Why "Nobody" Lives In Eastern Oregon, Eastern Washington, or Idaho
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- Опубликовано: 9 май 2024
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The Pacific Northwest is known for its vast expanse of forests, cool rainy climate, and its larger cities of Portland and Seattle. But that only makes up a small portion of the region at large. In fact, if you travel to the east over the Cascade Mountain Range, you'll find yourself in an area that looks and feels completely different! It's also remarkably empty compared to its western, smaller (in area size) half. So why don't more people live in the "empty" Pacific Northwest?
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As a resident of Idaho I can confirm I do not exist.
Myself being the same, I am pretty happy about being an insignificant data point.
Yep. Nothing here, nothing to see, just fly over to more important places. Most certainly don't decide to move here. Nope. Don't do that.
They got You Too?!👽
I've been telling all of my woke friends from the bay area how cheap the land in Idaho is.
I don't exist either!
"nobody" lives here
meanwhile house prices are $750,000
Supply and demand…retirees (boomers) are going to areas to escape the rat-race and relax. They cash out of their suburban homes and relocate in areas where there are fewer people, less traffic, etc… This population spike strains the infrastructure, prices out lower-wage workers, creates the need tax hikes to build up infrastructure, and property values continue to soar.
Spokane’s property taxes went up 32% in four years… 😖
WHAAAAAA??? Oh my goodness!!
Seriously. It’s fucking insane out here
meanwhile in Hawaii where a broom closet costs 1 million dollars
What's even crazier is that south of eugene/Roseburg in Oregon is called the "empty west" and that stretches down into Redding California, so it's really just the top left corner of Oregon that has anyone
Is that the part that claims State of Jefferson?
Roseburg is Douglas County. Covers a large area. Jefferson County is on east side up north
I think he meant "The State of Jefferson" that would have included southern Oregon and noorthern California down to around Redding, I'm in Klamath county, and we have "State of Jefferson" stuff allover the place.@@patriotguardharleyriders9767
@@thisisit3333 No. The State of Jefferson cuts the NW corner out of the state, from the Cascades on the eastern side to the coast on the western side, and from the columbia on the north end to Eugene on the south end.
Empty? Seen the Medford/Ashland/Grants Pass/Rogue Valley area lately? 250k+ people and growing quickly. It's a small hub for medicine and a busy regional airport. Even Klamath Falls 1.5hrs east isn't some bedroom community anymore, with 50k people.
Spokane native here. It’s always nice to see a reference to our big little city every now and then. We’re usually only known for Gonzaga, Bing Crosby, and Sydney Sweeney lol
Great video, except I wish there was a distinction made between the Pacific Northwest and Inland Northwest. We are NOT known as the eastern Pacific Northwest - there is technically no such term. Everything east of the cascades through Idaho is known as the Inland Northwest.
Otherwise great video 🤗 very informative and very in depth on our history!
Edit - you forgot to mention we also get 4 intense (and I mean INTENSE) seasons all year round 🤠
As someone who has lived in WA my entire life (mostly western, but Spokane also) I want to say your area has really turned a corner over the last decade or two. That city was the epitome of despair when I lived there and every time I come back to visit it looks a little better, feels a little better, and I see people looking healthier and happier.
We used to get into the steam plant when it was abandoned via the sewers in the ally. I've climbed up to find "transcend the bullshit" firsthand, watched an ambulance wait for a police escort at the far end of 1st and Jefferson after a shooting, climbed the fire escape and walked the catwalk on the USBANK building, our apartment complex had a crackpipe mishap that caused a fire evacuation... anyway, it's nice to see new businesses, and bigger smiles these days. 👍
Couldn’t be more wrong. Idaho is completely full and there is no more room!
As is Eastern Washington! Especially the South Central part!
I agree, let’s lock the gates🤣
Full to the brim! No jobs and prices are unbelievable. DON'T MOVE HERE! I think its unhealthy too cuz everything is cooked in some kinda grease like lard, tallow or gun oil and near every menu is purely carnivore with Idaho potatoes thrown in here and there and covered with onions
@@AbleMan.2178Mostly gun oil.... lots of gun oil. I know that my town is absolutely infested with people. I think we got to 386 people last census. WAY too civilized!
@@waituntilthebeep I wanna visit YOUR town! Mine has over 5000 people and TWO!!!! stoplights!
I don't know why you mention it's not fertile soil considering that Eastern Washington is the 2nd largest wine region in North America behind California, plenty of wheat, apples, and cherries are also grown.
Amen❤
The Palouse
Same with the Snake River plain. But I’m thinking he’s saying that with regards to both of those regions requiring man-made irrigation for anything to grow in them.
Eastern Washington also produces an abundance of variety of vegetable crops and alfalfa...
Also..we produce the most wheat and apples here .tha. anywhere in the country...
Thanks for promoting more people moving here dude, even higher prices is exactly what we need
Don't blame him. We know about it across the entire country. He is not the only one.
That cascade range is such a good divider that both sides of it wished the other didnt exist.
Can confirm. Glad he didn't list the tri cities, keeps the westerners out of the DOD jobs
@lilconch plenty of DOD jobs on this side lol
Eastern Washington resident here.... don't worry, we are not lonely, stay where you are.
I agree
Haha!
yeah, they can stay away.
Right?
Yep, I'm sick of those turds on the west side ruining this state.
As somone who's lived in this area for the past 30 years, the best part about the area is that so much of it is void of people.
Absolutley, I would prefer we put Portland and few other cities on the auction block... highest bidder takes all and has 30 days to move it out! Oregon has some of the most amazing things this country has to offer, unfortunately we happen to have several real plaguing issues that seem to always be getting worse.
@@americanwarfighter5885 Funny, Portland gives more money to the state. Worse, the homeless in Portland DO NOT move into the eastern part of the state..
We all know people create problems. I much prefer trees as neighbors.
I do love some peace and quiet.
