kent relocation (Seattle, Bellevue, Everett: crime, houses, neighborhoods)

[boiselover]

So I am living in california after a move from idaho always had my eye on washington but affordability was an issue and the big city seemed like a place I wouldn't want to live/navigate on my own. Over the years I've had friends move up and love it. While hear in california I started dating a girl who moved back to kent and she has invited me to come stay and see what I think I am interested but would like to hear opinions? I'd love to work in the area as opposed to commuting to seattle which I assume would be awful? She says transport into seattle is available? Is it a safe clean city ?

[ilovekotatsu]

Im about to move to Kent and you'll get mixed reviews. There's good and bad parts. Personally I think it's on its way up. Kent station has some nice places to eat. Lake Meridian is nice. And Trader Joes is opening 30 Sept so that in itself says something!! It's much more blue collar than Seattle or the Eastside, but since those places are becoming so unaffordable for a lot of people, a lot of young families are moving south. More bang for your buck for sure. And if you're used to Cali traffic you'll be fine. i believe there's a train to Seattle, but I will commute to Bellevue so I'm not sure.

[Hemlock140]

Originally Posted by ilovekotatsu

Im about to move to Kent and you'll get mixed reviews. There's good and bad parts. Personally Inthink it's on it's way up. Kent station has some nice places to eat. Lake Meridian is nice. And Trader Joes is opening 30 Sept so that in itself says something!! It's much more blue collar than Seattle or the Eastside, but since those places are becoming so unaffordable for a lot of people, a lot of young families are moving south. More bang for your buck for sure. And if you're used to Cali traffic you'll be fine. i believe there's a train to Seattle, but I will commute to Bellevue so I'm not sure.

This is my view of it too. The Regional Justice Center is in Kent, not far from the ShoWare Center event venue, so a lot of people coming in from other areas, a large percentage of them going to court is going to mean more property crime in that area between 167 and 116. When you get to the NE and SE parts of Kent it's much less crime, more comparable to other more expensive eastside cities. The Sounder train does stop in Kent, for commuters to Seattle and Everett

[mkarch]

Originally Posted by ilovekotatsu

Im about to move to Kent and you'll get mixed reviews. There's good and bad parts. Personally I think it's on its way up.

The problem with it "getting up" is it's a 3rd or 4th choice location for most people - the kind of place people move expecting or wanting to live somewhere else, not because it's particularly desirable in its own right.

If you ask people why they decided to live there, the number one reason is "the houses are cheap" perhaps followed by "I have family in the area" and to a lesser degree "it's close to where I work". This is the main limiting factor in Kent coming up. People have to want to live there, not just end up there because everywhere else was too expensive. As other posters have mentioned, it's an affordable housing destination, the 'catch all' of King County that is still reasonably commutable.

[Ira500]

Originally Posted by mkarch

The problem with it "getting up" is it's a 3rd or 4th choice location for most people - the kind of place people move expecting or wanting to live somewhere else, not because it's particularly desirable in its own right.

If you ask people why they decided to live there, the number one reason is "the houses are cheap" perhaps followed by "I have family in the area" and to a lesser degree "it's close to where I work". This is the main limiting factor in Kent coming up. People have to want to live there, not just end up there because everywhere else was too expensive. As other posters have mentioned, it's an affordable housing destination, the 'catch all' of King County that is still reasonably commutable.

I don't see affordability as a limiting factor. People moved to Capitol Hill and Fremont in the 70's and 80's because those were cheap neighborhoods. People moved to Columbia City 10 or 15 years after that for the same reason. In order for a neighborhood to "come up", it needs to be affordable. Sure, I'd prefer live in Medina or downtown Kirkland rather than Renton, but that doesn't mean that I'd consider Renton to be a third choice. It's not like people maintain the same views of a place after they've lived there. Also, not everyone is upwardly mobile, not everyone is going to make the move from Kent to Bellevue. I don't think you can make the assumption that because someone could only afford to live in Kent that they're dying to get out, or feel stuck living there.