[TheForge] NWBA this weekend

[Ries Niemi]

Andy-
I know what you mean about the Seattle suburbs- I grew up in Seattle, 
and my motto was "when I hear the words East Side, that when I reach 
for my nuclear weapon"
But the Seattle sprawl effect is pretty large at this point. The real 
estate market doesnt seem to be  budging, no sign of downward motion.
I live between Anacortes and Mt. Vernon, an hour and a half north of 
Seattle. Things are pretty crazy now, I have 2 big pieces to install in 
Seattle, and a whole set of about a dozen pieces to finish and install 
in San Jose, all before the end of this month. But sometime soon you 
would be welcome to come up. I have a pretty industrial strength shop- 
3 of us full time, and more tools than you can fit in a semi. (Actually 
the last time I moved it took 2 semi's, and that was almost 9 years 
ago. I have considerably more stuff now, so my official policy is, I 
aint movin.)
But as far as finding a place in the country outside of Seattle,  its 
possible, just depends on your price range and what you are willing to 
settle for. Of course, forget waterfront. But the farther east you go 
from I5, the cheaper things get. Around where I live, in the desirable 
flats, a house on an acre or two with a couple of outbuildings is gonna 
run 250k-300k.  But go upriver, and you can knock it down- how much 
depends on how far you go. Another good place to look is east of 
Tacoma- Buckley/Ranier/Enumclaw/Pyuallup and thereabouts. Tacoma, whose 
new motto is "we dont stink anymore" is still the cheaper poorer cousin 
of Seattle, and property east of I5 down there is cheaper than it is up 
here.
The NWBA conference is today, Saturday and half of Sunday- but they 
have 2 a year, spring and fall, and they are usually pretty well 
attended and fun, if you havent been to one.

ries