What is the deal with Madrona? (Seattle: homes, safe neighborhood, private schools)

[angelenogirl]

Is there some sketchiness there that I'm just not aware of? When I visited Seattle in June I loved the Madrona neighborhood; it has the same stately kind of charm, at least to me, as some of the older more affluent neighborhoods like Madison Park. But the local public schools look poor on paper and sound atrocious.

Is Madrona pretty on the outside but just shady underneath? Why does it seem like a clean, quaint and safe neighborhood, but without the local school support you would find in a place like that? Do people who live there just choose private schools?

No offense to any Madrona dwellers! I do love that area.

[Ira500]

The attendance area for Madrona doesn't include only Madrona. It also includes far less affluent parts of the Central District. The attendance boundaries extend as far west as 23rd and as far south as E. Cherry St. So the more affluent Madrona residents have less children, and then there are at least a couple of private schools in or very near Madrona, like Epiphany, St. Therese, and the Bush School. Some other Madrona parents send their kids to some of the option/alternative programs within the Seattle Public Schools. Some schools are terrible for a while, and then get better. There does seem to be some concerted community efforts to see Madrona become better.
So there's not real sketchiness in Madrona itself, but it gets sketchier west of Madrona where a lot of the students going to Madrona come from.

[stuckinseattle]

Madrona is walking distance from the Central District.

[angelenogirl]

Ah, thanks. I didn't realize there was a proximity problem. Too bad, it's such a cute area.

[Ira500]

But the Central District itself has seen a lot of changes, and you can't simply label it as "ghetto" anymore. The official boundary is Martin Luther King Way, and a bit further north in the CD has become much more desirable in recent years.
But some parts, like E. Cherry and E. Jefferson have a ways to go. E. Madison used to be the worst, and it's pretty nice right now.

[Hemlock140]

Originally Posted by Ira500

But the Central District itself has seen a lot of changes, and you can't simply label it as "ghetto" anymore. The official boundary is Martin Luther King Way, and a bit further north in the CD has become much more desirable in recent years.
But some parts, like E. Cherry and E. Jefferson have a ways to go. E. Madison used to be the worst, and it's pretty nice right now.

I was in that area last week and hardly recognized it (E. Madison). A definite improvement.

In Seattle, moving into an area that has a good school can be tricky. The district may change the boundaries on you at any time. Still, with good involved parents your kids can still get a good education at a school that has it's rankings dropped some by a percentage of kids from less educated/affluent families.

[Vinylly]

Originally Posted by angelenogirl

Is there some sketchiness there that I'm just not aware of? When I visited Seattle in June I loved the Madrona neighborhood; it has the same stately kind of charm, at least to me, as some of the older more affluent neighborhoods like Madison Park. But the local public schools look poor on paper and sound atrocious.

Is Madrona pretty on the outside but just shady underneath? Why does it seem like a clean, quaint and safe neighborhood, but without the local school support you would find in a place like that? Do people who live there just choose private schools?

No offense to any Madrona dwellers! I do love that area.

Madrona has some of the most stately mansions in the city, -if you are on the Easterly slope with view of Lake Washington and the Cascades. Just go over the hill to the Westerly side facing Raineer Valley and you are approaching the poorer side of the city. The poorer families send their children to public schools, which are lousy, while the rich, elite send their children to private schools, and there are several in the area which are very good. If you are looking at Madrona, expect multi-million dollar homes if on the East side with a view, but then if you can afford this type of home, you can afford to send your kids to private schools. Personally, I prefer Madrona to Capital Hill and I had actually bought a nice view lot that I planed on building on but I was fearful I would have to send my kids, who were quite young at the time, to a public school, so I sold it. There was an awful lot of racial unrest going on at the time and that too is what caused me to sell it. Mt. Baker is also very nice, very simular to Madrona.