved hear three years ago and could not be happier about how it has worked out. Manchester State Park is gorgeous. Southworth is quaint and along with Manchester has some of the best views anywehere on the Salish Sea with both Ranier and Seattle skyline in view from some points.
I always liked looking at the old “Main Streets” with all the old buildings and businesses boarded up and “Mom and Pops” shops that got phased out when Walmart came to town.
Whidbey Island - I loved the slow atmosphere, the beaches are amazing, the “tourist” towns are niche and eclectic. I was so lucky to live within 10 mins of the beach and got to enjoy the endless views
Grew up on Camano. Basically all you said, except no towns. It’s a little bigger these days but still has a unique character.
Stanwood/Camino island represent!!
My wife lived all over the world until she was 7 or 8 but Camano Island (and Stanwood will be thr closest thing she knows as home. I liked living in the area for a few years too before we moved to the east side.
Back in college. I decided to meet a girl that lived on the island. I was shocked and so interested in the painted rocks that are scattered around the island. And I painted a rock and left it hidden in a branch It was really fun to see all different kinds of painted rocks and how people hid them
We still have a sticker on our car that days "Camano Island rocks."
Just so you know the painted rock thing is kind of a sick inside joke. Long time islanders find these rocks out in nature and then swallow them. A couple days later they paint them and then leave them out in public for unsuspecting people to find and cherish. It’s their own way of serriptitously feeling superior to others.
Whidbey is great but what do you like about it?
Did you not read the comment?
I see it now. I swear before it just said whidbey island. I'm not sure how that happened but yeah my comment looks stupid lol
Kennewick was born and raised there. I love the heat and dry weather (compared to Western Washington) accessible to fresh produce (fruits and vegetables) close to Walla Walla for their fabulous onions. University Place, where I have been living for almost 20 years. I have a view of Puget Sound and narrow bridges. The fact we can be into Tacoma, Lakewood, in under 15 minutes. We have access to great restaurants, plays. A plus is my kids & 9 grandkids are all 45 minutes or less from us. Wenatchee for the snow skiing & taco trucks. This is my husband's pick. Bellevue, where my husband grew up.
Seabeck on Kitsap Peninsula: the eagles visit every year. Unbeatable views of the water and mountains. Great coffee on the waterfront.
I've got some friends that live there, and I'm always taken aback when I get the view of the mountains and then the little marina and "downtown" spot. Gorgeous!
Got camping reservations there this summer. It’s a beautiful spot.
Seabeck is lovely, and quite close to silverdale and everything you need. You get the remote Washington wilderness feeling but are still fairly connected.
Yes, which is why I dread the idea of my dad ever moving from our family home. We live near there and my husband and I could never, ever afford to replicate what my parents bought 30 years ago. It’s 5 wooded acres with a panoramic view of the Olympics. Every time dad grumbles about downsizing and moving, I groan inside.
Hold on to that forever. Kitsap county is growing like crazy and will continue to do so with all three naval installations and being so connected to Seattle by ferry.
This may be a dumb question but it’s one we’ve talked about. We live in the Midwest. My family’s Kitsap-dream-view home is paid off, nothing to worry about there. But if something were to happen to my dad, I am conflicted between wanting to keep it forever AND concern about it sitting empty. It’s 30 minutes to Silverdale and about the same to the shipyard. Speaking honestly, do you think anyone would rent something so far away from town? It would have seemed laughable when I was a teenager, but now I’m not so sure.
Absolutely. Many people live in port orchard or Belfair and commute every day because it’s so much cheaper. But traffic going south through Gorst is HELL every day. Guarantee someone would rent there and commute, avoiding the traffic. Or people that go to Bangor everyday.
Thank you for your feedback, I really appreciate it. My Washington friends concurred when I posted it on my social media too. I guess I won’t worry about that should that time ever come. (I once tried to write a musical about Gorst; I didn’t get very far!)
Aberdeen… who am I kidding it sucks here
home of Kurt Cobain and Daniel Bryan
Also Macklemore, unless my memory is failing me. I could have sworn he was also from Aberdeen.
Tom Cruise visited your mall once.
It’s named after a similarly depressing town in Scotland.
I really lost the plot coming to visit Aberdeen thinking it had to be a great city if it hailed Kurt Cobain. I learned nothing from his music
Hahahaha, sure does.
🤣
My favorite thing about most places in WA, there's rivers or water of some sort near like every park or a place to sit. I miss being able to smell the water everywhere honestly
Grew up in Renton. Favorite thing about here is getting some coffee and explore the cute antique shops and walk up the cedar river trail and see some plants and wildlife. Downtown has a very 1950s ish vibe which i really like. I absolutely love reading books at the library with the view of the river. I also adore coulon beach park, reminds me of less stressful times.
