CA —>PNW: First time homebuyer

Greetings. I grew up in the Bay Area, lived in Oakland through my 20’s and 30’s then 5 years ago I moved east to the Sierra Foothills near Yosemite because I couldn’t take the Oakland riffraff anymore and I got sober and no longer needed party life options. I’m really a nature girl at heart but after living in this dry ass hot conservative backwater town I need rain, better, healthier nature and proximity to amenities. My partner and I are looking to buy a first home. We’ve driven all around OR along the coast and main towns but it still feels to hot and dry for me and much as I love the coast of OR it’s just more tiny towns with not much there. I’m looking for a happy medium. I’ve been somewhat settled on Olympia but am reading about it having gone downhill recently so wondering if there’s other options or if Oly is still the best option.

Must Haves:

• Proximity to nature/forest/trails
• Decent amount of community artsy things: craft stores/classes, art walks, farmers markets
• Not looking for a huge city but no smaller than 50k peeps
• 40 mins or less proximity to a Kaiser medical center
• Must NOT be right against any coast. My partner’s terrified of sea water rise and flooding. Basically not along a flood path even if it’s 30 years off from happening.

Budget: $350-450k

Other details:

• I WFH for Kaiser so not really an issue for commuting
• My partner is a photographer and would prefer to work in a specialty photo lab printing type place but we accept this is probably nonexistent anymore so something on the more creative slightly higher than min wage side (he’s disabled with little use of his right arm). He’s also a veteran so he gets some income but my $140k salary is what we’re basing home cost on. He still needs a job though.
• we’re looking for a larger lot to have a decent sized garden and potentially put up an ADU for our aging parents at some point
• I don’t mind living on the outskirts in a more rural area so long as “town” is 20 mins or so drive
• I don’t mind rain (I love it in fact)

Thank you PNWesties