PLS
First I’m glad you found the West Seattle Blog – the best evidence of how livable and friendly this place can be. And a great resource for what I’m sure we all believe is the best neighborhood in Seattle!
In answer to #2, Seattle is like any city its size … in general it is very safe. There are areas that are more safe than others and certainly more family friendly areas, though even downtown living fits some families. That’s probably not for y’all if you “enjoy the country life” though. One of the great things about Seattle is that the country is not far … 30-40 minutes in any direction from downtown and you are in the country. So you can be in quite, rural areas and still enjoy the bright lights when you want.
Now #1 is a tougher answer. I think Seattle is quite expensive relative to other places I’ve lived. Not the worst in the US, but housing is steep and other daily things are percentage points higher on average than I see in my travels. However many other things are probably on par. Don’t get me started on how expensive dry cleaning is, though!
We moved back here 2 years ago after evaluating seven cities around the country (San Francisco, Denver, Chicago, Austin, Charlotte, Washington,DC) and Seattle won out hands down. So we feel its worth every extra penny.