North bend (Seattle, Spokane, Bellevue: new home, crime, suburban)

[marianne1952]

Anyone know if North Bend is a nice place to live?

[the dufferz]

Marianne,

If you don't like rain, North Bend is probably not the place for you. It is at the foot of the cascades and many storm fronts build up along this area so expect more rain than you would find in Bellevue.

Here is the low down on North Bend (from a non-resident). North Bend is an old town (it was where they filmed the old TV show "twin Peaks" here. The growth in the residential areas of North Bend has traditionally been behind most areas (mostly in quality). Areas such as River Bend and Wilderness Rim would be considered "low rent" areas. There are some new developments in the area with high end homes, so it is catching up with the area.

The desire to get something like Colorado with 300 days of sun is possible here, but you will be paying a high price, mostly in time. Your desire to live in eastern washington will get you what you are looking for, but as you read the thread about commuting over the pass is correct. I know people who do it. The pass is the best groomed highway and is passible year around with minimal closures (last year a rockslide killed two people in a car. This closed the pass for several days.)

I would recommend if you have be here, give the "eastside" (bellevue area) a year and see how you like it. After that, look for the best location that fits your needs.

The dufferz

[marianne1952]

Thank you so much for all your great info!!!! North Bend having more rain than other parts ...mmmmmm....will have to rethink (once again) our location!!! This is turning out to be very complicated!!

[Mark S.]

North Bend is stunningly gorgeous. It's in one of the prettiest parts of the state.

The town itself is so-so. I think it was a lot nicer about 5-8 years ago. With Seattle and environs growing so quickly. North Bend is growing fast. It isn't the nice, small town it used to be.

Crime is on par with the national average. A bit high for me, but it may be lower than what you are used to.

City Data's full stats are here: http://www.city-data.com/city/North-...ashington.html

[Iam me]

I moved to North Bend from Boston two years ago.

Cons -

It tends to rain here when it just drizzles in Seattle although the summers are bone dry.

Downtown is could use a little refreshing. This does seem to be happening.

House prices have rissen drastically in the last couple of years.

Pros -

Its never more then ten minutes if your looking to get out of the rain and into the snow.

It takes less then an hour to get over the pass and into the sun from North Bend (The other side of the pass is a dessert, all the sunshine you could want.)

The commute to seatlle is much easier from the east, then from the north or south due to less traffic.

Unbelievable hiking.

Only 20min from skiing.

Rivers and lakes galore, good fishing,tubing and kayaking.

All in all I have loved it here so far, you get all the advantages of living in a recreational wonderland, it's a quick commute to both Bellvue and Seattle (quick reletive to the commuting times in Boston) the people are friendly and although it may not be truley rural its also doesn't have the typical suburban feel either.

[minnie74]

Hi Marianne! I grew up in North Bend and my parents still live out there. North Bend was a GREAT place to grow up in the 80's and 90's. It was a small town with tons of families and everyone knew everyone. Now it is a town in transition trying to accomodate for all the Boeing and Microsoft people that want to live in a pretty, tree-lined, mountain bordered (Mt Si is the big mountain with the "Y" at the peak, Little Si is the shorter one in front of it), river and trail filled outdoorsy retreat from city life. Downtown is modeled after old Swiss/Bavarian type architecture and store fronts. But the area near the Outlet Mall is not modeled in this fashion and just last week I noticed that they are doing renovations in the main part of town. And yes, Twin Peaks was partially filmed there. Several other movies were filmed there when I was a kid too. Actually got to meet Kiefer Sutherland at the Dairy Queen when they were shooting The Vanishing. (I think that's what it is called, the one with Sandra Bullock). Anyhow, it's gorgeous. Every time I go out to see my parents, I wish that I could afford to move back "home" and raise my daughter there. Rents are HIGH as are prices of new homes. But that's the case for just about ANY city in Western Washington. Storm fronts do cluster near the mountains, so if you want sunshine, go East of the mountains to Yakima, Walla Walla, Spokane or Wenatchee. The two sides of the mountain pass are like two different worlds. One is green and goes through obvious seasonal and weather changes while the other is brown and gets lots of sunshine, forest fires and tons of snow in the winter.