Not enough though. The outdated 1 lane highways are totally clogged up literally at all times
As someone who lives in eastern Washington, thank you for acknowledging we exist. People don't seem to know that Washington is more than just the city of Seattle with its lush green forests. There's a whole other side to to this state, as well as Oregon.
Also, we grow more than just wheat and barley. We grow fruits such as apples, grapes (mostly for wine), and cherries. There's also farms that grow hops for, you know, beer lol. My grandpa's a horticulturist and has brought me to see these orchards growing up. And personally, I've seen more wine grape vineyards near where I live than I have wheat fields.
LOL! "Seattle with it's lush green forests"... um, when was the last time YOU went to Seattle?
@@beckyd712 eastern wa here, going up to the western side has forests along the highways.
As someone who recently moved to Portland, OR.. I found this video really interesting and insightful !.. It explains a lot of what I saw driving out here !. Great work!
You should do a video on why nobody lives here and why land prices are still astoundingly high.
For real. I've lived in eastern Washington my entire life. My parents moved over here from the west side because it was much cheaper. They bought a house in December of 99 for under 100k. That same house sold recently for over 400k. There may have been some minor updates, but when I drive by the house I can still see the same old pine board walls my dad put up 20 years ago. This is a 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom house by the way, built in the early 1900s. It's not a big, fancy house by any means.
@@Simple_City this is just insane...
@@AlexiosLair it's almost all people from the west side buying a second house to put in Airbnb. I absolutely love living here, but I can't afford it. I've had to move to the next town over to find a studio apartment that is under $1000 per month in rent. I don't ever plan on moving away from this area so I'm just kinda hoping the bubble bursts at some point and I'll be able to buy a house here.
@@Simple_City The bubble bursts, like after the storm knocks the trees down?
@@Simple_City No it's not people buying more Air BnB stuff. It's large organizations purchasing the land and housing so they can continue to drive up prices.
You missed the Tri-Cities Washington in your list of metro areas east of the Cascades. The Pasco/Kennewic/Richland metro area has 300,000 people located at the confluence of the Columbia and Snake Rivers making it triple the size of Bend Oregon.
And growing rapidly
He also left out the Yakima metro area, which is similar in size to Bend
We’re getting a chik fil a!
I was going to say he was probably taking about cities populations not areas but Seattle, in 2024, is close to 785,000 and he states the area is over 4 million. So, yes he's leaving out a lot. I live north of Spokane and the urban area consists of Spokane, Spokane Valley, Liberty Lake, Mead, Colbert, and also Post Falls and Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.
This was my comment as well. (I live in Richland.) Kennewick, Pasco, and Richland -known collectively together as the Tri-Cities-is the 4th largest metropolitan area in the state of Washington, and is about 5 times larger than Bend, OR!
I live in that area in a little town in the middle of nowhere that's an hour drive to reach another town - a 'big one' with 5,000 whole people in it.
I see deer and wild turkeys, one or the other or both, every day of the year just looking out the windows.
There's a ton of game in the hills.
I can drive 20 mins to a lake where I can catch my limit of trout.
A bit further, and people limit out around here on crappie, walleye, largemouth bass, shad, smallmouth bass, bluegill, yellow perch, and muskies, too, depending on where and when they fish.
Cold-ass winters, though.
Reaches negative teens or lower - and stays there - often.
Not for the feint of heart, winters here.
Shopping is difficult at times, too, and is extra expensive unless you drive 3 hours to a city or order online to be shipped.
Just the nearest Walmart is a fair bit over an hour away.
Grocery runs have to be planned, and because of gas prices, it's not really worth going unless you stock up. Gotta get a bunch of other shopping done, too, at the same time when you go to a Wal-Mart, since you only go every few weeks.
It's different, that's for sure.
But I've lived a lotta years off and on in giant cities, and except for some conveniences, there is nothing to recommend them over country life.
Thank you for this cool video! I'm glad to have seen this in my feed. :)
We grow food in those “relatively” empty areas…
You know the stuff you buy in the grocery store…
Wheat, garbanzo bean, apples, berries, hops, grapes for wine, potatoes, PINE lumber, Canola oil….
If I’m remembering correctly, he never said crops weren’t grown there. He said, naturally the land isn’t as fertile and requires artificial irrigation to grow crops
@@DestinyR7that's completely wrong. A majority of wheat farming is non irrigated.
As an Iowan, I know how you feel.
@@DestinyR7 Volcanic soil is plenty fertile, just add water.
Don’t forget about lentils and the National Lentil Festival!
I love living in the empty part. I live in close enough to stores and the city, but I’m also a 10 minute drive from rolling farm land and mountains and I love it.
Hell yeah! Gimme enough room to breathe free.
Which city? Do you get enough rain to garden?
Don't give it away!!!!
@@kurtdowney1489 I can't speak for the NE high desert areas around Oregon, but Eastern WA is where most of the states farmland is. It just has all the seasons, so snow is more likely in winter and summer can get in the hundreds. But, it isn't as drastic as East of the Rockies and NE Atlantic US.
@@bakerfresh I Flew and spent 2 weeks in Issaquah valley in Seattle for 2 weeks. Beautiful. Loaded up my brother and we drove back to Colorado there was a lot of open land out there.
As a resident of Central Washington, I can agree its barren. My city exists outside delivery areas(freight/tvs/furniture/etc) and they will come but it may take 1-2 months. Amazon is the only saving grace for items as my town resides on I90. The weather is all over the place, this winter was weak but normally we get the edge of the Dakotas cold front and tems can dip to the negatives(F). Summer, the dry climate averages it to 80-90F, sometimes 100-110. Rain, is nonexistent. Maybe 5 times a year normally(spring-fall), winter getting 2-12" of snow.
all the people have warts and no one should move here.
Great video. Thanks for sharing.
Fun fact next time you drink a American beer you have the PNW to thank. 9/10 hops grown in America come from this area.
