Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Washington > Seattle area
 [Register]
Seattle area Seattle and King County Suburbs
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 02-17-2017, 08:30 AM
 
4 posts, read 6,610 times
Reputation: 10

Advertisements

Hello, I was recently offered a job opportunity to move from the South OC California to Kent Washington area. The company I interviewed with flew my wife and kids up to the Wa area last week for a few days. After picking up our rental car, we drove to a nearby Walmart in Renton to pick up some items for the kids. When we came out, our passenger window had been smashed in, and my wife's purse, which she left under the front seat, was taken. All of CC and important items were in that bag. That was not a good first impression for our first time in Wa. At that point, my wife and I had a very uneasy feeling and wondered if that was a sign that this place is not for us. Over the next few days, we explored and began to find the beauty in the other areas we drove through and came to the conclusion that maybe when we were in Renton, we were just in the wrong place at the right time? The company I would be accepting the job with has offices all over the state but my main office would be in Kent. We checked out all the surrounding areas and fell in love with the Sammamish, Issaquah and Maple Valley areas. Having three small children, the school ratings are our first and foremost priority in selecting a city to live in and those were rated very high. Secondly, we liked how Issaquah and Sammamish were far enough away from the city hustle and bustle, that they were surrounded by picturesque mountains and forest, but still boasted an ample amount of amenities so you don't have to drive far to get things. Having lived in SoCal now for 7 years, we have come to the realization that with median home pricing at 900k and raising practically every month, we will never be able to afford to purchase a home here. That is a goal that we want to achieve some day, and it seemed as though the home pricing in those Wa areas were more in our price range.

My wife and I are both New England natives, and we don't mind the cold, but we also don't like below zero temps and an abundance of snow like we dealt with in Massachusetts. We do crave to be able to enjoy the seasons again and be in an area where it is cool (35-50 deg) in the winters, just not numbingly cold. The Seattle area seems like it's a happy median between SoCal and New England. I know this was a long-winded request for advice, but if you are still reading at this point, thanks for your time. We would love any advice that you may have, whether you made the same type of move? or not, I will welcome everyone's opinions.

Thanks!
Rick
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 02-17-2017, 08:55 AM
 
Location: West Coast
1,889 posts, read 2,191,446 times
Reputation: 4345
Unfortunately property crime is completely out of control in WA, especially in the south sound and Seattle area, so what you experienced is EXTREMELY common.

Issaquah and Sammamish unfortunately will offer no price relief from where you're coming from, nor will any of the eastside and most of Seattle, Maple Valley will but at a cost; terrible commutes in and out at most hours of the day. I'd aboud Kent and most of Renton as well, they're similar to East LA and the smash and grab you experienced will be a pretty common occurrence, plus traffic in those areas are atrocious. I'm not really sure the best option to commute to Kent without maddening traffic and keep costs below SoCal levels, but MB may be the best option
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-17-2017, 08:55 AM
 
25 posts, read 65,169 times
Reputation: 50
Hey Rick, I'm looking at the same exact move
I'm currently in the Irvine area and Sammamish/Issaquah/Redmond/Mill Creek/Woodinville are on our short list. We have an office up there and people have made sure to steer me away from Renton so it may be a case of the wrong place. I'm also married with 3 kids so schools are #1 on our list. Let me know if you're interested in trading notes.

Jim
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-17-2017, 10:26 AM
 
1,630 posts, read 3,876,271 times
Reputation: 1116
Around here (and I'm guessing just about everywhere) it is not smart to leave valuables in your car when parking, especially in large parking lots where folks can roam freely. And, you just unfortunately picked one of the more shady areas around - the Renton Walmart - it's kinda famous for its clientele.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-17-2017, 10:39 AM
 
Location: Seattle
8,165 posts, read 8,251,615 times
Reputation: 5983
Newcastle might be a good fit for you. Good schools, generally very safe and not far from your new job.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-17-2017, 10:54 AM
 
45 posts, read 45,133 times
Reputation: 156
Quote:
Originally Posted by thatguy950 View Post
Unfortunately property crime is completely out of control in WA, especially in the south sound and Seattle area, so what you experienced is EXTREMELY common.
Having lived all over the Seattle metro area I find that he's spot in - property crime is extremely high, in part due to the extremely low criminal sentences and the abundance of drug addicted homeless. If you come here don't ever leave valuables in your car and always lock all your doors and windows in your home, no matter where you live. If you're working in Kent you should check out living in the unincorporated Lake Youngs area east of Kent. Beautiful area with great schools and the commute to Kent is wonderful.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-17-2017, 11:11 AM
 
Location: Independent Republic of Ballard
8,065 posts, read 8,325,306 times
Reputation: 6223
While Renton and Kent are not as appealing overall compared to Issaquah, Sammamish, or Maple Valley, the commutes are much better, especially to Kent, but also to Seattle or Bellevue. Both, however, encompass large and varied areas (Renton's population is 97k, while Kent' is 124k, or 221k overall), including both worse areas with higher crime/worse schools and better areas with lower crime/better schools. One of the keys to finding value, it seems to me, is to look for better areas within larger, albeit less reputable, but improving areas. Both Renton and Kent have such areas - you just have to look for them, rather than write them off.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-17-2017, 04:03 PM
 
Location: West Coast
1,889 posts, read 2,191,446 times
Reputation: 4345
Quote:
Originally Posted by homesinseattle View Post
Newcastle might be a good fit for you. Good schools, generally very safe and not far from your new job.
Newcastle is awesome but definitely won't give him the SoCal price relief he's probably wanting
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-17-2017, 04:29 PM
 
4 posts, read 6,610 times
Reputation: 10
Thanks for all your feedback thus far! What is everyone's opinion on Snoqualmie?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-17-2017, 04:59 PM
 
9,618 posts, read 27,287,468 times
Reputation: 5382
Quote:
Originally Posted by chevytruc1658 View Post
Thanks for all your feedback thus far! What is everyone's opinion on Snoqualmie?
Snoqualmie is pretty, and the schools are good. But the commute to Kent would be nightmarish.
I wouldn't rule out Kent itself, just being sure to pay more attention to individual schools rather than the overall rating of the district. In elementary schools, Ridgewood, Carriage Crest, and Lake Youngs are all highly regarded and highly rated( they have Renton addresses but in the Kent district). In Kent itself, Grass Lake and Martin Sortun are considered very good.
Whenever you hear warnings about how bad traffic is in the Seattle area, it's usually not an exaggeration.
From Maple Valley to Kent wouldn't be bad, but snoqualmie or Sammamish could take forever at rush hour.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram

Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Washington > Seattle area

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 03:26 PM.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top