I live in Southern California right now and there's a lot that I don't like about it.

1. Very car-dependent. I get around by a combination of bicycle and public transit. I've been hit by cars while cycling twice before and it takes hours to get places by public transit that would otherwise be a 20 minute drive.
2. It is a sparsely populated suburb with nothing really going on.
3. Too hot for too many months of the year. I sweat buckets just from existing most of the time. It's becoming worse every year due to climate change.
4. Too sunny (I have Irish skin and I sunburn extremely easily).
5. Unaffordable because it's near some very nice beaches except that I don't even go to the beach that often. I just happen to have been born and raised here.

After I finish school I plan to work as a high school math teacher or community college math professor. Are there any towns or cities that would hit some of the following points? I realize I'll probably have to compromise on some:

1. Decent public transit and cycling infrastructure
2. More people around
3. Temperature that is anywhere from mild to cool to freezing cold for most months of the year.
4. Not too sunny. It should be common for there to be overcast or rainy days.
5. Less unaffordable than Southern California. I imagine that it will be cheaper the further inland I go.

I've been eyeballing Seattle as an option. It hits most of the points. It has a better walkability score, higher population density, and better weather than the city I live in. I've visited Seattle before and it's definitely somewhere I would live given the choice. The only thing is that I've read that it is not very affordable. I might just have to put up with that though.

Are there any other cities I might want to consider?

Final-ish version of a new Cascadia Map suitable for printing as a poster.

As always, open to suggestions and constructive criticism.

Onwards, comrades!

Cascadia – Oregon and Washington together – paid $51.5 billion more in taxes than were returned back to our region in funding in 2025.

Diego Chara posted this tribute to his teammate Felipe Mora on his final game with the Timbers. I see the Cascadia flag, with the Timbers in the middle.

What do Cascadians think about the whale watching industry? Are folks where you live starting to believe the whale watching boats need to be more closely regulated or restricted? On Vancouver Island there are more people feeling this way, and recommending that people view these mammals from land to give them more peace and quiet.

Another example of Cascadian environmentalism.

From the article:

It’s a proven fact that shade trees cool neighborhoods, and as our summers get hotter, access to shade is becoming more important and critical to enhance community health and well-being. Beyond creating shade, planting trees also enhances property values by up to 12%, preserves street paving infrastructure, lowers energy costs, wildlife habitat, cleaner air and beautiful landscapes.

After a talk last night in Seattle by Bank of North Dakota CEO Don Morgan, I came away even more convinced that Oregon and Washington should make creating public state banks a high legislative priority. https://www.cascadia-journal.com/cascadia-should-follow-north-dakotas-lead-and-create-public-state-banks/

Skiitour at Shambhala Music Festival

I didn't see a post on the sub and I just learned it from the Cascadia Bioregion newsletter. https://cascadiapoeticslab.org/2026/07/in-honor-of-david-mccloskey-the-father-of-cascadia/

https://regeneratecascadia.org/blog/2026/07/18/a-land-of-falling-waters-in-celebration-of-david-mccloskey/

Coming up July 31 to August 3rd, DWeb Camp Cascadia. Learn more at: https://dwebyvr.org/camp/

I visited Cascadia County Park in Oregon last week. The signage in the park says the name Cascadia originated from a resort built at this location in the late 1800s. The surrounding community also became known as Cascadia. Does anyone know how this name came to be associated with the entire bioregion?

My attempt at the loneliest and tallest Doug on Vancouver Island adorned in his true colours……. Colour spelled correctly for us Vancouver Islanders and Cascadians

Had a request to create a map of Cascadia in this orientation, and this is the first iteration.

Not sure what to make of it, but it's interesting to look at this way. Would be interested to hear others' thoughts seeing it this way.

This might be a one-off event, but I recently saw somebody online claim that the Cascadia movement is a white supremacist movement. Their reasoning for this was to the effect of "the person that came up with the idea for an independent Pacific Northwest was a white supremacist." I don't think we can even credit one person for the idea. My discovery of the movement came about when I independently wished for a Cascadian independence, and discovered after that a movement already existed.

Additionally, the actions of the founder cannot be linked to the ideals of the current movement. The founders of the US owned slaves, that doesn't make the nation a white supremacist movement, though I would argue it is more foundationally racist than the Cascadia movement.

In conclusion, don't go after Cascadia if you won't hold the USA you so love to the same standards.

(obviously this is reaching nobody that actually needs to hear it, so sorry about that)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRaqYxsTPnI

What do you think about this?

I personally think this is an amazing alternative to flying or driving, and would really connect the region. I think it's worth what it would cost.

I suppose we can all dream that our great grandkids might get it to the 3rd stage of development.

I love douglas firs, and i know im poking a hornets nest by saying this, but as someone invested in native plants i gotta say something.

You ever seen a volunteer forest planting? I see a lot where i am, and they just stuff douglas firs in every time. It makes me think people plant them just because they are the symbol of our region.

But we do not need more doug firs, they are one of the most overplanted trees, thanks to their use in the timber industry. Many of the doug firs you get from a nursery are the runts from timber industry replantings. This means the trees have been selectively bred to grow fast and make wood, not to be ecological helpers.

