lisa

My husband has been offered a great job in Redmond WA, and we are seriously considering it. We have two children going into grades 7 and 10. We live in a wonderful city (Portland OR) with close access to schools, parks, shopping, downtown. Almost everything we do is within 10 minutes. Our neighborhood has a public central park, pool, tennis, school and library, and there is a wonderful sense of community. Is there anywhere near Redmond where we can find the same sense of community and convenience? I hear Kirkland is nice. Am wondering about Bellevue and Redmond. (I think Mercer Island would be too expensive.) Any thoughts on neighborhoods to look at where the jr high and high are good....Needless to say, we are on a short time frame, as we'd want to be there before school starts.
We may need to rent first, as we doubt we can sell our house or buy one in time. Any thoughts on this, as well?
Thanks. My sense of panic is only dulled by my disbelief, as this is happening so quickly.

ALF

People around here call the Redmond/Bellevue/Kirkland area the, 'Eastside', as opposed to East Seattle (There's a West Seattle, but no East Seattle). We have lived in Kirkland and Redmond, but now live further north, in Snohomish. There are several neighborhoods where you can get a great community feeling. I agree that Kirkland could be like that. Downtown Kirkland is quite small and self-contained, and the houses north of there are in a very nice neighborhood. Some have spectacular views of Lake Washington. You might also want to consider Issaquah, which is east of Redmond, a bit further away, but also a nice small downtown with nice homes in the surrounding hills. We lived along the west side of Lake Sammamish, in Redmond, in an older area, and had great neighbors, but we were not that close to the amenities you describe. I am not that fond of Bellevue, which I think is somehat analogous to somewhere like Gresham. It is a substantial city in its own right, which is OK if you want to live in a city. We have friends who live on Mercer Island and love it there, but you are right, it is darned expensive, even for a tiny house. I think that with a little bit of looking you will find many really nice areas.

John

Actually, East Seattle was the first name given to Mercer Island.

Renting is probably a good idea; it's hard for us to guess what you'll like or dislike about a particular area, and renting will give you a chance to investigate areas more carefully without commiting to a neighborhood you ultimately might not prefer. House prices are stabilizing, so waiting a few months probably won't hurt too much financially.

Redmond has been working dilligently to make its downtown more urban and livable, likewise Kirkland and Bellevue. All are rather expensive, very expensive by Portland standards. You might check out Issaquah, which also is working hard to keep some its "small town" values. All are relatively easy commutes to Redmond, and schools are uniformly good on the east side.

If your husband could carpool, though, Seattle is not out of the question. The commute to Redmond is no picnic, but if you pick a neighborhood close to one of the Lake Washington bridges it can be manageable, especially if he can carpool (3 pax on SR520, 2 on I-90.)

sightseer

I've actually been on some interviews both in Portland and the Eastside (including in Issaquah) in the past year. I also have done a fair amount of real estate consulting in both areas recently. So needless to say, I've checked into a lot of real estate in both areas. Which Portland neighborhood do you live in now? For those of us who are familiar with both areas, it might give us a better idea of what you're looking for.

In Issaquah, there's a new big master planned development which is quite nice - Issaquah Highlands (www.issaquahhighlands.com). There are a number of newer luxury apartment complexes in the Issaquah area that offer 3+ bedrooms and garages.

There's also a master planned community known as Snoqualmie Ridge that was recommended to me. While it was a beautiful area, it was just too far removed from the city for my taste - not to mention a longer commute.

I really liked Kirkland and pretty much decided on that area if I moved to the area, but it appealed to me as a single person and might be too costly for buying a family home.

I have a few friends who commute to Redmond from Everette where they were able to buy large houses for the money. But that town just doesn't have much appeal to me.

Your housing costs will be higher in the Seattle area as opposed to Portland. But on the positive side, you won't have any state income taxes to pay.

Good luck with your decisions!

Camille

Hi!

I love the Eastside and I live in Redmond.

All of the major cities on the eastside have an abundance of parks and open space and are convenient to all the other things that you mentioned. If you're into outdoor activities, there's plenty to do. If you're into city activities, Seattle is not that far away and is usually an easy trip across the lake on weekends, unlike during the weekday commute.

