Neighborhoods w/ Good Highschool for Single Mom (Seattle, Bellevue: crime, house)

[ladesignz]

I recently got a call from a recruiter about a job opportunity in Seattle. It is on 1st ave. 98134. I have a few questions:

I am a single Mom so first I need to know if 75K is good for a one income family there. In Vegas and live very well with 60K.

Also I have one teenage daughter, a who is a little wild at times so I'd like to find a neighborhood that is not more that 30-45 mins from work and has a good high school without a rep for drugs or gangs.

Thanks in advance

[kilgore trout]

I can't tell you too much personally, but I can promise you that Negotiator75 will inform you that:

1. Seattle is a slum
2. Drivers will flip your child off...and Seattle residents will probably beat her up for fun (they're heartless beasts)
3. You will never make enough money to live anywhere other than the sewer. Ever.
4. You will fixate on the weather daily and be miserable
5. The streets are flooded with crime and you will never feel safe for a single instant

I'm not saying ANY of this is true, I'm just saying that it's what N75 will tell you...probably in a lot more words.

Personally, I'm about to move there and any friends that I have that live there absolutely love the city. Your salary should be fine based on salary data for the Seattle area, the bigger question is probably schools. I would imagine looking a little further outside of Seattle proper will get you less expensive homes with better schools, but it might mean a harsher commute.

Best of luck!

j-

[ladesignz]

thank you for the heads up !!

[BostonBorn]

We are moving to the Seattle area at the end of this year (me, wife, baby boy) and we are THRILLED! We've been checking in with many friends who either live there now or have lived there, and we keep hearing the same theme: "The Seattle area is a great place to raise kids." We've been doing research ourselves and recently visited for a scouting mission. There are far too many wonderful things about the Seattle area to list here.

The truth about any city or town is that if you want to find a long list of great things about it, you will, and if you want to find a long list of bad things about it, you will. I remember reading an article about happy marriages. The author cited an academic study that showed one of the common denominators amongst happy couples is they consistently look for the good in each other. Think about it. It's just as applicable to how you relate to the area in which you live.

We'll be leaving Boston in a year. I love this town and I will miss it. I have a fantastic opportunity to join a great company with a job I've always wanted, and that combined with my and my wife's love of the West Coast attitude, our interest in enjoying a new area, and Seattle's more temperate climate inspired us to move. I believe that people can make a wonderful life in Boston, in Seattle....really, just about anywhere.

Make your mind up now that your new job and new life in Seattle will work out in a positive healthy way. Keep that attitude and do not let negative posts on a message board or negative unsolicited comments from friends or family throw you off your mark. This is YOUR life, not theirs, and YOU get to decide what's good about it. Your actions will follow your thoughts.

[ladesignz]

Thank you so much for the vote of confidence - My daughter and I have been through a lot in the last couple of years. We moved to Las Vegas after Hurricane Katrina from a small town outside of New Orleans. This was preceded by the death of my husband after a long fight with liver disease. Although my oldest two grown children are in Vegas The moved with the father in their teens but I never did like it - sometimes I feel like there is no oxygen (lol) - Its the desert and there are not much greenery.
Trust me after growing up all my life in a humid climate like New Orleans and spending two years in the desert I think Seattle will be a refreshing change.
Im just a little worried about changing me daughters school yet again. But she is only a freshman so I think if I can get her settled in the right school she can finish up there.

[BostonBorn]

ladesignz, you are there for your daughter and you are putting her first. You've all been through a lot and you're still together as a family, striving to make your lives as good as you can. That goes deeper in terms of taking care of her than any school can. You are doing the right things to get your life on the path that's best for you and your family.

[ladesignz]

Ok ...now Im gonna cry!! Thank you and good luck in your move as well. Some of the areas I am considering are Edmonds, Lynnwood, Bothell - as my mother lives in Bellingham so I want to be on that side of Seattle and it would be nice to be near the water. Edmonds school is not rated as well as the ones in Bellevue and Redmonds but the rents are alot more reasonable.

[jwb123]

If you are already concerned about your daughters "wild side" you don't want her in the Edmonds school district, which covers Lynnwood, Edmonds and parts of Bothell. I am so so so thankful our children are no longer in that school district...

[ladesignz]

So what about Bellevue - I just read fantastic remarks on the Great Schools website and although rents are a little higher I still think I can find a house at 1500-1600 a month - only judging by research on Craigslist.

[jwb123]

Bellevue would be better. Depends on which area.