Moving to Seattle from Fargo, ND! Need Advice! (apartment, rent)

[Cobber_09]

My fiance just accepted in a job in Downton Seattle. I will be meeting him out there after our wedding this June. We currently are living in Fargo, North Dakota so Seattle will be a HUGE change. I'm a little nervous of moving to an urban area being from a small rural area all my life (think of any stereotypical movie you have ever seen of rural Minnesota and that would be about right). So I would like to live in an area that is safe and nice. I will be a first year elementary teacher and would like to live in or near good schools that I could work in. Can anyone give me suggestions on areas in Seattle/burbs where we can rent a apartment that are near quality schools, are safe, and are near entertainment? I have no idea where to start!

[seattlenextyear]

Start with looking for a job for yourself, which is now the limiting factor. Especially since you don't have experience (unless you meant first grade, not first year) or a WA teaching certificate (other states certificates will often transfer though). Once you have leads, then come back and ask us if they're in good neighborhoods. Another factor is where your husband will be working: we don't want him to have a horrible commute.

Here's the Washington State education board website. They have job postings and well as certification guidelines:
Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction

[JustCallMeTC]

Might want to bring the wood chipper with you. We have lots of trees. (j/k)

[seattle789]

Welcome! You will love it here. There are tons of mid westerners who live here and love it. First of all you will laugh when it snows a half inch and no one can drive. Granted, there are many many hills here which no SUV can navigate in ice. You will also wait for the temp to reach single digits which it will not (if it does it will be big news). So leave your below-zero parka behind! And the summers here are lovely.

Onto areas, you need to do some research and read other messages on this board, and as suggested find a place to work or some options. Then return with more specific questions. You have to describe what you consider "safe and nice" and "entertainment."

If your hub is working in downtown Seattle, there are plenty of decent places to live within (what I consider to be) a decent commute: not more than 30 min on the bus/morning traffic drive and a max of ten miles away. Also a large percentage of Seattle's art, restaurants, shopping, music and theatre is located in downtown Seattle with other options sprinkled throughout the city. So if entertainment of that sort is what you like, your husband to be will be well located. Envision yourself meeting him downtown after work for fun, or enjoying the neighborhoods that have their own flavors (Capitol Hill, West Seattle, Ballard, Wallingford and Fremont to name some of them).

Seattle doesn't have crime-infested neighborhoods and gangs such as what can be found in other parts of the country. Still, that being said, there are better neighborhoods for families and kids than others. It depends on what you consider important, your housing price point, your willingness to commute, your need for land and if walking to get some coffee is important. There is a lot to choose from.

Good luck