Hi, I live in St. Louis but my husband and I are contemplating a move to the Seattle area. I grew up in St. Louis but have also lived in Chicago (twice), Dallas, and Detroit. We visited Seattle once and fell in love with the city. My husband may have a job opportunity and I was hoping to get some insight from fellow letterboxers about what areas might be a good fit for us. He would be working in Everett and/or Seattle. Good schools are a top priority for us. We like areas that have character. I am aware of the housing costs and we'll have to just deal with that. It was a bit of a shock at first. We'll probably have to rent for a year or so. We currently live quite comfortably in a 1400 sq ft house that is 65 years old and isn't perfect. Any opinions/thoughts are much appreciated!
roly-polies

Hey Roly-polies! What a terrific thing to be contemplating! I fell in love with this place ten years ago, having lived in ten different places across the country for the previous 23+ years, and in the midst of a divorce (male mid life crisis in our mid fifties...surprise!) I am planning on staying here for the foreseeable future. I can't be much help on schools for now as my daughter Argyle Chameleon is almost 26 and I am well out of the loop, but I know people will be chiming in here as they read your email. I lived in Woodinville (that would be Northshore school district) for ten years which was a wonderful small town with easy access to lots of places, and now am living in downtown Kirkland, which I love, but know nothing about the schools. See if you can email Roots and Shoots Redmond, she has younger children, or will also know who else has school aged kids here to ask. And of course, you'd be in letterboxing Heaven, right in Ryan's back yard! Good luck with this momentous decision!

I don't live in WA, but have been to so many places in WA and have family there I can tell you what I know. Arlington is a cute farming town that is near to many amenities like Costco, Target, Haggen, Safeway, and other big city things as it is also tied with Smokey Point. The schools are good as far as I know. My sister in law seems okay with them. It's also close to outlet malls! :D You can also get A LOT more house and yard for your money the farther north you go. (I looked into living there briefly.)

The further south you go from the border, the more expensive it gets to live. It's terribly expensive to live IN Seattle unless you live around the Seattle area. IOW, avoid downtown, even though it's super fun. Everett is a great place and has forest park which has a weeks worth of letter boxing! Everett will be more expensive than say, Arlington, but Arlington is an hour north of Seattle.

I think you can always look up the reviews of schools online. At least you can in Alaska.

That's what I think. Or you could move to Alaska and enjoy letter boxing here with us!!!

Thanks for the reply, I'll check out Arlington. I have a lot of time to look at the different areas. Forest Park, huh? We have a Forest Park in St. Louis, too. It has a lot of boxes but not a weeks worth...how awesome!

Thanks for the tip, I'll send her an AQ mail. Schools are our top priority and my kids are still young (elementary age). I'm really hoping the move becomes a reality because I've always wanted to live in Seattle, just didn't think it might actually happen.

I live near Bellingham, which is farther north than you are thinking. I too, like the Arlington/Marysville area. I think the schools are good and quick and easy access to I-5, which will be necessary if you have to commute to Seattle. Another place I really love, but the commute would be worse, is Woodinville.

Everett proper, not so much.

If your husband is working in Everett, that is far enough north of Seattle city proper that you are getting cheaper ---I don't know a thing about schools....I will say that Bellingham is super cute and Ryan and I even think it would be a wonderful place to live, but it is too far away from SeaTac for my commute!! :-) and you definitely get more for your money up there.

Snohomish is a cute little town near Everett. And a little further east is Monroe. Also the further east you go, the less expensive it tends to get!!

Also you could even investigate Whidbey Island (your husband would have to take a ferry to get to and from work) The Mukilteo Ferry leaves from just South of Everett and is a quick ferry. Don't know how schools are over on the island. It is a big island and has a bridge across on the North End, so you are not totally cut off!! LOL

-Amanda from Seattle

Honestly I like the charm of Edmonds. Bellevue is urban if you like that and way down South. Where I live in Redmond-hmmmm, we are one part horse country and one part 'wish we could be Bellevue' with a touch of Woodinville thrown in. Woodinville is wine country, need I say more.

Mill Creek, Lynwood, Mountlake Terrace, Kenmore, and Lake Forest Park will all be good commuting choices. I don't know the schools in those areas so I can't say.

Lake Washington Schools are all very good. We are witnessing change as well with so much building going on. Bond and levy issues top our news with the needed addition of three more elementary schools. Two in Redmond alone are needed.

Housing market has heated back up here so the prices can be daunting. Things are selling fast around here and for more than I would expect. Good news for sellers but not for buyers. I am a home owner so it is nice to see but nerve wracking. After watching this past recession, you honestly welcome stable growth.

Thanks for all the great info guys. I'm compiling a list! It seems that every place I look at in Seattle is pretty. If we move, it wouldn't happen quickly. I might have a chance to fly out and drive around. I really like Mukilteo and the Woodlinvile and Bothell areas. I do want to stay in close range to downtown Seattle so I can't look too far, but Bellingham sounds really neat. The more research I do on Seattle, the more I like it.

