moving to Seattle with two small children working for public health of king county (preschool, friendly)

[CityGirl72]

Angelco

Seriously - the best places for children are the suburbs, just like any other city. So the best suburbs are on the "Eastside" : Bellevue, Redmond, Issaquah, Sammamish

There are some nice parts of Seattle but never as nice as the suburbs. The Univeristy area is NOT safe enough for children, please do not move there.

The affordable areas are south of Downtown: Kent, Renton etc - but I wouldn't move there with my children - there are much better places out there.

There are other places to rent, but the closer you are to downtown the more expensive it will be - I'd say $1200 or more for a two bedroom (at least)

SO which do you want? Close to Downtown, or best for your kids?

I live in the Greenlake area - and still think the Eastside is best for my kids. My commute by bus (AFTER I drive to a park & ride) is 20 minutes to Downtown.

I'd rather sacrifice my short commute to be able to live on the Eastside, but the Eastside is very expensive

I

[toughguy]

I counter with this- There are in-city neighborhoods that rival or exceed anything but the wealthiest enclaves on the eastside- Madison Park, Queen Anne, Magnolia, parts of Capitol Hill. Even Greenlake and Ballard are nice. Again, these perceptions are very subjective, and it is not gospel that the eastside is unequivocally a better place to raise children.

[jwb123]

Agreed that there are nicer places to *live* than some of the suburbs... but when you consider the public school system in Seattle, or the schools many of those neighborhoods feed into.... the choice then routes you back to the burbs.

If you feed into Ballard schools, though, they are pretty good. Not as good as Lake Washington district, but still pretty good.

[CityGirl72]

I like the schools in Ballard - and yes the elementary is very good. I live in Greenlake and dislike the schools - we went out of cluster for schools

[angelco]

Thank you CityGirl72 for your input.
I have to say over all I look for security and a good place to raise children. I had been so confused on my search, like for example today a person said to look into Renton and Kent.. but I though i wouldn't like those areas and was more incline in the north east or east.
I will take your advice in the University Area.. tell me about where you live? and you mentioned before on Ravenna, so truthfully I was more incline to that area. I will do private preschool since my kids are preschool age. Do you know what are the commuting times from Issaquah and Sammamish? This whole moving and relocating will be a shock to my children and I will like to make it as minimal as possible living in a neighborhood walking distance to a park or library or where I can take them to ride their bikes
any thoughts will be great.

Also, it seems you know a bit about preschools? do you know about Montessori type education?

thanks

Originally Posted by CityGirl72

Angelco

Seriously - the best places for children are the suburbs, just like any other city. So the best suburbs are on the "Eastside" : Bellevue, Redmond, Issaquah, Sammamish

There are some nice parts of Seattle but never as nice as the suburbs. The Univeristy area is NOT safe enough for children, please do not move there.

The affordable areas are south of Downtown: Kent, Renton etc - but I wouldn't move there with my children - there are much better places out there.

There are other places to rent, but the closer you are to downtown the more expensive it will be - I'd say $1200 or more for a two bedroom (at least)

SO which do you want? Close to Downtown, or best for your kids?

I live in the Greenlake area - and still think the Eastside is best for my kids. My commute by bus (AFTER I drive to a park & ride) is 20 minutes to Downtown.

I'd rather sacrifice my short commute to be able to live on the Eastside, but the Eastside is very expensive

I

[angelco]

hello Toughguy
since I will be working next door to your building, I want to know your thoughs on the commutes to Sammamish, Issaquah, and also the area of Ravenna. I am looking to find a place to live, rent for 6 months while I find my way around the city and surroundings, and it is important for me an area childfriendly and safe. what are your suggestions?

thankyou

[toughguy]

Originally Posted by angelco

hello Toughguy
since I will be working next door to your building, I want to know your thoughs on the commutes to Sammamish, Issaquah, and also the area of Ravenna. I am looking to find a place to live, rent for 6 months while I find my way around the city and surroundings, and it is important for me an area childfriendly and safe. what are your suggestions?

thankyou

I am not sure about Ravenna, but Issaquah and Samammish are both straight shots on I-90, which has an entrance just a few blocks south of your building. It is a better commute than 520, although things typically back up around Mercer Island and the 405 interchange in Bellevue, but it's not too bad. By bus it would take around 45 minutes-hour, by car maybe slightly less (in traffic). With no traffic it's a 25 minute drive.

[angelco]

Thank you!!! that helps me a lot!!

Originally Posted by toughguy

I am not sure about Ravenna, but Issaquah and Samammish are both straight shots on I-90, which has an entrance just a few blocks south of your building. It is a better commute than 520, although things typically back up around Mercer Island and the 405 interchange in Bellevue, but it's not too bad. By bus it would take around 45 minutes-hour, by car maybe slightly less (in traffic). With no traffic it's a 25 minute drive.

[Ira500]

Issaquah is pretty and charming, Redmond has Marymoor Park(huge!) and, although the Seattle Schhol District as a whole leaves something to be desired, there are individual schools within it that are great and have a lot of parent involvement...I all depends on what you're looking for. Within Seattle, houses tend to be closer together with smaller yards, but there tends to be more stuff to do...I wouldn't necessarily rule out Renton..some of it is scuzzy but overall the town has become a lot nicer in recent years.

[SeattleExpert]

Hi, I would definitely suggest the Issaquah/Sammamish area. The Issaquah Highlands us a new neighborhood that has a park and ride that will take you straight in to downtown. Great family community, well-kept parks, tennis courts, basketball, kids riding their bikes and couples jogging along nicely paved, tree-lined streets. It has movie theaters/theatre-theatres/costco/fred meyer/shopping right down the hill within 1-5 minutes. Issaquah has become a very self-contained little place. The Issaquah school districts are great (the only downside to them that I can think of, from personal experience, are the children come from upper-middle class to high-class families so they can be a little "spoiled" for lack of a better word - not like city kids, let's say), lots of stay at home moms in the neighborhoods.

I don't know the exact mileage difference, but I live in Seattle and my drives to Redmond seem longer than my drives to Issaquah. Redmond is definitely getting there, but it is too spread out for that "family" atmosphere that Issaquah provides.

If you want to be closer to the city, I would recommend Ballard or parts of Queen Anne as far as child-friendly communities go. What grades are you children in?