Relocating to Seattle From NJ (Bellevue, Kent: crime rates, new house, neighborhoods)

[Shooter31]

My wife and I are strongly considering relocating to Seattle from NJ soon. I am black and she is hispanic, and we have two children-ages 11 and 5. We have a very diverse family, and diverse background. We both went to college in the Bronx, NY and have seen our fair share of tough areas. With that said we both work, and are currently situated in a nice quiet middle class neighborhood, with some upperclass areas nearby, and some tough areas nearby as well (like any where else I guess). We would like to find an area of Seattle that is in the suburbs, quiet, with pretty good schools, and also be somewhat diverse. We also would like a newer home within the $400-$500 range in all likelihood.

This brings me to the big question. Online doing research, the area that seems to have the most of what we are looking for in a home and from a diversity aspect, seems to be Renton. We have been reading so many different things about it, as if it is not such a great place, etc.... What's the real deal? Can someone please give me the true story here? Is it really bad? The pictures of some of the neighborhoods seem so nice, especially compared to what we have seen back home in places like Newark, NJ, and the Bronx, NY. Please Help??

P.S. Are there any other areas we should look into as well?

[Inkpoe]

Renton Highlands is nice as is the DT area.

However, when you start to go towards Skyway area or further north on Rainier Ave, that's when its starts to get gritty and unpretty.

All in all, I wouldn't refer Renton as a quiet neighborhood, it's high traffic and busy. (There are areas like East Renton Highland that's a bit more quiet)

However, since you have kids, I would suggest looking into an area with a better school district. Renton School District - Renton WA In that regards, you can't go wrong in the Eastside (North of Renton up to Bothell) and North of Seattle (Edmonds, Woodway, Shoreline, Mukilteo, Lynnwood). Out of those choices, I'd say Lynnwood is probably the more diverse. If diversity is paramount, then it would be within the Seattle Public Schools.

[Ira500]

I grew up in New Jersey ( with my mom and other relatives from the Bronx) and I live in Renton.
Renton is physically large, and has neighborhoods ranging from " Newark lite" to nice quiet middle class to million dollar homes with water views or on a golf course. As Inkpoe stated, the Renton school district does not have a great reputation, but there are some individual schools that are quite good, and the district has received awards in recent years for improving. But there are schools and neighborhoods to avoid.
Skyway has it's share of troubles, with casinos, pawn shops, check cashing stores, food banks, etc. It's a neighborhood that's got to improve, because it's too close to Seattle and Bellevue not to, and has nice views. It also has nice neighborhoods ( Lakeridge, Bryn Mawr, Earlington) nearby which are quite nice ( I live in Earlington).
The Cascade neighborhood has a lot of vacant shops, rundown homes, and a Hooters.
The western part of the Renton Highlands has it's share of public housing.
But.....Fairwood is awfully nice, Kennydale has a nice feel and nice views, and the eastern part of the Renton Highlands has seen a ton of new houses built in recent years, and is pleasant.
Some Renton addresses ( some of the eastern Renton Highlands) are in the better Issaquah school district, and some Renton addresses are in the better Kent school district, and some Renton addresses are in the better Tahoma ( Maple Valley) district.
All in all, Renton is a mixed bag. I've lived in Renton since 1998 and I'm pretty happy here.
But...if you're going to spend 400-500 thousand for a home, you don't have to live in Renton. Kent is equally diverse. You can also find a house for that price range in the Bellevue school district, which is very well thought of...And north of Seattle in places like Lynnwood and Shoreline...
There is this prejudice/ignorance that some people hold that any neighborhood/town south of I-90 is unsafe or dangerous. Some of these neighborhoods/towns do have pockets of poverty, but some people are just uncomfortable seeing people who are poorer or darker than they are. But in terms of crime, the highest crime rates are in downtown Seattle, First Hill/SW Capitol Hill, University District, and Ballard.

[Shooter31]

Inkpoe & Ira500 I really appreciate your feedback! This very helpful! I guess I should have been a bit more specific as to the areas that have peaked our interest. It has definitely been eastside of Renton, but we are not familiar with the names of each neighborhood, and that's a bit more difficult to tell online. We have looked in the areas where Hazen high school reside, and where the middles schools of Hazelwood, and or Kennydale & i believe Maplewood. The overall scores for some of these schools don't bad at all. I believe Hazen rabks as a 7 out of 10. It just seems like the areas that have the much better school systems ranked 9's or 10's seem to have very little diversity. I guess we are trying to find a happy medium. I don't want to sacrifice a good school for diversity or vice versa. So all in all if we select the right area of Renton, you guys would recommend it? Or should we really steer clear? I guess the part about us prefering to get newer construction has been limiting the choice of area to a certain degree. Thanks again for the help!

[Shooter31]

Also, I would need to commute into Downtown for work, so any areas you recommend, can you comment on the commute both driving in or public transit? Inkpoe as for the diversity issue, it is important but not the end all be all for us. we would like to find the right combo of nice quiet suburb (with nice community), pretty good schools (dont have to be the best in america as far as ratings go, because there is more to schools than the ratings), and some level of diversity, as we would like our kids to grow up with different cultures as well as there own.

[Ira500]

So all in all if we select the right area of Renton, you guys would recommend it? Or should we really steer clear?
I would absolutely recommend it. I like living in Renton. All the areas you mentioned are fine. You also might want to look in SE Renton but in the Kent school district, where the high school is Kentridge.
As far as the commute, during non rush hours, it's a 20 minute drive from downtown Renton to downtown Seattle. Add 10 minutes to the area around Hazen High School. There's great bus service from the Renton transit center in downtown Renton( and free parking) to downtown Seattle, a limited stop express bus. Add another 15 ish minutes to get to Kennydale or Fairwood or Maplewood Heights. If you lived near downtown Kent, you could park in the free parking garage there and take the Sounder commuter train, which is about a 30 minute trip.

[Shooter31]

Ira500 that once again helps tremendously thanks. In listening to some of your advice and others in this post, I'm checking into areas like Bothell, Lynwood, and Shoreline. Even Mountlake Terrace seems to have some newer homes, but what is the commute like to downtown from those areas?

[Inkpoe]

Shoreline and Lynnwood have a lot of buses that goes straight to DT Seattle. MLT has that big Park-N-Ride right by i5 and has the express bus. From my experience, the most difficult part of i5 traffic has always been that part by the UW and the 520 ramps-- it flows better when you're leaving DT Seattle. If you have the traditional 9-5 hours, you can use the express lanes. You could also use Hwy 99 to get home as well.

Bothell, you most likely would use rt. 522 which will eventually put you on i5... and you'll still deal with that UW/520 bottleneck. They also have a lot of buses as well.

[Shooter31]

Between Shoreline, Bothell, and Lynwood in the worst traffic at peak rush hour, would it take more than 30 minutes door to door driving in? More than 45 mins? Will heading home at peak rush hour be the same or worse typically heading back those areas?

[Inkpoe]

Well, the express lanes really do help a lot.

In the worst traffic conditions (rush hour, accidents and not using express lanes), it is still possible to get to Lynnwood/Bothell in under an hour.

Shoreline is more of the 30 min option.