Poulsbo and Silverdale conflicting info. (Bremerton, Mukilteo: rental, crime, schools)

[crimson4154]

I got some input on Poulsbo and Silverdale that conflicts with what I've read here. Can someone give me a reason why I was told that Poulsbo and Silverdale is older, dirtier, and have a higher crime rate?

Also, I'm not military, and although I'm assuming lots of people who live here are not, will this be a "negative" while choosing to live here? I'm trying to determine if we should make sure to stop by in these communities while we visit next month.

As always, grateful for ALL insight!

[LMB]

Older, dirtier and higher crime than where? There's probably some place newer, cleaner and with less crime, but I'm not sure where. Was the source of your info from someone who lived in this area? I don't consider either town to be dirty, although I don't know as much about Silverdale as Poulsbo. As far as older, I personally think of that as a plus. Poulsbo has a rich Scandinavian history and heritage that I love, celebrated with the annual Viking Fest each May and quite evident in the quaint downtown. I'm not even sure Poulsbo has a "bad" area of town--I can't think of one and we've explored all over town.

Visiting in person is really important. Nothing replaces it. There are so many intangibles you can learn from an in-person visit that you can't get from any amount of research or advice from others.

Good luck!

Lynn

[springshades]

Can't speak to Silverdale as I've only been there a couple times, but Poulsbo probably has an "older" downtown in the fact that it feels much more historic than many other areas... but it is definitely not dirtier. In fact it is one of the more gorgeous downtown areas in the state.

[crimson4154]

Thank you both! The info came from someone living on the mainland, outside Mukilteo. I'm sure to stop by both places when I go

[chris]

Silverdale downtown can get a little hairy on weekends but it's all pretty harmless. Teenagers and 20-somethings driving around in their *awesome* street cars, looking for attention. Most areas aren't dirty, and most residential areas are fairly nice.

Comparing it to Poulsbo is not really a fair comparison. Poulsbo is more or less a small village compared to Silverdale. Silverdale is the primary shopping area for the upper peninsula.

[Tacobandito]

Its also worth mentioning that Silverdale is in between two naval bases, Bangor and Bremerton, which added with the fact that there is also a casino in Silverdale... The largest form of crime in the area is drunk driving by far. Other than that its a very mellow town.

Poulsbo has very little crime at all, its a lovely little township with an interesting downtown area. I quite like the Scandinavian history. If you are ever in the area I would suggest taking a bike trip through town, you wont regret it. :-)

-J

[crimson4154]

I'm definitely heading to Poulsbo when I go. Not sure if we have time to hit Silverdale too, we're on a tight schedule (unfortunately)! Thanks for all the input!

[RosalieandTruffles]

Crimson,
We recently drove through Silverdale and Poulsbo during a weekend outing. Silverdale looks new and suburban. Poulsbo looks more rural with most of the property I saw having more acreage, and farmland. I felt perfectly safe driving through either city. Have not seen them at night, though.

[ginanews]

Silverdale is where the mall is. That's about it. It started out as a four way stop, the mall came to town and that is where everything got built. It's very compacted right there between those 2 exits on the highway. That's all there is.
Other than that there is the fairgrounds, which are very nice. In the easterly southern direction is Bremerton and going in the northern direction is Poulsbo. Poulsbo has a very strong core community, schools are fabulous, lovely downtown with marina and yachtclub. Lots of space to still spread out. You'd be surprised to find an extension to Olympic College there. I have young children and live in Kitsap County, crime would not be on the bad side of my pros and cons list.
Again, full of advice!
Gina

[gnony]

I live in Poulsbo and used to live in Silverdale. I believe I understand why you've gotten conflicting information. It all depends on how you look at a place. Yes, we have a "quaint" downtown but it is mostly full of older, largish tourists. We have some cool stuff, like the kayak rental place downtown and instant access to awesome beaches. But we also have a lot of people who are very, ahem, rural-minded. I ran into a bunch of crazies at the mall in Silverdale today who made me want to rethink why I live here. The number of military people is so big that the schools can't even tell you who your kid's teacher is going to be until the day before school starts - if you are lucky! That's because there is such a large turnover in students. In Poulsbo you'll have more officer-level families because there's a higher cost of living here and in Silverdale you'll have more lower-level military families. Poulsbo is definitely more upscale but it is still lacking in many respects. Nice place to visit or live for a few years but Bainbridge would be a WAY better bet if you are really picky.