Info on Bellevue area - relocating

[keepnitfun]

Hi - just reaching out to grab some info...

My husband is up for a promotion that would move us from Michigan to Bellevue, WA. So, what do I need to know about the area? From what I can see, it's a nice area, with decent schools and great community activities and attributes. How's the weather in summer? Winter?

We'll have one weekend out there to house hunt and find a house (!!!), so any suggestions to areas we should look in, and those we should avoid, would be appreciated. We currently live in one of the more affluent Detroit suburbs, in a premium school district, and I'd like to move to something comparable around Bellevue. The COL is definitely higher out in Seattle than Detroit, so I'm kind of shell shocked by the housing prices in Bellevue proper...

We have two young kids (2 and 4), and two dogs. I'll be a stay at home mom and DH would like to have no more than a 25 minute commute to the Bellevue office. Ahhhh... As I type this, I'm starting to feel overwhelmed!!

But... I'll love it out there. Right!?!?

[Deleted]

If you're wanting to stay within 25 minutes driving of Bellevue I wouldn't go to the Seattle side of Lake Washington. Crossing the bridges or going around the lake (in traffic) can take an hour.

Not sure if you've seen this, but I just googled for a list of the top elementary schools in WA: www.schooldigger.com/go/WA/schoolrank.aspx

Also, this is a ways off, but my H went to Interlake HS (bellevue school district) and it consistently ranks high nationally: www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/washington/districts/bellevue-school-district/interlake-high-school-20733

[joenali]

Jul 31, 2012 12:09:20 GMT -5 @uwhuskygirl said:

If you're wanting to stay within 25 minutes driving of Bellevue I wouldn't go to the Seattle side of Lake Washington. Crossing the bridges or going around the lake (in traffic) can take an hour.

Not sure if you've seen this, but I just googled for a list of the top elementary schools in WA: www.schooldigger.com/go/WA/schoolrank.aspx

Medina! Not surprised! Most schools on that list are located in high end neighborhoods! THere is also more to a school than test scores.

[mkate710]

Welcome! You will love it out here I work in Bellevue (as does my H) and we live in Kirkland, about 15 minutes north. For an easy commute into Bellevue, I'd recommend checking out housing in Kirkland, Redmond or Issaquah. Bellevue itself is very expensive (and most of the Eastside is, honestly) and downtown Bellevue is very upscale, but a lot of the actual neighborhoods in Bellevue are hit or miss. I don't know anything about Issaquah schools, but Kirkland, Redmond and Bellevue are all in great districts.

I don't have kids, but having lived in Kirkland for several years, I feel like it would be a great place to be a SAHM. There are a ton of parks/beaches, a great little league program, a nice library and pool, etc etc. The downtown area is very walkable. It's also pretty dog friendly. Has a bit of a small town feel. A typical one way commute for us into Bellevue is under 30 minutes whether we drive or bus, even in traffic. We also have really easy access to the freeway across the lake into Seattle, and there's a ton of fun things to do in the city. Depending on traffic, we're less than 30 minutes from the city, less than 30 min from the airport, pretty central to most things.

Summer weather - some cloudy days, some sunny days, usually upper 60s - mid 80s
Winter weather - usually just kinda cloudy and chilly, rainy some days, very rare snow. Coming from Michigan, you will laugh hysterically at Seattle folks trying to drive in the snow

Stick around! We love new posters and would love to get to know you as you get ready to come out here. And any other questions, ask away!

[keepnitfun]

Thanks for all of the great info. We'd love to get into a new construction (because of timing) so hopefully I can find something in Redmond or Kirkland.

It's funny, reading the comment about busing to work, I LOL'd! The public transportation system is so deplorable here, its a total foreign idea that we could actually safely utilize buses.

As for what to move, will we need our heavy down NorthFace jackets? Snow boots? The milder climate (in both winter AND summer) have me pretty excited!!

[niq]

Compared to Michigan the summers will feel cold and the winters warm. I never wear snow boots, and I wear my ski shell+liner a lot in the winter. It's not a super-heavy jacket though. Oh and you will laugh at how we "deal" with snowstorms (basically I don't bother going anywhere when it snows).

