schools, safety, family oriented in western WA? (Seattle, Tacoma: to rent, home)

[kowalskified]

We have narrowed our search down to places we can probably afford, at least right away.. Could you rate these based on 1) quality of schools 2) safety and 3) how family centered/oriented the town is. I know these are most important to us..

Maple Valley

Gig Harbor

Poulsbo

Lacey

Olympia

Bonney Lake

[allforcats]

Schools:
Of your list, Maple Valley and Olympia have excellent schools, according to the frequent comment of posters on this forum.

Safety:
All the places on your list, except maybe Lacey, would be on my own list of safe places to live. Nothing against Lacey but I would put it on a secondary list, not unsafe; my impression may be due to the fact that it's the closest town to Ft. Lewis and is also near McChord Air Force Base.

Family friendly:
All the places on your list are family friendly, in that all of western Washington is pretty much to very family friendly. All your locations have areas that are entirely residential. Olympia would have the largest population; Gig Harbor would be somewhat tourist-oriented; and the other locations are more removed from a large selection of resources.

[mthomson]

I can't find the article anymore, but a TNT article last fall ranked Gig Harbor's schools (Peninsula School District) was ranked #2 in the state. They used a system of test scores, class size, teacher experience/education, etc.
In terms of community, I can't imagine a more community oriented place. We have summer concert in the parks, outdoor movie series (screens set up on the waterfront), we just had the PenMet Parks Family Fun Festival. Safety isn't a concern (beyond reasonable care).
Add to that you're close to everywhere (40min to Olympia, 15 to Tacoma, 60min to Seattle, 30min to Bremerton) and it's a tough place to beat.

[Ira500]

Bonney Lake has been kind of overbuilt, so it suffers from some pretty bad traffic. Lacey doesn't have that great of a school district, so..
I'm most familiar with Maple Valley. It's not that far out, 35-40 minutes into downtown Seattle if the traffic gods are with you, and an easy trip to Renton or Black Diamond, home to one of America's best pie bakeries. The Maple Valley school district (Tahoma) is consistently the only district in South King County considered very good, and it's test scores compare well with Bellevue's, Issaquah's, and Kirkland's. It's a pretty place with lots of nearby hiking, the Cedar River and Lake Wilderness, and enough shopping and restaurants.

Olympia also has good schools and lots of stuff to do. It does rain a little more there..it's a bit further from Seattle and the eastside, where there are more jobs.

[mthomson]

I used to coach cross country, and the Tahoma relays was the most fun, most beautiful course we ever ran. I loved Maple Valley!

[rhondaolnick]

Rating Olympia is easy - I've lived here for the past 10 years w/my family - two kids ages 4 & 9 now. The schools are incredible - check out any website and you'll find that Olympia High in particular is nationally ranked. Safety is great - I've never had any problems or been involved in any crime. And finally as far as "family friendly" that's why we live here. There's so much to do - every weekend there's something family oriented to take the kids to see or do. We have a great activities to do when it's raining or when it's sunny. Ask me anything - we've done it all with our kids. Olympia is still small town feel, but close to I-5 for adventures North.