Moving our family need advise! (Bellevue, Everett: to rent, house, safe area)

[excitedtomove]

Hi all!
My husband has accepted a position with Boeing and we will be relocating from California to Washington and need some help. He will be working at the plant in Everett, WA. I have read a lot of blogs and I would like to know where the best places to live are for families. We are looking for a house to rent for a reasonable price. We have children ages 3 - 17 yrs old. I'm looking for a safe area (no gangs), good schools, and some things for the teenagers to do (like movie theater, malls, parks, etc). Please help. My boys are into football so we would love to get them into a high school with a good football program. Hopefully it won't be too late for them to enroll when we get there at the beginning of August. Any advise would be greatly appreciated. Although I am a little worried about driving in the snow and the constant rain I hear you get in Washington , we are really excited!

[Hemlock140]

Everett itself has reasonable rents but watch out for the sketchy areas. Stay away from Casino Road. You will be better off in nearby Edmonds, or better yet the Woodinville (good football) or Mill Creek area. There is a big mall in Everett and one in Lynnwood, but the best for safety and upscale stores is Bellevue Square, not too far from Woodinville/Mill Creek. Depending where you were in CA you will find the areas with the best schools to be close to the same rents as CA, not much less but we at least have no state income tax.

[BellevueNative]

Originally Posted by excitedtomove

Hi all!
My husband has accepted a position with Boeing and we will be relocating from California to Washington and need some help. He will be working at the plant in Everett, WA. I have read a lot of blogs and I would like to know where the best places to live are for families. We are looking for a house to rent for a reasonable price. We have children ages 3 - 17 yrs old. I'm looking for a safe area (no gangs), good schools, and some things for the teenagers to do (like movie theater, malls, parks, etc). Please help. My boys are into football so we would love to get them into a high school with a good football program. Hopefully it won't be too late for them to enroll when we get there at the beginning of August. Any advise would be greatly appreciated. Although I am a little worried about driving in the snow and the constant rain I hear you get in Washington , we are really excited!

Any of the suburbs on the eastside of Lake Washington, from Mill Creek on the north to Newcastle in the south, plus Mukilteo (just west of Boeing Everett). Best football programs in those areas: Bellevue (one of the top football programs in the country) and Skyline (Sammamish), then Bothell, Woodinville and maybe Juanita (Kirkland) and Kamiak (Mukilteo). Aside from Bellevue, Skyline and Bothell, the rest of the eastside schools switch on and off from year to year in terms of who's best.

[excitedtomove]

Thank you both so much! That helps a lot!! I will be coming out in July to take a tour around areas to see what I might find.