How does Everett compare? (Seattle, Kirkland: relocation, military, travel)

[fundog]

Is Everett as bad as many say it is or could it be that many of you do not want people to keep moving to washington? I am moving out there from San Antonio, Texas and our crime statistics blows Everetts crime stats completely out of the water!!! Everett has a puney 111 registered sex offenders while San Antonio has 2009 registered sex offenders. I wonder what you would think of San Antonio? I am sorry if I come accross as an ass... I am just curious why Everett is getting such a bad rap. San Antonio is worse all accross the statistical crime rates than Everett and I have not had any bad experiances. I live in an upper middle class neighborhood with at least 5 registered sex offenders on my block. Is the crime rate that evident out there? Does Everette look trashy with a bunch of drug dealers and gang bangers at every corner? I use to live by Los Angeles. Is Everette as bad as L.A.?

[Grimacus]

I use to live in Everett, from 1991 to 2007, its not bad, most crime is domestic abuse or car thefts. Everett to me was boring, most people travelled to Seattle for weekend events. Only thing to do at night in Everett was to hang out at local bars or go bowling. Kids and teens dont have much to do there. They recently built a hockey arena which is nice, been to a hockey game, they also hold concerts there. The local mall is a joke, most people goto the mall in Lynnwood.
I just moved out of Washington to Fort Worth, Texas last August, I got sick of the cold wet fall, winter, and springs. So far im loving it here, not to mention housing here is hella cheap, a house in Everett will run you around $250K for about 1200-1400 sq. ft. home.

[noplacelikeWA]

We moved from the Everett area to San Antonio in April of 2006. Everett has it's good parts and bad parts just like SA. There is a lot less land area in Everett and the population is only 1/10 of SA, so becareful when comparing stats. If the crime rates are your biggest concern, you'll be fine if you just stick to south Everett (below casino). You might actually prefer Marysville, Mukilteo, Snohomish, Lynnwood, or Edmonds, to Everett. Think of Everett as downtown SA and all the other cities I mentioned are outside 410. We live on the far west side near Seaworld, the crime stats for our new neighborhood are waaaaaay better than Everett. Feel free to ask me anthing, I love talking about WA, I miss it very much.

[Grimacus]

Lake Stevens is nice, its east of Everett but traffic can suck getting to and out of Lake Stevens. Marysville is getting overcrowded. Snohomish is nice. Most areas north of Seattle are bedroom communities, most people commute 20-60 miles to goto work.

[crillis]

Hi, We moved to Mukilteo (just south of Everett) in 2000 from San Antonio. We were living off 281 N Brook Hollow area. Mukilteo is nice very conviently located but $$$$ we lucked into a nice rental 8 yrs ago and have not left. We are both professionals and doing well but prices here are so high and over inflated we are spending every dime getting buy (no nest egg building here) and the home prices are ridiculous...and probably not going to correct like the rest of the country.

Everett has issues unless you are in a community lining the water. It is an older military town and may compare to Universal City/Converse, TX at least 8 yrs ago. Many lower income and transient folks in Everett which is unusal for this area and therefore people are less accepting (in my opinion). The area north of Everett is called Marysville and is very similar but has more rural areas. Again and older area which appears run down. Marysville is also home to the Tulalip indian tribe (they have built a decent casino and outlet mall along with a super wal mart.

I 5 southbound in am and northbound in pm is to be avoided at all cost!

Back to Everett, it does have higher crime than almost all of the other areas around but still safer than many southern cities. I will say the food in WA is terrible and if you can not get used to wearing winter gear and being outside in the rain you will spend 6 to 8 months of the yr indoors. Weather is milder as far as temps go but the gray cloudy drizzle from Oct/Nov to May/June is maddening. If you are coming for the aircraft industry and are not making at least a 6 digit figure you are in for a decrease in life style. Wages are not reasonable for the area...

If I were coming here now I would look in Bothell/Mill Creek/Snohomish areas still fairly easy commutes to South Everett/ Paine Field. Are you coming here for the planes? If so I could tell you more...

Everett and Marysville are OK but not desirable. Overall North Puget Sound area is clean safe $$$ well educated and beautiful when the sun shines. Down sides food is terrible no local culture many strange folks esp. closer to Seattle (tree huging ganola eatting scholars? or multi tatooed/pierced purple haired with combat boots). Hope this helps.

