Maple Leaf gets best schools ranking on NabeWise

It appears that enough Maple Leaf residents finally chimed in about all the perks of our neighborhood to put us in the rankings on NabeWise.

The website ranks neighborhoods in specific cities based on reviews from its own residents, who must be members of the site to contribute. Since the site added Seattle in June, Maple Leaf already has climbed into the No. 1 spot for the city’s best public schools, according to the Maple Leaf page.

And despite the parking brouhaha that has erupted since the Seattle Department of Transportation proposed eliminating parking on the west side of Roosevelt Way Northeast from 75th to 85th avenues northeast (don’t fret, the plan is now on hold), residents seem to think parking around the neighborhood is pretty easy, ranking us the second-easiest neighborhood to find parking citywide.

We’re also in third place for day cares/preschools, fifth for access to public transportation and sixth for sense of community (check out photos of the recent Maple Leaf Summer Social and last week’s National Night Out if you need proof).

Out of the city’s 196 neighborhoods now rated on the site, our lowest rankings are for income, at 103rd; rent for a two-bedroom apartment puts us in the 91st spot; we’re only in the 32nd spot for cleanliness; 22nd for parks (but we’re likely to rise in that ranking when Maple Leaf Reservoir Park opens in 2012); and 20th for quietness.

Some of the basics about our neighborhood still could use some work, however. The description of Maple Leaf says there are “some 20,000 residents” as opposed to the 4,000 listed on Zillow, and the map cuts through the middle of the reservoir as opposed to the larger map the Maple Leaf Community Council uses.

But Seattle is still “seeding” on the site, which means there’s still work to be done. So keep ranking us high and we’ll see if our home values finally start to rise a little.