Most of our regular blog readers are following our Sequim articles because when contemplating moving to Sequim for good, one wants to know as many details about the town and area where you intend to live before making a serious commitment like buying a new home in Sequim. Believe us we know better than anybody else because we moved from Hawaii to Sequim!
This week, we received another one of those emails from somebody who had heard about Sequim and is now wondering about all kinds of things: why we chose Sequim and not Bellingham or PortTownsend, what we like in Sequim, what we don't like and much more. We published Jack's email with his permission as a comment on our recent post 'Get Ready for your Sequim Vacation'. Before continuing reading this article, you might want to visit that post and read Jack's entire comment.
We decided to answer a number of Jack's questions in this post, which we called ' Sequim WA or Santa Rosa CA?'
Why Sequim and not Port Townsend or Bellingham?
Jack believe us we studied many WA weather charts, average temperature and rain fall by month and year of all the places in WA we had considered and Sequim with its location in the rain shadow of the Olympic Mountains came up with the least rain and the most moderate climate.
Are we missing cultural events of big town living?
Well, we have lived in Hawaii for many years in a peaceful, rural countryside, in a small town community (actually very similar to Sequim) in the most wonderful setting surrounded by rolling hills, snow covered volcanoes and white sand beaches a short 10-minute drive away. When in Honolulu, we longed to be back home! Now you can imagine how small Sequim town perfectly matched our expectations with its wonderful location and scenery between mountains and ocean. There are lots of cultural events happening on the Peninsula, just on a smaller scale. The big city, Seattle, is a short 2 hr drive away for those who want to be there occasionally.
Is Santa Rosa a better place to live than Sequim?
It all depends what you are looking for. I did not know many facts about Santa Rosa, so I checked Google and found a lot of answers about Santa Rosa like the number of residents in 2007 was 157,985 compared to 5000 in Sequim, and the annual rainfall is 30 inches compared to 12 inches in Sequim. CA homes were on the high end when we looked at homes in CA and even now that prices came down, they are still too inflated (just like Hawaii home prices) to attract retired people on a fixed income. Well, if home prices are not an issue and you don't mind higher temperatures above 90 F or big town living, Santa Rosa might be the way to go for you.
Bottom line: Nobody and no place is perfect! There is no perfect weather, not even in Hawaii, which got too hot for us when getting older. And global warming will probably change a lot of weather patterns around the world. So make sure that you live in a likable community with friendly people, amenities and activities you like!
What we like in Sequim
We like the unique location between mountains and ocean.
We like small town living with big town amenities (from Costco to WalMart etc.)
We like the moderate weather. Milder winters and not so hot summers.
We like the outdoor activities such as walking, hiking, biking and more.
We like Sequim's friendly people.
What we don't like
When not used to seasons, the winter months, moderate or not, can stretch a bit. Hawaii, Palm Springs and Phoenix AZ are great options for getting away for a month or two to break the winter spell.
Moving to another place and whether Sequim is right for you, is all about finding out about your own priorities and expectations and then find the best possible match for you! Best way to find out whether Sequim is a match, come visit Sequim for a vacation!
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