The Seattle/Tacoma area is a great place to live,
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1/14/2007
Western Washington has a lot going for it. It is an amazing, beautiful place to live with a fairly mild climate. There are many various recreational activities to choose from as we are on the ocean and also have several great national parks that can be enjoyed much of the year. It has many winter ski areas within short driving distance, not to mention several major & minor league sport teams, all of which help to make this a great place to live.
The area has seen significant economic and population growth for the past two decades. This growth has brought many new people to our area but in the process it has also brought negative issues we must take into consideration as well. Housing prices are at an all time high & well above the national average in our two largest counties, King County and Pierce County. The ineffectual planning of our local government officials to handle issues such as the climbing costs of housing and the rate of which the road traffic and overcrowding of our neighborhoods and schools is growing has many long time residents less than happy. There seems to be no real planning put in place when it comes to residential zoning for the way roads and schools will have to be improved, or the fact new ones will need to be added, until after the problematic situation is created. I know this to be the case in unincorporated Pierce County which is where I live. Add to that the fact that although our state is one of the wealthiest in the country with so much excess money in the state budget that our local government officials are looking at where it wants to spend all that extra money, the amount the state spends per student on public education is towards the bottom of the list nationally. It is an issue that is so important that a coalition of teachers, school districts, parents and community groups filed a long-threatened lawsuit last week in King County Superior Court to try and get the problem resolved. Several years ago when Washington voters said 'Yes' to a new state lottery we were told the funds would be used for our public educational system. Where has that money gone? No one seems to know, but not to our schools, that is for sure! It is a sad and embarrassing situation to have when looked at nationally and it sends the wrong message to the children of our state.
Three years ago I had the opportunity to buy a completely renovated (from the studs out, both inside & outside) 3 bedroom, 2 bath manufactured home with approx 1300 square
Beth | Spanaway, WA