Needs Mt Rainier (Tahoma) or something

I'm all for a redesign however the ones you've offered don't do anything for me. They give Halo team badge vibes, which aren't terrible in and of themselves but not a state flag.

Very few people in Washington are from here while most New Englanders I met while living there were from there. The main differences are in formality. We have basically none out west and back east you feel like you can find yourself “out of place” fairly easily. Whether it’s Omak or Seattle, being new is more appreciated and doesn’t mark you out as “weird” as much as it would back east. When I lived in Massachusetts, states like Alaska, New Mexico and Washington were like faraway planets.

As a Vancouver resident who moved here in my 30s, I’d agree with the comments above about moving closer to a city; Vancouver would be great, for the sake of your social life, you can meet folks here and across the bridge in Portland. There’s nothing wrong with Longview but I think it could be limiting for someone your age trying to find other people with common interests, hobbies, dating, etc.

Haha, using your signal just tells everyone what you're trying to do so they can block you. I remember when I first moved here I was merging into traffic on the highway and used my signal, immediately the car next to me slowed down and let me in... that shit still blows my mind sometimes

I'm just glad those 1000 people are there, and don't know about the other 1000 trail heads that are quiet and nice.

I grew up in NH and MA, been here a few years now. I just went back to MA for a short trip and had to drive across the state. Holy shit had I forgotten how intense driving is there, massholes for sure would never let anyone else in, speed at crazy speeds, and lane change abruptly without signals. While I was fine, as I’d cut my teeth learning to drive there, I’m glad my wife gets the gentler WA experience lol..

Lol. I don’t disagree one bit. Simply looking to move for a job at the moment

Yes

If you’re black, I don’t recommend.

Ya'll need to face the facts.
America sucks, period.

Get out of the country, see the world, you will learn what many already know.

They are responsible for Dunkin’ Donuts, they are a cultural wasteland.

He split as soon as he had a car and gas money. Those hick assholes just use him as a tourist draw.

I’m in NH, haha 🙂

Wish I could. I’m half way across the country and can’t take the time off work. Not to mention visiting doesn’t give a great idea of what crime rate is like.

If there are no trees blocking it’s actually better that way, the area’s below freezing

You have to pay state income tax if you live there, but work in WA?

Sssshhhhhhhhh

Oh, and Idk how it is since covid, but if you like animals, they have the BEST humane society ever. Stg.

They had three cat rooms (kitten, male, female) that you could just chill in and hang out with all them. Amazing.

They let you take dogs out back and play too. I hope they are still so open now that pandemic orders are ending.

Last time I did it in winter was almost exactly a year ago to the day. It was snowy, cold and VERY mucky muddy. LOTS of people totally unprepared for it, as in younger folks wearing flip flops with white socks, white converse no socks, etc. Slipping and sliding around because the packed snow turned into a slide at times. Needless to say, it was still busy but pretty dicey. At the top too, a slick snowy slide that gives me chills thinking about how easy it would be to lose footing and spill over…. Ah!! Wouldn’t do again in those conditions lol. Totally depends on the day. Your shot looks a LOT LOT clearer than that visit.

You will continue to be quite visible as a minority. lol It's not the worst place to land tho.

LOl, do you seriously think that weed is the reason people are homeless? Jesus Christ are you really that ignorant?

The homelessness is definitely visible. I live not too far from the Alabama Camp the city designated. They're building little houses now. Not sure it will help much but they seem to be trying new things. That's a good sign to me. The homeless I've run across when I'm out in the yard gardening are very respectful and comment on the plants. We seem to have a lower proportion of the yelling and screaming type I'm guaranteed to run into in downtown Portland. Its def an issue the whole region is working on and it's a difficult one at that.

I remember reading a piece from the New York Times about how dangerous the Highlands was in the early 2000s due to drugs. Many of my coworkers lived there then and got caught up in it. It is truly astounding how many in the community have been affected my methamphetamines but a lot of them have turned it around. Longview does seem to have hit rock bottom at some point and I truly belive its on the come up. I just hope it doesn't get so expensive it pushes folks out. I truly like my coworkers and neighbors and would like for them to be able to stay.

Thanks for your perspective.

If you're considering moving here because you want an über progressive town, you'll have a difficult time. You probably want to stick to the big cities for that. That said, I live here with my husband (we're gay) and we haven't had any trouble. People mostly keep to themselves but I view that as a sort of northwestern trait in general. People saying this is some sort of MAGA paradise seem to forger Lewis County exists. Even in my neighborhood where there were a lot of Trump voters, people weren't obnoxious about it and left my Biden sign be.

People love to classify the town as rural but to me it's just too big to be considered rural. There's a Target and a Panera in Kelso. I don't know of many hick towns that have both of those in all my time in the Midwest and South. Just understand that a lot of people on reddit are going to be a lot more left leaning (I am as well) and they might blow things out of proportion. Longview/Kelso is gritty but it's relatively inexpensive to live in if you want to be on the west side of the state. I'd make sure the wage of the job you're getting is something you're able to live on. Rent is cheaper than the bigger cities but it's still high. Gas is more expensive here by quite a lot. Electric will probably be cheaper than you paid in the Midwest. I find water to be a bit high but it's sometimes included in rent. There are homeless and drugs, but that was also an issue when we lived in small town Oregon and it's something you'll have to accept to live here. Maybe we'll solve it someday but it won't be tomorrow.

Longview is centrally located. You can be in the forests immediately, the park is wonderful, the ocean is very close and there's a river beach at Willow Grove. I love Beaver Creek Falls over the river in Clatskanie. In four hours you can be in central Washington. 6-8 gets you to the east side of WA and OR where the landscape is so radically different and still breathtaking. A little farther and you're in Idaho or Northern NV. And ofc Seattle and Portland are close and you can even use Amtrak to get up and down the west coast provided time doesn't mean much to you.

I hope if you end up joining us you like it as much as I do. Good luck!

It’s fine, pretty boring for a young person.