I live in Eastern WA. We moved here from Southern CA 5 years ago after I retired. My husband was raised in the Yakima Valley. Me, I was born and raised in Southern CA but had no desire to stay after I retired. I'm fond of saying that Western WA (Seattle, which is where I met my husband) is the swamp, Eastern WA (Yakima, Spokane) is the dust bowl. It is agricultural here, air quality is excellent, winters are cold, summers are hot, humidity is low. There's lots to like, and lots to not like, just like anyplace else. My husband and I both have pensions and WA has no state income tax so our pensions are not taxed, but we still have to pay federal taxes. We have no tax on food in Yakima. Our populations is around 100,000. Traffic here is negligible compared to Seattle. There are a lot of small towns on both sides of the mountains that would merit consideration if you are looking for that small town feel.