Where is a good place to live in Washington State?

Where's a good place for a young professional guy to live in Washington State?

• I'm from Hawaii. Going to be getting my BSME (Mechanical Engineering) in the fall, and want to move up to Washington (or Oregon or Idaho) afterwards. Obviously the Seattle/Tacoma area will have the bulk of jobs, so what are good neighborhoods to live in for the purpose of working between Olympia and Seattle. I don't want to get shot at... ever. I don't want to be surrounded by only old people. I'd like a quieter area. I'm White, Japanese, Hawaiian, and I look it. I don't want to be somewhere where I'm going to get beat up for dating a white girl. I've been to Seattle, Kent, Bremerton and Auburn, and I liked Auburn best and Bremerton worst based on what I saw. I've never been to Olympia, Desmoines, Tacoma, Federal Way, Everett, Bellevue, or anything else I didn't mention. Never been to Spokane or Vancouver (do the live in Washington work in Oregon thing?) either. Yakima/Tri-Cities is a NO

• Answer:

  I'd highly recommend living where you work. As most people from here will tell you, commuting is the #1 con of living in this area. The traffic is terrible! If you were to live in Auburn and work in Seattle, for example, you'd probably be driving at least 45 minutes in one direction. I'd highly recommend finding temporary housing until you find a job, so that you can live near where you work. Or decide in advance where you'd like to live and only look for work in those areas. Seattle is a great city with many jobs and many different neighborhoods depending on what kind of environment you'd like to live in. I don't think there's anywhere around here that you'd get shot for dating the girl of your choice. This state is pretty liberal, at least in Western Washington.