Looking for good school district and property to build (Seattle: sales, home)

[tracecrim]

We are starting to look for possible areas in Washington which have good school districts as well as acreage to build a home. Any help would be appreciated since my husband and I are just starting to look and don't know a lot about the different regions of Washington State. Ideally we would like to be within an 1/2 hour to and hour of one of the large cities.
Thanks for any suggestions you can make.

[mthomson]

Gig Harbor is about 1hr from Seattle, 15min from Tacoma, 30-40min from Olympia. Not a ton of acreage left to build, but some pretty good deals right now as raw land sales have drastically dropped.
One of the top school districts in the state.

[StealthRabbit]

We need your weather and cost preferences, as WA state offers a huge gamut of both.

Schools are reasonably good, but there are exceptional ones, especially if you have a particular specialty in mind.

I am in SW WA and enjoy the benefit of sales tax free Oregon, Portland culture (many colleges / venues), and a superb, EZ airport, a 10 min bridge crossing away. All the while enjoying income tax free earnings in WA (for those with income...).

In our region, the two school districts that stand out are Camas and Hockinson. The convenience of Clark College enables many High School students to take advantage of WA 'Running Start' program. (Tuition Free college in grades 11 & 12, if you pass an entrance examine in 10th). This opportunity is especially helpful to students pursuing long programs like Med / Law / Grad School. And for those paying their own way (such as mine did).

Lots of younger kids who are into the arts go to Vancouver Arts School, and / or home school and participate in Portland Youth Symphony and similar, as well as the local Christian Youth Theater (which has superb talent and training). Home school is very popular and there is great resource assistance. Clark County Home Educators

Properties are ez to find at the moment as there was too much growth in our area, so many distressed sales. The job market is tough, but diverse. There are some major Gov jobs nearby, but if working in OR you Will pay HIGH (9%) state income tax. (even if living in WA)

If you prefer drier weather, then the east side of Cascade Mtns is your destination. My preference there is Wenatchee, Spokane Valley, and Walla Walla (for med sized towns w/ college and culture and decent schools.) Last I checked Pullman had great schools, but it is a college town, and you better like Wheat fields and lower wages (unless WSU staff). I would seriously look at Moscow, ID, 15 miles away and very nice alternative with a much more conservative (ag / energy based) state gov. WA is not a cheap place to live, and even less so if you own a business. It is ruled by populous and liberal western counties, a California "wannabee" state if you check the progress of our Governor and legislation. Only a matter of time on the slippery slope. OR is much worse in this way, they will fall first. Alaska will stand alone on the west coast in staying solvent as a state.

[tracecrim]

thanks so much for all the information. It will help us when we take a trip there in the near future.