Do all amy own work so i never really needed to take my cars to a shop when i was living on the island. However, there are several mechanic shops on the island. Its been awhile so i am not sure how many anymore.
Hey I just moved to Seattle area last summer. I have to say for all the rain during the winter, last summer was worth it! When it does get nice here, it gets REALLY nice.
I live out in Maple Valley which is southeast of Seattle and northeast of Tacoma. It's a fairly smallish, relatively quiet town with good schools. I work in downtown Seattle and the drive takes me on an average day about an hour and 15 minutes in the morning, and then about the same on the way home depending. I work roughly 9-5 and I live exactly 29 miles from home. Traffic is unpredictable though, and there are the occasional days where it takes 2 hours to get to work (hasn't happened in a couple months). The commute home isn't typically as bad, and can take about 45-50 minutes if everything is clear, but usually takes about an hour or so. The key I've found is to stay away from I-405 and some of the main routes. I take a series of back state roads up through Issaquah and then I-90 straight in to downtown. I wish I lived closer to work, but we wanted a nice, good sized house and couldn't spend 3/4 to a million bucks since we moved here from a much lower valued real estate market (SLC).
As far as nice areas to live, there are many, but it will be directly relational to how much money you can spend. Our house was a little over 1/2 million at 2900 sq ft. It would have easily been 800+ in Redmond or Bellevue, etc. which is why I'm out in the trees a bit. Living close in to the city wasn't an option as I'm just not a city person, but I can only imagine how much my house would be within a few miles of downtown...
Maple Valley has a mix of pricing overall, which I find common out here. You can spend over a million for a REALLY nice spread with a chunk of land out where I'm at if you wanted to. There are a few buried back in the trees within a mile of me that I drool over on a regular basis. You can find fairly nice averaged size family homes in a typical suburban setting for $375k-$425k. The $500k-$580k range will get you the higher end builder homes.
The one complaint I have about the Seattle area in general is that the homes tend to be mixed together quite a bit. My house is surrounded by 3 others that are similar in value, then farther down the street they are still quite nice but one just sold for $380k (granted it is much smaller than mine and only has a 2 car garage). The neighborhood behind us probably tops out at $450k MAX, yet a few blocks up there are old homes from the 60's that are probably $250k. The neighborhood to the south of us has estate style looking homes on large lots that are like $800k and they are 1/2 mile away. Not what I'm used to, but it hasn't been an issue.... Anyway, I'll stop rambling now.
Hey I just moved to Seattle area last summer. I have to say for all the rain during the winter, last summer was worth it! When it does get nice here, it gets REALLY nice.
I live out in Maple Valley which is southeast of Seattle and northeast of Tacoma. It's a fairly smallish, relatively quiet town with good schools. I work in downtown Seattle and the drive takes me on an average day about an hour and 15 minutes in the morning, and then about the same on the way home depending. I work roughly 9-5 and I live exactly 29 miles from home. Traffic is unpredictable though, and there are the occasional days where it takes 2 hours to get to work (hasn't happened in a couple months). The commute home isn't typically as bad, and can take about 45-50 minutes if everything is clear, but usually takes about an hour or so. The key I've found is to stay away from I-405 and some of the main routes. I take a series of back state roads up through Issaquah and then I-90 straight in to downtown. I wish I lived closer to work, but we wanted a nice, good sized house and couldn't spend 3/4 to a million bucks since we moved here from a much lower valued real estate market (SLC).
As far as nice areas to live, there are many, but it will be directly relational to how much money you can spend. Our house was a little over 1/2 million at 2900 sq ft. It would have easily been 800+ in Redmond or Bellevue, etc. which is why I'm out in the trees a bit. Living close in to the city wasn't an option as I'm just not a city person, but I can only imagine how much my house would be within a few miles of downtown...
Maple Valley has a mix of pricing overall, which I find common out here. You can spend over a million for a REALLY nice spread with a chunk of land out where I'm at if you wanted to. There are a few buried back in the trees within a mile of me that I drool over on a regular basis. You can find fairly nice averaged size family homes in a typical suburban setting for $375k-$425k. The $500k-$580k range will get you the higher end builder homes.
The one complaint I have about the Seattle area in general is that the homes tend to be mixed together quite a bit. My house is surrounded by 3 others that are similar in value, then farther down the street they are still quite nice but one just sold for $380k (granted it is much smaller than mine and only has a 2 car garage). The neighborhood behind us probably tops out at $450k MAX, yet a few blocks up there are old homes from the 60's that are probably $250k. The neighborhood to the south of us has estate style looking homes on large lots that are like $800k and they are 1/2 mile away. Not what I'm used to, but it hasn't been an issue.... Anyway, I'll stop rambling now.
Thanks for the info! So I take it you like it there! Yeah thats a long time for 29 miles. But it sounds the norm from what Ive been reading. Thanks again!
Oh, I will be buying a Jeep when I get there. I will save my 5.0 to work on and play with!
To get a nice place in Redmond or Edmonds for under a 1000 a month is gonna be tuff! (2 bed/Bath rental) Im thinking maybe Gig Harbor or Vashon Island and work in Tacoma! Hows the tech business there? (IT,Networking)