Please help me plan my pre-move visit! (Seattle, Bellevue: apartment, for rent)

[Sandhillian]

We just learned that my husband will be transferred to Seattle, beginning work there in a month. We are hoping to squeeze in a week long pre-move visit to look for schools and housing. My husband will work downtown and would like to keep the commute down as much as possible. Our kids are coming from an educational immersion experience in Japanese (HS) and Spanish (elem) and will in the 12th and 6th grade this fall. We are hoping to rent a 3 bedroom for around $1800/mo. Can anyone help me plan what neighborhoods/schools to visit?

[Vinylly]

First of all, I'm not sure you will be able to rent a 3-bedroom house for $1800/mo. Maybe somewhere out in the 'burbs. You might find rents that low in the less desireable areas in Seattle, but I certainly would not want to raise my kids there. If you husband works downtown then you had better plan on very long commuting hours and high cost gas. Forget about living in the areas East of Lake Washington as there will be imposed on the commuter a onerous toll on the bridges that you can ill-afford. This means long hours on the I-5 freeway corridor.

[Hemlock140]

The toll is only on 520 Redmond-Seattle, not on I90 though the traffic will certainly be greater from those avoiding the toll. I know of 3 people renting really decent 3 bedroom homes for under $1,800/month in Seattle, two in Greenlake, the other in Maple Leaf. Still, I would not have my kids go to public school in Seattle with the recent mismanagement scandals and poor performance history. The eastside has good to great public schools. Check out Mercer Island, Issaquah, and Lake Washington districts. Just this morning I passed a (private) French immersion school
in Bellevue. For good schools expect to pay $2,200-$3,000/month for rent on a 3 br house, though. Good schools mean higher housing cost.

French Immersion School of Washington

[Sandhillian]

We were expecting to rent an apartment rather than a house but perhaps the cost is the same. If we were to look at living in the downtown area what schools (public and private) should we look at and what should we expect to pay in rent?

[happyhunting]

The International School in Bellevue is both 6th through 12th grade (so your kids could attend together) and has Japanese and Spanish immersion. We looked into that school too. They are in the top 20 best schools in the nation in Newsweek......You will pay a TON to rent though, and I believe they took away open enrollment and you have to live within the zoning bounderies (I could have heard wrong though).

We rent in Ballard for a little over 1900, 2 story plus fully finished basement with a 4th bedroom, 2 bath and mostly renovated kitchen and baths......so it can be done.

[Inkpoe]

Originally Posted by happyhunting

The International School in Bellevue is both 6th through 12th grade (so your kids could attend together) and has Japanese and Spanish immersion. We looked into that school too. They are in the top 20 best schools in the nation in Newsweek......You will pay a TON to rent though, and I believe they took away open enrollment and you have to live within the zoning bounderies (I could have heard wrong though).
.

Unfortunately, the only way to get into that school is through a lottery... and it's done when the child is in 5th grade. Been like that the last couple years.

Budget is reasonable for Bellevue and the rest of Eastside. Of course if the budget is more, your options are more. But $1800/mo is reasonable. Bellevue and the Eastside have great schools, even a "bad" one is better than average. Great communities, and amenities.

For Japanese, I would recommend doing a Saturday school. I'm not familiar about Spanish, other than it usually offered at just about all (HS) schools.

[Sandhillian]

Thanks for the suggestions (if there are more keep them coming)! We aren't looking for language immersion, I just mentioned it as a factor to consider in looking at potential schools. Although our kids speak English as their native language, there may be an adjustment in having classes in English again and if the school population included students who spoke these languages it might help in their transition.