Sumner (Seattle, Tacoma, Kent: houses, neighborhoods, to buy)

[JP_GoBucks]

I am looking at a job in Sumner and was wondering if anyone had any advice for a great place for family living without a terrible commute. I've lived in Renton, Kirkland, and Bothell in the 80's and 90's, so I am familiar with that part of the region, but I moved in 1996.

I am not too familiar with the south Puget Sound area. I do remember an "aroma" as I drove through Tacoma, so I do want to avoid that. Also, is there any where in that has more or less rain than others in that area?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks!

[kseo]

It all rains pretty much the same in Pierce and King county. We had 10 in. of rain in two weeks. Sumner had a area where there were over 50 homes in 4 ft of flood water last week...
I would never live in Sumner as there are not many entrances into the city, it's very congested during rush hour. Decent schools and good neighborhoods with lots of families though.

[JP_GoBucks]

Thanks for the advice on staying away from Sumner. Any other places around there that are decent?

[kseo]

Look into Puyallup which is only a few miles away from Sumner, or even Auburn...

[Mark S.]

Are you wanting city or rural living? I'd stay out of Tacoma/Lakewood altogether.

Enumclaw and Black Diamond are nice, small towns.

[delftblue]

Ok, not sure if you are still looking into Sumner, but it's a fabulous place to live- with many entrances into the city by the way- not sure what that other poster was talking about since I can think of 6 off the top of my head (1 off of 167, 3 off of 512 and 2 on the Valley highways).

As far as traffic goes- if you think waiting in line at a stoplight for 1 minute is too much- then stay away. I guess it depends on your definition of congestion.

My husband and I are from Chicago (although I had lived in Redmond for awhile in the 80's)- now that's congestion for you. When we moved to Washington in 2000, we spent 3 years looking for the perfect place to live which meant well kept homes, safety, great schools, shopping, no traffic and most importantly mass transit into the city (Sounder train that goes into Seattle, which very few cities have, especially on the eastside).

After living in Issaquah (yikes- talk about traffic- it would take 30 minutes to go from one side of I-90 to the other during lunch. What an absolute mess that place has turned out to be). Redmond/Sammamish was the same story as Issaquah as was Bothell. We decided that spending upwards of $500K on a first time home (houses that sit on top of neighbors and had strips of grass the size of a coffee table for a backyard) was out of the question. We decided to look south.

So glad we did. We investigated everything from Renton to Yelm. Sumner was one of the few communities that was serviced by the Sounder train and also fit every other category that was important to us.

Sumner is clean (a lot of pride in homes as well as yards), charming, easily accessible, great sense of Community (music in the park, street festivals, parades, fabulous little cafes and restaurants as well as unique shopping boutiques and other fun stores) and not at all trashy- unlike many parts of Kent, Auburn, Tacoma, Puyallup, etc. Good Samaritan Hospital (great hospital) is 8 minutes away.

Puyallup may be a second option, but it is a HUGE cluster and would drive you nuts during commute times if that truly is a concern for you. There are also far more shady characters lurking around Puyallup than there are in Sumner. They do have train service though. However, if you choose to buy new construction you will spend the good part of your day getting to and from any major route into the city as most new construction is located in South Hill- a nightmare to get to from the freeways. The downtown core is charming- beautiful older homes. Again though, it seems to be hit or miss for any sense of safety and classiness.

The aroma in Tacoma isn't as bad as it was- although you can still smell it in certain areas. I would never live in Tacoma though, altogether too shady for us.

Enumclaw is very similar to Sumner in appeal, although it is very hard to access, no train and questionable healthcare facilities. We felt Black Diamond was a bit on the sketchy side and also difficult and lengthy to access, no train, etc. Maple Valley is new and clean but no sense of community, no historical shopping core, difficult and often dangerous (highway 18) to access and no major healthcare facilites either.

Hope this helps. We are super picky and wouldn't live anywhere questionable. Housing prices are also better than most others in the area these days- another bonus.

Good luck.

[ttdog]

I want to thank delftblue for the extremely useful post. We are relocating from the east coast to Washington, and have had trouble finding candid and valuable information (though we had narrowed our scope to the Puyallup/Sumner area). I hope your effort works to our benefit - perhaps we will meet in Sumner in a few months!