Cary

I lived right across the street from a park and I would NEVER do that again. You have people constantly parking in front of your drive way. I almost got hit in my own driveway by someone late to a soccer game. I had to put a gate across my driveway so my kids could play safely during baseball and soccer season. The dump garbage out of their car let their dog use you yard to go to the bathroom. We even had people come up to our door and ask to borrow tools or worse yet use our bathroom. At night you get teenager's hanging out drinking, smoking pot, leaving used condoms around etc.... Being next to the playground was nice at time until summer arrives and the parks department holds classes there and preschools decide your neighborhood park makes a great place for them to visit. 30 plus kids (two classes) with 3 or 4 adults supervising makes you want to head for home. I put a play set in my yard just so I wouldn't have to take my kids there anymore. There are just too many unsupervised kids for me to be comfortable with the whole thing. - Tue May 6 2008, 11:19

When we moved to the Seattle are we started looking in Seattle and wound up buying in Edmonds. I just didn't think I would be happy with my neighbors living right on top of me. The houses were smaller for the money and generally much older. We looked at many houses where my husband couldn't even walk thru doorways without ducking (he is 6'5"). We moved to the Seaview area of Edmonds and got a house with a HUGE lot. It is safe and quiet. My husband commuted to the Fremont area and most days it wasn't too bad. It is much nicer than Lynnwood or most of Everett. The schools are good. If traffic stops on Highway 5 you can take Aurora or even the back streets. There is a mall and stuff for the kids to do. My brother lived by Green Lake and we couldn't even park near his house when we visited him unless the driveway was empty. I could not live that way. - Tue May 6 2008, 11:06

I would suggest renting and getting to know the different areas before you buy. You cannot tell much by a quick visit. When I moved to Washington State I rented in Mukilteo. It took me about two weeks to realize that I did not want to live there. I did the same thing with my last move I thought I knew exactly where I wanted to live but after a few weeks I was so glad I didn't just buy a house there. It is a VERY expensive mistake to make. You might spend a few months and decide you don't want to live in the northwest at all. - Tue May 6 2008, 10:43