In federal way you could take the light rail to the airport and skip the traffic. I used to take the bus and it was seamless.
I lived there for 12 years. No kids by dash point. I liked it well enough but if I stayed in the sea area I would have moved to Buckley, enumclaw area and got some property.

Does anybody have info on the Enumclaw/Buckley area? Schools? Drive? Cost?

Been looking at Yelm at the other end of the spectrum too. Any info about it would be appreciated as well.

TIA

Yelm is cool if you want some property to yourself. I looked out there for property before I moved. Good spot for us as the wife worked at JBLM and could use the back gate.
One thing to watch for if looking is a lot of that area is prone to flooding. I'd go look in the spring so you can see how much water you'll have on your property. Long drive to the airport. I'd guess 2hrs in rush hr depending on route.
I never looked st the schools in Buckley or enumclaw.

If you have no kids west peninsula between west Seattle and Des Moines is the way to go.