Retiring near Seattle? (Tacoma, Gig Harbor: retire, medical, place)

[west seattle gal]

Oh, we also have a water taxi that would take you to the waterfront/downtown. It is cheap and runs often:

West Seattle Route
Water Taxi

And California Ave is filled with restaurants and independent stores and is highly walkable. For the easiest walk (ie. few feet), look for housing near one of the junctions (ie. Alaska, Admiral, or Morgan).

[tc/dc]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I've reduced the importance of a water view, raised my price range some and am concentrating on the walkability factor. My list of possible locations at the moment is:
Bainbridge Island, Poulsbo, Gig Harbor, Burien, Everett, Edmonds.
Any additional comments on any of these?

I still have research to do on areas south and east of Seattle, and your additional suggestions are appreciated. Thanks!

[Blondebaerde]

1. Will probably get you into something modest in the suburbs, though that won't go as far as you'd like (the budget). Home prices are fluctuating rapidly, after a big increase YoY c. spring 2012-2013, and if trends are to be believed will increase next couple years. Zillow is your friend for research there.

2. Several surrounding towns have quasi-real downtowns. Snohomish comes to mind. Likewise Bothell. Duvall, sorta-kinda. Trying to differentiate "town" from "strip malls constituting a "downtown"".

3. Mass transit isn't as good here as DC, they say. Might want to research that. I'm in King County, last few years, and starting to fume that the bus system may be reducing services levels...again. They shut down one of the lines from Snohomish County to eastside a few years ago: if I still lived north-side...grr.

4. Most parts of metro Seattle and surrounding towns are not terribly sketchy. That's a point of debate, and interesting discussion, on other threads here.

5. You could live on the islands, or Kitsap Peninsula, which increases travel times but also greatly increases bang-for-buck in terms of housing and etc.

[west seattle gal]

Originally Posted by tc/dc

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I've reduced the importance of a water view, raised my price range some and am concentrating on the walkability factor. My list of possible locations at the moment is:
Bainbridge Island, Poulsbo, Gig Harbor, Burien, Everett, Edmonds.
Any additional comments on any of these?

I still have research to do on areas south and east of Seattle, and your additional suggestions are appreciated. Thanks!

I've only been to Burien, Bainbridge and Everett several times. By leaving Seattle, you are decreasing your chance of finding something walkable from your house. Many families, including ours, only has one car because so much is accessible by foot and/or bus. My input below is shallow b/cs I have never lived outside of Seattle when in WA.

Of these three I know, Bainbridge is my favorite. It is an attractive island with a cute walkable downtown, wilderness and parks, an excellent school system, and lots of events/festivals. It has an active, very liberal population. You would rely on a short ferry commute to get to downtown Seattle. Many people use it daily to commute. The ferries have coffee and free wireless.

Burien has a small walkable downtown that is also adorable, and it seems to be undergoing a revitalization. Burien itself does have more poverty, crime and drug problems than Seattle percentage-wise. A lot of the neighborhoods are a bit rundown. Burien is much more ethnically diverse than Seattle, particularly a greater Mexican presence.

Everett is not really walkable. There are countless things to do there, but the city itself is somewhat uninspiring in appearance. It has a strong military presence, lots of military wives. Seedy and trendy businesses. Gorgeous views. Not sure exactly where, but apparently Rick Steves the international travel guru grew up in Everett and still lives there. Nope, wrong -- just looked it up, he grew up and now lives in Edmonds.

[tc/dc]

Thanks for the feedback, west seattle gal. We have a lot of research left to do, including being there this fall to spend several days looking at specific neighborhoods, walking the streets, checking out grocery stores and restaurants,etc. If we had to make a decision right now, Bainbridge Island would probably be our first choice if we could find an acceptable house.

Burien was a suggestion of another poster, and the "Old Burien" area looks interesting on Google Maps street view. But I wonder how bad the airport noise might be in that area.

In Everett, the Hewitt Avenue area also looked good on Google Maps street view, but there is only so much you can tell about an area without actually being there.

We are open to living in Seattle proper, but I am having a hard time finding anything in what looks like a walkable neighborhood that is close to our price range. We walk pretty much everywhere here in DC too. We have one car, but it almost never gets driven more than once a week.

[Hemlock140]

Here is a map of the Jet noise profile. You can zoom in on the parts of Burien you are considering, and a crime map for Everett.

SEA Noise Contours
CrimeMapping.com - National Map

[Salmonista]

Originally Posted by Ira500

How about Burien? If school districts are not an issue, then Burien has a real downtown with shops and restaurants. And water views. Very easy to get into downtown Seattle. Parts of Burien are run down, but the seahurst neighborhood heading towards the water is especially nice, and walkable to the "Old Burien" downtown, which is charming and pleasant. Just a few blocks away from the downtown area are some interesting ethnic eateries. There's a Peruvian place I'm dying to try, and also a Oaxacan place that has fried grasshopper on the menu. I'm not dying to try that place. Downtown Burien has, amongst other things: A microbrewery/pub, a couple of bookstores, a library, a holistic pet food store, an awesome bakery, a couple of supermarkets, lots of restaurants, and Trader Joes is about 10 blocks from downtown Burien.

Yes! We need more love for Burien on this board

I also recommend checking out the west side of Burien. Start at about 152nd and 9th Ave SW and do a 1 mile radius from there. Even if you don't get a water view from your home, you'd be just a short walk or drive away from views.

[Ira500]

Originally Posted by tc/dc

Thanks for the feedback, west seattle gal. We have a lot of research left to do, including being there this fall to spend several days looking at specific neighborhoods, walking the streets, checking out grocery stores and restaurants,etc. If we had to make a decision right now, Bainbridge Island would probably be our first choice if we could find an acceptable house.

Burien was a suggestion of another poster, and the "Old Burien" area looks interesting on Google Maps street view. But I wonder how bad the airport noise might be in that area.

In Everett, the Hewitt Avenue area also looked good on Google Maps street view, but there is only so much you can tell about an area without actually being there.

We are open to living in Seattle proper, but I am having a hard time finding anything in what looks like a walkable neighborhood that is close to our price range. We walk pretty much everywhere here in DC too. We have one car, but it almost never gets driven more than once a week.

Airplane noise is pretty minor in the western parts of Burien. It's noisier further south in Des Moines, and further north all the way into Seattle.

[tc/dc]

Thanks Hemlock140, Salmonista & Ira500 for the feedback on Burien. I will definitely spend some time there when I visit.

[west seattle gal]

Originally Posted by Salmonista

Yes! We need more love for Burien on this board

I also recommend checking out the west side of Burien. Start at about 152nd and 9th Ave SW and do a 1 mile radius from there. Even if you don't get a water view from your home, you'd be just a short walk or drive away from views.

Agree, anything near the water is highly desirable, including in Bothell.