Best Area for Young Families? Commute to Federal Way? (Seattle: real estate, houses)

[nvrhome]

This is long...thanks in advance for reading! Looks like we will be relocating to WA from the midwest in the next few months. Husband will be working in Federal Way. The information I've read on here so far, is honestly, scary! Of course, I'm looking for good schools and a nice neighborhood, with a short commute, but it doesn't appear that that is an option! We currently send our kids to Catholic school, but being in a good public school system is important anyway for housing values, etc.. Any suggestions on where to start? What is a good real estate website to use to view homes in different areas? Are people really not friendly? We have great neighbors and we're a very social family. We currently live in a "pool" community, basically we pay a monthly fee and we are able to use the pool and clubhouse in the summer...are there these types of neighborhoods out there? Help me feel better about moving my family please!

[LongDawson]

You will like Normandy Park as the schools are excellent especially Marvista. There is a neighborhood pool. Commute not bad. Very, very friendly community. Expensive in general but not that bad. Close to Federal Way. Here is a listing.

20069 2nd Ave SW, Normandy Park, WA 98166 | MLS# 29014169
20069 2nd Ave SW
Normandy Park, WA 98166
Price: $474,500
BEDS: 3
BATHS: 1.75
SQ. FT.: 2,450
$/SQ. FT.: $194
LOT SIZE: 0.34 Acres
PROPERTY TYPE: Residential
STYLE: 1 Story with Basement, Northwestern Contemporary
YEAR BUILT: 1955
VIEW(S): Territorial
COMMUNITY: Normandy Park
COUNTY: King
MLS#: 29014169
SOURCE: NWMLS
STATUS: Active

[mitsuturbo]

I live here. I'm friendly. During casual encounters, such as check out at a grocery store, people are overly friendly. My neighbors aren't too friendly though. I'd think in a 5 plex the neighbors would want to know each other and look out for one another. I guess not, so F'em.. their loss. This isn't at all like what i grew up experiencing in the area.

[mitsuturbo]

Originally Posted by LongDawson

You will like Normandy Park as the schools are excellent especially Marvista. There is a neighborhood pool. Commute not bad. Very, very friendly community. Expensive in general but not that bad. Close to Federal Way. Here is a listing.

20069 2nd Ave SW, Normandy Park, WA 98166 | MLS# 29014169
20069 2nd Ave SW
Normandy Park, WA 98166
Price: $474,500
BEDS: 3
BATHS: 1.75
SQ. FT.: 2,450
$/SQ. FT.: $194
LOT SIZE: 0.34 Acres
PROPERTY TYPE: Residential
STYLE: 1 Story with Basement, Northwestern Contemporary
YEAR BUILT: 1955
VIEW(S): Territorial
COMMUNITY: Normandy Park
COUNTY: King
MLS#: 29014169
SOURCE: NWMLS
STATUS: Active

OUCH! that's a house for someone making 6 figures if i ever saw one!!

[Ira500]

Some parts of Federal Way are really nice, especially around Dash Point, Browns Point, Redondo.
The Federal Way school district is considered pretty good. Some of Federal Way is pretty, safe, and relatively inexpensive. If I were working in Federal Way I'd be looking to find a nice area of Federal Way before I'd be willing to lengthen the commute.
But if you wanted a somewhat more urban setting, the Proctor district in North Tacoma would be pretty convenient and nice, as well as Old Town and Ruston/Point Defiance.

[nvrhome]

Thanks for the replies so far. I will definitely check out the areas mentioned. Any feedback on the Maple Valley area? Houses appear to be affordable and looks like there are good schools, as well, particularly Glacier Park Elementary? Would the commute be lengthy though? Also, what about Auburn?

[Ira500]

Maple Valley is great. Hwy 18 does get heavy traffic, so a 25 minute commute can become much longer...but Maple Valley is in a great school district. Auburn has some good schools but the district overall isn't considered great...Kent too has some really good individual schools in a not so great overall district.

[nvrhome]

I'm glad to hear Maple Valley is a nice area in a good school district. Do you happen to know which Catholic school is in that area? Would the commute to Federal Way be 25 mins? Any other information about Maple Valley? Is it newer, older? Is shopping convenient? Any particular neighborhoods more desirable than others? Sorry to have so many questions, it's just so hard to decipher all of the information on the internet!

[Ira500]

Best case scenario on a Maple Valley to Federal Way commute would be 25 minutes. Maple Valley has lots of shopping, but some of the big box stores are nearby in Covington or in Renton. It wasn't too long ago that Maple Valley was heavily farmed, and there are a lot of newer homes there, and it has nice hiking along the Cedar River trail and around Lake Wilderness. As far as I know, there are no Catholic schools in Maple Valley. But Federal Way has St. Vincent de Paul school, Auburn has Holy Family, Renton has St. Anthony, Burien has St. Francis of Asissi, St Bernadette, and Kennedy high, Des Moines has Saint Philomena, Tacoma has Saint Charles Borromeo, and Seattle has quite a few as well.

[texastrigirl]

St. Josephs in Issaquah/Snoqualmie