Kent, Bonney Lake, Edgewood, Auburn, Covington - Area info please!! (Seattle: homes, school district)

[blackfords]

So I've been reading a lot of posts about the suburbs of WA and researched a lot about the education, housing and so forth. (Thanks for the info!!) We are planning to move up there in the summer from Los Angeles. Would love to live in the Eastside for the education and amenities, but it's just too expensive for us. Looking for something @ 500-600K. We want a large home on a large lot (acre), decent schools with academic potential, and a great place to raise a family. I also have an aging father so somewhere where medical is good is a plus. It seems that anywhere we go, the traffic is awful so I'm going to erase that from my needs. So far, I've found homes in Kent, Bonneylake, Puyallup areas. And what is Edgewood like? Most of the homes in Kent are southeast of the district, a bit south of Covington. Is this area safe? And Auburn?? Just want to get a feel of the areas. Thanks!!

[wsugrad03]

I used to live near Lake Tapps in Auburn, so I'm familiar with the area. Finding an affordable home isn't the problem. The problem is traffic! Hwy 167 is a beast because everyone has fled to the valley in search of affordable housing. There's no way around it.

Pretty much any areas that is affordable to live is iffy. You can own a beautiful home, but your next door neighbors may total WT. I've heard some good things about the East Renton Highlands. In that area, schools belong to the Issaquah school district (a big plus).

I'm not too crazy about Auburn and the south valley area. This mainly has to do with the absurd traffic. However, you can own a beautiful home down there from the 400s and up. My manager lives out in Buckley and is very pleased with the community and schools. He deals with the traffic by working remotely in the morning and commuting to the office after traffic dies down. That's the only way to manage living in the south valley. Your nearest major medical center in that area is the Valley Medical Center in Renton. Covington is nice, but you're bottlenecked as far as commuting in and out of that city.

It's a tough decision to make. My best advice is to pick a location with the minimal commute time unless you have flexible working hours. Have you checked out the north east side (town north of Redmond)? Maybe someone else can chime in on that area.

[Prple]

You would have to look at the places you mentioned, they are all fine, but are not really like the east side. wsugrad03 made a lot of good points. Mill Creek is similar to the eastside, just located on the North end. You might also want to consider Olympia, depending on the location of your job. You could get even more for your money in Olympia, with land, and still have outstanding schools. Good luck!

[blackfords]

Thanks for the tips. My husband will be working from home and I'll be looking for work when I get there - administrative work probably. I'm really starting to get discouraged with all the traffic talk. Any good areas with good public transportation? Or are those really crowded too. My husband wants to stay close to the seattle/tacoma area. Need diversity in terms of people and food. I'll check out Mill Creek too. Does Olympia really get more rain than Seattle? Someone told me that,...myth??

[seahawksweetie]

We live in Bonney Lake. My husband takes the train from Sumner to downtown Seattle everyday. That is the best way to go. It takes about 15 min to get down the 410 to the train station and about 20-25 min headed home at the end of the day.

We come from San Diego, so traffic is all relevant. To me the 167 isn't that bad. I've definitely dealt with worse on weekdays.

[Prple]

The weather is about the same in Olympia as it is in Seattle/Tacoma. I love Olympia! Its a nice place for families with minimal traffic and great schools. It is about 30 minutes away from Tacoma and 1 hr 10 minutes to Seattle (without traffic). If you are open to Olympia and are looking for an area with large lots, you might want to consider Boston Harbor or Cooper Point. SE Olympia is also nice, but probably smaller lots.