Burbs around Seattle (Tacoma, Redmond, Sammamish: house, find a job, school district)

[Win]

Hi!

Could anyone drop some names of some nice places to live outside of Seattle, WA? My husband is looking into a job out there so I'm starting to do some research on the general Seattle area. By nice I mean reasonably priced and good schools. Thanks

[rainbird]

Generally speaking the suburbs north and east are nicer than to the south which means they are also more expensive. Good luck on the reasonably priced part, Unless your moving from California, housing isn't reasonably priced anywhere in the area. I can't remember the average home price here but it must be in the $400k range.

[Win]

Thanks rainbird! And what do ya know, I'm moving from southern california. Talk about out of control. We're selling our house right now and my lord, it's out of control (as it was when we bought it last year).

Thanks for the tip!

[compltlyme]

I moved to Sammamish from So CA and LOVE IT!!! It is on the Eastside and very family friendly community. Issaquah is great as well. As is Redmond.

Where in So CA are you coming from?

[Win]

THANK YOU compltlyme! That's very helpful

We're currently in Los Angeles (West side of the San Fernando Valley) and ready to get out. Too many people, too much traffic, too hot and too darn expensive (and did I mention the LA Unified School District sucks?). What part of SoCal did you move from? Good to hear you love it. Is the rain as bad as they say ...?

[compltlyme]

I am from the Palm Springs area (La Quinta). Talk about HOT!!! Raised in San Diego and moved from there to the desert area, then to OC, then back to the desert. Just couldn't get away from the crowds. And although it can be crowded up here...nothing compared to there!!!

And rain....yep it rains, lots compared to down there. BUT it doesn't rain ALL THE TIME. We have less rainfall that HI, NY and a lot of the deep south. So I am not getting why Seattle gets the bad rap. The weather here chances with each breath. I say learn to layer because in one day you could have sunshine to hail and everything in between. But I love the changes. Then again I have been here just under a year. Ask me in 5... I may feel differently.

[Mark S.]

Definitely look north and eastward. The southern suburbs between Seattle and Tacoma (anywhere along the I-5 corridor) are generally pretty awful.

I have friends in Issaquah and Sammamish, and they love it. Issaquah especially, being right at the foothills of the Cascades, tends to be a bit hotter in summer and colder in winter. It's definitely a pricey area though.

[Mark S.]

Originally Posted by Win

Is the rain as bad as they say ...?

Fall and winter gets lots and lots of rain. But it's not like a real rain. More like a permanent heavy drizzle. And very little snow if you're anywhere near the water. The first year I was here, we had an inch of snow and the city declared a winter storm emergency. All of the Midwesterners I work with thought it was a joke.

Spring alternates between days of rain and sunshine. And spring is when we get most of the true rain and even the occasional downpour.

Summer can be really dry actually. For the past several years, there's been scarcely any rain at all from about mid-July to early September. It's actually kind of nasty, because the big thing the rain does is keep the air clean. Once the rain stops, the smog really sets in. It's nothing like southern California, but still, some days you feel like you could take a bite out of the air.

In terms of actual inches of rainfail per year, lots of places in the country get more rain than Seattle. It's just that here, the rain comes slower over a longer period of time, whereas in places like Florida, they might get several inches in a few days.

[rainbird]

[quote=compltlyme]I moved to Sammamish from So CA and LOVE IT!!! It is on the Eastside and very family friendly community. Issaquah is great as well. As is Redmond.

Win--All good choices, of those 3, I would definitely pick Issaquah. Sammamish is nice but there is really only one way to get to the plateau, bad traffic if you are traveling during peak hours. Redmond is Microsoft country. Hopefully you can find a job on the eastside, getting into Seattle from the eastside is challenging. Good Luck.

[Pickyday]

Mentioned earlier was the fact that north of Seattle as well as east is good. Anybody have any thoughts on the Arlington, Smokey Point, Lake Goodwin, Stanfield area? I am starting to look at re-locating to the area and have concentrated on these areas because I want a little more rural area (looking for at least an acre of land) but still have good access to the highway. I will be working from home but will travel extensively throughout Washington and Oregon. I am planning on spending around $500k on a house!