Cost of living as of 2011

[rbkoreaus]

Originally Posted by skyski88

I have no idea what part its at yet. I just know seattle area lol. It was mentioned once, but it was brief, and I forgot. She, I guess assumed I was from the area because she was naming landmarks. If I move out there, depending on where i am at, i would like to live semi close to work

You should probably follow up and find out where it's at again. The "Seattle area" can range anywhere from Everett to Tacoma area, obviously a major range to work with in terms of commuting, especially when accounting for the less-than-desirable traffic (you'll learn that, generally speaking, people here don't know how to properly merge onto a freeway, or use passing lanes for their purpose. When I first moved here, I'd run into daily traffic jams, thinking there was an accident, only to drive up further and watch people struggling to merge.)

A midway point between Tacoma and Seattle would be around South Center, and given your situation, I'd recommend looking for places around Tukwila, Burien, and Renton area. It could afford you a nicer apartment for much less $ than if you were living in the city of Seattle itself (think $600 to $800 for a 1-BR). With no traffic, the commute time to downtown Seattle from these areas would be about 20 minutes. In the Southcenter mall area especially, you could find an inexpensive/livable area where your gf could hopefully find a job at/near the mall, as it is a very commercial (unseattle-ish) area that is walking distance from most of the apartments north of it.

[skyski88]

What is a costco membership? Is the Renton area rundown or considered a ghetto or something? I'm only asking because in my area the affordable places are more rundown

[Ira500]

Originally Posted by skyski88

What is a costco membership? Is the Renton area rundown or considered a ghetto or something? I'm only asking because in my area the affordable places are more rundown

1. Costco is a huge warehouse store that sells everything( from food to beer to clothing to printers to toilet paper, at pretty good prices) but you must be a a member to shop there.
2. A few parts of Renton are rundown and considered kinda ghetto, but most of Renton is pretty nice. I live in Renton. I don't live in fear, I have nice neighbors, there are good places to eat and shop nearby, and nice places to walk. Public transit to downtown Seattle and downtown Bellevue is very good. Parts of Renton are pretty rural, parts of Renton are pretty suburban, and parts of Renton are kinda rundown. Renton has recreation on Lake Washington like canoe and kayak rentals, it has parks and trails both on the lake and along the Cedar River, which has one of the biggest coho salmon runs in the continental US.