Hi Roly-Polies

I live in the town of Snohomish that is in the county of Snohomish. Seattle is in King County. I curently comute the 50 miles to near the airport and one way in traffic can be 2hour slog.
I have lived in Kirkland, Redmond and the sticks (Duvall&Carnation). Basically the geography is Seattle and everything else is around it. Everything east of Lake Washington is the Eastside. North end starts from the Seattle city limits at 145th. If you plan to comute to both Everett and Seattle I would sugest the north end or north eastside. When, I took a free Home buying seminar they reality world said that 85th is the center of the reality world. For the best school disctrict and all fairness in equal comuting times Bothell Mill Creek on the north end of Lake Washington is a good choise. If you can use the bus system, you really can make other choices. To get an afordable home you really have to out a ways, unless you are looking for a 500K McMansion. Everett is North of Seattle in Snohomish County. Snohomish County is cheaper than King County, Sofar.

StasiaBoo, Great info! I am looking at those areas, Bothell, Kirkland etc... I also like Mukilteo but not for a commute to Renton which could be possible. Housing is definitely higher, more than double what we find here in St. Louis.

Ok Renton. As I said I live in Snohomish. I work in Tukwila. Tukwila is neselled in between Renton and SeaTac.I just want to let you know that the trade up for living in those great comunities, in cluding Mukeliteo, is that the comute to the south end of lake washington is a night mare. It is all about timing. I try to drop my daughter off at the B&G club by 6AM so I can get to work just alittle past 7. If I drop her off later or she forget her backpack, then I get there between 730 and 8. The I405 loop around the East side of the lake is a tough comute. With that being said, not to discurage you, being in Redmond or Kirkland is a better comute, but still you would want to go in the 5 or early 6 am hour, after that it gets not nice.If I leave at 3 the comute is ok, and 330 it is tolerable. It is just starting to crowd not to mention the shift change at the Renton Plant puts a lot of presure on that area. I would recomemend Redmond/Kirkland for the Renton Everett Comute, only for the reason the both of you would have simular comutes so neither one of you would start feeling jealous of the other. I'm not going to pry, but if you have any Microsoft Conections, Microsoft has a bus service in certain areas, that is better than driving. If you are Boeing, I'm not certain about any comuting other than Metro, but they have plenty of free parking, just have to trek a ways most of the time. But they do have a parking lot shuttle. Never the less I have a 50mile comute one way, and it is one hour on a good day, and two hours on a less than good day. It is a toss up if I have a good day or not. Yes, the traffic has made me a pesimist, but then my company was located in woodinville, which is 10 miles from Snohomish, now they moved in November to Interurban, the little nitch just north of the south end I405/I5 interchange near the Airport. No mater if I drive I5 or the 405, Traffic here can suck.

Now, You have mountains just an hour out of seattle. You have the Cascades to the East and the Olympics on the Penisula. You have the Puget Sound. You have the Pacific Ocen beaches just a few hours away. BC Canada just a few hours away. By our last figure you have most of the states 4+ thousand boxes in a 100 mile radius of Seattle. I personaly planted over 300 of them. We have great sports teams, grat arts and comuity programs. We have 3 national parks, + a tiny national museum, the gold rush, National monument, Mt St Hellens, West side of the state is more green and lush, the East side of the state is more High Desert and agriculture. We have some great natural wonders, thousands of miles of trails paved and not. Hikers paradise. Water players paradise, techy, foody, artsy, heck it is paradise. You can walk, yes walk in Downtown Seattle, and see something new each time. Wecome to Washington.

By our last figure you have most of the states 4+ thousand boxes in a 100 mile radius of Seattle.

Law y'all are SOO lucky!
Today we drove over 100 miles to get a few boxes...Not complaining mind you, but dang, that is SOME letterboxing heaven you got there.

Three Flamigos

Please come visit. Though I am from Oregon, I'm sure I speak for the PNW when I say that we'd love to host an event in your honor if (when) you visit us. :)

We agree! We just moved out here this past fall. We feel guilty for not having gotten more already. They're just waiting...calling for someone to find them all! :)

Yay Renton! :) We just moved to "north/downtown Renton" in the fall. We would prefer to be further into Seattle, but given that one of us commutes to Juneau for his job and the other commutes to Puyallup for hers, Renton was a really nice middle ground between all the benefits of the city, airport, and southern/eastern regions, and slightly less expensive. (also, great starting point for many boxes in the surrounding areas) It's close enough that public transit is still a viable option for many of the places we want to go. But StasiaBoo is absolutely right. You can get caught in nasty traffic if you're not careful, especially on 405 north. Luckily for me, I avoid the traffic because I have a reverse commute - traffic coming north and I'm going south, and vice versa.