Information about Seattle, please!

[goofy's friends]

We lived near there, in Puyallup, for 8 months, and came RUNNING back! It was a terrible experience for us in every way. Horrible, unsafe, schools. Not many churches-truly a "forgotten" place. Granted, the scenery is beautiful WHEN you can see it because it rains ALL the time, so if you need the sun it hardly ever shines. It was a huge "culture shock" for our family.

I could have written this exact post! Except that our time there was twice as long, I have said all of this! I definately had the SAD disorder and what Nate said about neighbors and people there in general was our experience as well. We said it was like living in a different country than the US.

 

[jenlynn0808]

In '08, we moved from a suburb of Detroit (Middle to Upper Class) to Maple Valley, WA (Tahoma Schools). DH commutes to Seattle. In MI it took us 30 minutes to go 10 miles to work, here it takes DH about 40 minutes to make the 30 mile commute.

We used this site http://reportcard.ospi.k12.wa.us/summary.aspx?year=2009-10 to compare different school districts in WA. It takes a bit of getting used to navigating, but it had a lot of information we found useful when trying to figure out which school districts we wanted to look at buy in.

We went from big city living to small town (literally went form a city with a population of 120k, to 22k). We love it! Are there things we miss? Yes, of course. But there are also things we can't image going back too. All our family are back east and we do miss them, but there are times when we don't mind being on the opposite coast...no family drama! The pace here is so much more relaxed too, imo.

As for the rain...I'd rather have that then the snow! Yes, it snows, but it is rare. I think we had 1 day of snow last winter and it was melted by the afternoon. Now the winter before we did get snow and the kids were out of school, and Seattle was pretty much shut down (Seattle is kind of like San Fransisco-slopey). Sorry, tangent...the rain is different here. Storms are rare and there are different types of rain. My Mom actually refers to one type as a "dry rain" it is misty but you don't get wet. Summer is nice (it was cool this year) and rain is minimal. It pretty much stops raining in May and doesn't start again until October. DH looked it up once and found that NY gets more precipitation then Seattle.

We live in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains. Like I mentioned, small town. Closest big Box retailer is in the town over about ten minutes away. Mall is about 30 minutes. I can get to Issaquah or Renton in 20-25 minutes. We joke that everything from here is a drive. DD12 plays on a select Fastpitch team and we trek to Bellevue/Redmond/Sammamish a few times a week , which is about a 45 minute drive (but we are also in rush hour). This was our choice though as there are local teams, but not as competative as her current team.

We looked in Issaquah, but settled on MV because the housing was a bit less expensive for a bigger house. We live in a new sub and houses are starting in the mid 200's. Our yard is small, but everything is outside here. The kids and I spend a lot of the summer hanging at our local lake (5 minutes away). There are lots of trails and parks, so we don't really miss the huge yard and it is a lot less maintenance.

For us the move has been great. If you have any questions, feel free to ask and I'll try to answer them. HTH

 

[jenlynn0808]

It really depends on what part of the city your dh will work. Seattle is quite diverse and spread out. I currently live north of the city in Everett. I work in dt Seattle and my bus ride on most mornings is about 35-40 minutes. Imho, I would avoid anything south of the downtown area except for West Seattle. It seems to have more crime and lesser quality schools. Avoid the Seattle school district if possible. I would choose to live north which is where I grew up or on the East side, Bellevue, Kirkland, Sammamish or Issaquah. The northend is more affordable than the eastside though. My hubby works for Boeing in Everett and we live near Mill Creek which is a very nice area. My kids attend an excellent private christian school near Boeing so that is an option if you prefer to avoid public schools.

Do have a daughter that plays on a select Fastpitch team? Your description is eerily similar to one of the parents on DD's team. Just curios...

 

[Nicolepa]

We get less rain than most states, it's just spread over more days than most states. Our spring and summer are beautiful. We get almost no rain at all in the summer. We've had a beautiful week in the upper 60's, low 70's. November will start raining but it won't get cold until December and except for a week or so in Jan/Feb the temp's are usually pretty mild. We always get a gorgous week of sun in Feb. We usually bundle up and go to the zoo. When it snows we just plan on staying home. The kids will play outside in the snow for hours.


http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2010/04/seattle-doesnt-get-that-much-rain/

I've lived in Sammamish for 7 years. I know all my neighbors, talk to them on a weekly basis. In the summer daily. In an emergency I know w/o a doubt I can have someone to watch my kids or help me in 5 minutes or less. I grew up in Redmond/Bellevue. I would definitly live in Sammamish, Redmond, Bellevue, Issaquah or Kirkland if I could afford it.