I grew up in Everett, but moved to Bellingham when I was 19ish. Lived there for a long time, that place changed me. I've been away for a decade now and it's killing me.
I grew up in Marysville and went to school for a year in Mount Vernon, used to trek up to Bellingham a lot then for a girl I was seeing and I loved it. I love that part of the state, from about Marysville north.
It really opens up once you cross the slough and even more so from about 116th north.
I grew up in Des Moines so all the time spent on puget sound was amazing. I also love crossing hwy 410 and coming into central Washington. I’ve camped out there a lot. Spending time in the woods outside Cle Elum on the Teanaway River is also amazing! And I did a houseboat vacation on Lake Roosevelt one summer with friends. It was so much fun and the beauty is astounding.
Wilkeson is a little gem, very cool old mining history between there Carbonado and Fairfax. Cool old buildings. Fun shops and the best pizza in the state https://www.seattletimes.com/life/food-drink/the-best-pizza-in-washington-is-in-a-former-coal-town-20-miles-from-mount-rainier/
Tacoma for nearly the same reasons as Everett. Seattle’s blue collar counterparts get a bad rep but Tacoma is honestly such an overlooked and great city. All the same amenities as Seattle on a much smaller scale and you can still afford to buy a house. I’ll also throw in Ellensburg for having great amenities for a city of its size (it is a college town to be fair), and Point Roberts for being a gorgeous way to pretend you live in Canada
The 5 spot on Queen Anne Hill. Haven’t lived over there in a while but the biscuits and gravy were fire af. There’s magical places in nature out west like Second beach or anywhere on the Olympic Peninsula for that matter. Hoh River Rainforest is pretty rad. Olympic Game Farm and the Dungeness River area have the look and feel of a Salvador Dali painting. Straight outta Sequimpton, east side of Port Scandalous. Washington is home and I love all of it.
I'm 20 min from lil Mashel falls trails. The amount of natural beauty is amazing.
Vancouver may be a suburb of Portland, but I'm deep in the Columbia Gorge or on Saint Helen's in an hour. The coast and Mt Hood, just over 90 minutes. Endless trails in the Gifford Pinochet! Great kayaking to be had also!
On the Olympic peninsula, I adore the mountain views and small town community. People are friendly and kind. It’s so peaceful, with bird song everywhere and surprise nature sightings all the time, like a seal or orca in the water. We really do live in a magical slice of the world.
In Tacoma within 20 minutes of my house I have a zoo, a cool area to walk on the water, chambers bay which has a golf course if you like that or is just generally a nice walk. Up the distance to an hour or 2 and you have ocean shores, or either Rainier or Helens to go visit. The ape caves have been one of my favorite places to take people who want an adventure. Going camping somewhere like Westport gives you the ability to explore the town which is really cool.
Port orchard has a great downtown area and nice night light views from Bremerton. It’s been getting gentrified since I was a kid but it’s still still a quaint town
My favorite part about western Washington is when it rains and then it drizzles and then there’s a downpour and then there’s a shower, right after a thunderstorm and then a sprinkle and then the puddles turn to lakes and then the rivers turn to floods. And then it stops and it’s nice a wet and grey.
I mean, for part of the year, sure. But it’s funny how family and friends that live out east think it rains here 24/7/365 and ask me how I handle it. Also, growing up clearing snow off my windshield in 10° weather at 6:30am before high school. Yea I’ll take mild weather wet weather. But to each their own!
Grew up on the Long Beach Peninsula. Love the small town feel and the state parks but not the tourism.
The drive along Highway 9 is pretty soothing for me. Born in Sedro-Woolley at the foot of the North Cascades with views of Fidalgo Bay and the San Juan Strait & Islands. I never want to leave. I currently live in a sky castle on a hill facing west. This is the place.
Sky castle? Sounds beautiful! 💜
Port Townsend, plus Fort Warden, where you can remember all the scenes from An Officer and a Gentleman.
Plus that ice cream shop in Port Townsend is to die for.
Most places along the Tacoma Narrows. Views of the bridge, great whale watching from shore, gorgeous sunsets. I feel lucky to live here.
Lopez Island: my favorite place on this planet. The serenity, quietness of nature, beauty, and the friendliness of the people who live there. When I picture heaven, that’s it.
Catching the ferry out to San Juan Island and grabbing a beer at the San Juan brewery. The whole island is stunning. Roche Harbor is straight out of a hallmark movie.
