Commuting dilemma (Seattle, Tacoma, Bellevue: home, find a job, neighborhoods)

[parkie]

My wife, newborn, and I will be moving to the Sea-Tac area in the late summer, where I have a job that will be primarily in Tacoma with occasional visits to federal way and lakewood. My wife applied for a job that had both bellevue and capitol hill offices, and we were hoping for the capitol hill b/c then we would have considered living in the normandy park area among others and commuting in oppositie directions.
They placed her at Bellevue, which has me thinking on where optimal places to live/commute would be.

If we lived in bellevue, how long would it take me to get to tacoma. it's a reverse commute, but i've heard nightmares about 405 btw renton and bellevue. Usually i would be getting into work by 730. and is the commute home worse?

if we still considered the normandy park area, is the commute just horrible getting to bellevue?
renton was another possibility but i've heard multiple negative reviews, although some say it's improving.

and i'm not familiar at all with the newcastle area.

in general i detest commuting, but would do it if living in bellevue/south seattle is that much better than living in tacoma area and having my wife trying to find a job around there. ideally we'd live as close to seattle as possible, but are not sure it's worth it to add up to 2 hours of commuting a day to do it.

any help or opinions would be greatly appreciated,
Future Ann Arbor tranplants

[pwright1]

IMO you have a big dilema. If you detest commuting then I would not live in Bellevue. That would be a long and horrible commute for you. Normandy Park to Seatac is a very short commute for you. Your wife's commute to Bellevue would not be too good. It could be done but the traffic for her will be bad. Actually I think her commute to Capitol Hill would be much better imo. If she worked on Capitol Hill maybe next year she could possibly incorporate the light rail in her commute in 2009 when it opens from SeaTac airport to dt Seattle. For right now maybe she could catch a bus to Capitol Hill or Bellevue.

[BostonBorn]

Thanks, parkie, for the post. My wife, newborn and I are in a similar situation. We're relocating from Boston at the end of this year. The company I work for is in Tacoma, but my wife will likely work in Seattle. We're researching the towns and neighborhoods that are somewhat in between Seattle and Tacoma in terms of commuting distance, and we will explore quite a few places this year. Among the towns we're considering (and I'd love people's opinions on them-- vibe, safety, schools, community, commute, etc.):

Renton
Kent
Maple Valley
Auburn
Covington
Newcastle

Not an exhaustive list and we're completely open to suggestion.

[seattlerain]

I would try to stay away from commuting between Bellevue and Tacoma. The commute can be hellish at times...it's not unheard of for the travel time between the two cities to be over 90 minutes...

[scirocco22]

The Newcastle area would probably be the best of the choices. As you say, the commute in the morning to Tacoma or points south will not be that bad, even on the stretch of I-405 between Bellevue and Renton as the heavy traffic will be in the reverse direction. Yes, one accident or stalled car could change what could be an easy commute to a much longer one but for the most part, it won't be too bad. But you do have it right, the evening commute will be much more strenuous.

I wouldn't even consider commuting from Normandy Park to Bellevue.

[parkie]

thanks to those who replied.

if i was to commute to tacoma from newcastle, i would imagine i would need to have quick access to 405. which areas of newcastle are considered the nicest?

brainstorming possibilities: would living close to downtown be a viable option, with my wife commuting to bellevue (is the 90-405 route better than the 520-405?) and me commuting to tacoma. other posts have mentioned 35 minutes to belltown. is that sound about right? other areas (particularly south part of downtown that are recommended for living, ie beacon hill, capitol hill, madrona, or mount baker?
thanks again

[Koale]

To be honest with you, I would rather commute from Billings,Montana than to commute from Bellevue to Tacoma. Very bad news.
Sorry for the reality check but somebody had to give it to you.

[MaikeerinWA]

The busiest stretch of highway in the entire state of Washington. They're widening it, but it's just awful now during commute times.

Originally Posted by parkie

i've heard nightmares about 405 btw renton and bellevue.

[FoxyKnox]

Boston Born: add Federal Way to your list, and think about eliminating Kent and Renton. They're a bit "scuzzy" still, but being gentrified. Some say this about Auburn, but it only applies to downtown Auburn--the Lea Hill and Auburn-Black Diamond areas are awesome!

[Radek]

Originally Posted by scirocco22

The Newcastle area would probably be the best of the choices. As you say, the commute in the morning to Tacoma or points south will not be that bad, even on the stretch of I-405 between Bellevue and Renton as the heavy traffic will be in the reverse direction. Yes, one accident or stalled car could change what could be an easy commute to a much longer one but for the most part, it won't be too bad. But you do have it right, the evening commute will be much more strenuous.

I wouldn't even consider commuting from Normandy Park to Bellevue.

You may look EAST of Bellevue. There are some highways that run to Tacoma from there, that skip 405 altogether. They tend to be nicer, more high-end communities.

90-405 AND 520-405 are both atrocious at times. As mentioned above, 1 accident turns into nightmare. I-90 tends to be a bit better than 520 for getting across the water, but I think you're better off sticking to the east side.

I remember commuting from Mukilteo(Everett for you non-Seattleites) to Snoqualmie Falls (East of Issaquah, aka WAY east of Bellevue). If I left at 6am. I was there at 6:45am. If I left at 6:01am, I was there at 7:30am. Period.


Heres what I would do... This is the Seattle area traffic map, look at this in the mornings and nights and work off that: WSDOT Seattle Area Traffic - I-5: Yesler Way

Check it particularly when you would leave for, and return from work. (both you and your wife)

As it is, I'd recommend trying to consolidate where you both work into something a bit easier to manage. Tacoma and Bellevue are bad places to get into and out of any day of the week unless you approach them from the exact right spot, and sadly, I don't know those spots.


Sadly, I'd like to toss in Edmonds, but it wont work for your work locations. Good schools, good neighborhoods, etc. But most of the greater Seattle area has good schools, neighborhoods, etc.