Active Retirement Communities
State:
Washington--Olympic Peninsula
City:
Bremerton
Bremerton is a city in Kitsap County, Washington, United States. The population was 38,790 at the 2011 State
Estimate, making it the largest city on the Olympic Peninsula. Bremerton is home
to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and the Bremerton Annex of Naval Base Kitsap. Bremerton is connected to downtown Seattle by a 55-minute ferry route, which carries both vehicles and walk-on
passengers.
Bremerton, the largest city in Kitsap County, is
located on the Kitsap Peninsula and is bounded on the southeast and east by
Sinclair Inlet and the strait of Port Orchard respectively. The city is divided by the
Port Washington Narrows, a strait spanned by two bridges that connects
Dyes Inlet, which lies northwest of the city, to Port Orchard.
The part of the city northeast of the narrows is referred to as East
Bremerton.
At the peak of World War II, the Bremerton area was home to an estimated 80,000
residents due to the heavy workload of shipbuilding, repair and maintenance
required for the Pacific war effort. Most of the relocation was temporary,
though, and only 27,678 citizens were left in the city by 1950. During the
1940s, presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman both visited Bremerton. Roosevelt made a campaign
stop at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in August 1944, giving a national radio address in
front of a backdrop of civilian workers. During the course of his 35-minute
speech, it is believed the president suffered an angina attack, experiencing severe chest and shoulder
pain. An electrocardiogram was immediately administered once he left the
podium but it showed nothing abnormal.
President Truman took a two-day tour of Washington
state in 1948, speaking from the balcony of the Elks Club on the morning of June
10. Local legend has it that a man in the large Pacific Avenue crowd yelled the
infamous "Give 'em hell, Harry" line for the first time. This is a matter of
dispute, however, as local newspapers quoted the man as having shouted "Lay it
on, Harry." Despite this, there is a bronze plaque attached to the corner of the
building declaring that exact spot to be the place where the phrase "Give 'em
hell, Harry" was first uttered. With the return of World War II GIs to the
homefront, the need for post-secondary education became evident to officials of
the Bremerton School District. Olympic Junior College (now Olympic College), a two-year institution, opened its doors to 575
students in the Fall of 1946. Initially, it operated in the former Lincoln
School building, gradually moving operations to World War II--surplus Quonset
buildings at its current 16th & Chester site. About 100 students received
associate's degrees at the first commencement exercises held June 10, 1948.
President Truman was in attendance and received the college's first honorary
degree. Operation of the college transferred from the school district to the
State of Washington in 1967.
On the whole, the 1950s and 1960s were a period of
stability for the city. A second high school opened in 1954 and two
comprehensive high schools operated in the city until 1978. Growth in East
Bremerton necessitated the construction of another span across the Port
Washington Narrows in 1958. The $5.3 million, four-lane Warren Avenue Bridge
allowed for increased traffic on State Highway 21-B (now State Route
303).
The battleship USS Missouri, site of the Japanese surrender treaty signing that
ended World War II, was assigned to the Pacific Reserve Fleet at PSNS in 1955. For 30 years, she served as the
city's primary tourist attraction. Hundreds of thousands of visitors walked the
"surrender deck," before the ship was re-commissioned in
1985.
Population growth was flat with 26,681 enumerated in
the 1960 census, leading Bremerton leaders to annex the shipyard the following
year in an effort to include stationed sailors in those figures. While the
Vietnam War spawned protests and sit-ins on the Olympic College
campus, the city was relatively free of civil disorder during the
1960s.
With the 1973 selection of the Bangor Ammunition Depot 12 miles (19 km) northwest of Bremerton as the
Pacific home of the new Trident submarine fleet, residential and commercial
development began to move closer to Silverdale and farther from the Bremerton downtown core.
Numerous failed proposals were made at redevelopment
beginning in the early 1970s, including discussions of a waterfront hotel and
the erection of a large canopy over the central business district. Meanwhile,
most of the city's office and retail space remained in the hands of Edward
Bremer, son of William Bremer and the sole remaining heir to his wealth. (In
order to receive their inheritance, William Bremer's three children were
honor-bound to never marry.) Bremer began to neglect his properties, never
increasing decades-old lease rates and failing to make necessary maintenance
upgrades. In 1978, the Bremerton City Council passed an ordinance declaring the
entire downtown a "blighted area."
