Washington noob relocating to Everett from CO. Help.

[Flowtorch]

I'll be relocating to the great NW in the near future and could use a little help finding a neighborhood to live in. My work will be in Marysville..not super glamorous I know but works work. Where do I wanna live thats not a shit hole?

I was aiming to commute there from Everett(fully realizing everett is a shithole by some's standards, unless anyone knows a nice place to rent closer). Only been up there a few times in my life so the majority of what i've gleaned about the areas comes from Craigslist. Is there such thing as a cool part of Everett near the I5?? Is this Mill Creek area decent? Silver Lake? Any advice appreciated. I have a brother that lives in Seattle and will be up there in a few weeks to look around at a site as well as places for me to live.

Finally, I'd love to meet some new rad people to do rad shit with. Ski/board Stevens, BC, bike xc/dh, Kayak class 3 to 5, raft, row, paddle, pedal, push, party whatever. I can assure you I dont thoroughly suck(even if thats what you had in mind), have already posted nekid pics of past flings and I'll always make sandwiches to bring along for recreation time. Tasty, quality, gourmet sandwiches.

[Yonder_River]

Sorry to hear you're moving to Everett. Got no advice on housing as I've never been there (other than driving on I-5).

Enjoy those sunny Colorado days before you get here since you won't be seeing nearly as many of them anymore.

That being said, you will have class 5 out your door (30 minute drive) that runs nine months out of the year. Good skiing less than 90 minutes away, kite surfing right in town and everything else that the Cascades has to offer.

P.S. The whole Seattle area has just a few more paddlers than Ft. Collins itself - small, but we are around.

[Bandit Man]

I live in the Mill Creek Area. Mill Creek is a marked improvement over anywhere in Everett. The MC Town Center is a little trendy but has some decent places to eat.

Lake Stevens is not bad if you work up north and like the suburbs. Edmonds and Mukilteo are close to the sound, but add some distance to getting up Hwy 2 and into the Cascades.

Not a paddler, but there are quite a few of us who frequent Stevens. Cascade Crud and NWAC will be your friends and 4000' is the magic snow level. What are mountains lack in elevation, they make up for in gnar-gnar mini-golf lines. Also, I recommend the 2500 ct. Vitamin-D supplements @ Costco.

Welcome to the neighborhood.

[Yonder_River]

On second thought, why don't you live in Seattle and commute? Cost of living is higher down here, but so is the enjoyment factor. I have a couple Boeing friends who do the 30-40 minute drive and they survive. It's usually a reverse traffic drive so reasonably tolerable.

[Art Shirk]

On second thought, why don't you live in Seattle and commute? Cost of living is higher down here, but so is the enjoyment factor. I have a couple Boeing friends who do the 30-40 minute drive and they survive. It's usually a reverse traffic drive so reasonably tolerable.

Totally agree. I live in Greenlake and I used to have an office in Snohomish and one in Madison Park. It took me the same amount of time to each one. If you can get on 1-5 easily from your Seattle locale, Everett is no big deal at all.

Yonder, you ever paddle with a guy named Brock? Buddy of mine.

[grrrr]

Places worth living in Everett: elsewhere. Or close enough to Mukilteo to be called Mukilteo. And even then...maybe not.

Lake stevens or snohomish would be better. or edmonds.

[Art Shirk]

I love edmonds. Cool beach town if you are in the right areas. Drink at Rorys.

[belgian]

Everett kind of sucks, though the downtown area immediately near the hockey arena isn't awful. Dunno much about the housing around there though. Either way Everett is better than Marysville which could easily be the biggest shithole on the I5 north of Seattle. I mean, just check out the majestic pictures of Marysville on the Wiki page (yes, one of them is of a Fred Meyer): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marysville,_Wa. Maybe Lake Stevens? Never been there though so I don't know.

Honestly in your situation I would be tempted to commute from Mount Vernon (30 mins) or Bellingham (60 mins) north. I wouldn't go any farther south than Edmonds unless you happen to enjoy one to two hours of gridlock each way on your commute. And even then you're probably looking at a similar commute time as from Bellingham.

Anywho, welcome to Western Washington.

[grrrr]

Commuting to Marysville from WA would be against the tide...but I'd still avoid it. B'ham of course, is the only best place other than Seattle.

