Anybody paying attention to rental properties in the area may have been following the federal suit against the owner of three buildings in Edmonds who advertised her buildings as restricted to adults, and turned away families with children. That suit has been settled, for $95,000, which is a sizable chunk of change.
Cities in Washington overall made a good showing in a recent list of best cities to live in, but Seattle, and Bellevue particularly so, both making the top 10. Shockingly, they didn’t perform very well on the affordability metrics.
Speaking of affordability, this article has a good breakdown of the long term trends in housing costs in the area, and what factors are likely to drive it going forward. The comparisons to California are particularly apt – I see a lot of interest from people currently residing in California and comparing their current living arrangements to Seattle with an eye toward reduced expenses.