Pacific Northwest coastal retirement towns.

Yeah, right.

All of these sound perfectly dreadful.

I live near Bodega Bay. It's beautiful but the narrow roads are crowded on weekends. I tend to go there now on weekdays. A friend's mother lived out there but moved back into town because she had a hard time getting service people. If you can do your own work and are aware that it's a busy tourist destination you might be OK with it. The weather is better here than the Oregon and Washington coasts, but Bodega is cooler than inland (Sonoma County and Napa valleys).

The Pacific Northwest is foggy and rainy. That doesn't bother me much and I'd love a nice spot on the Oregon coast. There are some nice affordable coastal towns from Arcata, CA all the way up to Astoria, Ore. Again, the weather can be foggy and you might be far from services but it's a beautiful area.

I would stay away from the PNW - they are due for a massive earthquake.

There are many islands in Puget Sound closer to civilization. Bainbridge and Vashon (Seattle). Fox (Tacoma). Whidbey and Camano (Everett and Mt. Vernon). Lummi (Bellingham). The Puget Sound weather is almost perfect from June through September.

[quote]we'd find a place that's a little more sleepy than the big tourist spots. We like a little peace and quiet and a little nature

Yeah, you and a few million other people are all “looking for a little peace and quiet away from everybody else.” Good luck with that.

Some might say you were humble bragging, OP, but there’s nothing humble about this insufferable post.

[quote]We don't mind a fixer-upper because I'm difficult and will want to rip everything out anyway.

I have no real estate advice, but I am emotionally invested in OP's quest due to his honesty.

The Heceta Head Lighthouse was my favorite place along the Oregon Coast. They run it like a B&B -- excellent food, breathtaking views of the Oregon coast. Sorry, I know that's not practical advice about retirement, but that part of the state is gorgeous.

how rich ARE you, OP?

[quote] Light hiking, walking, kayaking (hence my name) and beach combing.

I'm not sure how advisable kayaking is along the NorCal/Oregon coast though. The area is notorious for its rolling fog, 'sneaker waves' and giant fallen tree logs floating in the tide. Maybe if you go to a quiet, calmer inlet.

No income tax in Washington; no sales tax in Oregon. Depending on how much you intend to spend on an annual basis, that might influence your choice.

$1 million is not THAT much money people - particularly if you're over 50 and have a partner.

But I digress - I'm with R4 - that overdue massive earthquake in the Cascades would put me off. And we're talking massive - not like the 7's that SoCal will eventually experience. It's gonna be a 9 with massive Japan-like tidal waves.

But if you must, I would rent a few homes for a few weeks or a couple of months to get a feel before you buy. Shouldn't spend a million unless you are absolutely certain.

R13 Yes, $1 mil is a lot. Median net worth for Americans over 50 - @$180k, An annual income of $250k puts you in the upper 1%. 40% if Americans have no savings at all, and life paycheck to paycheck. There are poor gay men too, what a concept.

Rent an AirBnB first.

Like someone said above, the Northwest is bracing for a huge earthquake. I wouldn't buy on the coast since the North Pole and Greenland is also melting and you may find your house engulfed in water.

VIVIAN

VANCE!!!

Those all sound great. Start taking little mini trip to get an idea of which towns you prefer. The pacific northwest is one of the most beautiful places on earth. I'm jealous that you can retire there, I would love to visit pnw and noCal more often. Even the most scenic parts of the east coast have never been nearly as beautiful or fascinating to me as the west . And I like West coast people and culture better too. East Coast people can be so draining to be around. As for the whole earth quake thing , there's no way of knowing when that will happen. It could be a hundred years from now.

I can't recommend Bodega Bay, I love the place but it's touristy, and too small to have basic services like grocery stores or medical care. You have to drive into Petaluma or Santa Rosa for those, and at some point in your life as retirees driving an hour along winding roads for necessities is going to become a problem. Fort Bragg would be a better idea if you want the NoCal coast, it's large enough to provide the necessities and is on a lovely coast. It's to hell and gone from everywhere, but if you don't require access to a major city check it out.

