Moving from Kentucky to Seattle area (Bellevue, Everett: 2015, renters, insurance)

[vem7]

I believe my original post was in the wrong forum, but anyways. I am relocating to Washington, hopefully the Seattle area the Summer of 2015. I have researched alot as far a weather, crime, housing etc. I would like to know what area is safe, good to raise a family, affordable and has good schools. I did notice that in the Seattle are there is only one school with a 10 out of 10 ranking and it is near Washington University. I clearly would like other options. I currently live in the middle of nowhere on two acres and it takes me 20 minutes to get to a Wal-Mart and my commute to work is 2 hours round trip. I refuse to do any of that when I move! With that being said I do not want to live right in the city with my neighbors right on top of me. I would like something on the outskirts of town, even a small town is fine but I need shopping, job etc close again!! So any help, advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks

[NCDavid]

Couldn't tell from your post if you've ever visited the Seattle area, but it didn't sound like it. If not, you should come out to look for yourself or advice from here won't mean much. There really aren't "outskirts of town" here. The Seattle metro area has about 1.5 million people and the city, suburbs and small towns kind of all run together. Depending on where one lives and works here, you can easily spend two hours round-trip commuting. It won't be the kind of commuting you are used to; it will be stop-and-go traffic. Of course, you can catch a bus or light rail if you live near them, but that may take just as long, maybe longer. That is especially true since you don't want to live in the city. On the other hand, shopping is anywhere and everywhere.
You mentioned you want your job to be close to where you live. Does that mean you don't have a job here? Better find the job first, then worry about where to live.

[Inkpoe]

Originally Posted by vem7

I believe my original post was in the wrong forum, but anyways. I am relocating to Washington, hopefully the Seattle area the Summer of 2015. I have researched alot as far a weather, crime, housing etc. I would like to know what area is safe, good to raise a family, affordable and has good schools. I did notice that in the Seattle are there is only one school with a 10 out of 10 ranking and it is near Washington University. I clearly would like other options. I currently live in the middle of nowhere on two acres and it takes me 20 minutes to get to a Wal-Mart and my commute to work is 2 hours round trip. I refuse to do any of that when I move! With that being said I do not want to live right in the city with my neighbors right on top of me. I would like something on the outskirts of town, even a small town is fine but I need shopping, job etc close again!! So any help, advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks

About schools:

Washington University is in St. Louis.


Obviously, you been looking at Seattle Public Schools district, and it would be consistent that they'd have a rated 10 elementary school in the University of Washington area (North of Seattle). I don't know if it's the only rated 10 in that district though.

I'm assuming KY has a similar setup to TN, but in WA school districts are not bounded by counties. They have (well, to me) nonsensical borders, so keep that in mind when you're looking. There are many school districts in the Seattle area and more rated 10 elementary schools around.


Like PP mentioned, Seattle is pretty built out. Outskirts of town is basically 1 nontraffic hour north and south of Seattle, over 45 mins to the East. Some areas will have more greenery than others.

Otherwise, keep reading through the forum, you'll find your answers.

[CrazyDonkey]

Start by looking at Bothell - about 43 minutes to downtown Seattle on the bus, about 20 minutes to Bellevue. Safe. Excellent schools. Somewhat cheaper housing than Seattle proper.

[vem7]

Thanks, from what I can find there is only one school rated a ten and it is a middle school in the Seattle area. I will be visiting next month! And clearly I will have a job before I move Thanks

[Hemlock140]

With our traffic, a 2 hour commute round trip is about 20-25 miles. You definitely need to wait and see where your job is and how much you will be paid before deciding where to live. Almost all of the schools on the east side of Lake Washington in the Bellevue, Mercer Island, Lake Washington and Issaquah districts are highly rated. In part because of this, the home and rental prices are high, so much so that I would expect the average home in Kentucky to be about 1/4 the cost of here.

[DutchessCottonPuff]

LAWD !
You need to come look first . I am from Texas albeit a liberal Texan ( an endangered species ) and my husband has worked for Boeing over 26 years in Europe and the US ( he is an EEU citizen ) We have lived all over the world so are usually prepared for anything but I am telling you now that when these folks say you better have a job first they mean a JOB not a job . SOME of the places you are talking about are out of reach for most save for Ann and Nancy Wilson and members of the Seahawks. Traffic is horrendous and we still love it here but yeah , many times it's taken 1 1/2 hours to get 25 miles. I live in a sketchy part of Everett/Mukilteo right up next to the Boeing plant so we can afford the rent which everyone all over the area of all income levels , rightly so ,complains about . I have lived in my apt 3 years so I get like a 40% discount for being good and its still 900.00 after the discount for a 750 sq ft 2-1. That does not include my mandatory renters insurance which they upped to 300,000 this year .

[vem7]

Hemlock140, thanks the info. is def. helpful and what I was looking for as well! I have looked at the cost of homes and Bellevue seems to be less expensive then I guess what is called Seattle Proper and also similar to what I could get in Lexington, KY. That's plan my to live very near to where i work. Thanks again this helps alot!

[vem7]

Great thanks, I will be there next month which will def. give me an idea of how the city is laid out and what not. Thanks again!!

[Ira500]

If you're ruling out every school that is not rated 10 out of 10, you're going to be ruling out a lot of very good schools. 10 out of 10 on greatschools is about test scores: The ratio of the kids who took the test who passed it. It doesn't necessarily mean it's a good school. What if a school has some kids who are newer to the US? Some of them won't pass the test. What if the school focuses most of their energy on the test, at the expense of learning?
I would certainly avoid really low scoring schools, but I know a lot of schools rated 7, 8, and 9 that are thought of as great, and produce some highly successful graduates.
Yes, Seattle proper means within the City of Seattle itself. Most of the schools east and north of Seattle are considered good. And south of Seattle has some very good schools too, just not most of them.