nm

[Guest inoubliable]

.

[justLisa]

Seattle :wub:

 

I would never live anywhere else. I can't find anything bad about this place

 

Although our best friends live in NH. But I wouldn't live there. I can't handle snow

[nmoira]

"Liberal, vegan, atheist"

 

You'll fit right in in Portland. :)

 

I love it here. However, some people need more sun. I've seen some unhappy transplants from Florida (but strangely, none from California... I think they're happy with our slightly lower cost of living).

 

Oregon homeschooling laws aren't onerous: notification is required, as it testing by an independent tester in grades 3, 5, 8, and 10. We currently don't have to report scores, just have them on hand. We have a large and active homeschooling community (communities, really), and plenty of opportunities for outside enrichment and activities.

[DawnM]

Oh man, Pacific NW hands down! I am so not an East Coast person, it just isn't my style.

 

Pacific NW has mild winters, gorgeous mountains, to die for beaches with cliffs and whales and all sorts of cool stuff!

 

West Coast is far more "anything goes" with I love.

 

I did live in Seattle for 4 years for college. My dad is from Portland so we still have a lot of relatives in WA and OR. My best friend lives in Seattle.

 

Carp, now I want to move. I am heading to Seattle in May though for a good visit. Can't wait.

 

Dawn

[Denisemomof4]

I grew up in CA and LOVE NH. I hope to never leave, although if a situation presented itself in AK, I would definitely go. There is nothing like the quaint New England towns and I absolutely LOVE the quaint little seaside communities. IMO they are far superior to CA beaches and communities I have visited. I absolutely LOVE having four seasons, and absolutely nothing beats fall in New England.

 

Winter is my favorite time of year for many reasons:

 

LOVE to snow shoe and do other outdoor activities.

The beauty CAN NOT be beat (but the brown snow beside the road is ugly!)

A good, deep snow pack kills off many bugs and REAL New England winters help to keep bugs populations in control.

Kids love, love, love tubing and sledding. I don't allow skiing. Kids LOVE snowy winters.

Nothing beats the warmth of a wood stove and a fire in the fireplace during a blizzard. How I hope we have a REAL blizzard this winter!

 

If you dress appropriately (layers and the RIGHT type of gloves and coat) you can enjoy the out doors year round. Being outside in the cool, crisp air is SO invigorating!

 

HUGE CON: summer. i hate, hate, HATE the humidity. And it gets REALLY hot here. The nice thing is that just when you've had enough of the current season, a new one begins!

 

In NH you currently have to send in a letter of intent the FIRST year you hs. You need to do year end testing or evals but you don't need to send them in. Easy peasy.

 

ETa: i would go nuts without sun and lots of dreary days. That DOES happen here but is not the norm

[justLisa]

Oh man, Pacific NW hands down! I am so not an East Coast person, it just isn't my style.

 

Pacific NW has mild winters, gorgeous mountains, to die for beaches with cliffs and whales and all sorts of cool stuff!

 

West Coast is far more "anything goes" with I love.

 

I did live in Seattle for 4 years for college. My dad is from Portland so we still have a lot of relatives in WA and OR. My best friend lives in Seattle.

 

Carp, now I want to move. I am heading to Seattle in May though for a good visit. Can't wait.

 

Dawn

 

Hit me up in May!!

[Guest inoubliable]

 

[Guest inoubliable]

 

[justLisa]

Oh man, Pacific NW hands down! I am so not an East Coast person, it just isn't my style.

 

Pacific NW has mild winters, gorgeous mountains, to die for beaches with cliffs and whales and all sorts of cool stuff!

 

West Coast is far more "anything goes" with I love.

 

I did live in Seattle for 4 years for college. My dad is from Portland so we still have a lot of relatives in WA and OR. My best friend lives in Seattle.

 

Carp, now I want to move. I am heading to Seattle in May though for a good visit. Can't wait.

 

Dawn

 

Hit me up in May!!

