Where is the 'right' neighborhood? (Seattle, Renton: houses, tech jobs, neighborhoods)

[Patron of Wrath]

My wife and I are early 30s, parents, and alabaster. I'm a CISSP and my lady is a faux painter/designer. I'm looking for one of those neighborhoods that's seen better times, but is up-n-coming, with people buying houses and fixing them up to "live in them".

[Patron of Wrath]

Well shucks. I've been heavily researching housing in the area for awhile now and think I just realized that most of [affordable] Seattle is an extended borer-line slum. Masses of houses packed together on major thoroughfares with no sidewalks, poorly kept yards, old clunkers sitting on the lawn, and [is this a prerequisite for Seattlites?] a beat up camper trailer sitting haphazardly on the property.

I'd always envisioned Seattle as being a perpetual scene from Goonies [Yes I know Goonies is Oregon].

[Patron of Wrath]

What I'm getting at here is, where are the communities with sidewalks, parks, where people take "pride" in their homes, and where I can live without being a CEO?

[jenlion]

Maybe in Oregon?

[Patron of Wrath]

I love you Jenlion, but I'm not 'in love' with you. I think we should see other people.

[VeronikaW]

I'm looking for the same thing, but unfortunately there seems to be a trade off. You can live in a cool old house, in a neighborhood that is becoming less skanky, but forget about decent schools for your kids, unless you want to pay $750,000 for said house. It sucks, my husband and I fell in love with a house. It was so quirky and awesome. And then we researched the elementary school. No thanks.

If you find some place, let me know.

[Patron of Wrath]

I suppose it's also pretty difficult to figure out if the neighborhood is on the 'up' or 'down' trek. Welp, if I find the right neighborhood I'll endeavor to communicate it.

[jenlion]

Are you looking for Seattle-proper or just somewhere around? Are you moving from another part of the country we can compare to if we're familiar with it? Are you looking to work in any particular place?

[Patron of Wrath]

I'm looking for something within reasonable commute distance to the tech jobs [I'm an IT Security Analyst, CISSP] in Seattle, which I hear are spread out East and West of lake Washington. I'm moving from Saint Petersburg FL. with my wife and 3 sons. I was born in Redding CA. and a few years ago was struck with an inner need to get back to the mountains. Seattle seems to be the best place, culturally, for my family. I love mountains, rain..constant rain [we get more rain here in FL than you do in Seattle], and what I perceive to be a budding culture of sustainability.

[Ira500]

Affordable is pretty relative. If you're coming from LA or San Francisco, Seattle's housing may seem quite affordable. If you're coming from, say, Saint Petersburg Florida, it may seem quite expensive.
That said, the least expensive in city neighborhoods are Rainier Beach, Rainier View, South Park, Delridge, Highland Park, parts of Beacon Hill,Georgetown, Lake City...Columbia City is a neighborhood that's no longer up and coming ( it's there) but is still less expensive than some other neighborhoods full of hipsters.
Outside of Seattle, Maple Valley has great schools and mostly newer houses. Renton is clearly up and coming, but the school district has a long way to go, although some of Renton is in the much better Issaquah school district. If you're working in Seattle, a commute from Burien would be easy, and downtown Burien's retail strip is just great, artsy, cool. Burien is an up and coming place with nice parks. If you're working east of Lake Washington, prices are going to be a lot higher, but some of the City of Newcastle has somewhat less expensive homes and some of it's in the Issaquah school district. Some of it's in the Renton district, but where Renton has it's better schools. That's the thing: Some school districts here are not so great ( Seattle, Renton, Highline, Tukwila, etc) but even in those places there are nice parts with good schools. It doesn't mean that every school in the district is bad or that your children won't have an opportunity to excel or that they'll be in danger.