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Schools & housing in and around Seattle

1K views 4 replies 4 participants last post by  jtbuko 
#1 · (Edited)
We are exploring the possibility of a job in Seattle (not far from South end of Lake Union) and need to get a sense of housing costs which I know will vary based on neighborhood. Can anyone point me towards "good" public schools within a 30-40 minute commute (car or public transit ok) of that part of the city? We don't care much about school scores... For us good schools mean some place welcoming where our rising 4th and 6th graders will feel safe and supported as they transition to a new community and can learn and thrive despite the facts that one is gifted and wonderfully quirky and the other has some health issues and academic challenges that make starting over especially scary. Thx in advance for any leads on what schools to start looking near to get a sense of the housing costs.
 
#2 ·
If you are living within the Seattle School District boundaries, I believe that your neighborhood is no guarantee of a neighborhood school? That's the way it was when I was there. If that is still the case, you are looking at general areas rather that strictly neighborhoods. You will want to keep your travel mostly north to south (or in reverse) instead of east to west etc. because traveling too far that direction ("sideways!") can be a bitch. Seattle is not designed for E/W travel.

So you will be looking at general areas: NW, North, NE, SW, etc. etc.

Maybe there has been a change recently that I don't know about? If nothing has changed, you can find several neighborhood schools you like in an area and find housing somewhat close. You might not get into the preferred school. For specifics on that you can contact the school district. It might make planning easier.
 
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#3 ·
Well, most everything south of Seattle is... well... bad. I'm talking high crime, and low quality neighborhoods. However if you head east you enter the ritzy areas where all the nice houses and schools are, but as the PP said, commuting east to west is horrid. There are only 2 bridges over the lake and 1 has a toll. The bridges are always bogged down with traffic. Plus I-405 is usually a nightmare during commute times as well. If you're looking for somewhat decent schools and safe housing i'd say check out Mountlake terrace, Lynnwood, and Brier. I grew up in that area and always felt safe. From my knowledge I got a decent education as well. Brier actually is a pretty nice little tucked away community full of more upscale houses. I think they mostly use the Mountlake terrace schools since they're so small, but it does seem to be a very nice little community. Bothell might also be a good option, although i'm not sure how tricky it is to get to Seattle from there. You might end up stuck with 405 and then one of the two bridges, but it's far enough north that I think you can take a highway over to I-5 and go that route. Shoreline i'd recommend against because it's too close to Seattle. Most neighborhoods that close end up being high crime areas, while having insanely high rents due to their proximity to the city. One city to avoid at all costs is Everett. It has very low rent prices but very very high crime rates. I've lived there a few times and hated every second of it. It also got old fast having anything I left outside stolen. Not to mention how scary it was to see the high amount of "dots" on the family watchdog site. I think a couple of months ago there were about 5 drive by shootings, if that says anything. I live 15 minutes north of there and experience none of that kind of crime. I live 39 minutes north of the area your new job opportunity is in according to google maps. Of course that's 39 minutes without traffic. With traffic it might be an hour and a half or even 2 hours depending on how bad the traffic is on a particular day/time. You wouldn't want to live as far north as me if you want a quick commute to Seattle. We do have several buses that commute to seattle from here though. (great transit system btw)

I hope all that info helps some. If you have any more questions feel free to message me. I do live in the area and grew up here in the suburbs of seattle, so I know a fair amount about the area.
 
#4 ·
We moved from Queen Anne to south Seattle 17 years ago because we wanted to raise our kids in an area with more racial and economic diversity. While I agree with the previous poster that there are areas here with higher crime, there are some amazing neighborhoods as well.

It depends what you specifically want for your family, but we knew we wanted to be right in the city, as opposed to a suburb, and it was, and still is, a more affordable part of the city. It is rapidly gentrifying though, which brings both good and bad changes for long-time residents.

If you're looking for an urban location, check out Columbia City, Mount Baker, Madrona, and Madison Valley. A plus for commuting is that we have light rail here. Hubby could get downtown, then connect to the South Lake Union area.

We homeschool, so I'm less able to speak to the public school options. Many of our friend's kids go to Orca (K-8) in Columbia City and say it's a very supportive, vibrant community.

West Seattle could also be a good choice, especially if taking the bus. If cost of housing isn't a big issue, then Queen Anne and north Capitol Hill are both super close for commuting, and would have schools that are generally thought of as better.

Feel free also to PM me if you'd like to chat more.
 
#5 ·
I have been away from MDC and am so happy to come back and see replies since hubby is doing the on site interview in Seattle tomorrow. If it goes well I may be messaging some of you as we research further. Thank you!!!!
 
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