Considering Moving (Seattle, Tacoma, Bellevue: real estate, renting, crime)

[dec]

to the Seattle Tacoma area from central California. We don't want heat/humidity- need continuing air flow- little or no smog- no gang activity. I know it's a lot to ask but any suggestions without living on an island?

[the dufferz]

Enumclaw would be a good place for the continuous airflow, skip Seattle, Tacoma and Everett due to gangs. Traffic is an issue that most use to determine where you live vs. where you work. If you know where you will be working (city at least), we can get more specific and add traffic conditions into the mix.

[deeptrance]

dufferz, how do you like Bothell? Do you have to commute much? I like its proximity to lakes, mountains, valleys, farms, cities, etc. Seems like a very nice location.

[the dufferz]

Deeptrance,

I'm a native to washington, raised in Kirkland, moved to Bothell when I got married.

I enjoy living here (eastside) due to the nice mix of nature and civilization. If there is a big negative, that would be the commute. If you are going the same direction as the rush hour, you live day by day wondering if you live in California. My commute is from Bothell to Bellevue (17 miles). On a typical day during rush hour, the commute can be one hour, sometimes more. That is pretty typical for most rush hour commutes here.

In my book, however, it's worth it.

So, what brought you to the little town of Ellensburg?

[dec]

Thank you for your feedback...looked at Enumclaw Chamber of Commerce site plus area photos...nice small town...anywhere a little bigger? Distance to major medical facitlities? shopping? Seattle and Tacoma areas for job hunting?

[the dufferz]

The reason I recommended Enumclaw was due to the wind. Tends to be windy there. If you are open to less wind, and are looking for work around the puget sound area, take a map and and look at the hwy system.

I-5 connects Seattle Tacoma and Everett. Areas in between have less crime (usually), are more populated than Enumclaw, but are more crowded and expensive to live.

I-90 east. This would be a corridor to look at if you wish is to work around seattle. Not much past North Bend. Look at Issaquah (more expensive housing), Fall City, Snoqualmie, Preston and North Bend.

Feeder highways along I-5 will get you to other areas: I-405 connects you to the "eastside" (Renton, Bellevue, kirkland, bothell) all high priced home areas.

From Bellevue you can go east on 520 and get to Redmond.

From Bothell you can go east on 522 and get to Woodinville, Duvall and Monroe.

Most of these areas are considered the burbs.

Major medical facilities are Valley (Renton) Overlake (Bellevue) Everegreen (north Kirkland) For major specialized medical Seattle is pretty close to most of these areas and has Childrens, UW, Harborview and more.

If you get the choices narrowed down a bit, let us know where your favorite places are and there will be more specific details available from those who live and work in the area.

The dufferz

[deeptrance]

Originally Posted by the dufferz

So, what brought you to the little town of Ellensburg?

YIKES, an hour or more for 17 miles?

I was in Ellensburg after spending a month with my sister in the Greenlake area. She runs the Fremont Sunday Market, and now she participates as well, selling hats. In case you're ever there, ask someone about Marcia and they'll know who you mean. Tell her "The dork in Austin sent me."

I'm not much of a fan of coastal areas (shock, I know, and I grew up in Santa Barbara!) so I wanted to check out places near Seattle but inland. Ellensburg was the place for me. Roslyn was too quaint and expensive. Ellensburg is kinda backwards for my taste, but it's got a lot of signs of progress and it's hard to go wrong with college towns. Unless all the profs commute from Seattle....

I stayed there much longer than expected because I kept wanting to explore the area. The canyons and hills are absolutely stunning, I could easily spend many summers there, possibly even live there all year except that I don't know anyone in the immediate area.

[jenuw]

I have lived in Western WA my whole life and I would not recommend Enumclaw to anyone, sorry defferz.

It really depends on the lifestyle you are looking for. Can you provide more info about your situation in life? Are you retired? Looking to go back to school, do you have a job in mind? Kids? Will you be buying or renting? The major decision makers for people in the Seattle area are real estate prices and commute times. So if you were renting, that would be different than if you were looking to buy a home. Many people are priced out of their work areas and drive 100 miles just to go to work b/c they can't afford a home in Seattle.

W/ the info you did provide, Kirkland/Bellevue is nice. Upscale so less crime. But there is the traffic problem if you wanted to get across the lake to Seattle on a daily basis. If you want more of a suburb of Seattle, Snohomish, Lake Stevens, Snoqualmie, Issaquah are all nice places to look into.

Tacoma has more of a reputation for the gang violence, but if you are coming from the LA area, I can't imagine it would compare and you might laugh at our "gang violence." Most Seattle neighborhoods are very safe. I lived in Seattle for 4 years. There are just certain areas you would want to avoid, but not the whole city.

Best of luck!

[chris]

I believe dufferz was only recommending it for the wind factor.

I agree with jenuw though, the only type of people I'd recommend for Enumclaw are farmers or cowboys who like overpriced land with a great view of Rainer.

I was actually over in Enumclaw today AND at a farm. It's beautiful over there but yeee haw yella beak and cow manure!

White River is a great school system though.

[deeptrance]

jenuw and chris:

When you assume that Enumclaw and other inland places are going to stay as they are, you're forgetting that there's a mass-migration to the interior NW going on and all of those things are going to change. I'm personally drawn to Ellensburg because I see what it could be, and in the meantime it's pretty nice as is --- a few great restaurants, a growing university, a beautiful river, access to any type of outdoor recreation, and it's going to change a lot over the next decade as people get pushed over the mountains from the over-crowded over-priced world of SeaTac.

I'm sure there was a time not too long ago when people made those "yee haw" cowboy remarks about Hamilton, Montana. Now look at it. Same with Bozeman, or (closer to you) the Methow Valley where there's a mini-boom of young hipsters buying property to escape the city. People have more choice about where to live now and not everyone wants to be in a big metro with nightmarish prices and traffic.

But that's just my opinion, I COULD BE WRONG!