 

[grumpeeduck]

I could have written this exact post! Except that our time there was twice as long, I have said all of this! I definately had the SAD disorder and what Nate said about neighbors and people there in general was our experience as well. We said it was like living in a different country than the US.

Yes! I used to tell people that we were on Mars!! The post (11 I think) about Portland was exactly our experience in Puyallup. We moved there in August, a SUMMER month and it was COLD and RAINY from then on. The people looked sad and miserable, and so were we. We would have had a gorgeous view of Mt. Rainier, and I think we actually saw it twice. If it's wasn't "raining" 24/7 then it was a foggy drizzle! The elementary school was horrific (and we did our homework, supposedly this was the "best" hah) it was not secure, pit bulls in the playground, all ages TOGETHER on the playground, dogs running in and out of the lobby of the school where they carted in food from a vendor because they had NO cafeteria!! Once, I came to the school and it was hailing and all the kids including my child were outside-I had to go bring her in myself! Even remembering this makes my blood pressure skyrocket! I am so thankful for our beautiful, safe, and well-cared for schools here!!

 

[jenlynn0808]

Our spring and summer are beautiful. We get almost no rain at all in the summer. We've had a beautiful week in the upper 60's, low 70's. November will start raining but it won't get cold until December and except for a week or so in Jan/Feb the temp's are usually pretty mild. We always get a gorgous week of sun in Feb. We usually bundle up and go to the zoo. When it snows we just plan on staying home. The kids will play outside in the snow for hours.

Wanted to second this. I have FB pictures of DH and I in our hoodies outside on 1-9-10. Also this past Feb. I took the kids to the Woodland Park Zoo during winter break. We packed a lunch and picniced. It was gorgeous and in the low 60's that day. We could never had done that in MI. When it snows, it is a stay home day...we play outside, but then do the fun inside stuff like bake and have hot chocolate.

Also in response grumpeeduck's post (Can someone explain to me how to double quote? Still haven't figured that out.) I agree it takes some getting used to kids going out to play in the rain. Our schools have these structures outside that look like large covered gyms for rainy days, but like I mentioned before it rains different here. I kind of like the fact that the kids go out. Hail is a different story though. Being in the foothills we do occasionally get hail, but it is really small, smaller then snowflakes, imo. Going out in that would be no different then going out in a sticky snowfall in MI, at least to our family. Now if it was bigger like pebble size even, then I'd have a problem too.

 

[LaurenLC]

Thanks everyone for the honest responses! My husband's interview is scheduled for this coming Tuesday, so we shall see what happens. Thanks again for the insight, any additional information is always appreciated!

 

[bethy]

Yes! I used to tell people that we were on Mars!! The post (11 I think) about Portland was exactly our experience in Puyallup. We moved there in August, a SUMMER month and it was COLD and RAINY from then on. The people looked sad and miserable, and so were we. We would have had a gorgeous view of Mt. Rainier, and I think we actually saw it twice. If it's wasn't "raining" 24/7 then it was a foggy drizzle! The elementary school was horrific (and we did our homework, supposedly this was the "best" hah) it was not secure, pit bulls in the playground, all ages TOGETHER on the playground, dogs running in and out of the lobby of the school where they carted in food from a vendor because they had NO cafeteria!! Once, I came to the school and it was hailing and all the kids including my child were outside-I had to go bring her in myself! Even remembering this makes my blood pressure skyrocket! I am so thankful for our beautiful, safe, and well-cared for schools here!!

I gotta tell ya - there is absolutely no way a person would have anywhere close to that school experience at any school any where near Seattle's Eastside suburbs. Not for a split second.

 

[grumpeeduck]

I gotta tell ya - there is absolutely no way a person would have anywhere close to that school experience at any school any where near Seattle's Eastside suburbs. Not for a split second.

