So it looks like I'm most likely moving to Seattle sometime around the end of the summer. Job offer in Kent, my better half wants to rent in downtown Seattle, at least for a while.
Lots of airports around there, but some cursory web hunting back when this move first started sounding like a possibility didn't give me warm fuzzies about finding a hangar to rent. I've been OK tying down outside here in the desert, but no way that's a possibility in the pacific northwest.
If salary negotiations go well, I expect to have a decision made regarding the move in a couple of weeks. Then it's time to start a hard search for a hangar. I know we have some members in the area, hoping someone can point me in the right direction.
If you live in Seattle and work in Kent, your commute will be opposite to the usual flow. That'll make it a bit better.
However, Seattle has an extremely high cost of living, and horrible traffic and especially parking issues. If you get an apartment, there's no guarantee you'll have parking...Seattle no longer requires apartment owners to supply it.
I'm of somewhat of a liberal bent, but Seattle is getting beyond the pale. There's no income tax in Washington, so Seattle is piling on all the other taxes they can (soft drinks, ammunition, etc.), in addition to trying to work their way around the income tax prohibition. I really, really, REALLY don't recommend actually living there. They've got some city council members who are totally bonkers.
It is a nice place to visit (other than in periods of protest...) and day trips are easy to do. There's even light rail, so you can park well outside the city and ride in.
The further from Seattle you get, the nicer apartments and homes you can find for less money. Kent is (mostly) a bedroom community for Seattle, so there's a lot of options there. I worked in Kent for ~35 years (Boeing Kent Space Center), living in Kent and Auburn, the next town south. My commute ran, typically, about 25 minutes to a half hour, and didn't require any freeway travel. We moved to a new house in Auburn in 1998, and the commute wasn't bad. Twenty minutes on a good day.
King County (which includes Seattle, Auburn, and Kent) isn't politically as bad as Seattle, but it's tending that way. A couple of miles south of Auburn, Pierce County starts, which is a bit less extreme. The trouble is, you'll have to commute via State 167 or Interstate 5, and these can get a bit bound up coming up from the south.
On the south end, the major GA airports are Renton (controlled), Auburn (uncontrolled municipal field), and Norm Grier field (uncontrolled public-use airpark, formerly called Crest).
I've been based out of Auburn since ~1984. Facilities are pretty good, they're currently extending and repaving the runway. Previous length was 3300 feet, think it's going to be closer to 3800 or 4000 when they're done. Taxiways were reworked about ten years ago. I've been pretty pleased with the airport. There's a maintenance shop there, as well as several freelance A&Ps. It has convenient access from highway 167.
Current wait list for hangars depends on what you want. The open T-hangars have a 1-3 year wait, the fully enclosed ones are 3-7 years.
Depending on the plane, I am not so negative about tieing down outside. I parked my first plane, a 150, outside for two years, and it had been parked outside before I bought it. Make sure the seams are sealed, and/or get a cockpit cover. Again, though, it depends on the airplane. Wouldn't have wanted to leave my Stinson outside, but I think your Sundowner will be fine for a year or two until a hangar comes up.
Norm Grier (Crest) is a privately-owned public-use airpark. The facilities are older, the hangars a bit more run down, and the tiedown areas are mostly grass. But it will be cheaper. There are some fairly large housing developments and apartment complexes near it, and it has a pretty good commercial complex (Costco, grocery stores, restaurants) nearby.
Ron Wanttaja
