Talk to me about seatac/tacoma/federal way

[Erik]

Yeah I would say North Tacoma would be nice. I'm going to vouch for the Eastside though. I love living in Redmond (g-rents) and Bothell (gf). It's really nice to have many options to get to SEA if needed. Plus we're closer to the good mountains! :D

Issaquah is awesome too! I would definitely recommend there if you don't have to travel to the city during prime hours. It seems quite newly built up in a nice homeish sort of way. I'm just a fan of the greater Eastside in general.

[RainierHooker]

When I was looking for my current place I was generally looking in the same ares as you and eventually found a bitchin' townhouse in 'downtown' Kent. I really, really thought about Tacoma's north-end though (and I'm probably gonna be on the market in that area when I come home from overseas next year, I'm tired of sharing a wall). Like most places over here there are crack-hoods and yuppie-zones in the same cities.
I live near Kent Station, the Yuppy Zone, but three blocks over is low-income, low-brow housing.
There are lots of places in between Tacoma and Seattle that are nice, you just kinda have to look and scout around. I'd check out anwhere in N. or Downtown Tacoma near the waterfront and around 6th, or out towards University Place. Auburn and Kent are growing up but, since they away from I-5 costs are lower and parcels are bigger. There are even some really nice developments going up near Lake Tapps which until recently I would have concidered 'the sticks'.
I'd stay away from anything South of Tacoma's 38th Street and most of Sea-Tac and Burien though...

[bmwsun]

You should try looking in Milton/Edgewood. Quiet area with low crime.

[Stephen]

The Seattle cottage im renting has a random room in the basement, with one window, low ceilings, and questionable origins. Interested?

[318isbmw]

I definitely agree Issaquah is a great area. Its relatively close to everything. If you head towards maple valley it isn't bad either and house prices do come down a hair, I just wouldn't go into covington, I've grown up around here, and its completely different and is turning into a continuation of kent which sucks. Black diamond is also great, but that's getting into small towns, Issaquah is great because its close to all of the small towns, but its also right along I-90 so you can zip right into either bellevue or seattle with ease(obviously there's going to be traffic, but definitely not like LA traffic by any means).

[george graves]

I thought Seattle traffic was as bad or worse than LA traffic?

[Atara]

Nowhere near as bad as LA traffic but late afternoon/rush hour I-5 can get pretty bad. It definitely depends on the part of Seattle as well, downtown can get pretty congested during the day. I've lived in West Seattle (alki area) & North Seattle (ballard & bitter lake area) and for the most part traffic is decent. I had a friend move up here a few months back and his only problem was navigating through the city :P.

[Ray Smoodiver]

The Seattle cottage im renting has a random room in the basement, with one window, low ceilings, and questionable origins. Interested?

Possibility of supernatural activity?

[Stephen]

Nowhere near as bad as LA traffic but late afternoon/rush hour I-5 can get pretty bad. It definitely depends on the part of Seattle as well, downtown can get pretty congested during the day. I've lived in West Seattle (alki area) & North Seattle (ballard & bitter lake area) and for the most part traffic is decent. I had a friend move up here a few months back and his only problem was navigating through the city :P.

I dunno. In the city, traffic is fine, but the freeways do get pretty bad. And i have driven both

Possibility of supernatural activity?

Very possible.

[Mauiwowi]

I thought Seattle traffic was as bad or worse than LA traffic?

haha no way, in L.A any time before 11 or any time after 3 before 6 or 7, you will sit on the highway for over a hour without even moving. that place is INSANE!

I definitely agree Issaquah is a great area. Its relatively close to everything. If you head towards maple valley it isn't bad either and house prices do come down a hair, I just wouldn't go into covington, I've grown up around here, and its completely different and is turning into a continuation of kent which sucks. Black diamond is also great, but that's getting into small towns, Issaquah is great because its close to all of the small towns, but its also right along I-90 so you can zip right into either bellevue or seattle with ease(obviously there's going to be traffic, but definitely not like LA traffic by any means).

this is the truth, I live in eastgate in issaquah on lake sammamish and im, less than 10 min from seattle, 10 min from south center and 10 min to kirkland, your right in the middle of everything.

[Tuanies]

I'll chime in. I lived in Federal Way in an Apt for 6 months - in that time frame, my 1 month old car got the window smashed in, the navi I installed less than a week prior stolen, and someone broke my apt window and tried to steal my TV while I was at home at 5:45 in the evening.

When I talked to the cops, they said there was a string of thefts in the area, 7 apts have been broken into and they just steal TVs.

Puyallup is also a decent area, the valley is nice and you have easy access to Highway 167, 410, 512 - all which lead to I5 somewhere.

I live in Graham now, peaceful area, traffic on Meridian is meh but if you're like me and work from home, its quite a quaint little town. Brand new houses are very affordable, its the country-side though. Seattle/Bellevue is about an hour away, Tacoma is about 30 minutes away.

[Gerta]

So I'm a North ender now which I prefer as a I have family... I've lived in a bunch of places over the year ... like some sort of migrant house sitter.

So here's my take -

Graham (too rural, too far away from Seattle IMO) ...

Kirkland (that's a reasonable place ... not too close, not too far and it's got it's own character) ...

Seattle (Greenlake area - pricey, not necessarily off street parking, but very good location) ...

and then the North end ... Lynnwood/Edmonds/MLT/Brier (Close enough for everything - 20+ mins to seattle on a clear freeway day but far enough away as to get decent housing with off street parking.

I know you work from home so if I were you I'd take Luke up on his offer and do a little exploring.

Gerta

[e30:)]

i spent alot of time in the north end, i loved it.. i did get my stereo and subs stolen out of my jeep but that was my own fault, the drivers doors lock was punched out when i bought it and i never fixed it. there are some nice e30s around there as well. i lived in gig harbor for 19 years and loved it. close enough to seattle but a really nice town. i never had any problem in gig harbor. however in that area the police watch highway 16 like a hawk.

[TwoJ's]

George, I have lived in Puyallup (right next to Tacoma), Seattle and Bellevue. I would definitely recommend living north of Tacoma like Seattle, Bellevue, Issaquah, Redmond, Renton, Bothell etc. Like it's been stated, North Tacoma is very nice and I would love to live there. But stay away from anything else that is "south puget sound" (puyallup, federal way etc.) Gig harbor is down there, and I have no experience with that, but I hear it's nice.

Just google maps Seattle, and pick a city that borders or is near Lake Washington.