Where would you recommend for our diverse family? (Seattle, Tacoma: fit in, rental)

[JMiker]

Hi there,

We are very excited that my husband has accepted a job offer from the Snohomish County PUD. Living in Washington has been our goal for almost 17 years! Come December we will have achieved it!

Now that employment has been secured, I am turning my attention to housing and schools and would appreciation any recommendations or advice.

A small bit of background, my husband and I are in our mid 40's and moving with our two youngest kiddos. They are middle schoolers and both Ethiopian born. Ideally we would love to be able to connect with other adoptive families in the area also. My older kids are out of the house, the middle two in college and the older two off starting their young adult lives.

Schools are important to us, but we would be more looking for a positive learning environment and also a great special education department for my youngest kiddo. No need for crazy high achievement just a nice solid well-run district focused on community.

My husband will be working in Everett and would like to stay within a 20-40 minute commute.

We are looking for a home that ideally has 4 bedrooms and in a family friendly community, near water would be a perk.

Our budget would run between 800k-850k, and we would like to have a bit of a backyard, I'm not tied to either urban or rural, I would take either if it felt right.

With the crazy of the housing market, renting would be great for a year but we have a few animals which makes a rental hard to come by.

I am flying in this weekend to start narrowing down areas, and then again for a longer time in October to makes some decisions.

The areas I have been eyeing are Snohomish, Edmonds and Lake Stevens.

Are there other options I should consider? Or options that I should NOT consider?

Thanks in advance for your recommendations, and if I can clarify anything let me know!

Jillienne

[Sockeye66]

You and family are welcome to the area.
There are a few posters here that are involved in local housing markets and offer good input.
Homesinseattle has a lot of positive notes about Everett.

[flyingsaucermom]

Everett has some very charming areas.

[GraceKrispy]

I have the understanding that there is a relatively large Ethiopian population in Seattle. Most of the families I have worked with are not adoptive families. I'm not sure how that looks going north from there. Of the four places you listed, the demographic information I found suggests that Everett has the highest percentage of Black or African American (around 4%). Everett itself is over 70% White. I hope your trip gives you a good feel for some of those locations. Congrats on almost achieving your goal of living in Washington!

[MechAndy]

I thought the Tacoma SeaTac area had a large Ethiopian community as well.
Regardless of the area your family chooses I think you all will fit in just fine.
Welcome to the neighborhood .