Austin to Seattle family of four - Point us in the right direction

[kaday]

Originally Posted by kat78613

My son-in-law is considering accepting a job in the heart of downtown Seattle near Pike's Peak. Expected salary in the mid-100's. They have twin toddlers (age 3). My daughter is looking for a neighborhood that is safe, nice, and within a 20-30 minute commute for him. Schools are not an immediate concern, but eventually they will be important.

They will probably rent a house to start and will want at least a 3/2 with a yard.

Any suggestions for areas/neighborhoods to start researching? The final decision will be based on whether then can manage on this salary. It's double his Austin salary, but they live really comfortably in Texas.

We've done a bit of online research, but would like to hear what the residents think!

Thoughts? and thanks!

Magnolia neighborhood. Very close, family friendly.

[Kayela]

The housing prices that you cite remind me of San Diego before the big crash of 2008. Is the market inflated in your opinion, or is that just the cost of living?

Think San Francisco/Silicon Valley instead of San Diego. Amazon, Boeing and MS aren't the only ones here - Facebook has been hiring like crazy, Google has three campuses and has announced plans for a large presence in SLU. It seems like every bay area company is opening operations here, plus we have tons of smaller, but still sizable local companies, and they're all paying very well. And everyone they hire wants to live '30 minutes from DT, with reasonable rent'.


Yeah the Chinese bought more this year, but they're still competing with the desperate hordes of buyers already circling. I don't see this ending or slowing much without a major recession. There's just not enough housing to keep up with the thousands of people moving here, and our geography doesn't give us room to sprawl.