We've had this discussion before, and Astoria, OR. always gets high praise. It's a lovely little town with a good reputation, and within 2 hours of a major city. It's exactly the sort of place the Eldergays should make into a gay retirement haven. However, it might be close enough to the notorious mouth of the Colombia River to be a bad place for kayaking.

why don't you visit these locations and speak directly to a well respected realtor? School has started so it is off season, so cheaper.

Bodega Bay is not north of Napa/Sonoma, so it doesn't fit your criteria.

How about Bellingham, WA?

Go somewhere where you are high up (to avoid the rising seas), away from the threat of forest fires and drought.

OP what's your expert opinion. I can't decide between Menton France and La Valette Malta for a retirement summer home. I'm selling my places in Cairo and Genève and keeping the garçonnière in Paris and then there's the chalet in Saas Fee I can't sell, must pass on to a nephew. I'd like late Renaissance in Malta or Belle Epoque in Menton and can budget 2.5 million Euros. Thoughts?

R22 Welcome Ghislaine, we've been discussing you!

Astoria has become a bit of a gay getaway and has hosted a pride event the last 4 years.

OP, for Orcas you'd probably need every penny of that million dollars. (Oprah Winfrey just bought a house there, to give you an idea. There's a lot of money there from Seattle.) San Juan Island is maybe a little less expensive. But bear in mind that the ferries can be a real pain, especially in the summer and at the holidays (there are lots of tourists and lots of second-home people). I have no idea about prices on Salt Spring or Pender but it's certainly not cheap.

Newport, Oregon is not exactly wealthy and it's pretty isolated, and the coast gets even more isolated as you head further south. Yachats is beautiful but pretty full now. Bandon gets a lot of retirees (for the golf). Port Orford is in a really pretty area too. But there's nothing to do in any of them and very little in the way of nice restaurants, etc.. I guess if beach combing and kayaking are your thing, you'd be ok. Astoria has lots going for it, but I don't think it's what you're looking for.

Just remember: although it's very mild, the Oregon coast is clouds/fog/drizzle for nine months out of the year. It can drive people crazy. I suggest spending a winter there before making an investment. (It's not quite as bad on the San Juans but pretty close.)

I might add that all of the towns on the Oregon and Washington coasts are poor (especially southern Oregon) and they're not necessarily very friendly to very rich out-of-towners who made their money in finance or some equally parasitic industry and have a lot of money to throw around. Even in the San Juans there's a lot of resentment.

I'm a Portland native and it's always been my observation that the entire Oregon coast, though naturally beautifully, is depressed and drug-infested. Newport is an absolute fucking shithole, and anywhere south of there is just as bad (Tillamook, Coos Bay, etc.) Lincoln City is a long, annoying stretch of road perched on a cliff, and Seaside is, for the most part, a dingy tourist trap. Cannon Beach is just about the only upscale-ish coastal town IMO, and even then, it's not that great.

Someone above mentioned Astoria, which happens to be my favorite town on the coast, but it's not a traditional beach town, if that's what you're looking for; it's located at the spot where the Columbia empties into the Pacific, so there are lots of ships passing through (also apparently the home of the most dangerous patch of water in the world based on the number of shipwrecks—it's a watery graveyard if you look at the history). I've always favored Astoria because of all the old houses there; lots of Victorian architecture, though many of the houses have seen better days. The town is sprawled across a steep hill, and has roads that will remind you of San Francisco. It does seem to be on the up though, with hipsters having flooded in from the city and set up all sorts of businesses.

I don't know much about the coastal towns in northern Washington, though my dad has a beach house in Long Beach, WA. It's on a peninsula—sleepy, cute, but not overtly fancy. It can also be a bit depressing because the peninsula is covered in marshes and thick brush, but the beaches are nice.

I am curious as to where you're from, OP, because I think a lot of people who haven't spent time on the coasts up here may underestimate just how wet and dreary the coastal winters are. It could be too much depending on your temperament/wants—it is a cold, soggy, heaping mess in the winter.

