Move to Seattle area:My husband's job in Seattle and mine in Tacoma. Where to live? (Federal Way: 2015, homes)

[sasha1913]

Inkpoe,
Thanks for the feedback. We have ruled out living in Tacoma, as we want to be closer to Seattle downtown (for weekend activities). Came across "Normandy Park". I searched this message board and most of the posts seem to be favourable of Normandy Park.

[AlohaHuey]

You can buy our house. Newer construction (1997), it's in Seattle but south of the city (north of Burien in West Seattle), you can take public transit to Seattle or drive 15 minutes, and my wife worked at Weyerhaeuser every day in Federal Way and she hates to drive. Goes on the market in a month! :-)

[cvarga253]

As a long commuter in the Seattle region, I can tell you that commuting from Seattle to Tacoma in the morning and from Tacoma to Seattle in the afternoon/evening is much more better than vise versa. I commute from Tacoma to Everett during the weekdays. I worked first shift at my job for about 5 months and changed to second shift just so I wouldn't have to deal with traffic. Only takes 1 hour to get back and forth from work rather than 2 now.

[sasha1913]

thank you fr the replies

[lotr1967]

I live in Renton. I don't recommend Des Moines at all. I noticed not much was mentioned about it. My son had to run into a grocery store there to use the restroom and there are needle boxes in there for addicts to put their dirty needles. Drugs are obviously bad there. Renton is ok.... It LOOKS nice but then you move in and find that it isn't as nice as it seems. It COULD be worse, though. There are three areas of Renton. There is downtown area. Then there are the Highlands (more expensive, most of that area is pretty nice) and then the area I live in which is close to Kent. We fell in love with the area we moved to, signed the lease, moved in and the building is like party central. Gorgeous apartments. Luxury. But wow. Anyway....Tacoma is high crime. Kent can be high crime depending on area. King County is HUGE and extends as far as Enumclaw which is out in the middle of nowhere. I would almost suggest checking out Tukwila as well. It is close to Renton. It seems to be a bit nicer with nice shopping areas. I guess I am just not used to a city this large. But, Seattle just isn't what it seems when you read about it. I've lived in fairly large cities all over and been to Chicago and NYC and well....I'm a little disappointed in Seattle. I have a year lease and will be moving farther outside of the city when this lease is up. It will be worth the longer drive for me to know I can have a little more peace and quiet and friendlier neighbors.

[lotr1967]

Oh and it is true....traffic is terrible in the entire Eastside area. 405 is a nightmare almost anytime of the day and even on the weekends. 5 is a little better. I actually prefer 5 over 405.

[anyone101]

The trains are not that great because of the scheduling. In the mornings they only go one way to Seattle and reverse in the afternoons and not very frequent either. Works fine for your husband but nor for you. Same thing with the King County metro commuter buses (green, yellow buses). Your car would be a better way to get to Tacoma or the 574 bus from the airport. So don't make your decisons based on the train.

In Kent the areas north of SE 240th/E James east of hwy 167 are better areas. The areas south of SE 240th get ratty. There are pockets of iffy areas off 104th Ave SE (Hwy 515) that are not great either. In the valley

"Closer to Tacoma would be Redondo Beach/Dash Point which is a bit of an older neighborhood, but has access to the best of the worlds (Beach, shopping, parks, et c.). "
Nice areas but to far from the freeway access. But, if you're husband is taking the bus he can drive to the Federal Way TC/P&R to catch the 577 or 177 to work and park the car or you can take him there to drop him off and drive down to Tacoma to work.

In Burien anywhere west of Anbaum towards the water are pretty good too.
In Des Moines the areas from Des Moine Memorial Dr to the water is preferable. Be aware that the areas between Des Moines Memorial Dr & I-5 is also under the flight path to/from airport too so noise can be an issue.

"A lot of people live in Tacoma work in Seattle-- not only do you have the Sounder train, but they also have the Express Buses going b/w Tacoma and Seattle."

The express buses are better than train. More frequent & reliable and operates outside of rush hour traffic too. If this is your decision the north end of Tacoma (north of 6th Ave/downtown) is a better choice. (Btwn Old Town & Proctor). Other areas could be Town of Ruston and by Pt Defiance. Doesn't have the old town charm (like Proctor & Old Town) Looks like a typical suburban neighborhood but are decent. Commuting to the freeway don't go down Pearl to Hwy 16. To much traffic. Go down Ruston Way to I-705 instead.

[CarlB328]

What about Federal Way? wouldn't that be a good location for their purposes?

[seaellen]

Renton is ok - has a lot of older housing there. As Inpoe, said, getting out of Renton at rush hour can be awful. For a place between Seattle and Tacoma, you might try DesMoines or Federal Way, as earlier stated. They're just off I5, so have the freeway access, and have the bus service. There are nice neighborhoods in both places.

[Masika]

I live in Federal Way, can't wait to relocate up near Renton/Tukwila/Rainer Beach area, but then I'm not into white bread towns. It's strip malls with no downtown until you get closer to the Sound. The areas around Dash Point are beautiful. There are a lot of nice people here, I just miss being around diversity, and Federal Way isn't. Driving from Federal way to Seattle takes about 20 minutes on a good day (rare), and up to an hour on bad, but typical drive is about 25-30 minutes BUT there are always two of us in the car so we get to use the express lane. Now 405 is the biggest nightmare of all, and the further you are from I5 and have to get there via 405 it's nightmare on Elm street. Unless you can drive it between 11pm to 2 am lol.