Eastern WA, don't forget.
Also tons of breweries
@@MarcusBeecher Yakima county.
British Columbia also can be thanked. We here in Metro Vancouver take pride in that.
03/11/24: Barbara Stanwyck: "Hey, Hopsie!" (a reward ensues if you know what this means).
Believe me there is more than enough people living here.
There "are" more than enough, except English teachers! Cheers scribes. =)
I agree!
@@UncleJoeLITE no one cares about english teachers
créeme
Lol there is never enough people until you've lived in a major city
I *did NOT know that,* regarding the Tsawwassen Peninsula/Point Roberts!
Thank you!
I live in Hermiston Oregon it’s growing so much. It’s grown so much that rent has almost tripled in just 10 to 15 years. Then also on the Washington side which is only twenty minutes away that tower was small but it’s turning into a city fast that’s only two hour’s from tri-city’s so it’s growing faster then you think. The weather here has all four seasons. Actually hermiston has the watermelon patches, apple orchards corn and hops grow very well in tri-city’s. So it’s alot of farming with cows and chickens. So it’s really nice peaceful for the most part. Except the drug problem is really bad like everywhere else.
Hermiston watermelons are the best part of living in Oregon. From a native Portlander. 🙂
@@ktmggg 🍉 the best ever. There from a farm called The Washllys waterman so when you are eating A waterman try to eat one from that farm that’s the best watermelon 🍉 god bless you all
The risks of renting. It applies everywhere and anywhere.
The most lushest rainier Cherries 🍒 are grown in eastern Washington State 😋
I got a Rainier cherry tree this week but I’m in western Washington. We’ll see if east coast is better in a year or so 😜
Doesn't the name Rainierk refer to Mt Rainier?
There’s a huge cherry festival in Idaho also.
He seems to have forgotten the entire Yakima valley area where there's lots of agriculture. Also Washington State University is in Eastern Washington almost into Idaho and they have big agriculture stuff and so does University of Idaho just on the other side of the border.
Oh I don't know but I prefer Flathead Lake cherries in Montana a small area that produces a LOT of cherries. But it's because of a micro climate that will only benefit the trees on the lake side of the highway. And the time I was there there were no cherry trees on that other side of the highway at all. Anyone else ever notice that???
Grew up in this part of the country, family in Seattle + Portland. Live in Boise now. This region of the country is underrated and will be more massive one day. Let’s preserve the best parts as much as possible
OMG too true!
"This region of the country is underrated and will be more massive one day." You must be a recent transplant to make that statement. The Treasure Valley went MASSIVE 15 years ago and continues to get even MORE massive! "Seattle + Portland." It figures. YOU are part of the problem.
idaho is rated the safest area in NA when the apocalypse hits in couple years
Already running out if water. Urban sprawl and 0 public transit
Thanks Geography! Geoff is always so interesting, especially considering the history involved...
He does have to leave a lot out in order to keep his videos short.
The Tri Cities are growing like crazy, their growth rate is faster than the rest of the state. We lived in Kennewick when my son was born in Kadlec Hospital in Richland. My son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter now live in Wenatchee, I’m over in Port Orchard on the Kitsap peninsula. We need the agriculture in the eastern side of the Cascades. All the fruit around Wenatchee and Ellensburg, hops in Yakima, and wine grapes from Prosser to Walla Walla. As a matter of fact Washington is the #1 producer of apples, blueberries, hops, pears, spearmint oil and sweet cherries. The state is the #2 producer of apricots, asparagus, grapes, potatoes and raspberries in the U.S. Washington is the second-largest producer of wine in the United States, supporting 1,000 wineries. While the cool valleys of Western Washington are suitable for berries, flowers, poultry, nursery products and dairy cows. The warmer, drier climate, Eastern Washington is ideal for dairy farms, cattle ranching, wheat, fruits, vegetables and wine grapes. Per acre yields for commodities such as apples, potatoes and dryland wheat as well per cow milk production provides ample evidence of Washington’s leadership in U.S. agriculture and food production. I hope it stays “vacant” our agriculture is vital. Same for Oregon and Idaho, there’s a whole lot of food growing there!
Hello! I was raised in Port Orchard, WA. Hope you love it as I do. I still have many friends and family living there. I now live in Salem, OR. Beautiful here, too. I miss the salt air though. And my mountains. 😊
Howdy neighbor! I live near Long Lake. Eastern Washington is also where just about all of the Baby's Breath is grown and harvested.
@@karenscoville6307 wow! I had no idea our area grows that! I know there’s a commercial florist facility down Hwy 3 in Belfair so they’re probably a customer of the growers. I’m out in the McCormick Woods area.
As a Western Washington native I didn’t appreciate the Eastern portion appropriately when I was younger. 3 years in Spokane really did change my mind though. It’s beautiful and has it’s own strengths and while I appreciate it from afar again, I still love it in it’s own way.
Accurate and good post, I live 30 minutes from Richland myself and about to move towards Westport soon.
I don't know where you got that elevation for Mt. Rainier. It's 14,411', not 13,210'.
He used the prominence.
@@squirrelman1540. What does that mean? Rainier is 14,411 feet above sea level. Period.
@@surferdude44444 "Prominence" means above the general land level.
@@squirrelman1540 Which is about 36' higher than that. But he used elevation above sea level for Hood, which is just bad form. Don't mix your measuring methodologies.
Agreed, Either use 7,706 ft for Hood or use 14,411 ft for Rainier@@Fusako8
Another great video, Geoff !!
you’ve done a great job putting this together! Sub’d
Yakima’s crime is 87% higher than the national average. These people aren’t gonna tell you that crap I live here I know.
Yeah, but take away all the victims and suspects whose names end in the letter Z and you'd have a crime rate similar to Stepford.
@@bogleason8381 yeah but they’re not leaving so you can’t take it away. I grew up in Eastern Oregon around Walla Walla only on the Oregon side little town of Milton Freewater turn on the scanner for Yakima on any night of the week and you’ll just see the crime rate and the drug overdoses the car chases the robberies, etc.
