Regarding the "Islands" in Washington (Seattle, Mercer Island: real estate, rentals)

[DRvortec]

Not sure if this is the right area? Wife's parents are thinking of retiring on the "Islands". Not sure which. How are they? I did some breif reading and noticed the papers reporting a lot of sex offenders living over there? Rentals and houses seems not to bad on the prices.

Any and all input is welcome

Thanks

[Ira500]

McNeill Island is a prison island with sex offenders, not too many retirees there, but when talking about " the islands", people are usually referring to the San Juan Islands, which include Orcas, San Juan, Lopez, Shaw, and others.

[DRvortec]

Your right. Those were the Islands he was talking about. Had a map he showed me. Mercer or San Juan rings a bell.

His kids (not related to wife) live there and wants wife's mom to go. Figured I would jump online and ask and see.

McNeil close to those other ones? Is this why I saw the papers talking about sex offenders? It's close to the prison?

Thanks

[allforcats]

McNeil Island is a prison. McNeil is not accessible by anything other than a prison-controlled ferry. It's not near (accessible to) any of the other islands or the mainland. On maps it might look "near" but the only other way to get to or from there would be by swimming in water that's hypothermia-cold all year. No one goes to McNeil unless they work in the prison or are visiting someone in the prison. Not a place you need to be concerned about.

It's a good idea to open Mapquest or Google maps to see where places are.

The San Juan Islands specified by poster Ira500 are generally expensive places to live -- regarding real estate, rentals, groceries, gas, etc. The only access they have to the mainland is ferries, on a fairly sparse schedule, which are also pretty pricey.

Another two islands are Fidalgo and Whidbey, which are somewhat less expensive to live on, with direct access to the mainland by ferry and somewhat out-of-the-way access to the mainland by bridges.

Camano Island is between Whidbey Island and the mainland, and has direct bridge access to the mainland. Camano is mixed expensive and moderate.

Bainbridge Island is west of downtown Seattle, in Puget Sound. It's a mix of expensive and fairly moderate locations. Its only access to the mainland is by ferry.

Vashon Island is just south of Seattle and is a mix of expensive and moderate. It's a quick ferry ride to downtown Seattle.

Mercer Island is in Lake Washington immediately south of downtown Seattle and is also expensive in most parts but has easy bridge access to the mainland.

I hope our explanations help your research! You can Google any of these islands for specific info. ExperienceWashington.com is a fabulous tourism guide which can provide quick and photo-filled info.