If you're considering moving here because you want an über progressive town, you'll have a difficult time. You probably want to stick to the big cities for that. That said, I live here with my husband (we're gay) and we haven't had any trouble. People mostly keep to themselves but I view that as a sort of northwestern trait in general. People saying this is some sort of MAGA paradise seem to forger Lewis County exists. Even in my neighborhood where there were a lot of Trump voters, people weren't obnoxious about it and left my Biden sign be.

People love to classify the town as rural but to me it's just too big to be considered rural. There's a Target and a Panera in Kelso. I don't know of many hick towns that have both of those in all my time in the Midwest and South. Just understand that a lot of people on reddit are going to be a lot more left leaning (I am as well) and they might blow things out of proportion. Longview/Kelso is gritty but it's relatively inexpensive to live in if you want to be on the west side of the state. I'd make sure the wage of the job you're getting is something you're able to live on. Rent is cheaper than the bigger cities but it's still high. Gas is more expensive here by quite a lot. Electric will probably be cheaper than you paid in the Midwest. I find water to be a bit high but it's sometimes included in rent. There are homeless and drugs, but that was also an issue when we lived in small town Oregon and it's something you'll have to accept to live here. Maybe we'll solve it someday but it won't be tomorrow.

Longview is centrally located. You can be in the forests immediately, the park is wonderful, the ocean is very close and there's a river beach at Willow Grove. I love Beaver Creek Falls over the river in Clatskanie. In four hours you can be in central Washington. 6-8 gets you to the east side of WA and OR where the landscape is so radically different and still breathtaking. A little farther and you're in Idaho or Northern NV. And ofc Seattle and Portland are close and you can even use Amtrak to get up and down the west coast provided time doesn't mean much to you.

I hope if you end up joining us you like it as much as I do. Good luck!