TRIP PLANNER: WESTPORT PG. 78
Do-Good Investing
A Romantic Coastal Getaway
Foraged Fiddlehead Fern Recipes
ZOOM TOWNS Washington’s Top Places to Work Remotely
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volume 24
ZOOM TOWNS
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WASHINGTON’S BEST PLACES TO LIVE WHEN YOU CAN WORK REMOTELY FROM ANYWHERE written by Misha Tompkins
THE PANDEMIC hastened a work lifestyle trend that was well underway throughout the country—working productively and remotely. Whether working for tech startups in the Bay Area from a cabin in the Cascades or freelance writing for New York-based publications while overlooking the Strait of Juan de Fuca, a number of trends have fueled the lifestyle dreams of those whose jobs are not place based—the rollout of high-speed internet to otherwise rural areas, the surge in digital transformation, a critical mass in workflow and communication apps, the rise in home prices in cities, a generation that clamors for experiences over things and finally the advent of the pandemic. We see a Pacific Northwest that is less dependent on offices and more invested in distributed human capital, where people are ditching studio apartments for rural redoubts. We see a generation of workers less restrained by global headquarters and real-time face time than global wandering and Zoom calls. We see the emergence of Zoom towns across Washington for those who looked at all of these trends and made plans to live a fuller life in their chosen Zoom town. Washington’s population grew by 93,200 per year over the past decade, up from 83,000 in the prior decade. We wanted to know where people were moving and what was next. We worked with Washington State population data and Zillow research to divine the areas and cities that have drawn more people over the past decade and over the past year. We sifted Zillow data to find where the next Zoom towns would be and narrowed our list to the top five in the state. Port Angeles is a sought-after Zoom town, in part because of its locale, on the northern coast of the Olympic Peninsula and on the edge of Olympic National Park. (photo: Adam McKibben/Visit Port Angeles)
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Home is where your mood is. Elevate yours with inspiring ideas and tips from the amateurs and experts who made it happen. written by Melissa Dalton
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Dominic Arizona Bonuccelli/AZFoto
With virtually everyone spending more time at home in the last year, it’s become clear that our surroundings influence how we feel, and what we can do while we’re there. Dreaming of what you can change to feel happier, healthier, more productive and relaxed right at your own address? Don’t know where to begin? Know that creative acts, big or small, bring rewards. Whether it’s building a sauna for an invigorating, postworkday sweat, an office that promotes focus and calm, a she-shed studio for meditating, painting or finding that much-needed, on-premises escape, read on. The homeowners who achieved just that and the experts who made it all come together painlessly tell you how. Prepare to get inspired.
A prefabricated Modern Shed was an easy way to add to a Gig Harbor waterfront home.
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trip planner
Wet, Wise and Worthy Let life on the edge in Westport draw you in and shift your perspective written and photographed by Joni Kabana WHEN I FIRST rolled into the coastal town of Westport, on Grays Harbor, I could not make out the commotion that was happening on the break wall. People were lined atop the barrier’s black boulders, clapping and cheering, steadying themselves against high winds. Seeing this much excitement from a crowd of people during such cold, blustery weather startled me. Little did I know what I was in for over the next two days. I approached the break wall and could see surfers, many of them, braving the 40 degree water. Waves were crashing like I had never seen before, each one hurling its enormous power toward the rocks. My first thought was, who are these people? What compels them to withstand bonechilling weather and place themselves in such danger? I saw a surfer in his car, gobbling slices of pizza as he warmed himself by the heater. Benjamin Beck, 29, grew up surfing in Hawaii but comes here to mix with “the diehards,” surfers who like their sea waves frigid and terrifying. Why surf the reliable big waves in Hawaii when you can surf icy “king tides,” the highest tides of the year, when the Earth, moon, and sun are aligned just so? I could now see why people challenged their own safety up on the break wall to watch these surfers’ defiant athleticism. Westport inhabitants like to think of themselves as living on the edge, literally and figuratively. As I made my way to restaurants, museums, businesses and nature sites, it became increasingly clear that this town is full of entrepreneurs of the most spirited kind. Most have grown up here, so heritage runs deep. So does a profound love for their town. Westport’s Maritime Museum director and local historian John Shaw described why this town has been made up of tough, hardy, resilient people since its beginning. Having no road to reach Westport until 1914, the town was formed by fishermen, Coast Guard life-savers and high-surf lovers drawn to “the San Andreas Fault of the Pacific Northwest.” When one has to coexist with king tides and all that comes from living that close to a raging sea, one becomes mighty. Al “You-Should-Always-Be-Wet” Perlee, 70, and born in Los Angeles, is a “newcomer” having only been here fifty years. He built a tarpaper shack for a home with no water or electricity to escape the California high rents. After hearing from a friend that “there are waves up here!” he’s considered to be the first surfer to set up a household in the traditional fishing village. 78 1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE
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trip planner
King tide waves delight (and terrify) spectators at the Westport Viewing Tower.
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