Working in Kent and need help on where to live! (Seattle: neighborhood, school district)

[girlygirlgirl]

We will be relocating to the Seattle area. Job will be in Kent but I am having a hard time deciding where to live. We are a couple with two young children. The commute and good schools are important. Most people would say Maple Valley but it is just to out there, I would prefer to be closer to Seattle. Looking to spend $500,000 on a home, any suggestions?

[The Siobhan]

Originally Posted by girlygirlgirl

We will be relocating to the Seattle area. Job will be in Kent but I am having a hard time deciding where to live. We are a couple with two young children. The commute and good schools are important. Most people would say Maple Valley but it is just to out there, I would prefer to be closer to Seattle. Looking to spend $500,000 on a home, any suggestions?

So, are you in the area now? Have you been to Maple Valley or are you just basing your opinion of distance based on Mapquest? Because the one thing I learned when I moved to Seattle was that what appears to be a great distance on Mapquest/Google Maps is actually not a very long drive, at all.

I would recommend looking into Covington which is about a 15 minute drive from Kent. There are nice pockets in Des Moines (closer to downtown and the water, I believe). Des Moines and Kent are separated basically by I-5 although a portion of Kent does stretch over to 99 but you should definitely stay away from this area. I think you will probably need to share more info about the type of culture you want your neighborhood/suburb to be as I think Renton would also be a good place, but I believe that the Burien area and south Seattle are on the up and up. Everyone says that they want to be in a place with good schools, but what does that really mean?

[Woof]

Live in Alki.

[Ira500]

A few ideas:
1. West Seattle, particularly around Fauntleroy. It's pretty, it's part of the city of Seattle and not all that far from downtown. Not too far from " The Junction" which is lively and fun, and just south enough to make the commute to Kent not too painful. School are good there, but it's still in the not very good Seattle school district.

2. Parts of Renton or Newcastle. Closer to Seattle than Maple Valley. Some of Renton is in the very good Issaquah school district, and the parts of Renton that border Newcastle have better schools than most of the rest of Renton. Some Renton addresses are in the Tahoma (maple Valley) school district, just a little closer in, and parts of Renton are in the Kent district, but those schools are better than most of the schools within Kent.