Still a great place to live or retire to, but thin
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6/2/2014
In the early 1990's, Sequim, Washington was named one of the nation's best places to retire on one episode of Evening Magazine. For the next several years, this announcement caused an influx of retirees - and many, many others - from all over the world to flock to Sequim, vastly inflating the economy in just about every conceivable way. Needless to say, recent times have been tough - and I think Sequim was even less prepared than most small towns were when the recession hit. With employment here being more of an incidental thing, due to the median age being 62, with the vast majority of its population already happily retired and safely collecting their pensions and/or Social Security benefits - there were very few people "in the know" enough to advise people who they might turn to when things got downright desperate for them. We don't have any government offices here - the closest federal agencies are 1-1/2 hours away, in Silverdale. Banks and mortgage companies were woefully slow to send their reps over here from Seattle to advise either their branches or the homeowners they were supposed to be advising on the mortgages that they could no longer pay. It seemed that being three hours and a ferryboat ride from the nearest metropolitan city (Seattle) pretty much put us on the edge of the known universe - and about a year behind the times when it came to the implementation of any of the solutions that were being offered. But things are steadily changing. In my unique situation, I've been able to view Sequm from a couple of different vantage points in the 17 years since relocating here from the 'Burbs of Seattle. It's not all good, but it's not all bad, either.
Lee | Sequim, WA