Third Interview– Greetings from the Peninsula

For our next Land Use is for Everyone interview (ICYMI– you can catch up on the first interview and introduction to the series), I’m delighted to introduce you to Carolyn Wilcox, a Port Angeles resident and a wildlife guide with a background in science.  Carolyn and her husband live in Port Angeles, the largest city in Clallam County on the north end of the Olympic Peninsula with a population of a little over 20,000.  You may be familiar with the city if you’ve been to Olympic National Park since its sandwiched between the entrance to the popular Hurricane Ridge and the Salish Sea.

I enjoyed getting to speak with Carolyn about Port Angeles since I’m guilty of only visiting it in the summer on the way to the National Park.  She’s very passionate about where she lives and what she does, and has the perspective of someone that’s tried out a lot of places before finding the one that feels like home.  Carolyn ended up in Port Angeles after moving from Ohio to Nevada, and later bounced around the state, from Seattle to Spokane and eventually bought a home on the Olympic Peninsula.  You can check out Experience Olympic Guided Nature Tours, Carolyn’s wildlife guiding company.  I hope you enjoy!

Tell me about where you live, help the reader understand where you’re coming from

People make fun of Port Angeles because it is described as the “mudhole before you get to the rainforest.”  [laughs]  It’s definitely not like Port Townsend, with the beautiful, Victorian buildings and gardens.  It’s a modest place that is rapidly changing, with an explosion of people visiting since the pandemic.  There’s more and more development in the county, but at least in the city we have more concerns around growth and figuring it out.  The town is set up on an organized grid, with the county courthouse as the center. When I was moving here I knew I would need to live within 5 blocks of the courthouse.

Why did you choose to live in the center of the city?

All the new development and crazy houses are about 2000 feet up, and on the roads between Sequim and Port Angeles. There’s development right on the water, but also going up into the hills. There’s little control over the development and road infrastructure. There’s enough issues in cities with flood zones, or erosion from being too close to the bluff.  I’ve seen tourists taking pics of a property for sale, and told them you’d never want to buy that property because you’re at sea level. I don’t feel totally safe here, like if there’s a big earthquake I don’t know what the land would look like afterward, but the bluff is across the street and there’s houses that would go before mine. We’re in a pretty big hazard zone from crazy water or earthquakes.

What do you like the most about your community?

The natural beauty! Being in all these hazard zones in the short term is great [laughs], there’s views of the mountains and the water, and you can access them! There’s ferries, sail boats, kayaks and canoes and whatever mechanism you want for enjoying the water or being near it. There’s amazing trails in the national park.  Definitely here because of the park and also indigenous people understand how to take care of this place and have been doing so since time immemorial.

How do you get around?

It’s culturally weird to walk. I avoid driving like the plague! Some people are careful about where they live to be able to walk around. It’s not that you can’t, but the infrastructure is made for vehicles, not walking. There are sidewalks in the older area of town, but they’re often a secondary priority. I take a zig zag ramp and stairs to get downtown, but in the winter time it’s closed down because of ice, but it’s frustrating because then I have to walk on icy roads next to cars.

How does where you live now compare to other places you’ve lived?

I’ve never lived in a vacation destination like this. Nobody would come to Ohio just for fun. In Reno tourists came to ski or gamble, but it’s still different. Lots of people come to Seattle but it’s such a big place and a lot of it is focused on Pike Place Market and the other tourist spots. Port Angeles is not so big, so we’re going to see everyone visiting, and even be their neighbor if they’re staying in a short term rental. Port Angeles is so different in the winter and the summer. There have been times where I walked downtown and I’m like where am I? Typically there’s not a lot going on downtown, but in the summer there’s nowhere to eat on the weekends because every restaurant I know is slammed. It’s a different type of people walking around you too and you can tell they aren’t from Port Angeles.  There’s less parking and more people on the sidewalks, and long lines to get on the ferries.

Anything else?

I love living here! The climate is like magic here and I don’t want people to know that [laughs] but it’s a magic climate. I got my parents to move here in 2016 and they seem happy about it. They’d never lived outside of central Ohio in a suburban sprawl area, but they love it out here.