Affordable Living in Seattle Area?

jeffbr

manitouman said:

So I'll be in the area Jan 8th through 11th. The 9th and 10th I have to spend a couple hours in the morning to meet with staff and see where I'm going to be working from. If all goes well, January 27th I begin what will probably be a 3 day drive with a start date of February 1st.

Going to look at some rental properties in Renton, Kent and Covington. Any feedback on any one of those 3 cities? If it helps, I'll be working in Renton. I can provide exact addresses via PM if someone is willing to give in depth feedback about that area.

Thanks!

I think you'll find prices for rentals will vary, and will be highest to lowest in the order of places you listed above. But there are definitely better and worse areas of Renton and Kent. Covington is smaller, farther out, and will be less expensive, but also offer fewer options. Covington is quieter and more rural if that is what you are looking for. With Renton, there are a number of newer places around a newer shopping/eating area called the Renton Landing. There are older decent places up in the Renton Highlands. Avoid downtown Renton near the transit center, near Rainier Ave, and avoid the west part of Renton heading up to Skyway. With Kent, there is newer construction around a newer shopping/eating area called Kent Station. It is also near Showare center (hockey, smaller concerts, other events), and Kent Commons. If you have specific addresses of places in Renton you're looking at, I'm happy to pass them by my wife, who grew up in Renton.

RKCNDY

I would live in Renton before I live in Kent. Renton Highlands are the nicer area. Stay away from the Skyway area...stay far far away.

manitouman

Skyway that bad huh? I looked at a place where the 2008 Google photos looked like a dump and then it transformed into a nice area. Lot's of apartments in the area and Rainier was just a block over.

I have 2 in Renton, 1 Covington and 1 in Kent that I'm looking at. Renting a home so that it's easier for my wife with the dogs. Is Covington too far from Renton? I was figuring that since it's southeast that it shouldn't be too bad with traffic. I thought anything down the I-5 pipeline would be packed with traffic.

jeffbr

Convington to Renton in the morning should take about 1/2 hour give or take depending on where in Covington and where in Renton and what time you're commuting. A 1/2 hour commute isn't bad around here. I commute 50 minutes into work and about an hour home every day, so it doesn't seem too far out to me. My daughter lives in Maple Valley (right near Covington) and works in Issaquah (just north of Renton) and it works for her.

And yeah, Skyway sucks. Dirty, ugly, run down and crime ridden.

manitouman

Excellent info! How's Des Moines?

Best cellular service? Coming up on plan renewal and want what works best for that area.

RKCNDY

Verizon and AT&T have great service here. if you like to go out into the woods and go hiking or take road trips to the small towns in the boonies, do NOT get T-Mobile. T-Mobile has towers only in the bigger cities and towns, so your service would suck if you go to say La Push, or Winthrop.

I haven't really spent time in Des Moines, it's a small town...really small.