Living in Federal Way (Seattle, Tacoma: apartments, lease, crime)

[thespykidinseattle]

My partner and I are soon off to live in Washington.
We are very interested in the Arcadia Townhomes that are located in Federal Way (1300 SW Campus Drive
Federal Way, WA 98023)

Is this a good place to eventually start a family? We are thinking about adopting in the next year or two, and wanted to know about the school districts, crime, and recreational things to do as a family.

We will be venturing out to Seattle a lot, so we know there's a lot to do there.

[Mark S.]

I wouldn't recommend it. We lived in Federal Way for almost 10 years. My only regret is not moving 10 years sooner.

[blaserbrad]

I personally have not lived in these apartments but live close by. You're by Fred Meyer which is very convenient for shopping. (they have everything) also by safeway, a few restaurants, a cafe, the aquatic center. Also very close to the BPA trail and Saghalie park, so if you are active (running, biking, exercise in general) and like having amenities close by it's a good place. The school district honestly could be better from what I hear. But there are different programs that your child can be involved in such as Cambridge, and running start that would probably benefit their experience. Tacoma has better schools so I would suggest looking at Northeast Tacoma and specifically the fairways or on the green apartments for better schools. (comparative price range) but I think you could make either work

[SFit]

My wife and I moved to Federal Way in January this year. When our lease is up January 2016 we are moving to Olympia because our initial plan was to move here close to family and get to know the area before we settle on a city for long term. We are looking at Olympia because of its size.

Federal Way pros:
Some very decent parks in the area including Dash Point State Park
Plenty of shopping and retail stores if that is important to you (it isn't to us)
Traffic isn't too horrible if you work south of Federal Way

Federal Way cons:
No real feel of being its own city
Not a lot of good places to eat
Traffic in general sucks because of how many people commute though here to Seattle

I would elaborate further, but I have been working part time from home and had many unexpected things come up this year so I haven't been out and about enough to go on. You could do worse in my opinion, like Fife. I haven't hated living here, but my wife and I are leaving. We are ready to live somewhere more laid back and without horrific traffic that is projected to get WAY worse in the coming years as people continue moving in and buying houses 20+ miles from work because they are too expensive closer in to Seattle. I would certainly consider other options if you have them.

[Seattle4321]

Federal way itself it pretty cool itself! But some people are a little ehhh....

[missakg]

Originally Posted by Mark S.

I wouldn't recommend it. We lived in Federal Way for almost 10 years. My only regret is not moving 10 years sooner.

What makes you say this?

[Mark S.]

Originally Posted by missakg

What makes you say this?

Crime, traffic, crime, traffic, crime, cost of living, and crime.

We lived in 3 different places in Federal Way, renting twice and owning once.

The first place, the college kids downstairs had parties every weekend and were openly dealing drugs in the stairwell. When they finally got kicked out, they were replaced by a fun couple who had screaming arguments every night.

The next place we lived, the local branch of the Russian mafia used an apartment right next to the playground as their local party place and often tried to lure kids inside off the playground. They lasted maybe 6 months before getting the boot. Then the local drug dealer in the next building apparently had a big falling out with his partners and got robbed in a gunfight on Easter Sunday. Good times.

We finally bought a place, hoping to get out of the mess. But then it turned out the lady across the street had a nephew in the Crips, and every time he got out of jail, he shacked up with her. They were openly dealing drugs and peddling underage girls out of the house.

The cops would do nothing. I had a local officer flat out tell me, "Unless someone gets killed, making an arrest isn't worth our time. The judge will let them out in a week. We have bigger problems to deal with. The best thing you can do is move."

So we did. Best decision we ever made. Our only mistake was taking so many years to do it.

The Seattle/Tacoma/Olympia area is a great place to live if you are rich. If you are middle class or struggling, you will be in the 'hood.

[CrazyDonkey]

Yeah, look at Tacoma's Northend. Use Sounder commuter rail to commute to downtown Seattle. From Federal Way, you'll be crammed on a bus.

[253valerie]

I work in south Federal Way. I've lived in the area you are talking about, a little closer to HWY 99 - and at a different place further north.

First, if you're set on Federal Way, than the closer to Dash Point and North Tacoma, the better. There is a lot of crime in Federal Way, and the closer to SeaTac you get the worse it gets.

The traffic is godawful. I commute to Federal Way 5 days a week and if there is an accident on I-5 at the end of my work day, it can take more than hour just to get out of Fife, every back road gets clogged, and expect an extra 20 minutes of driving going anywhere Friday evenings.

The apartments that I lived in next to Winco were honestly very nice. The area was okay, but it was only worth it because my work was so close.

[253valerie]

Originally Posted by Mark S.

When they finally got kicked out, they were replaced by a fun couple who had screaming arguments every night.

The next place we lived, the local branch of the Russian mafia used an apartment right next to the playground as their local party place and often tried to lure kids inside off the playground. They lasted maybe 6 months before getting the boot. Then the local drug dealer in the next building apparently had a big falling out with his partners and got robbed in a gunfight on Easter Sunday. Good times.

We had swat teams outside our apartment twice when we lived up north. Another time cops had to question every woman in our building because some girls skipped out on cab fair, and it turned out they were in the drug dealers place the swat team had gone to twice before... and we also had downstairs neighbors who blasted music in the middle of the night until the music was replaced with the sounds of domestic violence. Oh yeah, and the sheriff came around one afternoon asking if anyone knew anything about a stabbing in the complex.

My first apartment when I was 18 was on 7th and MLK - or Hilltop - but Federal Way was a worse experience by far.