Moving to Washington

smk1, LPN · Mar 23, 2004

Hello,
Greetings from Southern California. Well, I'm just wondering how nursing is like in Washington State. My family and I have been turned off by the high prices here in Cal. Houses here in Southern Cal. ranges from $400,000 to $600,000 and climbing. We're looking for a place that is not as not as crowded and the housing are affordable. Any recommendations? Starting pay here for a newly grad. nurse is about $24/hr. How about in Washington? How much does housing ranges over there (depends of where you're recommending)? Just want to have a nice and peaceful place to raise our family without spending most of our time working to pay for a mortgage . I would appreciate any input. Thanks.

do a google search for a website called findmyspot (it might be findyourspot.com) anyway some nice areas are the tricities area in eastern washington they are small to midsized suburban/city areas, also vancouver washington area is right across the river from portland oregon, both of these areas are affordable nice plafces to live and raise a family, tacoma is also a nice area and close to seattle but way cheaper. i am a student so i can't tell about the best places for a nurse to work yet but there are plenty of openings in the papers.

SmilingBluEyes · Mar 23, 2004

stay out of puget sound region IF you want affordability and peace, well at least seattle/tacoma.....I-5 commute alone will drive you insane. try east of the cascades or down south toward portland.

CaterpillarGirl · Mar 27, 2004

New grads at harborview make $19.72/hr (at least last I checked). For a nice house in the suburbs of Seattle, your going to be spending around 250k in the not quite as nice areas. Nicer areas are closer to 350k. Stay out of King county if possible (too expensive), Snohomish county (north of seattle) still has some reasonable prices, as well as the further south you go the cheaper it will get as well.

yves · Mar 30, 2004

Renton area is not a bad commute to Seattle and new homes with nice yard around 250,00 to 350,000 I love seattle and i dont mind I5 altho it is busy at times Your best bet is to get a rental place for six months get a job and look to buy so you have time to investigate schools and get the input of coworkers that have lived there their whole life

kimmicoobug · Mar 30, 2004

I live in Eastern Washington in a fairly small town. I make 21.00 an hour as a new graduate. For this area, that wage is not bad at all. Decent houses range from 115,000 on up. I love the hospital I work at. Most of the staff has been so supportive and encouraging of me, which means alot. I plan on staying here for awhile. I have two kids and think this town is a pretty good place to raise them.

lady_jezebel · May 23, 2004

Plug for Seattle:

I live in Seattle and personally love it here! I live only a few miles from work, and can arrive ready for work within a 20 minutes drive. I can also bike to work using the Burke Gillman trail. Living within the city (Fremont/Ballard) area is so nice! Lots of culture, restaurants, coffee shops -- yet it has the quaintness of a suburbia.

Decent family houses here are $250,000 to 300K starting. That's pricy in my book (I moved here from NC, where you can buy a sprawling mansion in comparison for 100K!). However, it's comparatively nothing for people who move here from California.

Oh -- starting pay at UWMC is about $21/hr + shift differentials. Pay increases dramatically for experience. Why don't you first try travel nursing? They'll pay a higher salary, 2000K/month housing bonus, and all benefits -- that way you can sample hospitals before choosing a position.

igvcare · Nov 10, 2004

I was raised in Southern California...transplanted here 22 years ago. I live in Spokane, Wa. Eastern Washington.

We have Four hospitals here, two level 3 trauma. Starting wages at the hospitals are app. 21.00 an hour for RN and around 17.00 in LTC. Try looking at the local Newspaper, Spokesman-Review.com for classifieds.

Over all beautiful here. I thought it was a great place to raise my child. Lots of sports. He was involved in Ice Hockey. Several Colleges in the area. Definately less expensive..again look in the classifieds. It is affordable for the most part.

I gotta tell you, tho...It is definately a nice, slow lifestyle, lol.

