Best Small Towns To Raise a Family In Western/Northern Washington (1,000-10,000 pop)

[backdoordreamer]

OP-
Port Townsend is much more interesting for families (IMO) than Port Hadlock. Marine Science Center, skateboard park, nice beaches, Maritime Center, Community Center, Farmers Market, Fort Worden State Park with miles of trails...

Check out www.ptguide.com for lots of great info on the town. I lived in PT for 13 years.

[HPY1]

Originally Posted by northwestlove

I'm shannon, I need some advice!! I have been looking at places all over washington but its hard to know what they actually are like without having lived/been there. I love the outdoors, I want to live somewhere beautiful and green and surrounded with mountains/forrest/lakes where I can hike, mountain bike, kayak, etc. I'm looking for the ideal place for kids to grow up, that's really the most important thing. Low crime, low population(2-10,000 ish), and quite a ways (an hour at least) from seattle or portland. I want to live somewhere that's still in pretty good shape economy wise, not about to become a ghost town or anything. Mostly I've been looking at places on the olympic peninsula, or north of seattle(sequim,mt vernon, tracyton, grapeview, elma, everson, lynden, sudden valley, bellingham, etc). Though I'm deffinitely open to other areas!! Even Oregon if you have any knowlege matching what I'm looking for. I've lived in Vancouver my whole life. It has its good and bad features, but I'm really done withl the crime/drug problem that's developing here due to its proximity to Portland and the rising population. A lot of people I knew in high school are into alcohol or hard drugs now, its very sad because this used to be such a nice place but I couldn't imagine raising a family here. I am 21 & going to school to be a doctor, I know its a ways away because I have to get through school first but I've been with my boyfriend for 4 years now and we want to have a place in mind when the time comes. Any input would be great!!

Lynden, WA is the best place I've lived besides Columbus, OH (home). It is safe and quiet with good school. My biggest complaint was the cost of housing. IMO house prices were way too high. I lived there during the housing boom/Califorinication era!

Good Luck!

[NV2TN2AL]

Originally Posted by northwestlove

I don't mind you sharing my thread at all! haha. I can't talk extremely confidently about your question, but if I were in your position I would look at Orting, WA. Its about 20 minutes away and it looks like a fairly nice & pretty town. Personally, I would stay as far from tacoma as possible because it has a lot of crime/gang/drug problems from what I've heard from pretty much everyone. So probably not the best place to raise a child. I would look east of Puyallup. If I were you I would probabaly Check out Bonney Lake, Rhododendron Park, Buckley, and Enumclaw (pretty much places on the way to Enumclaw.) I've heard enumclaw is great. Again, I don't know a ton about these places that's just what I would do. Hope this helps!

Dear Northwest:

Thank you SO MUCH for responding (sorry, channeling my "inner 7th grader there with the "all caps"!), but I really do appreciate it. I'm sorry I did not reply back sooner; I don't think I got a message letting me know someone had replied to my comment - but maybe this site doesn't do that (or if it does, maybe I'm not registered correctly for it! Maybe you can let me know!) Things continue to move along for us! My son-in-law is awaiting an interview for a second position with Boeing (couldn't make the money work with the first offer, and at the Hiring Manager's recommend, he turned that one down and is working on a second one). Well, today, an email came in requesting an interview and this time it was for my daughter! They are both Industrial Engineers. The position would be in Renton, WA. I've heard of Renton long ago and I guess it's like 20 - 25 miles north of Puyallup. I know that anything north of Puyallup is getting closer and closer to Tacoma. I, like you, have heard, unfortunately, not positive things about that poor city. (To be far, I'm sure the same could be said of lots of bigger cities). I went to school with girls from Memphis, TN. That is decided one rough town (in certain areas), but they were among some of the folks that couldn't wait to return there, because it was home to them. So, I just thought I'd pick your experienced brain and see if you knew anything about Renton. I am definitely compiling a list of spots to check out, and am adding the ones you suggested to the list!

Thank you!

[Inkpoe]

Originally Posted by NV2TN2AL

Dear Northwest:

Thank you SO MUCH for responding (sorry, channeling my "inner 7th grader there with the "all caps"!), but I really do appreciate it. I'm sorry I did not reply back sooner; I don't think I got a message letting me know someone had replied to my comment - but maybe this site doesn't do that (or if it does, maybe I'm not registered correctly for it! Maybe you can let me know!) Things continue to move along for us! My son-in-law is awaiting an interview for a second position with Boeing (couldn't make the money work with the first offer, and at the Hiring Manager's recommend, he turned that one down and is working on a second one). Well, today, an email came in requesting an interview and this time it was for my daughter! They are both Industrial Engineers. The position would be in Renton, WA. I've heard of Renton long ago and I guess it's like 20 - 25 miles north of Puyallup. I know that anything north of Puyallup is getting closer and closer to Tacoma. I, like you, have heard, unfortunately, not positive things about that poor city. (To be far, I'm sure the same could be said of lots of bigger cities). I went to school with girls from Memphis, TN. That is decided one rough town (in certain areas), but they were among some of the folks that couldn't wait to return there, because it was home to them. So, I just thought I'd pick your experienced brain and see if you knew anything about Renton. I am definitely compiling a list of spots to check out, and am adding the ones you suggested to the list!

Thank you!

I see that you need to look at a map... Tacoma is northwest to Puyallup; Renton is hardly "closer and closer" to Puyallup. Puyallup and Tacoma practically border each other (but for Spanaway and other areas in the way).

Tacoma is besieged by a bad rep; while it does have its bad areas, there are definitely nice areas with great amenities around (stated many times on this forum).

Wherever you guys get the jobs, one of the things you'll need to have an idea on is the work schedule and then decide how much time you're willing to spend in traffic. Should your kids work regular hours @ the Renton Boeing facility, and you guys opt to live in Puyallup, even Orting-- expect a PITA commute on 167.



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[Inkpoe]

Originally Posted by Inkpoe

I see that you need to look at a map... Tacoma is northwest to Puyallup; Renton is hardly "closer and closer" to Puyallup. Puyallup and Tacoma practically border each other (but for Spanaway and other areas in the way).

Sorry, meant to say Tacoma.