Neighborhood Search: Airport Noise/Safety (Seattle, Bellevue: rental, HOA fees, townhouses)

[FrauRosen]

My husband and I are native Seattleites but both grew up on the Eastside and have lived there ever since. His job is now in West Seattle and we're wondering about 1) noise from Seatac Airport and 2) safe neighborhoods. We're considering West Seattle (we can only afford Delridge, Arbor Heights, Shorewood, Highland Park {and we know to avoid White Center}, Burien, Des Moines, Kent's East Hill, and parts of Renton (Fairwood/Highlands/Benson Hill). We've even looked as far southeast as Covington in order to find something newer. (We're already extremely familiar with everything on the I-90 corridor east of Seattle and because of traffic, we don't want to live in any northern or eastern parts of Seattle, so please leave out suggestions on those areas.) Top purchase price would be $350,000 and rental price would be $2000/month----we're not sure if we want to buy or lease. We sold our last place at a loss in 2010 and are frankly terrified to jump into a purchase again. Any insights would be much appreciated. Thanks!

[FrauRosen]

p.s. we homeschool, so school district ratings are not an issue. Thanks.

[amaiunmei]

The only places on that list that I would even consider would be either Des Moines, Burien, or Renton ... in that order. Given your current parameters, the other places would not be great just from a safety perspective.

[Ira500]

As far as West Seattle, Arbor Heights is much nicer than Highland Park. But if you've got a dog, Highland Park has a nice dog park.
Burien has a nice feel, and a cute downtown area. It's nicer west of Ambaum and south of about 144th. Stay away from those parts of Des Moines on or adjacent to Pacific Highway... The East Hill of Kent is a fun place to shop and dine( restaurants ranging from Indian to Mexican to Kenyan to Russian) but I'm not sure I'd want to live there...And I'm not suggesting you live in White Center, but if you live far enough south in West Seattle, White Center may become your "go to" place, because it has some great places to eat, shop, and drink, like Big Al's Brewing, Proletariat Pizza, Full Tilt ice cream, Zippy's Burgers(maybe the best in Seattle), Peruvian roast chicken, etc....It's really not as dangerous as it's reputation, but I wouldn't walk around there at 2 AM on a Saturday asking about the availability of cocaine.
Renton's fine. I live there. Parts of the western part of the Renton Highlands are really run down and ugly...the eastern part is further away but much nicer.. Avoid Skyway proper( a mile west of downtown Renton) but some of the adjacent neighborhoods like Bryn Mawr and Lakeridge offer good value because they share the same zip code and crummy schools. Yet they're quiet, safe, pretty. Some of the neighborhoods adjacent to downtown Renton are pretty nice, just in a bad school district. But if you're home schooling, it's less of a concern, particularly if you're renting. Kennydale in Renton is a nice neighborhood.
Renton Hill is nice too. Much of Tukwila is a bit crummy. The areas just north of the airport are especially noisy. Des Moines can get a lot of airplane noise too, depending on where you are, but Burien is surprisingly quiet.

[Hemlock140]

If you are going to live anywhere near an airport, do a lot of research. It can also change, with FAA regulations, fuel conservation efforts, and weather conditions. Many flights approach over Elliot Bay but are still pretty high at that point. I have never heard much from West Seattle and I'm there often when working.


FAA OKs new flights paths for Sea-Tac landings | Local News | The Seattle Times

Flight Patterns

Beacon Hill Blog » airplane noise

[Freebird2007]

my friend in Burien sleeps with a loaded shotgun next to her bed....does that tell you anything?

Why not just stay on the Eastside? The commute isn't that bad.

[Count David]

Originally Posted by Freebird2007

my friend in Burien sleeps with a loaded shotgun next to her bed....does that tell you anything?

A lot of people in otherwise safe places do that. We have a word for them.....

[FrauRosen]

Why not just stay on the Eastside? The commute isn't that bad.[/quote]


We can't afford anything in Bellevue---even the fixers start at $400,000---and townhouses (which we've owned before and currently rent) have high HOA fees which negate any of the savings of the purchase price being less than single family. We could go farther east on I-90 to places like Issaquah and Snoqualmie/North Bend (we have lived there before and loved it) but prices are on the rise there too, and gas is only going to get higher as well. I'm a green freak and have done a lot of reading on issues like Peak Oil and it's terrifying. I-90 will probably be tolled at some point, too, and that will add thousands to the yearly commute cost. Even leaving all that aside, from West Seattle to even Bellevue is a solid half hour at the minimum, more in rain, and you can add 15 - 30 minutes more for points east. That's a lot of time my husband's stuck in a car instead of home with his family. And he's got 20 more years of work ahead of him. I just wanted to look at places without a bridge commute and where he could possibly even ride a bike to work. Isn't that the green freak holy grail?

Thank you all for your comments, I really appreciate it. We'll go out this weekend and do some recon.