That's probably true...I also live in Yakima. It has changed so much through the years.I'm 72 & have lived here most of my life.
63 year old citizen of the Yakima valley. I grew up in Naches, moved into Yakima for a few years and decided "screw this" and moved back to the upper valley. Drugs and gangs have ruined Yakima.
Grew up in Wapato, from 80 to '88.
My dad got me the hell outta there as I was headed hard and fast down the wrong path.
I turned 14 the day after I got to Ketchikan, Alaska in 1988.
The best thing my Dad ever did for me.
I believe I would be dead or in jail, if he didn't move us.
I love going over I-90..and love short visits to what is called, The Valley, but I also love e coming back, to nothing but tall green trees and the ocean at my feet. ( We live in Arlington)
I LOVE THE P.N.W! We are headed to ALKI BEACH in 30 minutes to enjoy early spring 70° weather 3-17-24
I grew up on a farm in South-Western Idaho. All the rain falls west of the Cascades, and the area east of the Cascades is dry as toast, all the way across Oregon and Idaho. Though it was indeed sparsely populated, that was part of its charm. It was a wonderful place to grow up. People who are used to lots of green don't see its beauty easily, but it is being able to see for fifty miles in any direction. However, unless you are running a thousand acres, it is hard to make a living farming. So though my family had three boys, none of us are farmers, and only one of seventeen cousins is still involved in farming in the area.
My family ancestors migrated to Montpelier ID and Salt Lake City. I was born in Pocatello while my dad went to ICU. Born 1963. The family's were in the trades, services, retail owners, and worked the railroad there. Mainly in Montpelier, which is east of you and close to WY. Dad's folks had the Three Sisters Motel. I grew up in Seattle but am now in Cle Elum right on the downslope of the east side of Snoqualmie Pass
Depends on what is being farmed. Vineyards in Eastern Washington produce some of the finest wines in North America.
You're exactly right, the PNW doesn't get much drier than in Central WA.
Yea I’d say the west side of the cascades is lush green and then 20-30 miles east it’s like bone dry.
Grew up in the midwest so used to green, trees, lakes. First time on the high pains was exquisite. Moved to Colo. 38 years ago and still think I still prefer eastern Colorado over the mountains. And the 360 horizon is the best feeling ever. Endless sky, incredible cloud formations, milky way at night. Drove through eastern Oregon years ago on the way to Calif. and have been wanting to go back ever since.
I live in Bend just moved here 3/4 years ago and it is absolutely bare compared to where i grew up (Oakland ,CA) but it growing very fast as the video explains but our winters our rough and rhe summers are definitely drier than i thought . Thank you for your knowledge and time love the content
I live in a small town on the Oregon coast but I’ve always wanted to visit Bend and maybe live there one day. What’s it like?
The Spokane Metropolitan Area including nearby North Idaho is around 750,000, people. Far from being uninhabited.
Second-largest after the Cascadia megalopolis, and the reason we used to be a swing state until the Seattle area (where I live) snowballed in the early 2010s.
Fr this guy is dumb asf video for views
When you drive over the pass from east to west, or vice versa it's like somebody drew a line, you can literally tell which side of the mountain you're on just by the vegetation. It's crazy. And the
I agree! When you cross through the Cascades East to West, you go from high desert to pretty lush vegetation is a pretty quick transition, over a relatively short distance.
I live in the Columbia River Gorge, separating Oregon from Washington and the west side of the Cascades from the East side. It’s a very rapid change in climates in such a short distance. 80 year-round waterfalls on the Oregon side of the river alone. Tall grass savannas covered with wildflowers on the East side.
bro posted mid sentence
Sisters, Oregon you're at the edge of the high desert; by the time you reach Marion Forks, you're in a lush evergreen rainforest.
Yes, that is why most of us who live on the west side don't call anything east of the mountains "pacific NW". It is just NW.
You forgot to mention the thick forest also attracts Sasquatch and people looking for him.
The Abominables
Sasquatch has a vacation cave in eastern Oregon.
It is worth noting that eastern Washington and Oregon don't really have thick forest, it is high desert.
@@duanedodson1 we have Malheur national forest in eastern Oregon.
A good amount of forest around Spokane
Great videos!
Great video, Geoff! I really enjoyed learning more about the history of this region.
Yes but not all accurate.
I live in eastern idaho. It was so interesting to deive theough oregon and go the coast, very, very different. In eastern idaho in june it was 100 degrees, but when i got to brookings Oregon, it was the most rain ive ever seen in my life (loved seeing so much rain!!!) and it was cold. The warmest it got was 68° and i didn't care, i was going in that Ocean. It was wonderful visiting that area.
In idaho, we have soooo many areas that are incredible to see as well. I can drive 30 minutes west and reach the craters the moon and many caves, or 30 minutes west and be in the forest looking at moose picking huckleberries. I van drive 30 minutes south and reach a reservation and casino, or north about an hour and a half and be in yellowstone national park seeing wolves and grizzly bears. This summer i plan on taking the kids to challis and panning for gold. Oh yeah you cant forget all the gemstones.
Kristina, please keep this all to yourself! The LAST thing we need is more "advertising".
im convinced and moving there soon
We are snowbirds from B.C. Canada. This area is our drive zone to and from SouCal every fall and spring. We love the solitude and lack of traffic. The stark majesty of the eastern Cascades and Sierras is in our blood as is the Rockies at home. I would not have it any other way.
Watching this in Coeur d'Alene right meow, and have been in the inland Northwest from Colville, to Leavenworth/Wenatchee/Chelan, to Omak, Spokane, and CDA since 2014, it is quite beautiful. I have even worked at Sun Lakes-Dry Falls state Park. I was raised in Western Washington (Chehalis, Bellingham), which is as/more beautiful that eastern WA, but eastern WA gets much more sunshine overall
East of the Cascades, there are only two metro areas with ample population: Boise (800K) and Spokane (600K).