The eastside also tends to be quite pricey. I rent an apartment, but from what I've seen of housing prices, it's not cheap.

IMO, most of the cities on the eastside are great places to live. It just comes down to what an individual likes.

I love Bellevue. Their downtown is by far the most urban of any eastside city, but it's clean and safe. Bellevue's residential areas are very nice.

Kirkland doesn't do much for me. The lakefront is beautiful, but overall, I don't like the feel of Kirkland. It's just a personal preference. Kirkland's a nice place to live, it's just not for me.

Same for Issaquah, although they do have Krispy Kreme going for them. Issaquah does have a small town feel and when you're there, it seems like you can practically reach out and touch the mountains. Issaquah has becoming increasingly popular and there has been a lot of development over the past few years with more to come.

Redmond is nice. Redmond's residential neighborhoods are on the outskirts of the city with downtown in the center. Downtown Redmond has shopping, recreation, parks, and the library. Marymoor Park, one of the state's largest, is located in downtown Redmond and the park's trail actually connects to a trail that goes over to Seattle. Marymoor Park also offers access to Lake Sammamish.

I feel this advice is inadequate, because while I can give you an overall picture of an area, I can't fully describe it to you. I honestly think that a visit would be best. You're not all that far away. Is there any way that you and your family could possibly visit for a weekend to get a feel of the area and explore the different options?

Meanwhile, here are a few websites that may help you.

www.eastkingcounty.org

www.ci.bellevue.wa.us

www.ci.redmond.wa.us

www.ci.kirkland.wa.us

www.ci.issaquah.wa.us

lisa

I really appreciate your suggestions and thoughts and am taking notes. We will be going up to visit for a few days in a couple of weeks and will link up with relocation people. I want to have a good handle on things before I go, so we don't waste any time.

We live in the Raleigh Hills area just west of Portland. While it has a suburban feel, it is within about six minutes of downtown Portland. It is an older (ranch-style era houses), established neighborhood with low key (but large) houses, larger yards than in much of Portland (.20 to .33 acre lots in our area - Portland is densely packed!) big trees, lots of flowers and color, and neighbors of all ages.

We aren't looking for anything flashy, but we are looking for convenience to Redmond (work), good schools and convenience to amenities (parks, community/rec centers).

(IF we go. We are so entrenched here. This is going to be a really tough decision.)

Been there

lisa,

Seattle is only 2 hours from Portland. Don't you think your time would be better spent going to the Seattle area and looking around????

It's not like you would be moving from Chicago!

Been there

lisa

Been there. The soonest we can go is in two weeks. This came up very suddenly and we have multiple obligations (including my husbands work with travel) that are keeping us in town, even over the next two weekends. We're talking foreign exchange student at our house, major summer day camp next week for one of our children, etc, etc, etc. Life is very complicated!

lisa

Also, not that it matters, but Seattle is at least 3 hours from our house - probably more than 3 to the east side.

Newbie

Also relocating for job in Redmond (thank god and you know who). Thinking seriously about living in Kirkland, been told one can find places to live from which one can actually walk to stores, restaurants, etc. Am fresh out of college, will have another computer wonk to share house/apt., not a big party animal but would like to see trees and water. Is Kirkland what I want, or where should I live? (Please don't send me across the bridge into downtown area, don't want to commute to work, can always commute to "culture").

Can "Sightseer" and Camille please elaborate on their comparisons and impressions of Kirkland, Bellevue, etc. ?

Camille

The eastside has a mixture of older neighborhoods along with the newer developments, so you shouldn't have a problem finding a neighborhood to suit you. There is so much variety. The relocation agent will probably be a bigger help in this arena.

Every single city has community centers with tons of activities. A co-worker of mine lives near Issaquah and utilizes the Issaquah and Bellevue community centers for her kids all the time.

As for schools, I don't have kids, but I do know that the Seattle Times publishes a comprehensive school guide yearly for schools in the area where you can check out test scores, discipline problems, # of students graduated out to college, etc. You can view it online.

http://texis.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis/schoolguide/vortex/index

Bellevue and Issaquah are listed under their own districts. Redmond and Kirkland are listed in the Lake Washington school district.

Here's a general orientation of the eastside cities.