[myfunnybunch]

"Liberal, vegan, atheist"

 

You'll fit right in in Portland. :)

 

:iagree: Or Eugene.

 

Cons: It really does rain here a lot. October through April can get pretty dreary. But the payoff is the green. It is beautiful here, and very pleasant in the spring and summer and early fall. It's easy to homeschool here.

[rdj2027]

We have lived in NH, MA, and RI as well as WA and OR (currently living in SoCal which we love ). If we didn't have to, we would not go back to the East Coast mainly due to the laid back attitude on the West Coast. Too many people who were "concerned" for us and how we raise our children back East.

However, the Navy has decided that we really really want to live in Norfolk, VA for the next three years :crying: .

[myfunnybunch]

Double post. Hmmph.

[Farrar]

There are fewer bugs in the Pacific NW than anywhere else I've ever visited or lived. I think this should be a huge selling point.

[Guest inoubliable]

 

[phathui5]

We moved to Lebanon, Oregon after having lived in Baltimore, Maryland and Syracuse, New York. We LOVE Oregon. Love it.

 

Things we love:

 

- the scenery, mountains, fields...

- farmer's markets, so many farmer's markets

- 4-H for the kids. Our kids do Legos, art and science through 4-H for only $34/year for the whole family

- midwives!

- not nearly as cold in the winter as NY was

- health food stores, co-ops

- charter schools (we homeschool through a charter school that lets us pick our own curriculum)

- we're only an hour and a half from the coast

- great thrift stores

[nmoira]

There are fewer bugs in the Pacific NW than anywhere else I've ever visited or lived.

But so many more slugs. :tongue_smilie:

[Classically Minded]

We moved from Alaska to Washington state 6 years ago and I must say that I don't like it here for several reasons. One being, I've never been so sick in my life since moving to Washington - I get colds, cough and the like so many times a year and so does my hubby, daughter and friends. It must be all the rain? Then, of course, there is the rain, it gets old but the summers are usually nice. I could have been spoiled by living in Alaska for 8 years before here lol, I love snow and loved the Alaskan way of life.

 

Some good things about Washington would be the income, you make more here, at least in the Seattle/Tacoma area, but the cost of living is higher in most areas.

 

The rules for homeschooling are moderate - starting at age 8 you file a declaration of intent yearly, test or get an assessment yearly, school 180 days or 1000 hours yearly and are required to teach 11 subjects: occupational education, science, math, language, social studies, history, health, reading, writing, spelling and art/music. Also, to be able to homeschool, you must meet one of the following:

1. Supervised by a certificated person, which has contact with the child one hour per week and evaluates the child. This "certificated" person must be a current, licensed WA state teacher.
    
   
2. Have 45 college credits or the equivalent in semester credits
    
   
3. Certified under a home-based education course from a college
    
   
4. Deemed sufficiently qualified by the superintendent
   

To me, that isn't too bad because you don't have to report any of this BUT the declaration of intent.

[Shamzanne]

The only downside to living in the PNW I would mention is the rain. If that doesn't bother you, this would be the perfect place to live. We live in Eugene and are an hour from the coast, an hour from the mountains, and have the worlds most beautiful rivers flowing into our city. We are close to amazing science museums, a zoo, the Oregon Coast Aquarium (and Hatfield Marine Science Center, which I like better), beautiful parks and great hiking. Even down in Eugene we have access to top performing arts and the famous Saturday Market. I would not choose to live anywhere else.

 

Living back east for a while in my early twenties made me appreciate the laid back attitude of the PNW. It might seem like a small thing but I was amazed by the more uptight and in-each-others'-business feel I found on the East coast.

[dtsmamtj]

After living here all my life here is my thinking: if you enjoy life to the "left" of the political spectrum you will love it, if you are to the "right" you may not want to live in Multnomah county or maybe even the state, but if you find yourself somewhere in the middle you might be able to tollerate what you don't like and truly enjoy what you do. :crying: