Pros and Cons of Living in Everett, Washington

So you are considering making a move to Everett, WA - but don’t know what you don’t know about the city yet…

I’m going to outline a few pros & cons of living in Everett that you should know before considering moving in the city. Read about our #1 pro about living here because you’re going to love this one!

Cons of Living in Everett, Washington

Lack of Space - Everett is an urban area that has plenty of small lots and homes that are close to each other. If you’re making a move to live in Everett, expect neighbors right across the fence or pets with their owners in front of your homes and you will be dealing with all sorts sounds which often makes you feel cluttered

Crime - Crimes exist in every city. In Everett, crimes are localized to different areas. As long as you stay away from relative places where crimes happen, you won’t have much of a problem living here when you plan to make a move in Everett.

Poverty - There is a pretty large gap of earning incomes in Everett. There are people who earn high income from high-income jobs and there are also people who live below the poverty line. Although there have been efforts in helping the community, you’re still going to see homeless people sleeping in the streets.

Dog Poop - With Everett being a dog friendly city as well as its walkability, you’ll encounter this inconvenience at some point in your daily life. It’s not that it is rampant, but it has been mentioned by a lot of people who experienced living in Everett.

Traffic - Everett is the central city in Snohomish County. Given its location, a lot of people who live in the northern parts of the county frequently pass by here as well as people who are going south. And because of this, the I-5 highway frequently gets bottlenecked in between north and south Everett and it gets worse during the afternoon. 

Pros of Living in Everett, Washington

Walkability - Everett is pedestrian friendly as well as it is bicycle friendly. Everything you need is just close to each other and is very accessible via walking. You get lots of restaurants, bars, coffee shops, stores, convenience stores, and other establishments that are very close to each other and save you time to get to each other.

Affordability - If you’re looking for a city that has water views and urban feel, you’d definitely want to live in Everett. You’ll also love how the prices are affordable in comparison to Seattle. You’ll also get lots of parking spaces, storage, and lots of community events that happen in Everett. Living in Everett is by far the best due to being affordable and its location.

Community and Fun - Living in Everett lets you experience so many things to enjoy such as parks, farmers markets, ice skating, sports events such as basketball, baseball, disc golf, pickleball, and as well as outdoor breweries, and majestic views. Apart from the fun activities you get to experience, the community is also friendly. When you walk down the street or walking your dog, you’ll likely to see the same people around everytime you walk, which ends up with you naturally make friends with people. 

Restaurants and Bar - If you are a food lover, you’re going to enjoy living in Everett as it offers tons of restaurants, breweries, and other kinds of food to your liking. You’ll also see some “mom and pop” shops as well as the must try Choux Choux Bakery where they serve fresh baked goods.  If you’re into Asian cuisines, there are multiple restaurants that offer those kinds of dishes, especially the highly recommended sushi from Katana Sushi restaurant.

Video Transcription

So you're considering a move to Everett, Washington, but you don't exactly know what you don't know yet. Pretty common. I'm going to outline a few pros and a few cons in regards to what it is like living in Everett. So you get a better idea of if it's actually a place in a community that you want to live and want to put down some roots. Definitely stick around for the last and number one pro about living in Everett because it is a good one.

My name is Rachel Novak. Me and my husband Mike Novak, we're in the Novak Real Estate Team with Real Brokerage here right out of Everett, Washington. It's where our office is. I sell houses, that's what I do. However, today I want you to consider me your local community guide. I am going to lead you through five cons and five pros in regards to what it's like living in Everett, Washington.

Number five con of living in Everett, Washington. There's kind of a lack of space. It's a pretty urban area and so you've got pretty small lots, lots of homes pushed into a lot of different spaces, so there really isn't a lot of land. If living on acreage or living on a huge lot is something that you've dreamed about for a really long time, Everett is probably not the area to do that. Lots are, like I said, pretty typically small. The average lot size is about 6000 square feet. So you're going to be constantly dealing with neighbors right across the fence or neighborly dogs right in front of your front door. You're going to be dealing with sounds. You're going to be able to hear neighbors. It often feels cluttered, but if you like that urban feel, you'll be fine. If you don't, it's definitely a con.

Number four con on my list of pros and cons of living in Everett, Washington. Crime. Let's be honest, there is crime rampant in every city. And the cool thing about Everett and the fact that there still is crime is that it is really centralized, really localized to different areas. So as long as you stay out of those relatively, what we would call shady areas of pocket crime, you're not going to have huge issues. If you do live downtown or you choose to live in North Everett, you may occasionally deal with a break in or somebody coming in close or finding a homeless person taking a nap on the sidewalk or in your alleyway. That's just kind of a part of living in an urban area. Drug use also happens. People are not violent, though, for the most part in Everett that we have ever seen. Thankfully the city of Everett and there's significant amounts of local nonprofits, they're doing a really, really good job of taking care of people in the community. So while we have seen a lot of crime in, like I said, those localized areas in different parts of Everett, North Everett, along Broadway, along Casino Road and South Everett. It stays there. It really doesn't filter into other neighborhoods at all. So it definitely is a con. Of course, living in any city, but crime is my number four reason.

And con number three, poverty. There is a pretty large gap of incomes when it comes to living in Everett. You've got people on the very high end of the spectrum with very high income jobs, and they've also got a lot of homelessness and a lot of people living below the poverty line. Being that the county seat, so to speak, everett has both a jail and the social services office downtown. So like I said before, when the fact that Everett is really making a concerted effort to help its community members and help people get on their feet, you're still going to see homelessness, you're still going to see people sleeping under bridges, especially around the Mission and especially around the different nonprofit buildings and the food banks. It's definitely something that you're going to see, you're going to deal with. But that's my number three.

