How small of a town are you looking for? Some places near Seattle can be liberal but there are also towns that are fiercely conservative. Also, what do you consider “near”. Bellingham is very liberal but Lynden, about 10 miles away from Bellingham, is a hardcore evangelical Jesus town.

Port Townsend would be the most progressive but it's not close to Seattle. As you go beyond the Seattle burbs, the small towns tend to be conservative.

As is most of the world, sadly

Large enough that it has like, a theatre or an arcade or something lol, I grew up in a town of 30,000 so I'd say that's my limit

I would recommend coming here and really scoping out the area. I don’t know your financial situation but strongly urge you to make sure you have things like a job, housing, and transportation lined up before you get here. It’s a high cost of living area and people move here on a wing and a prayer, and many wind up homeless. I’m a Social Worker and have seen it happen way too often.

Just my personal experience but Bellingham and Olympia might have the vibes you’re looking for, but they aren’t close to Seattle. I went to school in Bellingham and spent time going to see independent movies, concerts, hiking, and lots of other stuff.

By their nature small towns aren’t very progressive. You’re not going to be anywhere near Seattle before you hit an actual small town either.

Check Olympia and Bellingham out. Port Townsend is pretty rad as well.

Vashon

I literally forgot that place existed until I read your comment. Hiding in plain sight.

Bellingham is full.

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Once again, Bellingham is full.

There aren’t many small towns, let alone those not in Culp country, “close to Seattle” (which is mostly surrounded by small cities like Everett, Bellevue and Bothell and the large city Tacoma which is quite conservative for such a city)- except perhaps Vashon. Make sure you’re financially stable before you move to this area

Interestingly, it’s as expensive to live up in Bellingham as down in the seattle area. My rent is 2250 and besides the cheap gas off exit 260.. everything’s just as much or more expensive than when I lived down in a suburb of tacoma, just a year and a half ago.

There’s a good mix up here now, with minor clashes. But it’s not all hippies and VW KamperVans like it used to be. More.. Subarus, adventure families, some corporate and some homeless. And lord of stolen cars, which I think is progressive? Well, better have Progressive on speed dial just in case.

Stay in California

I don't think anything exists that fits your criteria, to be honest.

The west coast is full. What’s your point?

Move to Iowa.

I’m a WA native and hadn’t been to Port Townsend until a couple years ago. It was way more rad than I thought it would be.

I think it’s one of the largest lesbian communities in the world. I wouldn’t say it’s cheap though and getting anywhere by ferry definitely costs a lot.

Edmonds.

We are full

There is a critical housing shortage in Bellingham. Directing people to move to Bellingham without qualification is not telling the whole story.

Try the kitsap peninsula! It’s just a ferry ride away from Seattle. Highly recommend Indianola, v small town vibes, great tight nit community, def progressive from what I’ve seen. Bainbridge too but you gotta be rich rich or know someone personally to luck out with an affordable spot. Indianola and Bainbridge can be pricey so Poulsbo is another great option.

Maybe not bremerton def not port orchard, not progressive towns in my opinion.

I never would have considered kitsap if I hadn’t met my navy fiancé and moved here with him.

Silverdale can be ok but it’s gonna be a nightmare here soon, just overpopulated.

Kingston is also great! Maybe not super progressive in comparison but def more progressive than a lot of the country. And port gamble! Home to the second largest sea shell museum in the world.

Further out, whidbey island (can’t speak to progressiveness personally but my gut says they’d be on that spectrum,) San Juan islands. And Bellingham (not small, though.)

If you’d prefer to stay closer to Seattle DEFINITELY look into white center!!! I loved living there. Very diverse, don’t believe the “it’s not safe” hype, Georgetown in Seattle is way more dangerous (but oh, so adorable.) Living just south of the city made it way easier to get into the city, living north (shoreline) it gets impossible to fight through I-5 traffic. Also South Park is an awesome spot closer to the city.

There’s plenty of places that aren’t, it’s rude to gatekeep this beautiful place

I've learned to just disregard the "not safe" thing. Most of the time it just means POC live in the area, and the white people who fill up these kinds of subreddits consider that "dangerous". Otherwise, thanks for the recommendations, being able to take the ferry to Seattle would be awesome!

Bellingham is not a small town - a wwu student

Coming from Baltimore as my home city I laugh at the “not safe” idea. That’s why I moved to Seattle to get my city living time in!

