Affordable (cheap) suburbs (Seattle, Federal Way, Kent: cheap apartments, rentals, high crime)

[spaceboy909]

Hi all. I've lived around....Missouri, Texas, Florida, and now Arizona. I've been eyeing Seattle for about 10 years now. I love cloudy, rainy, misty foggy weather, and that's why I want to move to the area.

I want to have relatively convenient access to Seattle, but I also will need affordable living. I know there's plenty of threads for apartment shoppers, but affordable living is much more than that, and that is what I want to ask about. I understand that Seattle is an expensive area, and I've lived in two such areas myself, Naples Florida and Sedona Arizona.

What I'm really trying to do here is just find the most affordable spot possible, with the exception of crime ridden areas.

Here's my basic list of criteria for affordable living. I'm ideally looking for a suburb where the following things can be easily found with minimal travel time.

* Cheap apartments/trailers (rentals). Basically, the cheapest that can be found within roughly 30 minutes of drive time to Seattle downtown. (no well-known high crime spots)

* Cheap groceries. This means dedicated generic grocery stores, such as Aldi's, Save-a-Lot's, ect. House brands at name brand stores don't count.

* Cheap general shopping: Super Walmart's/Kmart/Target, ect, Dollar General / Family Dollar, Dollar Stores, Big Lots, Thrift stores and Salvation Army's.

* Cheap Eats: Lots of fast food, and lower scale ethnics with prices very close to fast food. Sure, fast food is 'everywhere', but not necessarily the variety. Some areas are much more limited.

* Working class Malls. This is a plus, but not a requirement.

* Dollar Movie Theatres are a plus.

Any tips are appreciated. I'm sure it is the case that some suburbs are a mixture of lower-mid-upper class. In those cases, if you could point out the appropriate section of the suburb, that would be great.

And, as I'm knew to the region, and I am specifically moving up there for the 'fantastic' weather, I won't be interested in any suburb which might be known for unusually dry and sunny weather! heheh. I want the stereotypical Seattle weather that we all hear about.

[obsidian97]

Originally Posted by spaceboy909

Hi all. I've lived around....Missouri, Texas, Florida, and now Arizona. I've been eyeing Seattle for about 10 years now. I love cloudy, rainy, misty foggy weather, and that's why I want to move to the area.

I want to have relatively convenient access to Seattle, but I also will need affordable living. I know there's plenty of threads for apartment shoppers, but affordable living is much more than that, and that is what I want to ask about. I understand that Seattle is an expensive area, and I've lived in two such areas myself, Naples Florida and Sedona Arizona.

What I'm really trying to do here is just find the most affordable spot possible, with the exception of crime ridden areas.

Here's my basic list of criteria for affordable living. I'm ideally looking for a suburb where the following things can be easily found with minimal travel time.

* Cheap apartments/trailers (rentals). Basically, the cheapest that can be found within roughly 30 minutes of drive time to Seattle downtown. (no well-known high crime spots)

* Cheap groceries. This means dedicated generic grocery stores, such as Aldi's, Save-a-Lot's, ect. House brands at name brand stores don't count.

* Cheap general shopping: Super Walmart's/Kmart/Target, ect, Dollar General / Family Dollar, Dollar Stores, Big Lots, Thrift stores and Salvation Army's.

* Cheap Eats: Lots of fast food, and lower scale ethnics with prices very close to fast food. Sure, fast food is 'everywhere', but not necessarily the variety. Some areas are much more limited.

* Working class Malls. This is a plus, but not a requirement.

* Dollar Movie Theatres are a plus.

Any tips are appreciated. I'm sure it is the case that some suburbs are a mixture of lower-mid-upper class. In those cases, if you could point out the appropriate section of the suburb, that would be great.

And, as I'm knew to the region, and I am specifically moving up there for the 'fantastic' weather, I won't be interested in any suburb which might be known for unusually dry and sunny weather! heheh. I want the stereotypical Seattle weather that we all hear about.

Your 30 minute travel limit (assuming during rush hour) is a killer. That really cuts down on your options. Maybe the area around Coal Creek off I-90?

You could go non-linear and try over on the Kitsap peninsula. Perhaps Poulsbo (if you don't count the 19 minute ferry ride to Seattle from Bainbridge)? I'm not as familiar with that area, but there aren't a lot of options on eastside that are going to be super cheap. Juanita/Totem Lake perhaps. Might be parts of Renton that fit but the commute is going to get ugly quick.

Oh, also, you might want to be aware that the only Wal Mart even remotely near Seattle is in Renton. Wal Mart basically doesn't exist in Seattle or Eastside. The Wal Mart in Renton has a reputation for being one of the worst stores in the chain too.