I support merging Idaho, and OR-WA east of the Cascades, into a new state.
There’s a great book called “The Nine Nations of North America” that describes it as part of “The Empty Quarter”. Interestingly Western Washington is part of the nation of Ecotopia which has part of Oregon and California as well but Eastern Washington is part of the same nation as Wyoming and Idaho.
Its not really accurate, the leftist ecotopia does not culturally go beyond Seattle/Puget Sound area and the Portland area, for example go 45 minutes South of Portland or less and you are in deep red rodeo and logging country, could not be culturally any different from Portland or Seattle, it culturally is just the same as Eastern Oregon and Washington, that is why SW Oregon actually started the join Idaho movement.
Yep, that book is a classic and a must-read for any geography nerd.
Bought and read that book shortly after it came out. Still sitting prominently in one of my upstairs book shelves. How did forty years go by so fast? Thanks.
I read and kept that book years ago. Very descriptive of regions.
If it were The Thirteen Nations of North America itd be a rip-off of The Hunger Games
I grew up in Eastern Washington, within walking distance to Oregon, but now live in Western Washington. Many people here in Western WA have no idea that on the other side of the mountains they see every day is a massive desert.
Good, let's keep it that way, we don't need crazy liberals in Eastern washington.
I hope they don’t get curious about it.
If you drive highway 2 from the from the west side to the east side, there is a mountain face at which you can see where the lush greenery of the west side ends and the dry eastern side begins.
It’s not a massive desert and people do know that Eastern Washington is a different climate from Western Washington.
desert
des·ert ˈde-zərt
1
: arid land with usually sparse vegetation
especially : such land having a very warm climate and receiving less than 25 centimeters (10 inches) of sporadic rainfall annually
2
: an area of water apparently devoid of life
3
: a desolate or forbidding
@vlad Yes. Agree. I only knew the side west of the Cascades and thought all of Washington was like that. I was shocked when we decided to drive up Eastern Washington and when we drove it was all desert for hours. Yes, a big desert.
Interesting channel. Subbed.
I liked your video. One correction: when you showed the elevations of Mt Rainier and Mt Hood you actually showed the prominence of Rainier. The actual elevation is 14,411 ft. Good job on the rest of it.
I lived on the east side of Oregon (LaGrande and Baker City) from 1977 until 2010. Had my career with Oregon State Parks there raised my kids there. It was lovely, uncrowded and peaceful. I miss those days. Everyone thinks Oregon is rainy all over....so not true!
the part of oregon i live in it is like a dessert and sage brush is around
Thank you for working for Oregon State Park. Fort Steven is my favorite and I camp and live in Washington. The way Oregon does their site hook up even for Tent spots is better than Washington State Parks.
If you eat onions on a subway sandwich anywhere in the US you can thank north east Oregon
If you eat jalapenos on a subway sandwich anywhere in the US you can thank SW New Mexico
Fascinating!!
A resident of Seattle here. It's so crazy how different the state is when you go east of the cascades. Tri cities are a second home for me.
I live in the empty Inland Pacific Northwest.
Me too I think it's wonderful and I love it.
Eastern Oregon is where I live. I wouldn't live anywhere else.
Spokanistan.
The civilized part? 🤩
Howdy, neighbor.
Living in boise I can tell you it sure doesn't feel empty with all these darn Californians moving in
900k people in the treasure valley now...
@@208flatheads3and yet we still don't have an IKEA😂😩
@@westie430 least of my worries lol I just wanna be able buy a small home that isn't 400k+
@@208flatheads3 well yes, I was just making a funny, but hopefully this bubble bursts soon, it's getting ridiculous.
@@westie430 It won't burst. They will lower interest rates to prop up values the moment demand starts to drop.
WHERE is 6:50 at? The river circling the mountain looks really cool!
There is a half mile from my place (north of seattle) is an erratic rock as big as a house from 12,000 13,000 BC. You go into a sleepy neighborhood and down the one street where there would be a house is a little park with this huge rock as big as a house lol
Thank you for covering "my" area! We like having 4 seasons and little humidity and no traffic jams. One major industry you missed is power production. We have all the dams, many wind farms, and at least one reactor and export power to everyone West of the Cascades and some of California.
Good point @tomLentz but old Joe and Patty Murray want to take out the dams on the lower Snake river. Then with that much less power to put on the grid, maybe less to go to Cali and the west side????? No more barge traffic for shipping grain from Lewiston on down. Think about how many more trucks that will put on the road. You''re right about four seasons too. Love em.
@@jerrytalley337 No problem, we just unplug Olympia first 😀
Excellent video. I want to travel that entire section of this country. Great info.
Wooo! Finally my "empty" area gets reviewed!
It's pretty nice
There seems to be a lot of us in the comment section.
It’s strikingly beautiful! You’re lucky to live there! Visited so many times and love the natural beauty. ❤❤❤
That's not a good thing.
Now the California liberals in Seattle will be buying the acreage and druving up home prices.
When Covid hit we here in Whatcom county had to bring supplies via boat to point Roberts.
I live right on the Eastern edge of the Cascades on the Columbia River in Oregon and I love it here, I don't have to deal with the hustle and bustle of the looney left
Why are you complaining in eastern wa i see trump posters and (sometimes confederate flags) everywhere. A lotta rednecks too
One of the wierdest things is going accross I90 and going through super dry eastern WA, then as soon as you enter Idaho, everything is green again.
Depends on where in ID. Southern ID is still arid steppe scrubland
Spokane is in Idaho?
@@bdoug5316 Spokane is more dry than CDA.