All right, number two con on my list of reason or pros and cons in Everett, Washington. Look, this one's a little unconventional, but I've heard it so many times from so many clients, and I personally experienced it. But Everett's a pretty dog friendly city, lots of walkability, we'll get to that. But being a dog friendly city, you're going to deal

with my number two con, which is dog poop. You may occasionally see dog poop on the sidewalk you need to dodge to make sure you don't hit that landmine. You may also, if you're living downtown, if you're living in the north neighborhoods or even some areas in the south neighborhoods of Everett, you may get somebody who stops by and their dog takes a poop in your yard. It may happen. So it's definitely not something that's super rampant, but it's something that I've heard multiple times that I had to make my top five cons list of living in Everett. Just make sure you watch where you're stepping all the way through downtown.

And my number one con of living in Everett, Washington. Look, guys, Everett is a hub. It is the central city in Snohomish County. And so you've got people who work south of Everett in Seattle and Edmonds and Linwood and South Everett itself who are living up in the north part of the county. And so there's this bottleneck that happens right on I five. My number one con for living in Everett is the traffic. It bottlenecks right between South Everett and North Everett, which is about Everett Mall Way and then about 41st Street Broadway exit. That stretch of Interstate Five on the freeway is one of the worst in the afternoon, especially going northbound. So you're going to deal with traffic in Everett. That's just a given. And of course, it's rampant in a lot of big cities. But because of the Pacific Northwest, because we're kind of boxed in with the mountains on one side and the ocean on another, it really does push all of that traffic into that big bottleneck. It's just something that you're going to deal with. So my number one con, like I mentioned, for living in Everett, is traffic.

All right, now that we've gotten through the negative ones, we've gotten through all five cons. Let's move on to the pros.

So my pro number five for living in Everett, Washington, is the walkability. It is an incredibly walkable town. It's very pedestrian friendly. It's also very bicycle friendly. So everything in Everett is very, very convenient. Everything is close. If you live up north, if you live down south, you've got stores, convenience stores, restaurants, bars, coffee shops, anything really that you could possibly need within a very short distance. It's very urban. So you're going to have a fantastic lifestyle. If you love that urban walkability, it's definitely my number five pro. My number four pro for living in Everett, Washington, is the affordability. If you're looking to live in a city in the Pacific Northwest that has water views, that has that urban feel, then you are going to love the prices in Everett compared to Seattle, especially if you're looking to live and work up here in the Pacific Northwest, the housing is relatively affordable. Like I said, compared to Seattle, you've also got a lot of free parking, downtown parking lots, parking garages, and tons and tons of community events. So the affordability factor to live in Afraid is by far one of the best if you're looking to come up and live in a waterfront city here in the Pacific Northwest.

All right, pro number two in my countdown of pros and cons of living in Everett, Washington, it's community and fun. There's so much stuff to do in Everett, from the parks, from Funko, from farmers markets. You've got ice skating in the winter, you've got disc golf, basketball, baseball, pickleball at Legion Park in the summer, outdoor breweries, gorgeous views, trails, beaches. There is just an abundance of fun to be had in Everett. Along with the fun, you've got community. So people are really friendly in this area. If you're walking down the street or you're walking the same path, often if you do dog walking or walking to work or walking the gym or whatever, you're going to typically see the same people around and you will just naturally make friends with a lot of these people. Because everywhere that you go, people are going to smile back at you. That's one of the best things about Everett. It is very happy, very friendly, very urban feel. So the community and the fun is by far one of my favorite things about Everett in general. My pro number two.

And finally, the pro number one. If you're still with me, this will be worth it, guys. My number one pro to living in Everett is the restaurant and bar scene. If you are a foodie like me, my husband and I love food. We love every genre you can imagine. In Everett, you will find literally anything that you want having. It has multiple amazing breweries like Lazy Boy Brewery, Middleton Brewery, scuttlebutt up by the waterfront as well as At Large, which has an awesome kind of deck that overlooks the water. Amazing, amazing breweries and restaurants. It's got an award winning distillery. So Blue water distillery is also near the waterfront. You will love their food. It's very classic craftsmen as well as craft talk, cocktails and house infused liquors in their distillery. It's absolutely phenomenal. You've got waterfront restaurants like Anthony's, which is very popular for its seafood and beverages, as well as Anthony's Hearthfire Grill, which is a really fun environment. Great for families, great for Easter brunches, that kind of thing. You've got small mom and pop shops, so lots of cool little taquerias, little taco bars, little coffee shops with like homemade bakery items, all sorts of cool stuff. And then you've got one of the most well known bakeries in Everett, which is called the Choux Choux or the Chow Chow Bakery. It is downtown. It's right where kind of the new farmers market area is looking off of Grand Avenue. ChuChu, Chow Chow Bakery, whatever you like to call it, is such a phenomenal place. They've got fresh baked goods, man. It is a hugely popular place. And if you are into sushi or any sort of kind of Asian fusion, there are multiple restaurants in Everett that will just blow your socks off. But Katana Sushi is by far one of our very favorites. It's got phenomenal sushi, great cocktails, really good service. But make sure you make reservations if you're going to go there. So my number one pro for living in Everett, the food and bar scene, it cannot be beat.

So there you have it, the pros and the cons of living in Everett, Washington. And like I mentioned in the beginning, I work in real estate. Our office, my team, the Novak team, is in Everett, Washington, and we are consistently the top 1% in Snohomish County. So we know this area like the back of our hand. If you're considering moving to the Everett area, get a hold of us. Let us know where you're looking and what you're interested in, and let us guide you into the right space that's going to work for you. My contact info is in the summary below. You need to reach me, want to get a hold of me? You can also find me on pretty much any social platform, Facebook and Instagram.