You can live in parts of the city and still have a decent commute to Bellevue, though a lot of that depends on what time you leave in the morning. Anywhere between Capitol Hill and Seward Park (except West Seattle and maybe South Park/Georgetown) is doable. You can even bus to Bellevue if you live close enough to downtown Seattle though then the commute is much slower (closer to 40 minutes just on the bus).

Kirkland is probably the nicest of the suburbs; there's even a sort-of-walkable shopping strip with some nice restaurants, art galleries, stuff like that. I think Kirkland and Bellevue are the two most expensive suburbs too (well, other than the super rich stuff that's right on the water). The suburban schools in Bellevue and LWSD are usually pretty good; I don't know enough about the rest of them.

HTH!

ETA: One more thing about the weather: coming from anywhere other than the PNW, I found the large amount of gray skies really lame. I've started making at least one vacation/year to somewhere warm and sunny, usually in late winter/early spring, to take a break from the overcast skies. The suburbs seem to get a little less gray and more sunshine than Seattle proper.

[Deleted]

It's really not that cold here. We complain if it dips below freezing or gets above 80ish. We get snow, maybe once a year. And what we call snow, you'd call a flurry.

[Deleted]

While Bellevue doesn't get much snow, you will get more in Bellevue than they do in Seattle. Issaquah, especially if you're in the highlands, will get more. I would keep them if you like winter sports as we do have several popular ski areas (Crystal Mountain and others) and if you already have them, might as well keep them rather than decide later you wish you had?

My parents lived just southeast of the Crossroads area and while there can be some crime in the apartments near there (along 156/148), we lived 7 minutes from that mall in a really great neighborhood and never had issues the 10+ years they lived there, nor did our neighbors.

[jennlin]

if you can afford it, i'd also look into bothell in northshore school district. there is a lot of new construction in bothell, and it is probably right on par with 25 min commute depending on how far away you live from the freeway.

[larzhope]

I moved from Michigan (metro Detroit area but also lived in Lansing and on the west side of the state) about 3 1/2 years ago so feel free to PM me with any specific Michigan to Washington questions you have. I thinkt he other ladies have given great advice! Bothell has great schools and is crazy affordable (relatively speaking) - new housing developments are popping up everywhere!

[karebear219]

I live near mkate and ditto everything she says... I also work in Bellevue. My communite is 20 minutes at fastest, 30 minutes at slowest. There are some new construction homes about a mile from my house. For 2,500 square feet you are looking at 500k.

In Bothell you get way more for your money and during none peak traffic hours the commute is 20 to 30 minutes, BUT during peek commute you are looking at 45 to an 1:15.

[mominatrix]

Jul 31, 2012 12:39:33 GMT -5 niq said:

Compared to Michigan the summers will feel cold and the winters warm. I never wear snow boots, and I wear my ski shell+liner a lot in the winter. It's not a super-heavy jacket though. Oh and you will laugh at how we "deal" with snowstorms (basically I don't bother going anywhere when it snows).

You can live in parts of the city and still have a decent commute to Bellevue, though a lot of that depends on what time you leave in the morning. Anywhere between Capitol Hill and Seward Park (except West Seattle and maybe South Park/Georgetown) is doable. You can even bus to Bellevue if you live close enough to downtown Seattle though then the commute is much slower (closer to 40 minutes just on the bus).

Kirkland is probably the nicest of the suburbs; there's even a sort-of-walkable shopping strip with some nice restaurants, art galleries, stuff like that. I think Kirkland and Bellevue are the two most expensive suburbs too (well, other than the super rich stuff that's right on the water). The suburban schools in Bellevue and LWSD are usually pretty good; I don't know enough about the rest of them.

HTH!

ETA: One more thing about the weather: coming from anywhere other than the PNW, I found the large amount of gray skies really lame. I've started making at least one vacation/year to somewhere warm and sunny, usually in late winter/early spring, to take a break from the overcast skies. The suburbs seem to get a little less gray and more sunshine than Seattle proper.

See, we're in West Seattle, and my H works in way-east Bellevue (last exit before Issaquah) and he's fine most of the time BUT he altered his schedule to work 7-330 so the traffic isn't killing him.

plus, he only goes in 3x.a week (virtual the other two - very common here)...

But it's nice, because we actually have some family time after he gets home from work (it's ordinarily about 30 minutes without ugly traffic)

...via mobile.

