Best city/town in South King area? (Seattle, Kent: for rent, crime)

[sdditcher]

My husband is pending a job offer in Auburn, we will be moving in September. I have been really struggling to get a feel for cities/towns from afar. We have two young kids, so schools and crime matter. I would like to be able to let my kids play outside with neighbor kids and not have to hover TOO closely over them. It would also be nice to have shopping and restaurants fairly near by. I have been doing a ton of reading and research but it's just hard to get the real feel for a place without being there. So that being said, what are some towns near Auburn that you would recommend for a family? We're looking at a budget of about $1900 max for rent. Thank you!!

[Prince Mongo]

Auburn is a lower class of people.

[sdditcher]

Well it's good to know to avoid Auburn! What areas would you suggest?

[homesinseattle]

Prince, that's just nasty. You are better than that. I know a lot of good people in Auburn. sdditcher, try the Renton Highlands. Your budget should support that, they are quite pleasant.

[sdditcher]

Thank you Homeinseattle! I'll check it out. I've heard Renton was really hit or miss, which is helpful to know but I don't know which area's are "hit" and which are "miss". Now I know the Highlands are a good area!

[Hemlock140]

Maple Valley. If you can't find anything there, Covington, or Lake Tapps.

[Ira500]

Lakeland Hills in Auburn is nice. Auburn's pretty large and diverse, so I wouldn't rule it because it has some crummy parts. Maple Valley is nice. The Fairwood area in Renton( and just east of there) is nice, and has good schools( Kent school district, very highly rated schools like Ridgewood elementary). Parts of Kent are nice too. Also look at Sumner and Bonney lake, where your money will stretch further( and the schools are good.)

[Ira500]

Originally Posted by sdditcher

Thank you Homeinseattle! I'll check it out. I've heard Renton was really hit or miss, which is helpful to know but I don't know which area's are "hit" and which are "miss". Now I know the Highlands are a good area!

Actually, the eastern Renton Highlands is nice. The western part of the Renton Highlands is not very nice. But nearby kennydale(in renton) is nice, and some parts of the Renton Highlands send their kids to Kennydale Elementary(great school).
Many places are hit or miss, and have good parts and not so good parts. If you were ruling out every place because parts of the town weren't so good, you'd be looking at 3500 dollar a month rents.

[sdditcher]

Thank you, IRA500 this is very helpful! I totally understand neighborhoods have good and bad spots and that's fine, its just hard to know which spots are good and which are bad when I am house hunting from another state and am not familiar with the area. Comments like this that specify "XYZ area is good and ZYX school is good" are great for me! I'm considering printing out a map and marking it up with what people have said about specific areas!

[NCDavid]

East Renton Highlands have some very nice neighborhoods. Be aware that the Renton School District and the Issaquah School District meet somewhere in the east highlands. Issaquah schools are generally considered to be better than Renton.
Also be aware that a commute between Renton and Auburn can be dicey, depending on time of day, but then most commutes in the greater-Seattle area are dicey.
There are some nice neighborhoods in the East Kent Highlands as well. And despite the nasty and unwarranted comment about Auburn, there are nice neighborhoods there as well. You cannot make blanket statements about any of those three cities; all have nice and not-so-nice neighborhoods. You just have to take the time by yourself or with a reator to explore them.