Anything I can help you with, let me know!

kmr · Nov 27, 2004

Stay away from Eastern Wa!!! Olympia would be a great place to move. It is on the west (normal) side of the mountains, south of Seattle and the cost of living there is more affordable than the Seattle area. Also Olympia was voted the #1 place in the country to raise kids!! I know from experience what I speak about Eastern Wa. (except Spokane). Spokane is a bigger city and has many good hospitals and the cost of living is quite reasonable. Also stay away from Tacoma/Renton. I have lived in the Seattle area my entire life and I would not recommend Tacoma or Renton as a good place to raise children!

Good Luck

futurenp · Nov 27, 2004

I live in Olympia and really like it. It does rain a LOT! You'd better hurry though. The local paper showed average housing prices from last year and they went from 195k in March to 220k by November. The market in crazy.

2ndCareerRN · Nov 27, 2004

We have Four hospitals here, two level 3 trauma.

I lived and worked in Spokane for a few years. I worked at Deaconess and Valley hospitals. There are 2 level 2 hospitals. Deaconess and Sacred Heart rotate the Trauma hospital designation every week. So, only one hospital in town is a level 2 at any one time. The other three then become level 3.

About 2 years ago, the group that owns Deaconess and Valley hospitals did an across the board pay cut of 9%. Neither was union at that time so they were able to do it. The pay is still not up to the level it was 2 years ago. New grads at either of those two can expect around 19-20 dollars an hour.

Sacred Heart just recently laid of ~80 LPN's as a cost saver. Of course they were not replaced, so RN's had to pick up extra duties with the LPN's gone.

Holy Family hospital just remodeled their ER, so they have money, just not for the staff.

There is also a VA hospital in Spokane that might be worth looking into.

The cost of housing in Spokane is reasonable, as long as you don't mind a short commute to work. The prices in Spokane Valley are rising on a daily baisis.

The town of Spokane has a lot to offer. Concerts, restaurants, lots of parks, a river, a bike/walking trail.

I left there and went into government nursing, so I am now in Montana.

I would avoid Seattle like the plague. But that is my personal opinion only. I always liked to visit, it is only a 5 hour drive from Spokane. But you could not pay me enough to live there now. I spent to much time in the bay area and san diego dealing with crowds everywhere I went to put up with it anymore.

Look at http://www.realtor.com/Default.asp?poe=realtor to get an idea of what the housing prices are.

bob

Ruby Vee, BSN · Nov 28, 2004

stay away from eastern wa!!! olympia would be a great place to move. it is on the west (normal) side of the mountains, south of seattle and the cost of living there is more affordable than the seattle area. also olympia was voted the #1 place in the country to raise kids!! i know from experience what i speak about eastern wa. (except spokane). spokane is a bigger city and has many good hospitals and the cost of living is quite reasonable. also stay away from tacoma/renton. i have lived in the seattle area my entire life and i would not recommend tacoma or renton as a good place to raise children!
good luck

i've lived in eastern washington and in the seattle area, and i loved both but for different reasons.

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[color=#4b0082]i loved spokane's climate. it's beautiful there, and the summers are sunny and hot. the winters are cold (but not as cold as wisconsin, where i was raised) and snowy. there are two great hospitals -- sacred heart and deaconess -- whose heart programs draw from a large area including eastern washington, montana, idaho and eastern oregon. the only downside to spokane is that it's a lousy place for a single person. if you're married and have a family, it's a fabulous place to live. if you're single, it's hard to find other single persons there. i moved to seattle because i wanted to date.

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[color=#4b0082]i loved seattle, too. i loved the climate -- mild weather all year round. lots of drizzle -- but i never had to shovel rain! and you can go literally months without seeing the sun in the winter. some folks have problems with that. i didn't. as a single woman, i was able to buy my own house in a suburb north of the city limits. there's lots to see and do there. you can go skiing in the mountains in the morning and sailing on the sound in the afternoon. on a sunny day, i couldn't understand why anyone would want to live anywhere else.

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[color=#4b0082]the culture in seattle is different from anywhere else i've ever been. the people are just nicer. really, there isn't anyplace i'd warn you away from -- some neighborhoods are better than others, obviously. but the area is a jewel.