[maddysmum]

Jul 31, 2012 12:09:20 GMT -5 @uwhuskygirl said:

If you're wanting to stay within 25 minutes driving of Bellevue I wouldn't go to the Seattle side of Lake Washington. Crossing the bridges or going around the lake (in traffic) can take an hour.

Not sure if you've seen this, but I just googled for a list of the top elementary schools in WA: www.schooldigger.com/go/WA/schoolrank.aspx

Wow - our school is number 7 on there! And I'd agree that it really is pretty amazing!

We love Bellevue.

Living on the eastside has not meant missing out on all that Seattle has to offer, too. I find it's the best of both worlds - we have killer schools, more house/yard than we could've gotten in the city (a must with kids and a dog, wouldn't have been nearly the same priority if it were just the two of us) and easy access to everything we need over here, but we're also a 15 minute drive into Seattle for all of the fun stuff it has to offer! We don't limit ourselves to our immediate area - we're determined to soak up everything we can while we live here so we explore constantly.

We had one weekend to house hunt and we looked EVERYWHERE. Greenlake, Magnolia, Shoreline and Queen Anne in Seattle, Woodinville, Redmond, Issaquah, Bellevue and Mercer Island on the eastside. And Bainbridge Island for good measure. We loved a ton of them but ultimately, we picked a suburb of Bellevue for proximity to Seattle (my husband works in South Lake Union) but the schools and houses of the 'burbs. We love our area. We're super close to downtown Bellevue, but we're up on a hill, surrounded by green space and AMAZING views of both downtowns and Lake Washington, and we're also right at the junction of the 90 and 405 so getting in and out of Seattle is slick.

We come from somewhere with lousy, lousy public transport so it's a treat to be here where the bus isn't just for students who are too desperate to care! ;D The Park and Ride my husband uses looks like a luxury car lot - it was very different to be somewhere where everyone utilizes public transport, which I think really goes to show that it's well done. It cuts his commute significantly because the express/HOV lanes move so quickly.

We really like Seattle, and we really like the climate. We come from somewhere with real winter and oh my...every time the dreary, overcast weather started to get to me, I'd remind myself that it wasn't -40 out with feet of snow!

[keepnitfun]

So...um...is *everyone* this nice out there? ;D This is some great info, I'm compiling quite a list of places for my husband to check out when he heads out there next week....

If anyone's up for a scavenger hunt and wants to throw A few new housing community names out there, that'd be great! Obviously, we're scouring the Internet, but I'm sure I'm missing some.

So, tell me about the lifestyle out there. I have never been to the PNW, so I have no idea what to expect. How's the nightlife? Lots of seafood? What's the fashion like? Shopping, big malls or little boutiques? And what's your hands-down, go-to favorite restaurant?

[mkate710]

Lifestyle:
Casual. We love our jeans and North Face jackets. There are maybe 2-3 restaurants in the city that you have to dress up for.
Yep, lots of seafood. Lots of emphasis on locally produced food (and wine/beer/liquor). Shopping isn't as great as some other cities, but it's decent. The eastside has plenty of mall/chain stores, but there are definitely boutiques to be found, more so in the city.

We have a thread somewhere with everyone's favorite Seattle restaurants by type. I'll try to find it and link it.

[mkate710]

Here's our list of favorite Seattle restaurants...

pandce.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=seattle&action=display&thread=37052

[keepnitfun]

Aug 1, 2012 14:47:49 GMT -5 @sfgal530 said:

keepnitfun, is there a price range you want for a house? i.e., are you thinking $250K, $500K, etc? I thought I read you wanted new construction... off the top of my head in Issaquah I'd look at both Talus and the Issaquah Highlands. I think they span the gamut of house prices, from say low $300K to over $1M. I'm not aware of any new development on Mercer Island but I'm sure there is some in the Kirkland / Redmond area. I assume you want a stand-alone house and not a townhouse / condo, correct?

I think we're looking in the 3-400K range - obviously lower would be great :-) We currently have a 2700 sq ft, 4 bedroom, 3 bath home with a finished baseent in a premium school district, and we'd like to find something comparable. Crystal Springs in Bothell caught my eye, but Erik is worried about the commute.