No@@bdoug5316
@@bdoug5316 I'm glad you said this. It's beautiful here 😍 🌲🌲🌲
I'm one of the people living in the eastern pacific northwest. I would like to add that the magic valley in Idaho is actually very fertile land, due to an ancient volcanic eruption. however you are right about it needing extensive hydro-engineering in order for it to thrive. that's why they call it the magic valley, because all you have to do is add water for it to be nice. we mostly get this water from snow melt in the east.
Ya it's a shame he didn't talk about the treasure and magic valley. If there is anything I know about idaho it's farms in the south and beautiful mountains in the north. The scenery is great north of the snake River hell even some celebrities have property in places like sun valley, but great airible land in the south with a little bit of coercion but they arn't the number one potatoe producing state for no reason.
My granny on Mom's side settled in Burley, ID. I think it's Magic Valley on the Snake River. She transfered there from Montpelier with her State Liquor Store operator position. We visited in summer but I was there in one winter around 1982 for Xmas and it was 20 below. Dangerous cold.
And all they grow is potatoes 🥔. Which, don’t get me wrong, I’m a total potato slut, but Idaho is mainly known for potatoes. I’d know because I literally have a bag of Idaho made potatoes in my kitchen.
@@gregpendrey6711
ein Beitrag des Mittwoches, 6. März 2024
Hello from Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of the Federal Republic of Germany!
I have seen that there is a living former Gouverneur of Idaho, named Leroy Otter (R; * 3th May 1942).
He used the maximum term limit of 12 years; i. e. 3 phases of 4 years each.
There are the Cascadia Indepedence Movement and the Greater Idaho Movement.
Whole US states compared, Idaho is the stronghold of the Republican Party, US wide.
No one of the, de facto, 45 US Presidents so far resided in at least WA; OR; ID; WY; NV; WI; ND!
Usually German is the no. 1 ancestral background in these states, with pluarilities!
12 presidents (~ 27 %) of the US Presidents, were born in October (6) and November (6).
What do you exactly mean with "20 below"?
-20 °C = -6 °F or - 20 °F ~ - 28 °C
Mount Rainier: 4 392 meters = 14 411 feet
Mount Hood: 3 428 meters = 11 249 feet
Plus rivers and dams...❤
I've passed through, visited and spent some time around these parts. One thing that struck me last time I was out there was how inaccessible the mountainous southern part of Oregon could be.
Something worth mentioning is how cold eaat of the cascades gets. I had to go to Boise a few times for work and during the winter. Its really cold comparatively speaking to the western half and gets really hot in the summer. From troutdale,OR to The Dallas,OR is only 1hr 15min from eachother, but the difference in weather is crazy. If its 80° in troutdale, on average it will be 10-15° warmer on the other side of the cascades.
I had a nice holiday in E Washington a few years ago, where I visited a couple of remarkable effects of the great Missoula Floods.
• Dry Falls
The largest known waterfall in the world, dry now-Wiki says "estimated that the falls were five times the width of Niagara Falls, with ten times the flow of all the current rivers in the world combined".
• Soap Lake
Small lake nearby which has "the highest diverse mineral content of any body of water on the planet".
We stayed at Soap Lake, saved big on shampoo etc ;)
The Columbia Basin is amazing, can't wait to go back and spend a week there this summer.
Please don't move to the empty side. Visit, but don't stay.
It’s my American right to move there. Hehehehe
Oh trust me, I won't. Don't like being told liberals aren't welcome.
The problem is, they visit and then they want to stay. And then they tell all their friends back home. And it goes on & on...😢
@@westie430 Right? My family visited and was like, "Desert better than mountains, no weed better than weed, no reproductive healthcare better than access, half minimum wage better than what we currently make."
I was like...alright but I'm gonna stay next to the volcanoes.
@@pdxcorgidad you can keep your volcanos😂
Desert is beautiful in its own way, and OR & WA have desert too.
Where I am in Idaho I can drive an hour and get weed, soo
No reproductive healthcare? You mean I can't kill my baby? Wah.
And money ain't everything, dear. Our cost of living is lower than Portland/Seattle so it's all relative. Sometimes people weigh their options and find it's better to take a pay cut to live in a better place.
Nice/love it TY TY
That sign at the end warning about Illegally crossing into the US really gave me a good chuckle.
I've lived in Idaho for almost 30 years and here me when I say this, we are over capacity do not move here our little towns weren't made for traffic jams and the prices have raised so much we can't afford crap
So ya finally done got "Californicated"... 🤣
Yeah take them back
Sorry but it's going to get worse. As people breed multiple litters despite the lack of wages keeping up with inflation. They get priced out of their current living conditions. Moving to a "cheaper" area is the only alternative for their family of 7. Next thing you know the next person is doing the same thing and so on. It will happen. Only thing I can say is enjoy your quiet time while it lasts. Soon everything will be "Californicated." I've seen it happen in a small town I lived in less than 20 years it's boomed dramatically. I'm moving because of that reason.
@@grimsonforce7504 Where are you moving to?
I've lived in southern Idaho for 25 years. The farmland is going the way of housing developments amazingly fast, and they're coming from all over. I have neighbors relocated from Cali, Arizona, and Nevada. All nice people, thankfully.
I live in a city called Wenatchee, it's directly east of Seattle, only 100 miles east by air. It sits between the Columbia plateau and the east side of the cascade range. We usually have about give or take 250 sunny days a year and experience usually a high of 100's in summer and lows of 20's in winter. Usually about 3x the snowfall than rain each here. It is quite drastic how differently you can change in the biome in just a 2 hour drive. The climate itself is not the only thing different but the way of lifestyle is incredibly different, especially the politics. People often describe the east side as "10 years behind" the west side.
Not mentioned in this video is also how often it's brought up that eastern Washington and eastern Oregon want to succeed to Idaho. Not saying im in favor of it but it's an interesting thing to look into.