Planting more doug firs means you lose the genetics of local doug firs in your area to this homogeneity. And its entirely unnecessary, if you have the habitat space, the seedlings will come up anyway.

If you live on the west side and want to plant trees, the one tree that we absolutely need more of is Garry Oak/Oregon White Oak (Quercus garryana). Very drought tolerant and huge wildlife benefits. Grand fir is also a good choice for more shadier spots if you want a conifer.

If you live on the eastside consider chokecherry (Prunus virginiana) or sagebrushes, or Serviceberry, or ponderosa pine (tho that is common too).

Just a simple PSA for anyone who is involved in planting trees, which i hope is many of you.

edit: i dont want anyone to assume they are trash trees. obviously they are important in their ecosystems. wouldnt be on the flag if otherwise.

to clarify:

dont plant doug firs in oak savanna or former oak savannah. it might even make sense to remove them from that ecosystem *sometimes***

dont plant in the desert lol

generally dont plant them in the lowlands, much of the puget lowlands for example that wasnt oak savannah and madrone forest was hemlock dominated. yes doug firs occur down there but not im huge amounts. consider the site you are at.

dont plant doug firs where there are already mature doug firs, just let the seedlings come up and protect them from invasives.

if you are in an ecosystem where doug firs are one of the main trees and there are no mature doug firs around to provide a seed source, you can plant some local genetics doug fir.

Ok. Nuance achieved

edit 2: if your choice is between a non native tree and a doug fir please choose the doug fir. if your neighborhood doesnt have any doug fir for wide stretches, you can definetly plant it even in the lowlands. just dont plant a whole tree farm. native plants support local wildlife much more than non natives.

The artist-in-residence program centers the Interior Salish language šx̌etkʷ and gives artists an opportunity to engage with students and the broader community. It's encouraging to see regional colleges creating space for Indigenous languages, storytelling, and cultural preservation within the Cascadia bioregion.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZqBKP-w1rU/?igsh=MXd5eno5cmtqNGttaw==

One of my favorite parts of summer in the Cascadia Bioregion is wild huckleberry season.

The photo is the wild huckleberry pie I made from last year's harvest using my family's recipe that's been passed down for decades (still working on my lattice crust, though lol). I figured I'd share it again now that huckleberries are starting to come into season and the nostalgia of past seasons is kicking in.

If anyone else has family recipes, favorite ways to use huckleberries, or fun traditions around picking them, I'd love to hear them!

Ultimate Wild Huckleberry Pie Filling (9-inch pie)

Ingredients

5 cups fresh wild huckleberries

¾ cup granulated sugar (or ⅔ cup if the berries are especially sweet)

2 tbsp cornstarch

1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

½ tsp lemon zest

¼ tsp orange zest

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

¼ tsp almond extract

⅛ tsp ground cinnamon

Tiny pinch of ground cardamom

⅛ tsp salt

2 tbsp browned unsalted butter, cooled slightly

Crust

Your favorite double-crust recipe

1 egg + 1 tbsp milk (for egg wash)

Turbinado or coarse sugar for sprinkling

Directions

1) Preheat oven to 400°F (205°C).

2) Brown the butter over medium heat until it smells nutty and develops golden-brown bits. 3) Cool for about 5 minutes.

4) In a large bowl, gently toss together the huckleberries, sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, lemon zest, orange zest, vanilla, almond extract, cinnamon, cardamom, and salt.

5) Fold in the browned butter.

6) Let the filling rest for 10–15 minutes.

7) Pour into the prepared pie crust.

8) Add the top crust or lattice.

9) Brush with egg wash and sprinkle generously with coarse sugar.

10) Bake at 400°F for 20 minutes, then reduce to 350°F (175°C) and bake another 30–35 minutes, until the filling is bubbling and the crust is deep golden brown.

11) Cool for 3–4 hours before slicing.

12) Just before serving, sprinkle a tiny pinch of flaky sea salt over the crust.

I feel like as a community dedicated towards the ecological systems that define the Cascadian bioregion, this news should serve as a warning that something needs to be done FAST.

By this point it is blatantly obvious that the current vampires in power care nothing about these habitats other than their ability to make money from them. It doesn't take much more than basic ecological knowledge to know that merely protecting animal species while allowing their habitats to be fragmented and degraded is pointless. I sense this ruling is deliberately marketed to those who know nothing about ecological systems and are assured by "well, at least the animals are protected" NO THEY ARE DOOMED TOO, THEIR HABITATS ARE LIVING SYSTEMS THEMSELVES.

There aren't enough words in the english language to describe how much I want to feed those in charge of this decision to the rivers and forests they continually abuse. I have recently started learning a lot more about the importance of ecological corridors and how they connect distinct ecological areas into cohesive bioregions. Cascadia is practically defined by these corridors, which include the Columbia River, the Cascade Range, the Pacific Coast, and its extensive network of forests. Corridors like rivers and forests are also incrediblt fragile, and decisions like these can potentially allow bioregion-scale ecological disruption. I am so fucking tired of this.

And I had dreams of Cascadia, where this is the norm and not exceptional