I can see how my original post could be perceived as a humble brag, and I apologize if it came across that way. It was not my intent. I am sincerely asking for input and by no means intended to offend anyone or come across as a jerk. People on DL are in-the-know on things like this, and it felt like the right group to ask. And in order to get helpful responses, I felt that I needed to share some information.

Lake Oswego, OR

R27, thanks for that candid input. We've spent time on the PN coast, and are aware of the weather. Our intention is to spend maybe half the year there - the less depress half.

Not Bodega Bay.

My partner used to have a house on Bainbridge Island. He didn't like living there because he says the people who live there are snooty, snobby and insular. And the dense forest made it dark all the time. He says Port Townsend was sunnier and much more pleasant.

Port Townsend is definitely an option. As a bonus, if you are a Richard Gere fan, An Officer and a Gentleman was filmed at Fort Worden near Port Townsend.

Don’t fantasize about living in a remote area. I did and then moved there. It’s beautiful but mentally unhealthy to be so isolated. Especially as you age. Just Airbnb for a week every once in a while. And save your $1 million - which, yes, is a shitload of money. Congrats for having it but for most of us we can only hope to have half of that to live on for our entire regiment after working hard our entire lives.

[quote]Cannon Beach is just about the only upscale-ish coastal town IMO, and even then, it's not that great.

Actually - don't tell anyone this - Gearhart is where a lot of the really rich people go. No one suspects since it's right next to Seaside.

Is this true, R35? I've been on the beach in Gearhart years ago and remember it being mostly resorts—there isn't really a town proper, just a street that runs off the main highway, no? I do remember coming across more sandollars there than I'd ever seen in one place in my entire life. It was very strange. My dad has told me that Manzanita is apparently up and coming, but I haven't been there in years either.

Gearhart is basically all residential and most of the houses are pretty new - there's almost no commercial development. Take a drive through. It's definitely wealthy and discreet - not huge mansions, but very comfortable second homes and retirement homes facing the ocean.

And yes, I'd say Manzanita has taken off in a big way in the past few years. It used to be very quiet but now in the summer the main strip is as busy as Cannon in my experience.

R37, thanks for the further info. I want to check out Gearhart.

Do not buy on the Pacific Ocean coast in Oregon or Washington. It is cold, windy, cloudy, rainy and generally depressing as hell. I'm pretty sure kayaking in the ocean is a bad idea.

Anacortes - great kayaking, ferry access to the San Juan Islands, plus the ability to make day trips to Seattle.

Port Townsend - great kayaking, ferry access to the San Juan Islands and Vancouver Island, plus the ability to make day trips to Seattle. It is also in the rain shadow of the Olympic Mountains, so it is sunnier and dryer than other places on Puget Sound.

No, Astoria is full, as is the rest of the Oregon coast. Washington has a better tax situation for retirement assets anyway.

Port Townsend, or Sequim (pronounce skwim) on the Olympic peninsula of Washingon- both are slighty sunnier and dryer than anywhere else on the west coast of Washington because of being in the rain shadow of the Olympic mountains. I would look for something up high, with a VIEW of the water, not On the water, for all the reasons mentioned above - potential tsunamis after earthquakes, global warming with sea-level rise. But you are relatively isolated there. It's about a 3 hour trip to get from those places to Seattle, whether by ferry or car. You could also go for Port Angeles, which is a larger, albeit grittier, more working class town on the same north end of the Olympic Peninsula. The Oregon coast is extremely isolated because of the rugged coast range, and, as people have mentioned, is in the most dangerous area for the inevitable Cascadian trench massive earthquake and resultant tsunamis. (Already 50 years overdue for one). Even as a casual visitor, I would never feel comfortable staying right on the beach there. Maybe in a hotel higher up on a hill away from the water's edge.

I really appreciate all this input, you guys. So very helpful and I really want to check out Anacortes and Port Townsend, R40 and R41!

Know your tsunami evacuation route

Brookings, Oregon is pretty.

