Need info in Seattle Area (Tacoma, Bellevue: apartments, rentals, condos)

[mom2jacob]

My husband is looking at a promotion at his job and the opening is in Seattle. I need lots of information on the area. I have no clue about anything on the west coast. Born and raised in Louisiana. Moved to fl when I was 15, live there till I was 30 and then moved to ourtside of Ga and been here 3 years. We have 2 kids 8 and 3.


So my questions are?
Best areas for school?
Housing area that are Kid friendly areas with sports, park, shopping, dining areas. Rental prices on houses, looking at renting at first.
Is the weather that bad?

Please help. We missed out on a promotion last year in Portland which I am kicking myself for not letting him taking it. So I have to let him do this one. Not that I really want to move but have too for him.

Thanks so much.

[allforcats]

Hi. Welcome to the idea of the Pacific Northwest! Doesn't it sound strongly as though the Universe is giving all of you a second chance to be in the Pacific Northwest? Sounds as though there could be a magically wonderful reason for all of you to be here, as we don't often get such obvious second chances, do we?...

First, you can get "lots of information" by Googling any questions you think of -- lots of answers will come up. Second, the "Search" button up near the top of every page here on City-Data will bring up lots of comments from folks. When you use the "Advanced Search", select "Seattle area", or if you think the info is in the state as a whole select "Washington". If you open Mapquest or Google Maps, you can get a feel for where Washington is, what it looks like, what the shore and mountains look like, and if you click on Aerial view or the like you can see where all the forests, mountains and waterways are. This is the superb Washington state tourism site, which will give you visual information:
The Official Site of Washington State Tourism: Home Page (http://www.experiencewa.com/v5/home/default.aspx - broken link)

Geographically, the first information you will need to work from is the location of your husband's job. Commuting here can take an enormous amount of time out of the commuter's day, week, month and year, a lot of time away from his family. So we often advise newcomers to live near where they work. So, would he be working in downtown Seattle? Somewhere else?

Many areas are the "best areas for schools", which you can research in more detail here. Shoreline, Mercer Island, Lake Washington School District, Bellevue, Issaquah, northeastern Renton, Maple Valley, and there are also certain schools within the Seattle School District (within the city limits of the City of Seattle) that are exceptional.

Unless you're in the agricultural rural areas, just about everywhere here is child-friendly and family-friendly with the amenities you mentioned close or within easy bus or driving distance.

This link is for rentals -- houses, condos, townhomes and apartments. It's the combined classifieds of the two leading newspapers in a very wide area around Seattle, NWSource. Use the map to click on locations and to drill down to more specific locations, so you can get an idea of the names used to describe the locations:
NWapartments: Seattle apartment rentals, house rental listings, rental classifieds and other property rentals in Seattle, Tacoma, Bellevue and other Washington areas, cities and neighborhoods

The weather here is cloudy with drizzle most days a week for 8 to 9 months, sunny in the 70s and the 80s for 6 weeks, and any combination of those for the remainder. Lots of people here of all ages are very outdoorsy all year long, and the absence of weather extremes makes outdoor activities comfortable. Because our air comes most of the time from the Pacific Ocean, the northern Pacific, the Bering Sea and Alaska, there is no ferocious wind in winter and no unbreathable mugginess at any time. Rare winter snow in the Seattle area usually melts in 24 hours. Thanks to all the drizzle and to the ancient glaciers passing through, forming the land, this is one of the most breathtakingly beautiful places on Earth, with quick access to ocean, mountains, deserts, islands, lakes, rivers, animals, agriculture, Oregon, and Canada. For more weather information and lots of pictures, scroll the Seattle and Washington threads here.

Happy planning!

[VeronikaW]

I live in the Issaquah Highlands. I moved here specifically because Issaquah is supposed to have good schools (my children are not school aged yet), but my neighborhood is super family friend (lots of parks, sports fields, etc.).

We rent a townhouse and it's $1850/month. We moved here a year ago, and older houses in Issaquah proper were renting for about the same price. I'm not sure how much that has fluctuated a year later.

Cost of living is high here (and this is coming from someone that moved from CA), so be prepared for that.

V. =)

[mom2jacob]

Well as far as were my husband will be working that is kinda hard due to he will have stores all over Washington State. He just needs to be based out of Seattle area. So we really have no specific area to choose from.

[mom2jacob]

Originally Posted by VeronikaW

I live in the Issaquah Highlands. I moved here specifically because Issaquah is supposed to have good schools (my children are not school aged yet), but my neighborhood is super family friend (lots of parks, sports fields, etc.).

We rent a townhouse and it's $1850/month. We moved here a year ago, and older houses in Issaquah proper were renting for about the same price. I'm not sure how much that has fluctuated a year later.

Cost of living is high here (and this is coming from someone that moved from CA), so be prepared for that.

V. =)

Yea that is what scares me the house prices. We live in a 3500 sq foot house with 5 bed/3bath and a very large yard and we pay $1250 a month.

[VeronikaW]

Originally Posted by mom2jacob

Yea that is what scares me the house prices. We live in a 3500 sq foot house with 5 bed/3bath and a very large yard and we pay $1250 a month.

That would be hard to find in any of the major city suburbs, I'm thinking. I wish you luck in your search!

V. =)

[Christie.]

Hopefully he is getting a large pay increase with that promotion ...homes are so expensive here. We have a rental home in Maple Valley that we rent out for $1600 a month (2006 built, 2,000 sq ft, 3bd/2ba, tiny strip of a yard).

Is there any way you guys could like a little further south? The Lacey/ Olympia area is nice and the homes are less.