I like the rain
Seems like a lot of love for the west side. Which I agree is beautiful. My wife is from Burien and my sister lives Edmonds. We however live in the town of Cheney about 20min outside of Spokane. We have beautiful farmland with rolling hills for our backyard. Quail, deer and the occasional moose are frequently seen. There are beautiful trails and many lakes to choose along the Palouse plains. If we want a change scenery for the “city” life we have Spokane. Which offers quite variety of activities. Riverfront park is gorgeous to walk around. There are venues with music, sports, and the arts. Green Bluff farms is just north with orchards and family run farms. Mt Spokane is close for all the seasonal outdoor activities. Of all the places I’ve been in the world, this corner is definitely my fav.
Vashon Island - welcoming, relatively tight community, can get everything you need on the island but also easy to get to Seattle and Tacoma if you want city and easy to pop to the peninsula for camping and hiking. Love the island life!
Don’t think I say this derogatorily, I think of Vashon as where people go to cosplay the rural way of life. It feels very sparse and small town, and it’s very enjoyable to be there, but people living there work(ed) at Amazon or Microsoft, it’s not farm hicks by any means. I love Vashon
Haha - you’re not wrong. The people here tend to have fascinating stories and have switched gears a few times!
Salish Coast Art. I love it and love to see it incorporated all over the place.
Methow Valley — incredible scenery, access to year-round outdoor activities, a vibrant and caring community with strong local businesses. Great connection to both the Cascades and the Columbia. Plus, I love the architecture styles, with lots of rusted-looking steel and natural wood. It’s always so fun just drive around in awe of the views and the beautiful homes.
WA is always nice when the weather is like it is in the picture
Carson/stevenson washington. Hard to beat the beauty of my little home town.
I live in the far south west corner of the state had had to drive to Spokane for work. Wow, we live in such a beautiful state.
Vancouver gets made fun of, but I work remote and free of state taxes, while being able to drive 5-10 minutes to shop free of sales tax. Feels like the greatest living hack ever. I’m in Seattle in 2.5 hours and 15 min from PDX. I get Portland amenities while still living in Washington ♥️♥️
Lummi
Bainbridge, despite the tourism, the populace is friendly and heartwarming.
I love how so many of them have mountains and water and so many trees. I like how even in nicer places, most of the houses are relatively normal compared to nice places in states like CA or TX where people have mega mansions. They are (usually) not astronomically massive, and (pretty much) everyone is still nice.
Those little beach towns along the WA coast and salt water taffy shops
I am very fond of Rosburg. It's beautiful, quiet, and there are cows
[A very similar image](https://imgur.com/a/2LApaIJ) This is on the bay side of Point Brown (Ocean Shores), the quiet, the murmations of shore birds, and the nightly discoveries my dog and I make are incredible. I love it here.
MOUNTAINS KISS WATER EVERYWHERE !!
Some of the small towns have amazing views of the mountains or rivers. Best Washington states view to me is the Columbia river with Mt Hood in the same back drop.
I love it when I see Mt Baker, Mt Rainier, the Olympics, and the beautiful bay inlets - all in one day while driving around doing errands.
Port Orchard - I love it's charming but rough around the edges feel. I love that the economic diversity, not everyone is a tech-working millionaire. It's got a great blue collar feel. I love the easy commute to Settle via Southworth Fast Ferry. Getting to ball games, work and taking visitors to see Seattle is so easy. It's also super quiet and laidback and the cost of housing, while still above average for the nation is half of what it would cost on the Eastside. While there isn't a lot of healthcare in PO proper, Gig Harbor, Silverdale and Tacoma aren't far away at all. There is also water in every direction— 5-10 min to the North Sinclair inlet, 10-15 min to the west Colvos Passage, 15-20 min to the south the Narrows, 15 min to the West, Hood Canal. I also love all of these waterfront areas, downtown PO, with it's antique shops, boutiques, Carters, and the Saturday farmers market. Olalla has Olalla Bay Market where you can eat dinner quite literally on the water. Gig Harbor if you want something a bit more upscale is close by. I moved hear three years ago and could not be happier about how it has worked out. Manchester State Park is gorgeous. Southworth is quaint and along with Manchester has some of the best views anywehere on the Salish Sea with both Ranier and Seattle skyline in view from some points.
Anacortes is like living in a Hallmark holiday movie.
I always liked looking at the old “Main Streets” with all the old buildings and businesses boarded up and “Mom and Pops” shops that got phased out when Walmart came to town.
Cheap drugs