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Old 06-15-2013, 11:39 AM
 
5 posts, read 11,018 times
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Hello! We are looking into relocating to WA, we just got a job offer from a food services company in Federal Way. I am looking for a family friendly, affordable community that offers homes with acreage and very good school districts. I have seen posts about Maple Valley, and it looks great, but they were from 2009. What is a realistic commute time from Maple Valley to Federal Way? Is it near hiking, mountains, etc? What about hospitals? My son has special needs and we need a good school district that will help him. Thank you!
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Old 06-15-2013, 04:23 PM
 
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I would say Maple Valley would be a good fit. It seems to offer all that you're looking for, in my opinion.

I've been away from the school situation but I've heard excellent things about the Tahoma School District and also have heard that it has very good special education offerings. I'll let others give you further details on the Tahoma SD.

It's wise to stay away from living in Federal Way ...good decision. The commute from Maple Valley to Federal Way shouldn't be too bad and I'd estimate it to be around 30-40 minutes during the commute time depending on the locations. One nice thing about the routing is that there are many arterials to choose from and you can experiment on which one might have the least congestion.

The closest major hospital would be Valley MC in Renton about 12-miles away. Covington used to have a good urgent care facility and mini-medical center. Not sure if it's still there or not.

South King county real estate is more affordable than the "east side" communities and offers much of the same convenience to the Cascades for recreational activities and closer to Mt. Rainier. Plus, you'll find a lot of places to hike and get outdoors very close to Maple Valley like Rock Creek Natural Area (click) and Big Bend/Landsburg Reach Natural Areas (click) and many more.

I'm sure the experts will chime in and give you better information. This is only my opinion and my opinion is not worth much here.
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Old 06-20-2013, 01:58 PM
 
5 posts, read 11,018 times
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Thank you for all the great information! Why is it wise to stay away from Federal Way? I appreciate your opinion, and it is worth a lot me, especially since no one else had chimed in!
What about the weather? I have tried to look up snowfall records for Maple Valley, but got nothin! I think It snows there, any ideas or links to how to investigate that?
Thank you!
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Old 06-20-2013, 02:07 PM
 
Location: Nashville
3,533 posts, read 5,803,771 times
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Why not live in Federal Way, it is a very nice area, there are only a few areas to avoid and the prices are cheaper than living in the Snoqualmie area. Federal Way is only 20 min from Seattle and just an hour from Rainier National Park. You have it all. It would be stupid to work in Federal Way and drive all the way from Maple Valley in all that traffic. Or, you can opt for living in North Tacoma which is also a nice and scenic area and not far from Federal Way.
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Old 06-20-2013, 02:12 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RotseCherut View Post
Why not live in Federal Way, ... Federal Way is only 20 min from Seattle
Please be honest ... it's a 30 minute drive on an early Sunday morning. I've taken over an hour to drive between the two cities at times.
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Old 06-20-2013, 02:14 PM
 
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Federal Way isn't all that bad. People like to point out "high crime", but it's pretty much by the huge shopping complex, the Commons and hwy 99-- and that's not where you're looking to live anyways. Federal Way is very family friendly, lots of family amenities, very racially diverse, lots of shopping options, great nature access (I love Dash Point and Saltwater State Park isn't that far a drive). The only thing that you're looking for that works against Federal Way is the requirement of "very good" school district. FWSD at best can be described as average. It does have an elite program the Cambridge Program, which is very good-- I believe FWSD was the first to get it on the West Coast.

Maple Valley with Tahoma SD has a very highly rated school district, in the top 10 SD of the state. Pretty much fits what you want to the T. Depending on where you are in MV, you can expect 25-45 mins commute. It does snow there, I'd say give a few more inches than Seattle's average. Maple Valley is nowhere near the "Snoqualmie area". Though Snoqualmie does have very school district-- it's just too far a drive, being over 30 mins NE from Maple Valley.

Your other option would be to also look into the Dieringer School district (around Lake Tapps area).
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Old 06-20-2013, 03:34 PM
 
1,070 posts, read 2,020,367 times
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I suppose I should have qualified my "good decision" comment. Again, from a personal standpoint, I'm not a "fan" of Federal Way. The crime rate for the city in general is substantially higher than the national average. Those committing offenses have to live somewhere and many live in the city of Federal Way. Granted, some of the perpetrators come from neighboring communities but the neighborhoods around the Pacific Hwy S. corridor are not the best.

Some of my apprehension of Federal Way's crime problem comes from talking to a FWPD officer at a social gathering about a year ago and his telling us that although the crime rate is down slightly from past years, he was not optimistic that it would continue in that direction. He was relating his opinion from continued staffing cuts along with the growing population, with heightened gang and drug problems. However, a police officer's viewpoint is probably not the best gauge to use to evaluate overall crime in a community as there may be some biases involved but I did find his comments interesting.

And certainly, there will be nicer areas in any city. Tacoma frequently gets a bad rap because of its high crime rate but, as I have personally posted on this forum, there are some extremely nice areas of Tacoma. And that also applies to Federal Way. There are lots of great neighborhoods inside the city. Dash Point comes to mind immediately.

However, personally, I'd rather live in a community where overall crime is a bit lower as I would just as soon do my personal business and activities in the city where I live.

Hah, so, is Federal Way unsafe to live and do personal business and activities? No, of course not. I'd just rather live in Maple Valley if I had the choice.

Pertaining to snow, Maple Valley's elevation is generally 300-450 feet so it's not like it will get substantially more snow than anywhere else in the Puget Sound region. Yes, it is inland and closer to the foothills so it may get a bit more than downtown Seattle but not enough more to make it worth worrying about. Other places in western Washington which are at higher elevations may get a bit more snow but again, western Washington is not considered a "snowy" location. Temperatures are generally mild in the winter by comparison and you'll experience much more rain and drizzle than snow.
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Old 06-20-2013, 03:40 PM
 
5 posts, read 11,018 times
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Thank you all! Yes, high school district ratings are a must with our special needs interests. We have a horrible drive now, so 30-45 minutes is EASY, but maybe not an hour. Dieringer school district? I hadn't heard of it, how far of a drive is that?
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Old 06-20-2013, 03:57 PM
 
7,743 posts, read 15,824,518 times
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Dieringer SD is very small, not even having a High school (the kids instead to the neighboring school district, Sumner... which is another average SD). Well regarded. Location is a bit closer, I'd say maybe 10 mins less than Maple Valley. The area is a bit rural than Maple Valley.

But since you mentioned Special Needs, definitely look into Maple Valley. My bestie's little sister was very well treated by that school district and their mother raves about the school district.
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