Well, that's good in theory. However, it seemed to be the norm in the area. Every time I "questioned" anything, I was met with "we've always done it this way", or just a non caring attitude. Everyone just went about their business in a zombie-like state, completely uninterested, and uncaring in the well being of the children-in every circumstance. Interestingly enough, I only mentioned a few incidents and experiences we had and there were many more! Also, I noticed that parents NEVER went to school to volunteer, have lunch, to view recess, etc. so
if one is never there..........one would never know.

 

[jenlynn0808]

Also, I noticed that parents NEVER went to school to volunteer, have lunch, to view recess, etc. so
if one is never there..........one would never know.

Really?!?! That is so not the case at my district. During the volunteer night (we had to fill out all the paperwork and watch a couple of videos) it was standing room only, and this was just for the Kinder group. There are always parents in the building in some sort of volunteer capacity. Then there are the parents who volunteer for lunch, playground, and recess duties. My DD is at the middle school and it is the same way there too. We get weekly emails from both the elementary and middle school letting us know what is happening too.

I'm not implying that the things you said happened at your school, didn't happen. It just seems like there would be more than one person voicing concerns. Honestly, if there was a dog (pit bull or not) and it wasn't a service dog, in or near the school I would be making calls to animal control and the health department.

 

[grumpeeduck]

Really?!?! That is so not the case at my district. During the volunteer night (we had to fill out all the paperwork and watch a couple of videos) it was standing room only, and this was just for the Kinder group. There are always parents in the building in some sort of volunteer capacity. Then there are the parents who volunteer for lunch, playground, and recess duties. My DD is at the middle school and it is the same way there too. We get weekly emails from both the elementary and middle school letting us know what is happening too.

I'm not implying that the things you said happened at your school, didn't happen. It just seems like there would be more than one person voicing concerns. Honestly, if there was a dog (pit bull or not) and it wasn't a service dog, in or near the school I would be making calls to animal control and the health department.

I made a ton of calls about the dogs on the playground and those running in and out of the lobby and they actually said "we can't control other people's animals"!!! Um, no but you CAN secure the perimeter of the playground, you CAN call animal control and have the animal picked up, you CAN close the lobby doors so that the dogs aren't in the building! This was also around the same time that a young child was attacked by a bit bull on the playground at a school in Tacoma-just a town or two over. I truly think it's the norm there . Don't even get me started about the middle school there. Abysmal in every way possible.

 

[bethy]

Puyallup is about 40 miles away and a 1.5 hour's drive from me. It is a totally different world - literally and figuratively - than many, many other areas of the Puget Sound. That's all I'm saying - that you can't paint the entire 100 square mile geographical region by one remote school and community that's sort off the beaten path anyway.

At our school we almost have too much parent involvement. There are eager, hovering parents (including me) volunteering in each and every classroom every single day of the school year. Plus there are all the extra curriculars at the school and then the activities outside of school. Parents are VERY invested in their child's school experience and in our community overall. We almost hyper about it. We have 100% PTA membership in our school

 

[sammiwa]

I would point out that Puyallup and say, Issaquah are two totally different areas. We live on the Sammamish plateau which is in the Issaquah school district. It is one of the best school districts in the state. Parents in our school are VERY involved. To paint all of the Puget Sound with a broad brushstroke because you lived in an undesirable area is completely unfair.

To the OP, if you are looking for good schools I would look at the Mercer Island, Bellevue, Issaquah or Lake Washington districts. All of them are East Side suburbs and all are good areas. We have lived in Sammamish for 10 years (came from California) and absolutely love it here. I wouldn't choose anywhere else to raise my child. People her are down to earth, tolerant, and accepting of others. The crime rate is ridiculously low. My husband now works in Bellevue, but up until 3 months ago, he was downtown. It took him about 45 minutes to commute via the bus. If he drove, it was 35 minutes... but parking downtown is limited and expensive.

 

[grumpeeduck]

Puyallup is about 40 miles away and a 1.5 hour's drive from me. It is a totally different world - literally and figuratively - than many, many other areas of the Puget Sound. That's all I'm saying - that you can't paint the entire 100 square mile geographical region by one remote school and community that's sort off the beaten path anyway.

