Moving to Seattle from Brooklyn. Any woodsy areas to live in near Seattle? (Kent: rentals)

[Justin Fitch]

Hi Everyone,

My wife picked up a job in the SeaTac area and we will be moving out to Seattle in June from Brooklyn, NY. Basically I'd like some ideas of some great woodsy/country areas to live that wouldn't be more than, 30 - 45 min driving to SeaTac.

A little background info first. Originally we thought she would be working more towards the center of Seattle so we were eyeballing Bainbridge Island. Since we've been living in NYC so long, a ferry ride on the morning and evening doesn't faze us. Bainbridge seems like the perfect balance between country living and city access.

After we found out she was going to be working in Seatac, we naturally moved south to look at places on Vashon which seems to be even better than Bainbridge from what I've seen. We're both small town people so that side of Vashon really appeals to us, as do the houses on some acreage and water access (we have 2 dogs).

So, besides Vashon Island (house rentals have seemed to dried up as of this post), what are some other neighborhoods/towns that would also satisfy our need for country living without being to far from Seatac? The whole point of moving from NYC is to leave the hectic city life behind us and live in a house on some land, any good ideas? Our budget is $2,000.

Thanks for your help!

[homesinseattle]

Welcome (almost) to the Pacific Northwest . I lived on Vashon for three years, you are right that it would be ideal. Having your life governed by ferry commutes, however, is not ideal. For many, it is worth the hassle and the cost. As far as a country feeling on the Seattle side, there are a lot of people between you and that feeling. Maybe a place like Maple Valley would do the trick, perhaps also some far east parts of Renton near Issaquah. You certainly wouldn't have real country feeling like Vashon but more space around you. You might be able to achieve a workable feeling in the Three Tree Point area of Burien, again not the country but charming and big lots. Oh, as a person with relatives in "The City" and Long Island, the pizza is mediocre here, but there are loads of other nice things.

[PNWGuy]

mediocre is an understatement! Pizza here is horrible!

[SusanInSeattle]

Originally Posted by PNWGuy

mediocre is an understatement! Pizza here is horrible!

On Vashon, there's actually a fairly decent pizza place - Rock Island Pizza (love the Portage with chicken). In Seattle, I've only found the mushroom pizza at Serious Pie to be palatable (whomever rated the potato pizza so highly on Yelp must never have had decent pizza).

Justin Finch, the Vashon ferry is $17.25 for a car and driver (getting off the rock is included in the fair), walk on is $5.10. Everything is more expensive there - gas, food, building supplies.

Ferries fill up during peak commuting hours and getting on the one you want or need to be on is never guaranteed. If there's a medical emergency, the boat will be late returning, leave without taking on cars, or wait for the ambulance to get there. Ferry fares go up during tourist season and there is no discount for residents.

When there's a storm, you may be without electricity for days. I was once out of electrical power for 10 days, others 14 - that was an extreme storm, though. If you manage to get a house close to the town, you'd be less likely to go without power for too long.

I'm not trying to discourage you from considering Vashon - it's a great place to live. So much charm, a close knit community and, really, an amazing place to live. I just don't want you to overly romanticize it.

[Ira500]

As far as woodsy areas besides Vashon, within 30-45 minutes to SeaTac...
Black Diamond- There are farms around, it's pretty, and there's an awesome bakery, 100+ years old.
Ravensdale/Maple Valley/Enumclaw- Maple Valley has seen a lot of development, but some parts are still pretty rural. Much of Enumclaw and Ravensdale feel pretty country, and there is an old and kind of cool, downtown Enumclaw
The May Valley- Some of it will have Renton addresses, and some of it will have Issaquah addresses. Lovely woodsy setting, not far from Squak Mountain.
Hobart- Right next to Issaquah, has good hiking.
Parts of Auburn and Kent are still farmey, country with lots of trees.

As far as pizza goes, Seattle's really transformed from a terrible pizza town to a half decent/pretty good one over the last 30 years. Still, in NYC and (NJ where I'm from), there was no such thing as bad pizza. The bad places didn't last. When I got here in 1977, there were only a couple of decent pizza places around, and a lot of bad ones. There's still plenty of bad places around, but now there's a couple of dozen really good ones.

[NJtoSEA]

Ira500 - thread drift, sorry - but any rec's for the good pizza places? We lived in Brooklyn and NJ for 17 years, just relocated last summer, and are dying to find good pizza out here.

[folkguitarist555]

Only one place in the entire region, imho, that has decent pizza, and that is a place in South Park, which is south of downtown, and they are Italian owned, it is called Napoli's. I am from back east, I know my food, and Seattle is a huge letdown for me in that dept, but you cant have it all in life. If u are from NY, you will miss a lot of things in regard to food. But you should enjoy Seattle has a whole in other areas, minus the traffic.

[Ira500]

Originally Posted by NJtoSEA

Ira500 - thread drift, sorry - but any rec's for the good pizza places? We lived in Brooklyn and NJ for 17 years, just relocated last summer, and are dying to find good pizza out here.

I could go on and on about pizza, and if I could eat only one food for the rest of my life, it would be pizza. But I sent you a direct message rather than hijack the thread.