Best/Worst places in Washington (Vancouver, Puyallup: assessors, middle schools, property tax)

[Ultrarunner]

Originally Posted by Fat Freddy

I agree.
Most large cities have low income areas and areas of ethnic concentration but that doesn't mean they are "Ghetto".

South Central LA is Ghetto.
Hunter's Point, San Francisco is Ghetto.
Central Oakland, CA is Ghetto.
Detroit is Ghetto.

Where is Central Oakland?

I know North Oakland, East Oakland, West Oakland, Downtown Oakland and the Oakland Hills, but never heard of Central Oakland.

[Fat Freddy]

Originally Posted by Ultrarunner

Where is Central Oakland?

I know North Oakland, East Oakland, West Oakland, Downtown Oakland and the Oakland Hills, but never heard of Central Oakland.

Central Oakland is where you are in Oakland when you suddenly realize you are right in the Center of where you don't want to be.

[Baldy]

Originally Posted by Fat Freddy

Central Oakland is where you are in Oakland when you suddenly realize you are right in the Center of where you don't want to be.

BAAWWAHAHA!

Kinda like "Wherever I'm at, you don't want to be"

[Bellinghamite]

Originally Posted by xboxmas

I'm interested in crime stats and if it has that "junky ghetto" look to it, or if it's really nice and kept up.

Junky ghettos and high crime:
Seattle
Kent
Auburn
Tacoma
Yakima
Pasco/Kennewick/Richland
Federal Way
Moses Lake

Nice and kept up:
Anacortes
Lynden
Ritzville
Darrington
Sequim
Black Diamond

[Rrrrichard99]

I generally agree with the junky/crime list, although many of those same cities have perfectly beautiful, nice areas to live in. But what's bad about them is truly bad.

As for the nice and kept up, I can only vouch for Lynden, Ritzville and Sequim. They are all nice, either scenic or loaded with character or both. But Darrington is skank. Anacortes is plagued with traffic, and it stinks. Sometimes a view isn't everything.

[maya_maya]

Originally Posted by ness

With Ruston the issue concerns me more than with the other areas b/c that is where the contamination originated and therefore the strongest concentration and most affected, etc. I HAVE done a ton of research on the topic and it's my understanding that only certain parts of Gig Harbor are affected (and not that bad), but that all the areas south of Ruston are affected (including Steilacoom). They have a map online somewhere that shows the areas affected and the degree to which it affects them.

We're just starting our look into Washington -- What contamination are you talking about???

mm

[macfanatic86]

You should take this with a grain of salt, as most of these are based on first impressions from a brief visit:

Best:
Essentially the entire Eastside (Bellevue, Redmond, Issaquah, etc.)
Snoqualmie/North Bend/Fall City
Tri-Cities
Vashon Island
Many of the smaller, mountain communities along Hwy 18: Maple Valley, Covington, etc.

Worst:
Aberdeen/Hoquiam
Tacoma (especially the South/East sides)
Yakima

That said, I'd much rather live in some of these "bad" places in Washington then in some of the much worse places you'll find in other states.

[brightcopperkettles]

Originally Posted by brightcopperkettles

Redmond is a beautiful--but horrendously expensive--city, as is Bainbridge Island. Port Townsend is lovely and a little more affordable. The San Juan Islands are beautiful, but pricey and remote. I would not recommend Tacoma to anyone. Seattle is nice to go to for the day to shop or see a play or ballet or whatever, but I like to be on the ferry on my way home by the time the sun sets on it. There are a lot of nice places in Eastern Washington as well.

Of course, I think the best place to live is where I live, Kitsap County, which includes many lovely places; Seabeck is where we chose. A lot of the doctors live here. Also Poulsbo, Silverdale, Tracyton, and some parts of East Bremerton are lovely; of those, I like Poulsbo the best.

The list some of the others gave is on the "other" side of the water (meaning the east side, where Seattle, Redmond, Issaquah, etc., are). Traffic is tremendously better on this side, as are housing prices.

[St.Croix to Seattle]

I would pick ILLahee waterfront in Bremerton...Incredible views of Port orchard bay,Bainbridge island,Mt Rainier,Seattle Ferry traffic,and the many private boats the go by....Second choice is Alki Beach, West Seattle...

[swsha4]

Around Seattle anything south seems not so nice to me. Around the airport is really awful and Tacoma is very industrial. My favorite Seattle city areas to live in are Ballard, Fremont, Greenwood, Wallingford. Alkai is nice too but a bit far out and VERY expensive.