Family looking for suburban, progressive, safe, affordable living (Seattle, Spokane: sales, crime rate)

[RichmondGirl]

We're a family living in the south looking for a liberal, safe, clean and family-friendly suburb. We looked in to Spokane and comments seemed to indicate that the city has a meth problem, high crime and was more conservative.

I'm aware that our needs are specific but just wondering if anyone had any suggestions? We're even open to Oregon living. Thank you!

[perigee]

Portland/Vancouver area, live income tax free in WA shop sales tax free in OR, best of both worlds.

[noah]

I wouldn't rely on city data comments concerning crime or meth in deciding where to live. If your coming from the south I highly doubt you'd find Spokane to be a high crime area, probably won't even notice any, especially if your targeting a suburban area. You will find plenty of drug use in western washington and orgeon too, probably much more..but doesn't mean the suburb you choose will be that way. Not saying Spokane is the place for you, if liberal minded is your most important consideration it likely is not although you'd probably find it better thank you think.

[StealthRabbit]

What age are your kids?, what are your interests?

I would put Olympia and Vancouver near the top of your list and start shopping.
Consider being near a Jr College if your kids will participate in Running Start ( free college instead of high school).

[509]

You want a conservative progressive community. Plenty of those around.

However, if you are dead set on liberal....the only one I would consider is Eugene, Oregon. It is the only liberal community that I would consider living.

[RichmondGirl]

Originally Posted by StealthRabbit

What age are your kids?, what are your interests?

I would put Olympia and Vancouver near the top of your list and start shopping.
Consider being near a Jr College if your kids will participate in Running Start ( free college instead of high school).

We're a blended family so we've got all the ages lol. From teens to babies. However, all the kids are homeschooled. I've never heard of a Jr College before now but that's great to know about. We're not really ones for the historic or "charming" scenes as weird as it sounds. We like newer suburbs with decent shops, amenities, restaurants and safe parks. Cleanliness and safety are huge for us with having so many of us to keep track of.

[jacqueg]

Originally Posted by RichmondGirl

We're a blended family so we've got all the ages lol. From teens to babies. However, all the kids are homeschooled. I've never heard of a Jr College before now but that's great to know about. We're not really ones for the historic or "charming" scenes as weird as it sounds. We like newer suburbs with decent shops, amenities, restaurants and safe parks. Cleanliness and safety are huge for us with having so many of us to keep track of.

Maybe Puyallup?

[RichmondGirl]

Originally Posted by jacqueg

Maybe Puyallup?

Funny you should say that. We found a house in Puyallup that we really liked but when I did research, the crime rate was higher than the national average, particularly property crime. I also saw people mentioning that it was a "crappy" town with bad traffic. So it confused us and also popped our bubble a bit.

How would you describe the area? We've found some nice houses, so it confused me that it would be an undesirable area.

[StealthRabbit]

Stick with Olympia, Vancouver, and add Bellingham / Fairhaven.

Both Hawaii and Washington State offer Running Start,
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Running_Start
Running Start

Worked well for our homeschooled kids, and thousands of others per yr for last 23 yrs.

I have seen very few progressive 'liberal' towns. Libs usually are 'group think' / regressive... All of Oregon suffers this dogma. It is really bad about 'think like us or be an outcast'. Urban 'immigrant' Colorado suffers the same
(i.e. CA and recent MJrs) . If you desire to THINK you are progressive and aren't... Then Oregon is perfect!, especially if you want to proclaim it to others.

pnw will be plenty liberal in 90% of urban areas.

But.... For crime avoidance I would steer clear of most of Puyallup, and some of Tacoma, Spokane..

[CrazyDonkey]

In the Seattle area, safe and affordable don't often go together, without a long commute. Maybe look at Maple Valley to the south and Mill Creek to the north.

If not tied to a Seattle commute, try University Place or Steilacoom, near Tacoma.