Also something not mentioned in this video (maybe I didnt catch it) is how a large amount of Eastern Washington was part of pyroclastic flows, that's why you see the huge basalt walls along the coulees where the floods went through. Think of something similar to Devil's Tower. This fortunately created one of the top outdoor music venues in the world, often compared to Red Rock Amphitheater outside of Denver. The Gorge just off the interstate between Seattle and Spokane, it's awesome because of how the sound reverberates off of the walls of the basalt cliffs.
And another fun fact, near where the Grand Coulee Dam was built, there's a place called Dry Falls, about 20 miles downstream from it. It used to carry the old flow of the Columbia River during the Missoula Floods. It is believed that it was 10x as powerful as the Niagara Falls.
Great video! Thanks for making this video.
Wenatchee is my birthplace
@@RyansuBike I'm sorry
Since the 2013 property tax equalization, resulting in western Washington property taxes subsidizing eastern Washington schools, western Washington would like to give eastern Washington to Idaho also.
@seanmcdirmid for real. Idaho is not doing well for most people except retirees at this point. Coeur d'Alene is looking to close schools, despite increasing population because retirees don't want to pay an extra 30 bucks a year on their property taxes. Just even crossing the idaho-washington border, there is a very noticeable quality difference in infrastructure...
@@seanmcdirmid They are just upset they don't have as many skinhead camps as Idaho and want to join them.
I live at the edge of the federally protected Badlands Wilderness, an ancient shield volcano east of Bend.
A unique area many people aren't even aware of.
Great video. Check the Mount Rainier height.
I wouldn't exactly call it "nobody"; it is still more than Alaska, Montana, and New Mexico combined.
I stayed in Seattle for almost a week for me friends wedding, then went and visited my brother going to WSU in Pullman, completely different landscapes. Pretty cool considering I am a desert dweller from Phoenix
GO COUGS
Those are wheat fields not sand and clay 😂
@@bdoug5316 Eastern WA is high desert.
I grew up in Eugene... in the Willamette Valley. It is definitely getting hotter!
Bend is growing like crazy and the housing market has gone totally nuts!!!
Speaking of the timber.. seen fresh a log round off highway 20 nortg skagit county, Wa thing was dumped because it was to large to carry.. it was 7 to 8 feet across. We have begun to cut the old growth again and its a sign of desperation.
I'm from Yakima and Spokane. You forgot to mention Yakima Valley 200k plus people. TriCities, Wa 200k plus people. Also, Mt. Rainer is 3rd tallest Mt. in the contiguous 48 states at 14,400 ft. Not 13k ft. Also, Eastern Washington has 4 seasons, not just dry and humid. We get tons of snow and rain in its respected seasons. But yes, about 80% of people live in Western Washington appose to Eastern Washington.
I live in the Columbia Basin and it's great. I used to live in Seattle and it's nice here. Yeah, we don't have all of the amenities of the West side, the West side is still there. We went to Seattle to see The Temptations last month and everything was crowded and expensive (I lived there in the 70s and 80s). Parking, ish. I went to the Toyota Center in Kennewick to see Dwight Yoakum and the Mavericks...parking was free and traffic was just fine.
That said, do no spread the word.
👍
I agree. Do not spread the word is spot-on. I am a native of 80 years and it was a wonderful place until all the people came and ruined it. Five acre farms and fences...yuck. By the way, taken in whole, the Tri Cities is close to 400,000 souls.
@@gregswank547 When they said Bend was the only large population center outside Spokane and Boise, I remembered the 2020 census for Benton and Franklin counties - 301,000. I think he’s working off some ski-tourist propaganda…
The Temptaions were just at Legends casino,(Toppinish) a couple of weeks ago. Too bad you weren't able to see them play there, as it would of been probably closer to your home, & hotels are probably much cheaper.
Crime around Seattle is crazy. Lots of shootings.
This was a very interesting video,, Pertaining the PNW.
I'm currently a resident in WA...though I'm originally from Hawaii the island of Oahu.
And, I was really wondering how the PNW, was formed. And this video gave me some understanding of the PNW.
Mahalo Nui Loa for sharing this information.
Jordan Valley Oregon is in in this "uninhabited" region lol! My step dad moved us there when he got a job at the silver mine. This was 1976-1978.
I live in Spokane! The graphic shows the Missoula flood occurred to far West. Glacial lake Missoula was contained in the mountains of western Montana. The city of Sandpoint, ID is where the ice damn broke and the apocalyptic flooding began. I’ve been casually researching this subject for about 25 years.
This is true, I live in eastern Washington as well and have found that to be a fact just by exploring where I live and also have gone on a trip to glacier national park where lots of flooding damage is. There are mountains not even 5 miles from where I live and we're formed by the floods, many wavy looks rolling hills as well that look like ripples formed by water. It's glaringly obvious that there were vast amounts of water that went through Washington Idaho and Montana
When pointing out metro regions in the east, you missed Tri-Cities, WA with a metro pop of >350,000 I think
I've lived in Pasco, WA for most of my life and will say the Tri-Cities is MUCH larger than Bend as we are intertwined so much that we look at ourselves as one (especially with our economical impact) our immediate metro area is around 300k depending what small towns get tacked onto the total... Check out Hanford Nuclear Site (part of the Manhattan project) on how we came to be if anyone reading this comment is interested
I live in the tri cities but like there’s not shit here
Youngsville, Louisiana (Acadiana)
Have followed your since 2020
Fascinating as usual - great job Geoff!
Thanks Geoff. I really enjoy your videos. They're equally educational and entertaining.
I've driven all over the West Coast. The drive from the Sierra Nevada's tahoe to Idaho is one of the most beautifu
I love the geography of this area. Omg I drove trucks through here for years.
As a resident of Vancouver, Wa (born in Portland). I found this very interesting! In all my 70 years, I never heard of Point Roberts ! I showed this to my English husband and HE knew about it!!
You and your husband should take a trip to ( Neah Bay) Indian reservation. There is a short walk to view of ( Tatoosh Island) once a manned Lighthouse. Now a wildlife preserve is the furthest point of land NW in the US. Port Townsend has a great History and goes to visit Fort Warden. These Military Bases were to block the entrance to the Staites of enemy
Huge cement bunker for shooting cannon across the wide straits.
