Mike and Judy Edgmand related how they might have ended up somewhere far different from the Aspen neighborhood.

They were determined to leave Stillwater, Okla., where they'd been on the faculty at Oklahoma State University — he for 38 years, she for 25.

Mike, 67, grew up in Clarkston in Eastern Washington. Judy, 63, is from Michigan.

Like their neighbors, they didn't take a straight line to their new home, and concerns such as families and floor plans played key roles in the decision. They had lived in the same house for 33 years but weren't sad about leaving.

"I always wanted to come back" to the Northwest, Mike said. "The climate is much better here. There are no tornadoes, only earthquakes."

And unlike Oregon, which the Edgmands also considered, there's no state income tax.

Their daughters live in Woodinville and in Graham, Pierce County, and they had looked at a home in Bonney Lake that they liked but decided against.

Price was a major issue.

`We were priced out of the market in Redmond, Bellevue, Kirkland," Mike said.

They kept looking and found Aspen.

"We wanted a rambler. It's hard to find ramblers," said Judy.

"These houses looked very good, with large lots and affordability," said Mike.

"The other thing is, this is close to I-5, so you can go get things," Judy said.

"The deciding factor," she said, "was we liked the house," a $400,000 home with four bedrooms, 2 ½ baths and a three-car garage.

The Edgmands are aware of how the factors shown on Snohomish County growth charts affect their lives, however.

Because of traffic, "we have to be a little picky about what time we go to the store," Judy said.

But like many of the people in Aspen, the Edgmands don't neatly fit into the charts of who's coming to Snohomish County. Neither of them work.

Judy said that's one of the nicest things about her new life. "I'm eternally grateful I don't have to commute into work every day," she said.