Advice - Where in/near Kent is would be a good place to relocate to? (Seattle: best neighborhoods)

[quete]

I currently reside in the Fremont, CA and am looking into possibly relocating to Washington.
The Job is in the city of Kent, so I am looking for advice on where a good place to raise a family might be. I have two daughters (one is almost 4 the other a couple of months old) and we are looking for a home in the 200-250k range. I would like someplace that is family friendly and has a good school system. I would prefer to have a little bit of land (out here most lots are under 5k square feet) if possible.
Any and all advice is welcome, thanks.

[gallo]

I am not sure if this is gong to help, but I don’t think you will be able to find anything in the greater Seattle/Tacoma area that meets the requirements that you mention in your post.

I could be wrong, however. Others will jump in here soon.

Good luck.

[scirocco22]

*laughs* Well, we could carry the "anywhere but the eastside is less desirable for MANY reasons" argument over to this thread, right?

Well, the thing is, quete, a lot of posters feel that the Kent area and the immediate/adjacent municipalities are higher in crime and have lower rated schools. I tend to feel a bit that way myself when talking about those communities in general.

So if we equate "family friendly" with low crime and that combined with good schools, our recommendations tend to migrate away from south King county and back to the eastside communities.

Hence, housing prices will be unattainable in that price range you requested.

So I'm assuming what gallo is alluding to, is that you're going to have to sacrifice something. You may be able to find something in that price range but you'll in all likelihood be in a higher crime area and in a school district that may not be as highly rated as you'd like.

[gallo]

Originally Posted by scirocco22

*laughs* Well, we could carry the "anywhere but the eastside is less desirable for MANY reasons" argument over to this thread, right?

Please, No. LOL.

Originally Posted by scirocco22

So I'm assuming what gallo is alluding to, is that you're going to have to sacrifice something. You may be able to find something in that price range but you'll in all likelihood be in a higher crime area and in a school district that may not be as highly rated as you'd like.

Yep, this what I was hinting at.

[quete]

Thanks for the responses, what eastside communities would you recommend?
Would it be impractical to drive from these area to Kent on a daily basis?
What would be a more realistic ballpark figure for housing?
Thanks again.

[kgrove]

Fairwood is not yet incorporated so a lot of the addresses will say Renton or Maple Valley. The zip code is 98058 for Fairwood.

It is less then 15 minutes to downtown Kent and is located just east of Renton, just west of Maple Valley, just south of Maple Valley Hwy and borders Kent.

The schools are INCREDIBLE. You can check out the schools by going to GreatSchools.net Some of the elementary schools are Ridgewood, Carriage Crest, Lake Youngs, Fairwood. The Junior High is Northwood. The High School is Kentridge. Make sure that you pick homes that are in the Kent school district NOT the Renton school district. My kids attend Ridgewood and it has incredible test scores, not to mention the best PTA. Carriage Crest also is an AWSOME school, the test scores are not quite as good because they have an ESL program and a special needs program that brings them down a little bit but they are a really good school. ]

If you go to Windermere Real Estate and type in the zip code it will pull up Fairwood homes for you.

ALL the neighborhoods are very nice, very family/kid friendly. Lots of parks, walking trails, etc. The homes are still pretty reasonably priced for seattle. There are a TON of large homes for sale for under $500k. Condos are within your price range of 200-250k. We live in the neighborhood of Carriagewood and I think it is one of the best neighborhoods on earth. EVERYONE is super nice, the homes are all well-kept and there are kids in every other house.

Moderator cut: please do not list a specific MLS number

For commuting to Kent, I think it can't be beat!

[unixpilot]

I feel like I need a shower after reading that post...talk about a "hard sell"

There's no place is Southern King County that is "INCREDIBLE", "AWESOME", "EVERYONE SUPER NICE"

[Seatown206]

Fairwood is very nice and so are other areas of Southern King County. You just have to do your research and explore. I tend to notice that most of the people who feel otherwise have never lived in the areas or use isolated incidents to paint an entire region as bad. South King County is a huge area and to label it as having no incredible areas is borderline ignorant. Just my 2 cents.

[southofseattle]

The farther east you go up the Kent hill the more rural it becomes and the more land you can find with an already existing house. We are in the Lake Youngs neighborhood and have a good chunk of property which backs up to a huge barn and former cow pasture. We are unincorporated and zoned rural, yet still only 20 minutes or so from downtown Kent. The nearby Soos Creek and Lake Youngs trail systems are gems. We put the money we saved buying "old", into remodeling, and I love the changes we've made. New construction tends to be more tight and rather expensive. Anyplace from Fairwood to Covington would be nice although be forewarned that the drive east off the hill is congested during the rush hours. Don't let people scare you about the schools. This district really cares about its kids. Look for a very active PTA which varies greatly between schools and really boosts quality and builds community. As for crime, try to avoid living too closely to apartments and businesses along busy Benson Highway and Kent Kangley.