I'd look at areas off of I-90 if I were you. Traffic is ridiculous off I-5, I-405, and SR-99 in rush hour. Basically, you don't want to commute over a bridge (if you have to, I-90 is the one) and you don't want to commute north-south.

Hope that helps.

[spaceboy909]

Thanks for the tips. I'll add them to my list of spots to check out.

As far as driving, I have zero patience for rush hour traffic, so I would not bother to drive during those times. If mass transit is available, then I would use that where possible.

That's a bit surprising that the one walmart closest to Seattle has a bad rep, but I guess it can happen anywhere.

[70Ford]

Originally Posted by spaceboy909

Hi all. I've lived around....Missouri, Texas, Florida, and now Arizona. I've been eyeing Seattle for about 10 years now. I love cloudy, rainy, misty foggy weather, and that's why I want to move to the area.

I want to have relatively convenient access to Seattle, but I also will need affordable living. I know there's plenty of threads for apartment shoppers, but affordable living is much more than that, and that is what I want to ask about. I understand that Seattle is an expensive area, and I've lived in two such areas myself, Naples Florida and Sedona Arizona.

What I'm really trying to do here is just find the most affordable spot possible, with the exception of crime ridden areas.

Here's my basic list of criteria for affordable living. I'm ideally looking for a suburb where the following things can be easily found with minimal travel time.

* Cheap apartments/trailers (rentals). Basically, the cheapest that can be found within roughly 30 minutes of drive time to Seattle downtown. (no well-known high crime spots)

* Cheap groceries. This means dedicated generic grocery stores, such as Aldi's, Save-a-Lot's, ect. House brands at name brand stores don't count.

* Cheap general shopping: Super Walmart's/Kmart/Target, ect, Dollar General / Family Dollar, Dollar Stores, Big Lots, Thrift stores and Salvation Army's.

* Cheap Eats: Lots of fast food, and lower scale ethnics with prices very close to fast food. Sure, fast food is 'everywhere', but not necessarily the variety. Some areas are much more limited.

* Working class Malls. This is a plus, but not a requirement.

* Dollar Movie Theatres are a plus.

Any tips are appreciated. I'm sure it is the case that some suburbs are a mixture of lower-mid-upper class. In those cases, if you could point out the appropriate section of the suburb, that would be great.

And, as I'm knew to the region, and I am specifically moving up there for the 'fantastic' weather, I won't be interested in any suburb which might be known for unusually dry and sunny weather! heheh. I want the stereotypical Seattle weather that we all hear about.

Good luck with your basic list of criteria. Rush hour traffic is the pits.

[Ira500]

In general, the areas south of Seattle are less expensive, like Kent, Renton, Auburn, and Burien...Burien has a Grocerry Outley and a Saars, both lower cost supermarkets, and Renton has a Saars. Auburn also has a Wal-Mart, in addition to Renton...The Renton store is okay if you can go on a weekday morning. Kent has a K Mart.....Renton has a Salvation Army store and a really good Goodwill store.If you're going to look at Renton, look at downtown, the highlands, and the West Hill/Skyway.

[cobolt]

The Renton Wal-Mart is hands down, the worst Wal-Mart I've been to, ever. It's really a trip, and I can't even explain it. You'd have to see it for yourself to understand. Turned me off to Wal-Mart altogether.

[Ira500]

Let me second what Cobalt and Obsidian say about the Renton Wal-Mart...If you can go early in the Am on a weekday, it'll be more bearable, but otherwise it's a zoo...Seems like nobody who works there speaks English, and that the other shoppers are from other planets.

[Redline]

30 min from Seattle and cheap costs of living may put you in a neighbourhood with sketchy people.

[mayfair]

Mountlake Terrace comes to mind. Near cheap movie theatre, not too far from Alderwood Target and Mill Creek Walmart, close to 30 minutes into Seattle. There's a Big Lots in Lynnwood and maybe one closer to MLT. You'll find lower priced ethnic fare and fast food within the area.

It also has a nice pool at the rec center. Value Village is just up the street on Hwy 99 (technically in Edmonds). I'm sure you can fnd thrift stores nearby- there are many in the MLT/Lynnwood/Edmonds area.

[secret_squirrel]

Mountlake Terrace is a good suggestion. Crime isn't the lowest in the area, but it is not what I would call a dangerous community.

If you are open to mass transit, I'd suggest looking at the communities along the Sound Transit Sounder railway. It's a 30-35 minute train ride from Auburn to downtown. Auburn is a solidly working-class city and has many trailer parks and inexpensive apartments. There is petty crime, but much less violent crime than you'd find in Kent. It has a discount mall, dollar stores, Grocery Outlet, Wal-Mart, etc. The nearest dollar cinema is in Federal Way, about a 10 min. drive. I would avoid the nearby cities of Algona and Pacific and the 37th street corridor for crime concerns.