Coincidentally, his new boss lives in Talus, so that's On our radar too

[karebear219]

I think everyone is pretty nice. There is such thing as the Seattle freeze. I've heard it is hard to make friends with people when you move. You can just hang with us and try to get play dates going with your kids. I'm sure that will help

How's the nightlife? It's decent. I also recommend Belltown. There is an immerging nightlife in Downtown Bellevue, but I personally haven't partaken in it. Now that I'm an old hag I just prefer the dive bars in downtown kirkland.

Lots of seafood? Yup, and like Mkate said a big emphasis on eating local and healthy. We have tons of good Asian food here too. Lots of yummy sushi

What's the fashion like? Non existant. There is a PNW insurance company that has funny commercials that make fun of our culter. Help me ladies what is it? Is it Pemco? Look up the commercials on their website or youtube. Shopping, big malls or little boutiques? All of the above.

And what's your hands-down, go-to favorite restaurant? Mine - Umi Sushi, H's is Barking Frog

[mkate710]

Hahaha yes, the Pemco commercials are a fantastic crash course in bracing for life in the PNW

[Deleted]

Oh and the other cool thing about seattle? Happy hours are huge here. I would guess at least 90% of restuarants have it. Its nice to be able to pop in somewhere after work and get a cheap nibble and glass of wine.

[Deleted]

Oh oh I am totally the snow freak out lady, but I really do live on top of a hill! Hahahaha.

[maddysmum]

I honestly think people really are friendly here. I'd heard about the whole "Seattle freeze" thing prior to moving here but I've never noticed it personally. People are friendly everywhere, lots have really made an effort to be friends and I find people generally nice and pleasant.

Oh, and I come from a place where we have feet upon feet of snow all winter long. This past winter when we got a bit of snow for a week, even we wound up stranded at home! Our SUV, affectionately known as Hank the City Tank, couldn't make it down our hill! And it was only a wee bit of snow compared to what we're used to.

[keepnitfun]

I'm really liking what I'm reading : healthy, local food, great Mexican and sushi joints, live music, comfy jeans... I'm really looking forward to what Erik says about everything after he's out there next week.

I think my only lingering concern is whether I'll be shunned for not being "outdoorsy" *gasp*

[Deleted]

Not everyone is outdoorsy. It helps and is a great place to do outdoorsy things, but its not a requirement.

I am a washington native and I hate hiking and camping.

[mkate710]

Aug 1, 2012 22:38:43 GMT -5 keepnitfun said:

I'm really liking what I'm reading : healthy, local food, great Mexican and sushi joints, live music, comfy jeans... I'm really looking forward to what Erik says about everything after he's out there next week.

I think my only lingering concern is whether I'll be shunned for not being "outdoorsy" *gasp*

Not at all! Especially if you live on the Eastside

[jennlin]

Aug 1, 2012 23:46:19 GMT -5 @jennuinne said:

Aug 1, 2012 22:47:59 GMT -5 mkate710 said:

Not at all! Especially if you live on the Eastside

Totally. You don't have to like to hike and camp. But, you might be shunned if you don't appreciate nature, like don't care about recycling, don't think the water/mountains/trees are beautiful, etc.

recycling is huge here, so if you don't recycle, you *will* get the stinkeye. but being outdoorsy-- nope! lots of people aren't. don't worry about it.

and as for the seattle-freeze thing--it's that strangers don't usually open up and talk to each other..but if you reach out and say hello, they'll definitely talk back.

[keepnitfun]

Aug 2, 2012 11:46:35 GMT -5 jennlin said:

Aug 1, 2012 23:46:19 GMT -5 @jennuinne said:

Totally. You don't have to like to hike and camp. But, you might be shunned if you don't appreciate nature, like don't care about recycling, don't think the water/mountains/trees are beautiful, etc.

recycling is huge here, so if you don't recycle, you *will* get the stinkeye. but being outdoorsy-- nope! lots of people aren't. don't worry about it.

and as for the seattle-freeze thing--it's that strangers don't usually open up and talk to each other..but if you reach out and say hello, they'll definitely talk back.

Eco-conscious community is one of the things I'm really looking forward to, honestly. I'm big on recycling, use un-paper towels, we cloth diaper, and shop at farmers markets - but my husband and most of my friends think I'm a little nutty. It'll be nice to be with like-minded peeps!