Stanwood, Arlington Marysville area (Seattle, Bellevue: real estate, school districts, live in)

[Pickyday]

I live in Florida and am looking at a move to the Seattle area. I will work from home, so location is flexible! I will be traveling, both by car and plane, so I will need easy access to Seatac (within an hour) and major highway! I have friends in the Stanwood area and like the Smokey Point, Lakewood, Lake Goodwin, Firetrail area. I have also been told about Woodinville area, but have no idea of the area yet.

Does anybody have any suggestions on areas? I have a 10 year old daughter so schools are important!!! I want to be out of the city! Am looking for some land (at least an acre, possibly 2 - 5). Waterfront (lake) would be nice but prices seem prohibitive! A view of the Cascades would be nice as well!


Thanks for any help!

[mw98642]

Originally Posted by Pickyday

I live in Florida and am looking at a move to the Seattle area. I will work from home, so location is flexible! I will be traveling, both by car and plane, so I will need easy access to Seatac (within an hour) and major highway! I have friends in the Stanwood area and like the Smokey Point, Lakewood, Lake Goodwin, Firetrail area. I have also been told about Woodinville area, but have no idea of the area yet.

Does anybody have any suggestions on areas? I have a 10 year old daughter so schools are important!!! I want to be out of the city! Am looking for some land (at least an acre, possibly 2 - 5). Waterfront (lake) would be nice but prices seem prohibitive! A view of the Cascades would be nice as well!


Thanks for any help!

i moved from fla to vancouver wa and like it. i have friends in stanwood. lots of lakes just south on way to smokey point. do not know about schools. forget about puget sound property as it is very expensive. camano island is nice and affordable if you dont get a sound view. it will add a lot of commuting time when you travel. Moderator cut: deleted specific referral information

[Pickyday]

Thanks for the help. I have already looked at the Camano island area and see the issue with travel time. There is only one way in and out and it appears to get very conjested during rush hour. I hear that the schools in Arlington have some issues passing levys, however I have heard that the Lakewood school district is very good and a little smaller than most in the area! I was thinking about focusing on that for my daughter!

Does anybody have any feedback on the Woodenville area? I really want to be out of the conjestion! However I do need fairly easy access to the highway for travel north and south in the state. As far as traffic on the highway, I have that here (Florida) and usally plan my travel around peak traffic times!

[zurabelle]

Originally Posted by Pickyday

I have a 10 year old daughter so schools are important!!! I want to be out of the city! Am looking for some land (at least an acre, possibly 2 - 5).

Finding a combination of a better school and land...I'm not sure how easy that is, but perhaps possible in Woodinville--it IS a good choice for schools, by the way (but the real estate is more expensive). There are many north end school districts that have good reputations, but there's no doubt that the schools on the eastside (Bellevue, Issaquah) stand stronger. You may want to refer to this site:


http://www.psk12.com/rating/USindexphp/STATE_WA.html

Remember that for various reasons (e.g. higher special education and ELL populations) these rating can be subjective, but they do give you some degree of orientation.

If you have flexibility with hours, you'll have great advantage to minimize your experience in traffic conjestion--but at least to some extent, it just comes with the territory!

[SeattleREguy]

Originally Posted by Pickyday

Thanks for the help. I have already looked at the Camano island area and see the issue with travel time. There is only one way in and out and it appears to get very conjested during rush hour. I hear that the schools in Arlington have some issues passing levys, however I have heard that the Lakewood school district is very good and a little smaller than most in the area! I was thinking about focusing on that for my daughter!

Does anybody have any feedback on the Woodenville area? I really want to be out of the conjestion! However I do need fairly easy access to the highway for travel north and south in the state. As far as traffic on the highway, I have that here (Florida) and usally plan my travel around peak traffic times!

Woodinville is a great area, but will cost you a bit more than if you go north of Everett (Marysville, Stanwood, Etc).

[Arizona Annie]

Originally Posted by mw98642

i moved from fla to vancouver wa and like it. i have friends in stanwood. lots of lakes just south on way to smokey point. do not know about schools. forget about puget sound property as it is very expensive. camano island is nice and affordable if you dont get a sound view. it will add a lot of commuting time when you travel.

I live in Arizona now but I grew up in the Warm Beach area this previous poster mentioned. If you want some land and good schools you should definitely check out that area. Right up the road from Warm Beach is the 7 lakes area and although you probably won't be able to find as much available land on the lakes as you would like there is a lot of available land to clear and build on close by. Check out GreatSchools.net for school information on the Stanwood/Camano school district. If you find something in that area, you will have about an hour commute to Seattle. Hope this helps.