Moving to Seattle area (Spokane, Tacoma: for sale, rent, low crime)

[Bellzer09]

My husband has been offerred a job in downtown Seattle. We live in Cincinnati, Ohio now and have never been to Seattle (other than when he flew out for an interview.) The job seems great and he is really excited, but I am so lost on what areas to live in.

We have three kids (10, 6, 2) so we would really like a 4 bedroom house, but housing is so much more expensive than where we are now. The area of Maple Valley has been suggested, but it might be out of our budget.

One area we looked at is Puyallup. The housing is way cheaper there and there are lots of houses available. I have seen some complaints about the traffic, but it looks like my husband can take a train right into Seattle for work (he doesn't mind a bit of a commute- he travels about 35-40 minutes for work now and is used to it so a little longer wouldn't bother him.) I can not tell if the schools are good there though- some are rated high and some quite low.)

So can anyone tell me more about Puyallup as far as family living? Or possibly suggest some good family friendly areas or school districts?

Schools are obviously a high priority, as well as low crime and family friendly. Where we are now we enjoy lots of walkiing trails, a great library system, and the kids can walk outthe front door to find kids to play with. I know it won't be exactly the same, but if you could point me in the right direction I would really appreciate it. Thanks!

[Blondebaerde]

Bound where you search by the constraints, ranked highest to lowest in order of importance.

1. Budget
2. Commute
3. School quality
4. Safety.

Pretty much the same four that 99% of inquiring minds want to know, except for those who don't care about schools or are retirees with no interest in commuting. Budget is always primary, other three switch around depending on particulars.

e.g., with high budget, you could probably rent or buy a house proximal to anywhere downtown you wanted. Easy commute, kids go to private schools, live in a known-safe location (though that wouldn't save you from dealing with bums, vagrants, and other more-benign members of humanity in an urban environment).

Low budget blows the other three constraints, immediately. You'll end up in Everett, or the aforementioned Puyallup, and deal with a truly epic commute, marginal school quality, and questionable safety.

So basically, budget determines proximity from downtown, and eastside tech centers, two of the more important centers of employment these days. Boeing plants are others, north or south (Renton and Everett), for some.

Since Maple Valley is "unaffordable"(!), guess that narrows it down a bit indeed. I thought big houses there were in the mid $300Ks, which you'd never touch anywhere near downtown or eastside for less than $500s? I would assume any move package and/or salary adjustments from one geography to another would account for all that?

Wherever you choose, you'll want to game out the commute pretty carefully, via mass transit (suggested). One more SOV heading into downtown Seattle from tens of miles away will make for a very poor living experience, immediately. I personally think it's crossed the level of "intolerable" past five years or so, thus mass transit would be way to go if I had to commute in there.

[Bellzer09]

Wow. I don't really want to move there at all now. What is considered a reasonable salary there? There would be an increase, but maybe its not enough.

[CrazyDonkey]

You didn't say whether you will be working? If so, realize that child care is also very expensive.

You might also want to look at Sumner and Fife, which are adjacent to Puyallup. Tacoma's Northend might also be worth a look.

Tacoma Link (light-rail) is free and will take you to the Tacoma Dome Sounder Station.

You should carefully compare cost-of-living between Cincinnati and Seattle (much more expensive) to insure that the pay offer isn't a pay decrease.

[Bellzer09]

Thank you - I will check those areas out. I do not work right now, but plan on going back to work when my youngest is in school, so no daycare.

The housing costs have made me second guess, but the job is a good job, that I thought was pretty high paying. But, maybe not with the cost of living increase! However, there is a lot of potential for growth so he really wants to take it. I know a previous poster sounded shocked that I thought Maple Valley was expensive, but there was a trailer listed for 170,000, which is more than my nice, three bedroom house in a desirable neighborhood with a big backyard here. I was aware that it was a lot more expensive, but it still caught me off guard.

[NCDavid]

Commuting from Puyallup to downtown Seattle would be a nightmare by car during commuting hours (which are long both ways) and take a lot longer than 30 or 40 minutes each way. Taking a bus or train would also be a long commute.
Commuting from Maple Valley wouldn't be much better because it's a bottleneck.
You'd be better off in east Renton Highlands, which is closer in and still could be a 40-60 minute commute to downtown Seattle, but would have better bus access. Housing in that area is reasonable by Seattle standards and you could find a nice family home for $450,000 to $500,00. Issaquah schools in east Renton Highlands are good.
If you find a neighborhood in or around Seattle with houses running under $400,000, you don't want to live there.
Re salary, a family of 5 in the Seattle area needs at least $80,000 for a middle class lifestyle, although I'm sure others will say that is way too little.
Sorry if that's discouraging, but Seattle is very expensive and the traffic is among the worst in the nation.

[flyingsaucermom]

Originally Posted by Bellzer09

Wow. I don't really want to move there at all now. What is considered a reasonable salary there? There would be an increase, but maybe its not enough.

"reasonable" is qualitatively subjective.

