i have lived in seattle and have been to phoenix plenty of times. forget phoenix unless you find a nice inexpensive house. the first suggestion i thought of is the highlands in renton, as most parts of renton are ghetto. second would be kent washington, as there are newer homes there too, but highlands would probably have newer and quiter neighborhoods.
edit:school wise, both of these places have nothing going on... all the decent schools are up north.
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