01-01-2007, 11:46 AM
Fishboy - if you don't like the cooler/wetter PacNW climate (I lived there for many decades and grew tired of it - yes we rusted not tanned in the summer), you might want to avoid buying in the higher elevations here. I babysat a friends house in Oct/Nov 2005 located near Volcano at about 3,000' as I recall. I was miserable a lot of the time. Too much like PacNW for my taste. Even with a small wood stove.
But it is all a matter of personal taste. One possible downside to lower Puna areas is a bit more rain, higher humidity, higher density, more commercial. The tradeoff was easy for me and I bought at about the 500' elevation. I can appreciate that when it is sunny and humid where I am, it must be more comfortable up there. But when it is rainy and a bit cool here, I think of what it would be like up there and I know it was the right choice for me.
But it is all a matter of personal taste. One possible downside to lower Puna areas is a bit more rain, higher humidity, higher density, more commercial. The tradeoff was easy for me and I bought at about the 500' elevation. I can appreciate that when it is sunny and humid where I am, it must be more comfortable up there. But when it is rainy and a bit cool here, I think of what it would be like up there and I know it was the right choice for me.