What do you want your lifestyle to afford you? Do you want a 4 bedroom home with a large backyard, kids in extracurricular activities, money to set aside for the future and still enough to visit in-laws, Disney Land or spectator sports?

If that sounds like you then I would say an income of no less than $150k. Others will argue in both directions ("you can do it on a lot less!" or "no way, you need a lot more money than that!"), but in my experience of raising a family here that is *my* threshold of comfort. To be honest though, we're now above $200k and we're not living the "high life" by any measure. We do have a more generous savings/investment rate than most as we're saving for college educations (2 of them, and hopefully some graduate degrees for one or both) and retirement. Aside from that we live *very* conservatively and bought when the market was down.

[Boxkicker]

I live in Maple Valley and work in Downtown Seattle....

Commute
I leave the house in the morning at 6am and arrive at Kent Station in plenty of time to catch the 6:32am Sounder to Downtown. Total mileage 10 miles.

I get into downtown at 6:55am.

I leave work at 4:30pm in time to catch the Sounder to Kent and arrive home at 5:30pm.

Roundtrip costs $7.00/day, but it is paid by my employer, so it's great and even if my employer didn't pay for it, I would still catch the train. It's great and I can sit on my phone or whatever and not have to worry about driving.

Housing
I reside in a 4BR/3BA/2040SF/.26acre lot house that is located on the golf course fairway with a big backyard. No neighbors behind me and very quiet community.

I am moving to Spokane in the next month and will be putting my house on the market.

Realtor states $400K will be around the price point I am looking at.

With great schools, it is a give and take in my eyes.

[CrazyDonkey]

Originally Posted by Bellzer09

Thank you - I will check those areas out. I do not work right now, but plan on going back to work when my youngest is in school, so no daycare.

The housing costs have made me second guess, but the job is a good job, that I thought was pretty high paying. But, maybe not with the cost of living increase! However, there is a lot of potential for growth so he really wants to take it. I know a previous poster sounded shocked that I thought Maple Valley was expensive, but there was a trailer listed for 170,000, which is more than my nice, three bedroom house in a desirable neighborhood with a big backyard here. I was aware that it was a lot more expensive, but it still caught me off guard.

That's about all $170,000 will buy anywhere around here...

There is free all-day parking at Sounder stations. Times to Seattle:

Tacoma Dome Station: 59 mins. (Free light rail from N. Tacoma)

Puyallup Station: 47 mins.

Sumner Station: 42 mins.

See: Sounder Lakewood-Seattle | Sound Transit

You're not stuck on an express bus, as you would be from Renton. Some train cars (100 and 300 series) have free wi-fi.

One other possibility would be to look at Port Orchard, with a commute to Seattle by ferry and/or bus, which can be doable if not working too far from the Colman Dock Ferry Terminal. In return, you might get a bigger house, yard, lot, for less money:

9360 Friends Ln SE, Port Orchard, WA 98367 is For Sale | Zillow

Port Orchard WA Single Family Homes For Sale - 40 Homes | Zillow

There are three possible routes:

1. Southworth ferry to Vashon Island (10 mins) and Vashon passenger-only-ferry to downtown Seattle (22 mins), plus time getting to and from home/work and between ferries at Vashon.

2. Southworth ferry to Fauntleroy (30 mins) and Metro Transit to downtown Seattle (30-35 mins), plus time to and from home/work.

3. Port Orchard foot ferry to Bremerton Terminal (12 mins) and Bremerton ferry to downtown Seattle (60 mins), plus time to and from home/work and between ferries.

There are park-n-ride lots with shuttle service to the Southworth terminal, or you could drop and pick him up. There's Wi-Fi for $4.98/month on the ferries. He'd be vulnerable to a late or cancelled ferry, so would need a boss willing to accommodate that.

[Boxkicker]

Originally Posted by Bellzer09

My husband has been offerred a job in downtown Seattle. We live in Cincinnati, Ohio now and have never been to Seattle (other than when he flew out for an interview.) The job seems great and he is really excited, but I am so lost on what areas to live in.

We have three kids (10, 6, 2) so we would really like a 4 bedroom house, but housing is so much more expensive than where we are now. The area of Maple Valley has been suggested, but it might be out of our budget.

One area we looked at is Puyallup. The housing is way cheaper there and there are lots of houses available. I have seen some complaints about the traffic, but it looks like my husband can take a train right into Seattle for work (he doesn't mind a bit of a commute- he travels about 35-40 minutes for work now and is used to it so a little longer wouldn't bother him.) I can not tell if the schools are good there though- some are rated high and some quite low.)

So can anyone tell me more about Puyallup as far as family living? Or possibly suggest some good family friendly areas or school districts?

Schools are obviously a high priority, as well as low crime and family friendly. Where we are now we enjoy lots of walkiing trails, a great library system, and the kids can walk outthe front door to find kids to play with. I know it won't be exactly the same, but if you could point me in the right direction I would really appreciate it. Thanks!

My question is this....did he accept a job in Raleigh or moving to Seattle?