Lynnwood - what do you think about living there? (Seattle: low income, apartment complexes)

[Lipton2]

Hello,
We are thinking of building a house in Lynnwood. How does that area compare to Bellevue or Bothell?
Someone told us that this is low income and very religious area? Is this true?
How are the schools in that area?

Thanks

[noplacelikeWA]

Originally Posted by Lipton2

Hello,
We are thinking of building a house in Lynnwood. How does that area compare to Bellevue or Bothell?
Someone told us that this is low income and very religious area? Is this true?
How are the schools in that area?

Thanks

We lived in Lynwood for 11 years...that being said...

Compared to Bellevue and Bothell -less expensvie and older
Low income - NOT
Religious - NOT
Schools - BAD

The best asset Lynnwood has is its geographic location, everything is at your fingertips. Lynnwood is right next door to Mukilteo and Edmonds but offers a good savings over waterfront living. If you stay near 44th Street and 196th and you'll have easy access commuting north, south, or east. The mall is right there and you can get to the Edmonds Pier or Mukilteo's Picnic Point area in just 10 minutes. Shopping, banking, recreation, new and old housing, great resell values, plus a low crime rate.

Now if schools are very important to you than Lynnwood is not for you unless you go for private schools or home school. I personally do not agree that the more money a district has the better education you can expect, but I also think WA in general has a long way to go in offering decent education options. A perfect example of what is wrong with WA schools can be viewed on youtube go to:www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tr1qee-bTZI

[mlv311]

The attraction to Lynnwood is that it's easily accessible to everything and you have at least 3 commuter buses that service the area from Seattle. The park-n-ride is one of the largest in that area in terms of service and parking spaces available.

It is less expensive than Bellevue. Some newer areas are comparable to Bothell (Snohomish County side). Those areas are newer and nicer as a result. I can think of Canyon Ridge as being a nice area and there are others near there, including new construction.

I'd characterize most of Lynnwood as working class/middle class...You'll notice pockets of lower-income housing as in any city.

Definitely not very religious. We visited 5 churches around the area before we found one we were comfortable in and we are on the traditional side.

Good luck.

[Lipton2]

NoplacelikeWA,
Thank you for your reply. What areas near Seattle are considered the best ones for schools?

[noplacelikeWA]

Originally Posted by Lipton2

NoplacelikeWA,
Thank you for your reply. What areas near Seattle are considered the best ones for schools?

Your welcome!

Good schools are hard to come by in my opinion and it really comes down to how you personally rate a school on the "good vs. bad" meter.

I happen to think good moral character will get you much further in life than just high test scores.

Unfortunately since all we have to go on in the public school system is test scores, you might want to check out this website to view WASL results for WA state.

http://reportcard.ospi.k12.wa.us/?sc...inkId=219&yrs=

Some other posters on CD have said good things about Island County, Lake Washington Schools, Shoreline, and of course those who think the wealth on the eastside (Issaquah) serve for good education.

Because of my views we home school so it really wouldn't be fair for me to reccommend one school over another. If you can manage private school fees than I would recommend Academy Northwest go to: http://www.academynorthwest.org/

[jwb123]

No, I would not live in Lynnwood, and I have had my child in the Edmonds school district and do not prefer it. Edmonds is the school district for Lynnwood. While I don't think that wealth = a good education - unfortunately, in WA state, you do need to go where the money is and you will find a decent district. Simply, the more money in the area, the more that goes into the school. I have a special needs child, and have seen this first hand via quality of therapists, therapy rooms and equipment provided to him.

Your best bet would be to stay within the Lake Washington, North Shore, and the Issaquah school district.

That brings up the issue of housing budget - and in most of those areas, you won't find a home under $500k, likely.

I can not recommend Lynnwood, or the Bothell/Mill Creek (unincorporated Snohomish County - not King County Bothell) as that's where we just moved from - I don't have positive things to say.

As for religious or not - I am Atheist, my husband is Buddhist... and I can say that we had very very religious neighbors in Bothell, and my child had kids at school telling him frightening things in the name of religion, and so far have not had that problem down here in TEXAS if you can believe that...

As you go further north, you do get less "progressive" ... but for one to tell you if an area is particularly religious or not, would be subjective. What is overly religious to me, would be something different to someone else.

[secret_squirrel]

Lynnwood has the potential to be a good long-term investment. The town has an ambitious goal of turning into the "new Bellevue." The city council is considering a massive redevelopment of the current glut of stripmalls between 196th street/1-5/ 44th avenue/Alderwood Mall with high rise development and a pedestrian promenade between the new downtown and the Mall.

Neighborhoods are mixed. "Downtown" Lynnwood is low income, the outer areas are mixed middle class. I currently live to the east, in Alderwood, and there is a ton of upper middle class residential developments being built.

Lynnwood is evolving into a much better place to be. I have two children, one in middle and one in elementary. I am very happy with their schools. The Edmonds School District does not have the reputation of the Northshore District directly to the east, but we have been satisfied. The new superintendent has good ideas and is very approachable for parents, too.

[CityGirl72]

I'd like to pipe in on the Seattle School District.

We all know the GOOD schools are on the eastside! (Redmond, Bellevue, Issaquah, Woodinville etc)

My child is in a school in Seattle - and I'd rather not prefer it, but this is where my husband bought a house. I worked hard to get him into the best school I could find - and to me still not as good as the East side

But IMHO still better then any school district South of Downtown too

[ShadowXOR]

I just moved to Lynnwood about three months ago from Southern California. I have very high standards so let me lay it out for you.

Lynnwood has some very nice parts, moderate parts, and downright sleazy parts.

The mall was rebuilt recently and is extremely nice, it even offers Valet parking. Most of Lynnwood is a bunch of older houses with a lot of new apartment complexes springing up. Along SR-99 is the sleaziest part of town, a bunch of industrial and auto-repair shops mixed with shady small businesses. A lot of trash walking up and down the streets all day. I love my apartment in Lynnwood but what I do is stay at home, then drive to the nice part of town to shop, or leave town to have entertainment (head over to Seattle). The movie theater is really nice here though. The nice thing is the Park and Ride is really useful with lots of parking and buses.

I would say if I was building a house, I would not build it here. It is a nice place to live if you want to have access to everything without living in the heart of Seattle but I would never consider settling here permanently. Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland, etc. are much nicer but also more expensive. Just my .02 cents. I know I'll be moving to one of those nicer areas when I can afford it.

[geometricdisaster]

Originally Posted by ShadowXOR

Lynnwood has some very nice parts, moderate parts, and downright sleazy parts.

I second that. The closer you are to Alderwood -- in my opinion -- the nicer the area is. The closer you get to Edmonds, the sleazier it gets. Ironically, overshoot Alderwood and start toward Mill Creek (Mill Creek itself is fairly gentrified with new homes and businesses, as is North Bothell) you see a mixed bag of class (or lack thereof).

Washington is interesting in general, in that new homes and business buildings get build near the old (yaa, scream the locals, that happens everywhere -- umm, no, it's called planned communities and zoning) so you might have a moderately high dollar new house near a seedy looking neighborhood.