I hope neither of you have arthritis!

I've recently driven through Oregon and it seems creepy as fuck. The people seemed very Deliverance.

My father’s family owned s beach home in Ocean Shores Washington. We spent over 30 summers there but sadly we found it was decaying. I visited with my partner last summer and it is horrible.

And Oregon's 4 million people thank YOU, too, R48!

Just stick your finger on a map, OP. It’s as useful as asking strangers where you should move.

Ocean Shores terrifies me now. It is on an utterly flat peninsula without any high ground, about a 20 minute drive to ground high enough to avoid being swept away by the ocean in the event of a tsunami if other people had the same idea. Same with Long Beach on the other side of Grays Harbor. The problem is that you wouldn't get a 20 minute warning with our current system in place, if the big Cascadia earthquake struck while you were at the beach there. You'd get about 5 minutes, long enough to say your prayers before you were dragged out to sea. Never gave this stuff a bit of thought before I watched the 2011 tsunami in Japan. Then the reality of what would happen on the Oregon/Washington coast hit home. The coasts are beautiful, but now I prefer watching the water only from high ground (at least 50-75 feet above ocean level). Fortunately, most of the coastal areas are quite hilly/mountainous, so there's plenty of high ground, as in that picture of Brookings above.

Jenner and Arcata CA are beautiful and have some civilization. I would love to live in either of those places - as long as I could get away regularly.

Most of coastal Northern California and Oregon is becoming pothead heaven. If that's your thing, fine. However, the industry attracts lazy libertarian types who are not conducive to being in a community with their neighbors. A good number of meth heads too.

Washington seems better, but to me all those locations seem the same. People up there are quite insular and aloof, agreed.

Kudos to the poster who noted the horrible drive from Bodega Bay to inner Sonoma County. If you're not stuck in SF getaway traffic, your slowing some asshole down who can't be bothered to drive anything less than 90 MPH at any given time irrespective of road conditions. I hate that drive.

Most of coastal Northern California and Oregon is becoming pothead heaven. If that's your thing, fine. However, the industry attracts lazy libertarian types who are not conducive to being in a community with their neighbors. A good number of meth heads too.

Washington seems better, but to me all those locations seem the same. People up there are quite insular and aloof, agreed.

Kudos to the poster who noted the horrible drive from Bodega Bay to inner Sonoma County. If you're not stuck in SF getaway traffic, your slowing some asshole down who can't be bothered to drive anything less than 90 MPH at any given time irrespective of road conditions. I hate that drive.

I definitely think we'll skew toward Washington, R55. I've heard enough repeated warnings about Oregon especially. Maybe more into BC, actually.

Rockaway Beach, Oregon? Gold Beach

How much of the Washington coast is accessible though? I was under the impression that a lot of it is Native reservation land and/or road-less. A friend who knows the area well told me that of the two (Wash & Or.), Oregon has the more dramatic scenery.

Which town was it that was discussed at length in an old thread, and the verdict was that, while it was a pretty little place, it was unlivable due to the overwhelming stench of seal shit?

[quote]Jenner and Arcata CA are beautiful and have some civilization. I would love to live in either of those places - as long as I could get away regularly.

Arcata is a college town (Humboldt State) and adjacent to Eureka. But Jenner is in the middle of nowhere. Nothing at all nearby. It has the same problem as Bodega Bay with respect to getting to Santa Rosa (the only city of any size in the area.)

Jenner is relatively close to Guerneville - a gay resort.

r61 That doesn't help much when you need to get to a hospital.

The drive from Jenner to the nearest hospital or grocery story is long, winding, and poky. Slow roads. 35mph a lot of the way. The drive from Bodega Bay to anywhere else is faster, officially 55mph 2-lane highways to Petaluma or Santa Rosa, typically shared with assholes who object to anyone driving near 55.

Neither is on my list of place to find a retirement home, but Astoria, Oregon is.

Portland is sending their homeless to Astoria. Many creepers and druggies about. Looks pretty, but seedy underbelly.