@@rp1645 I have been to Neah Bay, but was not impressed. Lots of cold wind and that's about it. Port Townsend, on the other hand, is awesome (and much less rainy).
@@Comm.DavidPorter
all I was trying to say is for the commenter to check out the furthest point NW in the US, you are correct My friend.
The town is very poor, just lots of sports and some Indian comm. Fishing vessel. A CG base.
The background history on Port Townsend is interesting, as it would have been a major player in the industry but RR never went past
Seattle. Fort Warden is very scary in those cement bunkers under those huge cannon mounts. One of my sisters got married in the church on base as it is now a State Park. The downtown of PT is neat to walk and look at those original builds from yesterday. I used to spend summer going 35 miles north from the North end of the Hood Canal to do clothing washes and load up on the grocery. My Parents were teachers so we spent summer on the hood Canal
Loved watching the Navy test underwater weapons systems and test new sonar and listening devices under development. Lots of 1970s era Navy ships would run range bearing confirmation, to test their gear on the ships. The whole North end of Hood Canal was a 3-D underwater Range. It all changed, when Trident Sub Base Banger was built.
I live in Washington and I don’t like how everyone practically lives on the I5 corridor. So much traffic.
I have traveled through Eastern Oregon, way out into Burns and John Day. It is a very desolate, empty place, but beautiful.
I moved to Spokane Washington three years ago and videos like this always make me curious as to why it's always only Western Washington and Eastern Washington. Spokane is close enough to the Selkirk range in the Rocky Mountains to start receiving decent precipitation from orographic uplift which makes it much greener than central Washington with the channeled scab lands and Palouse areas. It's almost three distinct ecosystems. There are many mountains along the northern part of Washington that have a vastly different ecosystem from the central portions as well. I feel like most people just think everything East of the cascades is a dry wasteland (albeit a geographically diverse, fascinating and ruggedly gorgeous wasteland) and forget that a large portion of the area is actually beautiful.
Spokane is great! I guess “dry” is only in direct comparison. There are tons of lakes and ski resorts around here. Though I do jump over to ID for gas prices….
Born in Spokane at Deaconess many moons ago but have lived on the west side in Seattle metro area since about 1 year old. Always loved going back to visit the relatives in Spokane though. Still remember riding my cousins horses up on Mt Spokane many times.
Answer, Rain shadow. East of the Cascades is a desert.
You mean there's actually sunshine???🤣
Eastern Washington receives enough natural rain to support HUGE dry land wheat farms. Practically the whole eastern side of the state. Not a desert by any stretch of the imagination! I grew up there. These are the facts.
I grew up in the Channeled Scablands (near Connell and Othello, WA). I would add that in much of Eastern Washington, due to the Missoula Floods, that where there water, there isn't a lot of soil (the Columbia, Snake, and Palouse rivers flow through rocky canyons for much of their length), and where there is soil (the Palouse and in-between the channels of the channeled scablands) there often isn't (or wasn't) a lot of water (less than 10 inches of rain annually where I grew up). If you don't have water for irrigation, you need a lot of acreage for farming to be profitable. So it wasn't until after the Columbia Basin Irrigation Project that smaller farms became viable and population ticked up, but it's still predominantly agricultural, which limits density.
Excellent video! One nitpick: you keep calling the area east of the Cascades the “Eastern Pacific Northwest,” but everyone here calls it the “Inland Northwest”
On another note, the far SE corner of Oregon is the least populated space in the lower 48. Small towns might have a population of 5 like Diamond OR, French Glen population 12 and Fields, the southern hub of the Steens Mountain range with a whopping 120 souls! Unincorporated communities are scattered (widely) and have perhaps one or two cattle ranches. To some alive today and a few locals this space is known as The Big Empty. I once met a cowboy who told me he and his friends used to ride into Nevada for fun and traveled for 3 days without ever seeing a fence. Even today the sheer space and lack of humans makes this a getaway you would never regret.
I love all those towns!! Along with Denio, Nv and their black opal fields. Goooood people out that-a-way.
Actually my wife checked that the actual town of Feilds, OR not the surrounding/incorporated area was population 8 in 2018. We love that area and the people are truly the salt of the earth. Love Denio as well. And nothing like getting caught going to Diamond during a cattle drive! so many beautiful places in the Big Empty! My wife's heart home....
Shhhhh, don't let the secret out some of us love these little communities just as they are.
Spend some time out that way every year camping and bouncing from hot spring to hot spring after wrapping up hunting season. Unfortunately for those that know these landscapes out that way, the current land acquisition and push for two separate mines in the area (which will be the largest out west by far if completed) have the potential to completely change this area (lithium and uranium are in abundance throughout the geographic region). Good people out there, lovely scenery, amazing milkyway and star gazing with winter nights often giving way for the northern aurora borealis... as a native Oregonian I would sell Portland to the highest bidder if allowed. We can keep Eugene and Ashland I suppose but they better shape up or be prepared to ship out as well.
Malheur Wildlife Refuge is the best birding place in the spring,near Burns OR. The Bundy takeover screwed it up for a couple of years but it’s back now. From white-face ibises to burrowing owls, it’s the best!
Fantastic night sky in SE Oregon. Just last week designated a Dark Sky Sanctuary.
As empty as that area is, you still can't afford to buy a house there.
Not even close to true
Living in the bay area for 38 years, and now a Spokane Valley resident has been a blessing. Better life up here.
Enjoy your well deserved retirement. CA afforded me a very productive (and lucrative) career, but I’ve retired back home in OR. I could never have done as well had I stayed home and not went where the good jobs were.
Wild. I didn't know I didn't live where I do.
Hello my fellow PNW brother and sisters! - from Victoria, Vancouver Island
Now I'm envious!
Hello back!