[Badger]

I reverse commuted from Seattle to Everett for eight years, I wouldn't recommend it. It's not as bad as the other way, but the Boeing traffic can be pretty nasty, even in this day and age, and it's just generally a big waste of time.
The north part of Everett, north of downtown, is actually pretty nice, but more family-centric. Everett does have some decent restaurants, but the bars suck. Mukilteo and Edmonds are both better, but that adds a fair bit to your commute. Snohomish is a cool small town and closer to paddling/skiing, and closer to the wineries and what passes for culture in Woodinville, but still pretty quick to Marysville.
Aside from the lack of play parks (which I don't think will ever happen in Washington), I like the boating better in Seattle than Colorado. Year round boating, although you'll need a dry suit. And the Sky and the Sultan and tons of creeks and other stuff will be just minutes away from Everett. Check out the Washington Kayak Club, they do weekly trips and are a good group.
One nice plus is that in Everett, you'll be nearly an hour closer to BC. You could even live in Mount Vernon and you'd practically be Canadian.

[doughboyshredder]

Everett used to be a bigger shithole than it is now. It's honestly not that bad now.

Still it's not a place that you want to admit you live in.

If you're working in marysville I suggest heading east. Snohomish is a pretty cool area, and is on the way to Stevens, which does have night skiing. Also you have two options to marysville depending on traffic 9 or 2.

Mt. Vernon is a pretty cool town, and would put you closer to Baker on the weekends.

Mukilteo has absolutely shit horrible traffic. Fuck that town. Lake Stevens is infested with meth heads.

[carvedog]

well shuck my corn. Marginally closer to Id.

Good luck man.

[Flowtorch]

Thanks for the welcome.

All advice appreciated and keep it coming. & thanks for tolerating another relocation thread.

And thanks for the vit D recommendation and yet another reminder of how i'll miss the sun. Hoping this doesnt affect my mood too much or its at least offset by rad shit, we'll see.

I've thought about the reverse commute. Further down the road thats likely what i'll do. Tried for B'ham but was beat to the punch. Right now it might be smartest to live in one of the cheap shitholes closer to M-ville and just tell everyone I live in Seattle. Keep in mind i'll just rent a palatial mansion and import my hookers and blow. After some thinking it might be wiser..since i could be looking at 90hours a week in the beginning, need to be close to the job in the event of the wheels falling off, quick access to home and dog. When I'm not working or chillin I hope to be in the kayak, Seattle, on the bike or board etc.<thats where you fockers come in.

Yonder, you're on my shitlist now. I'll be hitting you up to paddle. Is the Seattle area kayaking scene really that small or is my meter off? I'm super bummed about leaving Fort Collins and its crowd. Great people, easy to get along with boaters without the raditude. (oh yeah, and the sun, fuck)

Carvedog, whatup brotha? Believe me, I've thought about that. Ever wanna get together for a trip you know we'll be down! Yes, Stu is likely moving there too. Love to go boatin with ya.

Hope to see the resta you sunbitches @ Stevens, Baker or BC.

[MagnificentUnicorn]

You might look around out on the Tulalip reservation, Mission Beach area or along the water out there. It used to be pretty nice and is close to Marysville. Maybe score a place on the Bay.

[Yonder_River]

Yonder, you ever paddle with a guy named Brock? Buddy of mine.

Heard the name, but haven't met him.

Yonder, you're on my shitlist now. I'll be hitting you up to paddle. Is the Seattle area kayaking scene really that small or is my meter off? I'm super bummed about leaving Fort Collins and its crowd. Great people, easy to get along with boaters without the raditude. (oh yeah, and the sun, fuck)

Due to just having a second child, I"m not getting out like I used to, but still try to stay in shape enough for easy V's. I can definitely show you down Robe or another local creek though. Trust me, you'll have a little nostalgia for big south, poudre, etc. but you will quickly learn that the boating is a notch better up here. We've maybe melted half our snowpack at the most so far and will have even a few glacier fed runs through September (or just go to BC)..then it all starts up again when the rains come in mid-October. It's hard to beat.

The kayaking scene is small given the population, but there are plenty of good, great, and then just plain sick paddlers around here. Don't worry about that. It's not for everyone though so it limits the amount of people that get into the sport or motivate on a regular basis to do it. When it's 45 degrees and misty on a February morning...well it take's some fortitude to get out there.

[Badger]

You might look around out on the Tulalip reservation, Mission Beach area or along the water out there. It used to be pretty nice and is close to Marysville. Maybe score a place on the Bay.

That's a good idea, although it's like 20 minutes to the freeway/Marysville, so it adds a bit of time for being so close in. I knew a guy who lived out there and windsurfed to Whidbey Island from his back door. Camano Island has some of the same possibilities, but it's more of a drive and you risk having some punk kid steal your airplane and crash-land it.

[Chainsaw_Willie]

All I can offer is "Welcome to Warshington." I live in Seattle and worked in Marysville for a while. That commute really sucked. Live as close as you can to where you work is my only advice.

[regct]

My chick and I moved to Edmond's from a far away land this winter and am digging it a lot.

Its nice and tucked away from the ruckus. I get snookered at Rory's fairly regularly and ski at Stevens. Holler!