[cassjho]

Hi Crillis!
I found your last post informative. My husband is being transferred to Boeing this May/June from Madrid. The move is short-term (2-3 years) so we are looking to rent. The money is not fantastic but we are very frugal ( we live in a country where wages are relatively low compared to cost of living). There will be no opportunity to check out the area first but he will probably rent a room and wait for me and family to join him in August before actually looking for rental house. We'd love to luck into a great rental as you did in Mukilteo but where else should we check out? We want a decent commute for him and nice schools for our middle school and high school aged daughters. From what I've read Snohomish is nice and you say the commute is ok. What about the commute from Lake Stevens and how is Edmund? I've read their schools are iffy. Any suggestions would be so appreciated!

[crillis]

Hi, My husband is also in the aviation industry and while he is not working for Boeing now he is working for another large aviaition company next door. If you are moving from Spain you are in for a lot of changes. Most people in this area are nice and helpful. I would stay out of Everett unless you can afford a water view. I would also try to stay East of I 5 unless again you can afford a water view. Mukilteo is the exception around Harbour Pointe Blvd. is great. Lots of kids and professionals. Police fire doctors libray grocery stores and schools all very convient as is access to I 5 or I 405. Hospitals are questionable though. Stevens Hosp. it terrible (in Edmonds). I would recommend hospitals in Everett Kirkland or Bellvue WA.

For schools I would definately be in Mukilteo school disctrict or Eastside I 405 areas of Mill Creek Bothell Woodinville. The commute is a bit further but reverse for traffic which is a great thing. Lake Stevens commute would be hard and long even though many do it. Boeing has different work hours to help with commute issues but still an issue. Lake Stevens in general is beautiful safe and rural feeling.

I have close friends in Edmonds with son who just graduated from Woodway high school and while it was nice several yrs ago I think it has too many kids and is not as desirable as it used to be.

We are moving to South Carolina in May for better weather and more affordable living. We have a small child who is bouncing off the walls here and needs to outside a lot to burn energy. We have not been to Spain yet but were planning on going whent eh sub way was bombed and that changed things for a while. We have also considered moving out of USA due to many major issues with heathcare and other serious areas of decline...would you recommend Spain? Would be be allowed to buy home/property as Americans? or access the healthcare?
Hope this helps

[cassjho]

I'm an American who's lived in several states and ended up in Spain. My husband (who's Spanish) and I actually lived in central FL for several years and loved it. I insisted on the move back to Spain to expose our daughters to the Spanish culture and help them with their Spanish. That was 4 years ago and we love living here but miss many aspects of the USA so are thrilled with this chance to get back without losing jobs or home here. Also the educational system here is quite different. English is my daughters' mother tongue and both did well in American schools. Here one is doing well and the other is not and the system does nothing to help her. My 10 grader faces 12 different subjects (language arts, biology, phys./chem., math, technology, French, social studies, music, PE, art, religion/ethics and English-her easy subject) spread out over the week with all the homework and exams and projects that go. Memorization of the book is the only way to get through exams, all questions are essay. As a certified teacher, I am not at all happy with the school system here so hope to get her back in US schools. It's something to think about if you have school aged children.
Don't worry about safety in Spain. We were here during the train bombings and while terrible it is as likely to be repeated as 9/11. Spain is a wonderful place to visit! As far as living here, it is very difficult to get the visas required for work permit/residency so you need to take lots of money to show you can support yourself without working. With money, it's easy to buy a home here. Technically you don't qualify for the free state health care unless you work and contribute to the system. Spain and other countries here in Europe are wonderful places to live with a great quality of life but I also believe the same of the USA. By the way, my parents live in S. Carolina and that's another nice state with lovely weather.
We look forward to our move to Washington and will make the most of it. I will seriously look into Mukilteo and town of Snohomish. I want the smallest possible high school available and I know most in this area are huge. I might even have to consider home-schooling to get my daughter back on track. Anyone live in Snohomish to comment on their schools? BTW I've read the greatschools comments on different schools and most are outdated.

[crillis]

Thanks for the info on Spain. Kamiak HS in Mukilteo is huge. Very modern and well funded but very large. For a private school option there is Northshore Christian academy in Everett about a mile from Boeing. The big problem with WA school as I understand it is the lack of real math. You should check out "where's the math " on the web to investigate yourself. Boeing and many other companies are in a crisis because their engineers are retiring and the new grads here have not been taught a quanitative math. Many companies here are bringing in engineers from other countries to compensate.
I am a nurse and I a truely, seriously concerned about the failure of healthcare and goverment programs here.

I used to think people that home schooled were "different" but I'm starting to see the positives.
Hope your relocation goes well and welcome home!

[rheadabovewater]

Originally Posted by crillis

I am a nurse and I a truely, seriously concerned about the failure of healthcare and goverment programs here.

I want to relocate to WA over the next year, but it's vital that I get a regular position with good health benefits (had some medical problems over the last year). Can you tell me why you said the above?

Thanks....