Bellevue is almost directly across from Seattle on the eastern side of Lake Washington. A couple of neighborhoods, like Medina and Hunts Point are in between the lake and Bellevue on the shores of the lake. Mercer Island's north end sit in the middle of the lake between Seattle and Bellevue. That's the I-90 end of things. It sounds complicated, but it's really not.

Redmond and Kirkland are situated north of Bellevue and next to each other, with Kirkland being right across the lake from Seattle's University District. They are served by I-405 and SR520. For that matter, Bellevue is also served by 405.

The city of Sammamish is comprised of parts of Redmond and Issaquah that decided to incorporate into their own city. Sammamish is south and east of Redmond and north of Issaquah. In order to get there, one pretty much has to circumnavigate Lake Sammamish. There are no bridges across that lake.

Issaquah is southeast of Redmond and Sammamish and directly east of Bellevue. Issaquah is served by I-90.

All of these cities are very convenient to Redmond. It would help if I knew the area where your husband's job will be. If it's Overlake, as that's where the bulk of the offices are in Redmond, then none of the cities under cosideration would be a really bad choice except maybe for Samammish. I work in Bellevue, but my office is only a few blocks from Redmond's business area and my co-worker who lives in Samammish always complains that it's heck getting off "the Plateau" in the mornings. That probably has to do with having to go around lake Samammish because avenues of getting out of there are limited.

All of them are not that far away from Seattle distance wise or in good traffic, time wise. In good traffic, it takes 20-30 minutes to get downtown. During commute times or if something like a game or festival is going on in downtown Seattle, it's a whole other story. If you do decide to move to the eastside and want to participate in some of the more famous activities that Seattle has to offer without personally dealing with traffic and parking, the transit company here offers shuttles from the various eastside park & ride lots to things like sports games and Seattle Center events.

Once you get here, you'll see that you have a lot to choose from, but I'm sure you'll find something that suits you.

MMM

Good effort to help, Camille, but some of what you are talking about could be deduced by looking at a map. How would you characterize the different towns you name? Which are family-oriented? Which are dominated by newer town-home clusters and which by older, free-standing houses? etc.

John

All of the towns mentioned were very agricultural until the bridges were built across L. Washington in the 40s-60s. There are a few homes older than that, but obviously not many.

All of the towns have a range of housing styles, ranging from high-end estates (multi-million dollars) on waterfront, to lower end condos and apartments and many, many acres of 70s-90s "builder burgers," same as the western Portland suburbs. The farther north or east you go the incidence of mini-mansions and "Bellevue French" (i.e. Louis XIV would have lived here if he needed room for a home theater and 3 SUVs) increases. There are big shopping malls here and there (Bellevue Square now taking on the cachet of the likes of South Coast Plaza in So. Calif. - a place to spend your dot-com millions - oh, wait...) as well as Fred Meyers and Sears, etc. All the downtowns have chic restaurants, art galleries, multiplex cinemas, drive-thru Starbucks and plenty of real estate agents' offices. There are highrise office complexes and low-rise office parks in all the towns, save Mercer Island.

Culturally the East Bellevue area tends to be increasingly diverse - Asian, Russian, but in general it's pretty middle class and N. European.

There is a thriving yachty-yup-condo culture here and there, but all the towns are dependent on, and cater to families. All the towns are also trying to reduce their cultural dependence on Seattle as well as their dependence on cars - Redmond is the self-proclaimed bicycle capital of the US, for example.

But don't take my word for it - drive on up.

xxx

Bellevue Square is pretty similar to Washington Square. But the high Washington sales tax will add up when shopping.

lisa

Just thought I'd return and tell you what's happening, as so many of you provided so much help. We made our trip to the Eastside last week to scope out the area. We really liked the funky, eclectic neighborhoods near downtown Bellevue, but the prices were astounding and not much was available. After several exhausting days, we selected the area south of I-90, in the hills, as housing prices were more affordable and there were more homes on the market. We need to get there before school starts so we won't be relaxing for awhile. I hate to leave Portland, which is a wonderful, liveable city. But, change happens. Soon I will no longer be at willamettevalley.com. Not sure what I'll be - eastsideseattle or something. Stay tuned. Ulp!