Working in Shoreline - suggestions on area to live (Seattle: rental, buying a home)

[Seminolepharmd]

My husband will be taking a job in Shoreline and we are not familiar with this area at all. I have visited Seattle several times to visit friends, but they live in the Maple Valley area and it looks like that would be way too far of a commute.

We love hiking and would love to live somewhere that balances having hiking opportunities close by, but that is also under a 40 minute commute to Shoreline. We will need at least a 2 bedroom rental and our ideal price range is between $1000-1200/month. Just by looking at a map, it looks like Issaquah has a lot of hiking nearby. It looks like this town also has a nice downtown area with shops/restaurants, which is a plus. Are there any other areas similar to this that I could look into as well? Thank you in advance.

[sean98125]

Hey, how about Shoreline?

[Stalemate]

We live in Bothell and love it - great School disctrict if you are in need of that. I have friends that like in Greenlake with views of the lake and they do a lot of running/hiking. Edmonds is just a quick commute north and has a great quaint downtown right on the water, people run along the beach - but is a little pricey. I guess it depends on whether you want to live in the city of Seattle, in the surrounding neighborhoods, or further in the country with more land. I would say that most areas have a good array of shops from what I have seen (Mill Creek, Bothell, Edmonds). We just moved here in Dec.

[Seminolepharmd]

I'm hoping to find somewhere nearby that's rural. I guess I didn't make that clear in the original post. Sorry about that. What we'd like to do is rent in an area that we could see ourselves buying a home in at a later date after we have time to explore more to be sure it's the right place for us to stay long term. When we do buy home, we'd like the yard to be at least 1/2 of an acre and in a rural area that's less than 40 minutes from Shoreline. I don't know if that's possible because I am not familiar with this particular location.

[Inkpoe]

Originally Posted by Seminolepharmd

I'm hoping to find somewhere nearby that's rural. I guess I didn't make that clear in the original post. Sorry about that. What we'd like to do is rent in an area that we could see ourselves buying a home in at a later date after we have time to explore more to be sure it's the right place for us to stay long term. When we do buy home, we'd like the yard to be at least 1/2 of an acre and in a rural area that's less than 40 minutes from Shoreline. I don't know if that's possible because I am not familiar with this particular location.

Hmm, rural area that's less than 40 mins (assuming commuter hours) from Shoreline... No, it's pretty built out here. (I wouldn't refer Issaquah as rural either.)

You could try east of Woodinville, but if your husband is working regular 8-5 job-- under 40 mins may not be realistic. You have areas within Lake Forest Park, Bothell, Woodway and even Edmonds where it isn't as crowded. For the true rural aspect, maybe consider the ferry life? Commuting from Kingston/the Peninsula-- won't be cheap and it'll be more than 40 mins.

[forevergreengirl]

Originally Posted by Seminolepharmd

My husband will be taking a job in Shoreline and we are not familiar with this area at all. I have visited Seattle several times to visit friends, but they live in the Maple Valley area and it looks like that would be way too far of a commute.

We love hiking and would love to live somewhere that balances having hiking opportunities close by, but that is also under a 40 minute commute to Shoreline. We will need at least a 2 bedroom rental and our ideal price range is between $1000-1200/month. Just by looking at a map, it looks like Issaquah has a lot of hiking nearby. It looks like this town also has a nice downtown area with shops/restaurants, which is a plus. Are there any other areas similar to this that I could look into as well? Thank you in advance.

No doubt I would suggest Ballard, about 10-15 minutes from Shoreline, it's one of the major neighborhoods in Seattle and is very quaint along with family friendly. There are lots of little shops and things to do, as well as AMAZING views of the Puget Sound at certain points. Look up the park Golden Gardens My sister and her boyfriend rent a nice 3 bedroom two story house in Ballard for $1,200.

[forevergreengirl]

Originally Posted by Seminolepharmd

I'm hoping to find somewhere nearby that's rural. I guess I didn't make that clear in the original post. Sorry about that. What we'd like to do is rent in an area that we could see ourselves buying a home in at a later date after we have time to explore more to be sure it's the right place for us to stay long term. When we do buy home, we'd like the yard to be at least 1/2 of an acre and in a rural area that's less than 40 minutes from Shoreline. I don't know if that's possible because I am not familiar with this particular location.

Just read this post. If you don't mind living across the water and commuting to work by ferry (this is very common here), I would suggest Kingston. It's a beautiful small town across the water from Edmonds. It's rural and on the water, with a friendly small town feel. My family owned a house there with 1/2 acre in the backyard along with the forest behind that. Once you take the 25 minute ferry ride across from Kingston to Edmonds, Shoreline is about 5-10 minutes away depending on where in Shoreline you are talking about.

[Ira500]

Snohomish might fit the bill. Mostly rural. 40 minutes from Shoreline. Cool old downtown. Scenic.
Or Duvall.

[Seminolepharmd]

Thank you all very much for the ideas!

[forevergreengirl]

Originally Posted by Seminolepharmd

Thank you all very much for the ideas!

Of course! Hope you like it here. Also, I agree with the poster up there about Snohomish as well. Very rural