The ferry system out here is so cool. Me and fiancé love hopping a ferry and walking/skating/biking around the city. Yes they can be a bit kurfunkled sometimes, but there’s nothing better than a ferry adventure.

Best of luck to you on your quest!

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A lot of towns on Whidbey Island may fit your criteria

Stay home. We have too many progressives as it is

Olympia is like 48,000 people alone. It's also joined to Lacey (another 50k or so) and Tumwater (another 25k) so that definitely surpasses the 30,000 limit.

Coupeville, Langley, Clinton, or Freeland, yes. Oak Harbor, probably not.

Edmonds is nice, but it’s continuous urban development from there to both Seattle and Everett, so it doesn’t have a very small-town feel.

Seconding north Kitsap! I moved out here this summer and am completely in love with it. I’m in a walkable small town with incredible access to the outdoors and the big city, what more could you ask for? I’m queer and no one has made me feel anything but welcomed so far.

Bellevue isn’t so small anymore (152k to Tacoma’s 219k).

Everett is about 111k, but there’s less to do there than in any other city its size I’ve seen.

Oak Harbor is relatively conservative, but the southern part of Whidbey Island is more liberal like the other islands. Camano is quite conservative.

I made the mistake of mowing my ex-in laws lawn once on a Sunday. I didn't know this was looked down upon. How dare you do anything but go to church and spend time with your family.

Yeah, when I was in college I hated being put into group assignments with people from Lynden because they would never meet on a Sunday.

Those property prices though...yeesh. Good luck finding a rental too. Great city that has no room.

We are so flipping full, its not gatekeeping. Its more like being a Target employee holding the buckling door closed before opening on black Friday, because its the only think keeping them from being crushed. Enjoy it being a beautiful place? Well, everyone moving here adds more suburbs and cuts down more nature.

port townsend
langley
gig harbor
anacortes
duvall
bainbridge isle
indianola
vashon isle
edison/bow
bellingham
laconnor
kingston
olympia
the san juan islands

Lol wow the drama. Maybe you should move somewhere in WA that is less populated. Buckling door? That’s a lot.

I get it, a lot of our infrastructure wasn’t built for the amount of people that live here…. In Seattle. In the city. It’s just an untrue blanket statement of the entire state, especially when OP is asking for recs on small towns, which do still exist here.

I used to think kitsap was soooo lame 😂 and for no reason. It’s nice being over here, with a backyard that hasn’t been replaced with condos, access to the Olympics not the overrun cascades, and like you said very welcoming people.

What qualifications are necessary before telling someone to move to Bellingham?

not being an asshole

Once again, shut up and tell your city council members to approve more housing

It was probably lost in translation. Text on the internet tends to do that. I definitely understand what you’re saying. I just visited Portland (moved away after living there for almost 2 years) and every street is packed with cars. Theres soo many people there!

Oh no, I completely agree with you, not the person you were responding to. The solution to a housing shortage isn’t telling people to stay away, it’s getting more housing built

I do live somewhere less populated out on the Olympic peninsula, who's population has doubled since my family moved out here 25 years ago. Its insanely crowded compared to what it once was. So much of our scenic landscape is being torn down for sub divisions. Our one lane road highways were not meant to handle this much traffic, but I don't hear a peep from WSDOT about putting in additional lanes.

They seem to want that in the Bay Area too, affordable housing… the only problem is they want that housing not anywhere near THEIR house… fuck

Then there would be poor people near them. Won’t anyone think of the property values???

The ferry there is super duper inconvenient. Delays are inevitable and sometimes you have to wait for hours just to get off the island.

Bremerton is cool. It's not super duper liberal like Seattle because it's a mix of navy folk, working class, but also transplants from liberal cities like us. It's a lot more diverse outside of major cities. I prefer it here to Seattle because I don't want to live in a liberal bubble where everyone thinks the same way. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Even if you might not agree with some folks, overall people are polite and kind.

There's enough minorities and visibly LGBT folks for it to feel safe, and lots of openly progressive businesses too. Port Townsend is beautiful and a hippie town but it's sooooooo homogenous imo. Lots of older white people.

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Very brave, telling someone to shut up on the internet. I hope you don’t live in my town;)

The main issue is finding a home in your price range. Unless from Cali, the housing market can be quite expensive. But one town I'll suggest is Duvall, WA, it's a town that has a rural feel even though you're very close to the urban sprawl. Many people think it's full of hicks, but the reality is like 90% of the families have someone in the tech industry, so the town is mostly progressive. The hicks are just very loud and like to put up there signs come election season.