Places to live in and around Seattle?

The eastside is very expensive.

However, near Lake Washington on the other side is so great. I have lived in the Bryant, View Ridge and Hawthorne Hills/Heights neighborhoods and I would strongly reccommend them to you. Bryant is the cheaper of the three.

Hawthorne Hills is residential- cute. In between Bryant and Laurelhurst Elementary- both great schools. Laurelhurst is one of the richer schools and areas, and every friend I have that went to Bryant is two years ahead in math...And it's fairly new and there's a good community there.

Bryant is great, as well. No huge fancy houses, but it's comfortable. There's a great preschool- 55th Street I think it's called. It's in walking distance of University Village and if you are determined UW, but there's no college noise or disturbance. Mostly families.

View Ridge is very nice. View of the lake, nice houses, clean, great elementary (View Ridge). I went to VRE and it was wonderful. At View Ridge there is also a Boys and Girls Club which I would strongly reccommend if you think you'll be needing childcare in the morning, afternoon, breaks or summer.

It is beautiful, isn't it? I just got here last month so I'm fresh off looking through Eastside for a deal on a house. We were shown a few ~2000sq footers in the high 400s that, while they are older and not "super nice," are definitely adequate and located in safe, attractive, family neighborhoods, close to everything. If you only need 3 beds you can likely do even better than that. My advice is, you just gotta rent for a bit if you can, and take the time to look around. Give yourself time to get to know the "ambience" of different areas and contemplate your commute, if you'll have one.

Where we looked (Redmond, Kirkland), the neighborhoods seem incredibly safe, at least compared to where I lived before. Kids walking several blocks to school with no parent is a common sight.

Sorry I'm not much help if you're looking to live in the city itself.

Eastside (Bellevue, Redmond etc.) might be kind of tight on that income, you just about need 6 figures over there. If you're not too tied to the immediate Seattle vicinity, Kitsap County might be worth a long look. You're still reasonably close to the big city ammenities of Seattle, but far enough away that real estate prices are much more reasonable, and the pace of things a little more relaxed.

On the Kitsap Peninsula, you're pretty much in the center of it all and you'll have access to everything you're looking for. Check out Poulsbo, Silverdale, or Bainbridge Island. They are nice, safe and comfortable towns, all just a ferry ride from Seattle, but you have the convenience of Bangor Naval Station being convenient when you want to go on base for the commissary, prescriptions, dr. appts, etc. You can drive farther to McChord AFB and Ft. Lewis in Tacoma when you need to, but no need to live in a higher crime rate area when you can have your cake and eat it to!

You would also be just a hop, skip and a jump from the Olympic Peninsula for recreation opportunities there. (Poulsbo and Silverdale are close to the Hood Canal Bridge which separates Kitsap and Jefferson County/the Olympic and Kitsap Peninsulas).

It's all beautiful, cheaper and safer than Seattle living, but you still have Seattle around the corner!

Congrats on retiring and good luck to you!

If you have lot of money. Try Bellevue, or Mercer Island, or even Queen Anne or Sand Point. If you like college town, capital hill, first hill, U-District. If you enjoy gay life, try broadway near capital hill, first hill. If you Want a peaceful place for retirement. I suggest Edmond (outside of seattle,approx 15 miles north of downtown seattle or 6 miles from city border) and if you are RICH retiree, try Mukitteo (25 miles north of seattle). If you enjoy an afternoon walk around the lake. maybe try near Greenlake, For cheaper houses. try Beacon hill or Renton. But regardless any place you choice, you will love the city!

It really depends on what else you're looking for but try Shoreline... it's the city right above Seattle. It's near enough Seattle that you can STILL call yourself a Seattleite but it's far away enough from the very "city" so it's safe for kids. Also, the school district is great. I mean, they're kind of in debt but the education they offer is great =)

West Seattle is a great place. Especially if you have kids. Great place for kids. It is like it's own island and it is only 5 min. away from downtown. Lots of parks and things to do. It is great. Highly recommend. Been living here for a little over 6 years now and have two kids.

I second the vote for Kitsap county. The cost of buying a house is a lot lower than the Eastside and there are lots of retired military personnel. There is also a strong demand for jobs for ex-military with contractors serving the Bangor and Bremerton bases. If you are not tied to working downtown, its a great way to go.

I don't think there are any truly "bad" areas of Seattle, so I'd say find whatever works for you financially.

It may be expensive, but I think living on Capitol Hill would be great if you want to be IN the city. (I rent there).

There's the Eastside, but that's not really Seattle proper.

east side of Lake Washington is very nice, clean and safe. Check out Kirkland, Bellevue and Redmond areas.

I myself lived in Seattle area for about 7 years, first in S.Tacoma, then Redmond, Kirkland and Edmonds. I loved living in Kirkland the best.