Despite a hard-fought battle throughout the Mid-1990s by local
politicians to have the decommissioned and mothballed USS Missouri,
already in the Bremerton Navy Yard, stay in Bremerton as a museum ship and
tourist attraction, Secretary of the Navy John H. Dalton, awarded the ship to
the Pearl Harbor Naval Base, HI in 1998. It now sits near the USS Arizona
memorial to demonstrate where U.S. involvement in World War II started on
December 7, 1941, and where it ended by the signing of the Peace Treaty by the
Japanese on board the USS Missouri, on September 2,
1945.
A tunnel underneath downtown, traversing from the ferry terminal to
Highway 304 (Burwell Street), has been newly opened that allows for a smoother
egress for vehicles exiting the car ferry and make for a more pedestrian
friendly downtown. A new fountain park above the tunnel blends water and art,
along with the bow of a ship and the conning tower of a submarine as a tribute
to the workers at the Bremerton Naval Shipyard over the years. The stations
along the walk include pictures of the shipyard, workers, and shipbuilding and
repair statistics.
The popular Blackberry Festival is held annually during Labor Day
weekend on the waterfront boardwalk to celebrate everything Blackberry. Local
residents, shopkeepers and growers bring their Blackberry ice creams, pastries,
pies, jams, jellies, candies, and even ciders and wines to this annual event.
Free entertainment includes music by local musicians and entertainers performing
throughout the three day festival, the Berry Fun Run and the Blackberry
Criterium Bike Race. Bremerton National Airport sponsors the annual Blackberry
Festival Fly-In with shuttle service provided by Kitsap Transit to the festival.
As the Festival's background story goes, the downtown waterfront of Bremerton
where the festival takes place, was a massive overgrowth of wild blackberry
bushes that were removed to build the waterfront Fountain Park, Boardwalk,
Marina and Bus/Ferry Terminal.
Income &
Housing Costs Numbers:
Estimated median household income in 2009: $39,037 (it was $30,950 in
2000)
|
Bremerton: |
$39,037 |
|
Washington: |
$56,548 |
Estimated
per capita income in 2009: $22,792
Bremerton city income, earnings, and wages
data
Estimated median
house or condo value in 2009: $219,254 (it was $101,500 in 2000)
|
Bremerton: |
$219,254 |
|
Washington: |
$287,200 |
Mean prices in 2009: All housing units: $248,435; Detached houses:
$255,432; Townhouses or other attached units: $330,310; In 2-unit structures:
$233,564; In 3-to-4-unit structures: $269,581; In 5-or-more-unit structures:
$187,629; Mobile homes: $109,277; Occupied boats, RVs, vans, etc.:
$63,431
Median gross rent in 2009: $741.
Jan. 2011
cost of living index in Bremerton: 108.3 (more than average, U.S. average is
100)
In-Depth
Facts and Figures as listed below, plus other
information:
·
Climate
Charts
1.
Average
Temperature
2.
Precipitation
(Rain)
3.
Humidity
4.
Wind
Speed (MPH)
5.
Snowfall
6.
Sunshine
7.
Cloudy
Days
·
Tornado
Activity History
·
Hospitals
& Medical
·
Airports
·
Colleges/Universities
·
High
Schools
·
Locations
of Interest
·
Shopping
Centers
·
Churches
·
Lakes/Streams/Rivers/Creeks/Parks
·
Tourist
Attractions
·
Banks
·
Housing
Costs Information
·
Crime
Statistics
·
Radio
Stations AM/FM
·
TV
Broadcast Stations
·
Discussion
Forums
For
the above information and photos, click this link:
http://www.city-data.com/city/Bremerton-Washington.html
Total Tax Burden--Data for
Calculation
http://www.retirementliving.com/RLstate3.html#WASHINGTON
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http://www.collectibleshg.info
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Bird Watching
Dance Sites
World of Antiques
MODEL TRAINS &
RAILROADING
Quilts, Quilters, &
Quilting
EZ Rides
OLD TRUCKS
EVERTHING MUSIC
FARM TRACTOR COLLECTORS
http://www.tractorscollectors.com
DESSERT FIRST
SPORT & EXOTIC CARS
http://www.sports-exoticcars.com
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OFF-ROADING
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