So there is a chance that life could lead me to Seattle/Renton Washington area. Anyone live there, give me the skinny overall. I am more interested in where is the suburbs that I can get affordable housing aka renting a house.

There are no affordable houses in Seattle.

The Northern suburbs like Bellevue, Kirkland, and Redmond are nice. From what I've seen, Renton has a lot of rough spots (which is all I've seen of it).

Traffic is truly horrific there, so if you plan on commuting then keep that in mind when you're weighing location vs. price. I've spent an hour going between Redmond and Bellevue before.

Bellevue, Kirkland and Redmond are very nice areas but the housing costs are outrageous there. your best bet is to look sideways IE Sea-tac or even somewhere around renton. The Seattle area is actually pretty weird in how it lays out. people will tell you ZOMG the Rainier valley is nothing but Ghetto. parts of it are and parts of it have million dollar lake front homes.
The commute is a bitch for sure but if you can find a way to go it in reverse you'll be OK. mornings inbound to the center and afternoons outbound to the "burbs" always bad. ( not for me though i know every road there is within 50 miles of downtown)
Not sure if you have ever visited the area before but if not will be some fun culture shock because it is about as night and day from central FLA as you can get. that and make sure to get lots of warm clothing. other than that you'll love living there.

I have never been there. I have heard horror stories about the traffic. Apparently this girl we know takes almost 30 minutes to get the 1.8 miles her commute to work it.

The stores I can go to so far are:

Issaquah
Woodinville
Gig Harbor

More may become available later but those are the choices I have at the moment.

1.8miles and she doesn't bike/walk? pffffft

Good luck, it sounds exciting!

1.8miles and she doesn't bike/walk? pffffft

Good luck, it sounds exciting!That was my thought.

Try living in DC, New York, or LA then complain about traffic.
Seattle is nothing by comparison.

I have never been there. I have heard horror stories about the traffic. Apparently this girl we know takes almost 30 minutes to get the 1.8 miles her commute to work it.


On the upside Seattle is fairly bike friendly so if you can find a pad anywhere remotely near your work, it's probably faster to walk or bike.

Puget Sound really does make for some traffic bottle necks of dewm, Kel. Either you deal with I-5/route 16 to 3 and the Tacoma Narrows bridge or pay out the yin yang for the ferry. Don't get me wrong the ferry rocks compared to the long drive down 5 to Tacoma but don't use it unless you have a bicycle or walk on. That or you make enough to not give an F about daily ferry rates. As far as the renting vs. buying...Seattle is a renter's market. You might find some cheaper houses near Snoqualmie and other areas close to the mountains but unless you are sure you are going to live in that house until you retire, you might want to wait for wages to catch up with mortgage costs here.

Yeah, Seattle pretty regularly appears above places like New York on those worst traffic lists. It's way worse than most people think if they haven't driven during rush hour there.