SperlingViews - Graham, Washington

I grew up in nearby Puyallup & moved to Graham 14 years ago. It is a beautiful community only 30 minutes from the mountains and beautiful lakes. I have 3 children in Bethel school District and have always been impressed by the commitment of teachers to students. My two oldest have always been honor role & in ap classes. This takes a relationship & commitment from teachers, students and parents. Biggest down fall in are is drugs. Sad to see so many kids with parents tweeking out not caring. However, this is an occurance in every city. People are friendly & close and I love the long term relationships people have here. Beautiful place to live. Traffic is fine for now but as more people move into the are it will undoubtedly increase. Excellent fire dept, sherrifs, & teachers available to citizens. Gotta love it![read more...]

I live in the Pierce County area in Washington state. It's the county that's underneath King County (where Seattle is). It's true that the Seattle and Puget Sound area is quite beautiful, with the mountains and the water, but more and more people continue to move here. You can see the results of that in the urban sprawl and the worsening traffic. One cannot even enjoy the mountains and the water without contending with wall-to-wall people. Housing developments are going in wherever they can squeeze them into and it's impossible to get around anymore. I live in a rural area of Graham, which used to be considered "in the sticks." Not anymore - especially with all the housing that is getting packed in everywhere. More housing = more traffic = tougher to get anywhere in an efficient manner = lower quality of life. I feel quite often like a rat in a maze. The county is not keeping up with roads that need to service our area. I work in downtown Seattle and my commute everyday is 4 hours (round trip). The high housing prices in Seattle make it impossible to find an affordable place to live closer to where I work. I (like lots of others) are forced to find more affordable housing in Pierce County and endure the commute. As soon as I reasonably can, I'm moving away from here.[read more...]