Seattle or Portland-Which is more family friendly? (Kirkland, Bothell: neighborhoods, schools)

[LillyMySweet]

Would you consider Seattle or Portland to be a more family friendly city? This includes the downtown and surrounding neighborhoods that make up each city. Let's not compare which city has more parks than the other, but rather which is overall a more enriching, stimulating, unstressed environment for a child to grow up in? Any opinions?

[RodFarlee]

Portland.
However, schools vary so much in both cities that I think one has to compare individual schools, and that'd be a deciding factor.

[the dufferz]

I would not recommend Seattle proper for raising a family. The child population of Seattle had dropped dramatically over the last couple of decades as families have moved to the 'burbs.

I was raised, and my kids were raised in the north and east 'burb of Kirkland and Bothell. No complaints from myself or my kids.

It's hard to quantify what a low stress area would be. Either the burbs in Seattle or Portland would probably be lower stress compared to NYC, but could also be lower stress than a farming community, depending on what is considered stressfull. So, what traits do you find that are less stressful and what stimulating activities do you find is the best for your family?

[Tiger Beer]

Originally Posted by the dufferz

The child population of Seattle had dropped dramatically over the last couple of decades as families have moved to the 'burbs.

Probably the cost of living, right? As opposed to the city itself somehow being undesireable for children.

[W & C]

I am glad that a bunch of ancient Portland vs. Seattle threads have been bumped up to the first page this morning