At our school we almost have too much parent involvement. There are eager, hovering parents (including me) volunteering in each and every classroom every single day of the school year. Plus there are all the extra curriculars at the school and then the activities outside of school. Parents are VERY invested in their child's school experience and in our community overall. We almost hyper about it. We have 100% PTA membership in our school

I would have loved to have met parents like you and I tried very hard to find them, because that's what we have here.

 

[bethy]

Yes, I am just going to come right out and say that you could not pay me to live in Puyallup or anywhere near there. Stick to the areas north and east of Seattle and the closer the better without being IN Seattle. There are some nice pockets in the South - like many areas of Maple Valley, for example (but the commute to Seattle would be horrendous). But your chances of finding what you want further north are higher. If you want a non-rural feel and prefer a suburban feel then stick to the above recommended areas. There are some nicer more rural areas too (Carnation, Duvall, Preston) but the commute is a lot longer and the culture is different (which can be good and bad depending on your preferences).

 

[bethy]

I would have loved to have met parents like you and I tried very hard to find them, because that's what we have here in the South, but there were none.

Like someone said above, many people would consider Puyallup to be a pretty undesirable area. I know there must be some exceptions and some nicer communities tucked in around there here and there. But in general the Seattle area is just like anyplace - there are some cities and areas that are better for raising kids and that have better lifestyles than others. I don't know of any parts of the country that aren't that way.

 

[bekkiz]

We live in Bothell, having moved here four years ago from N. California. We spent a lot of time researching what would fit our needs best, and I think we made a good choice
-It's easy to get to both Bellevue and Seattle. In the morning, it's about 40-45 minutes to downtown, 30 into Bellevue
-A very good school district
-Probably some of the most affordable housing on the Eastside

There are other areas I really like too (Kirkland, Woodinville, Kenmore) but I think our money went a bit further here housing wise. Also, I think I'm used to driving a lot (coming from CA), because I don't think twice about going into Seattle or down to Bellevue for shopping or movies etc. Some people here think that everything is so far apart, but really, with no traffic, I can be anywhere in 25 minutes. And the traffic is weird, because what days are light and which are heavy have no logic behind them!

RE: weather--I think that the weather only effects you as much as you let it. We play outside in the misty rain and have a great time. Of course I complain when it seems to drag on, but we also have some glorious days! I actually think that's my favorite part about living here--that people are conditioned to get out and enjoy all kinds of weather. For me, the hardest part isn't the dreary weather, it's the short winter days. It's kind of rough when the sun comes up at 8 am and goes down at 4 pm! But then you get the magical 9:30 pm twilights in the summer, and you realize you take the good with the bad.

 

[chelseag]

I would have loved to have met parents like you and I tried very hard to find them, because that's what we have here in the South, but there were none.

I would hazard to guess that there are good and bad areas in the South as well. Not every school district in Alabama is good, and not every one is bad. Unfortunately for you, you happened to move into a bad one when you made the move to the Puget Sound. That doesn't mean that they are all like that.

 

[LaurenLC]

I would hazard to guess that there are good and bad areas in the South as well. Not every school district in Alabama is good, and not every one is bad. Unfortunately for you, you happened to move into a bad one when you made the move to the Puget Sound. That doesn't mean that they are all like that.

I really appreciate you saying this. I was trying to find a way to say the same thing, but it wasn't coming out quite right.

 

[goofy's friends]

I can vouch for grumpeeduck's account!! I even wonder if we were in the same school! It was awful and the staff and parents, etc were very uncaring. I pulled my 3rd grader due to a lacksidaisical attitude about education and home-schooled her. Then, we put her in the private school there and it was fantastic. I wouldn't recommend Puyallup to my worst enemy!
I too complained about the playground--open all the way around and anyone couldd come in. They were out there in pouring rain all hudled under the one fixture with a roof, just standing there shivering. Not everyone could fit so some got soaked. When I said something, I was told that that is the teacher's time and they don't want them in the classrooms.
Lunches were nasty! Green hotdogs that bounced. No computers, no art, no PE for young grades, I could go on forever!
Most improtantly, teachers were not current on teaching trends and administartion wasn't willing to do anything new. They taught to the tests, which in their defense is the worst state test I've ever seen.
I'm sure that Seattle is more "up-to-date" in education and every other way that Puyallup was backward. The moral of this story is don't live in PUYALLUP