Eastside living - 30's, single, & new in town (Seattle: real estate, condo)

[grlintheworld]

Oh, jeez... I didn't realize that Bellevue could be lumped together with places like the hamptons... It's seriously that bad???

[Kayela]

Honestly I never understood the snobbery of eastside people, especially Bellevue and Kirkland. I could almost accept people in the Hamptons, Newport R.I., Holmby Hills in L.A. or Palm Beach, but Bellevue? Please!!!

I lived in Bellevue for 6 years and I honestly have no idea what you're talking about. DT is rather shiney, new and high-end, but most of the people I ever interacted with with were just decent, down-to-earth folks who go to work in the morning and want to be with their families at night. You'll find pretentious folks everywhere but Bellevue and Kirkland do not, by any means, have the monopoly on pretentiousness in the Seattle metro area.

Oh, jeez... I didn't realize that Bellevue could be lumped together with places like the hamptons... It's seriously that bad???

I've never been to the Hamptons, so I have no basis for comparison. However I did move to Bellevue straight from the prairie (middle-of-nowhere, South Dakota) and expected to feel like the poor relation. Turns out that wasn't the case. The eastisde is full of regular people trying to make a decent life for themselves and their families. I moved to the eastside first because I found Seattle to be a bit too 'urban' (and my preferences in that regard have done a 180) and I was intimidated by the traffic and the sheer number of people squeezed into a few square miles. I found people in Bellevue to be just like people everywhere. Most of them were nice, genuine, caring people and there were a few jerks - just like everywhere (including Seattle).

[Seacove]

I agree Kayela, there is nothing pretentious about Kirkland or Bellevue. You'll see nice cars driven by people that may have a lot of money but are typically dressed in cargo shorts. If someone is coming here looking for something to complain about, they will surely find it and should probably not bother.

Pwright, I'm such fan of your photos, here and in the LA Forum, I'm surprised by your response.

[Inkpoe]

Originally Posted by grlintheworld

Oh, jeez... I didn't realize that Bellevue could be lumped together with places like the hamptons... It's seriously that bad???

Eh, I've heard this a lot from my friends: There's snobs in the Eastside (Bellevue/Kirkland) and there's snots in Seattle. Take your pick.

You have to realize there's a lot of Seattleites have a very contemptuous disregard for anything that's not Seattle. Bellevue is a rising city in it's own right, essentially the anti-Seattle.

[tatania199]

We live in a 'burb of Bellevue and have commented ENDLESSLY on the friendliness of the area. Certainly, there are a lot of fancy cars. But a lot of them get parked in the Park and Ride lot beside the old Civic and their owners pleasantly commute in together, which pretty much exemplifies our experience with the area.

Yes...downtown is a tad sterile but that's such a small part of a community - the appearance of the downtown.

But as far as overall snobbiness goes, I suspect that you'd get back what you put out there, just like anywhere else.

[pwright1]

First off I just want to apologize if I offended anyone. I was a newcomer to Seattle when I first started hearing things about the eastside, Bellevue in particular. So I came with an open mind not knowing what it was all about. When my job transfered from Kent to Bellevue, the first thing out of my coworkers mouths were oh no, snootyville, republican haven, stuckup and so on. When I got a new job in dt Bellevue and I started interacting and dealing with eastside residents, I myself started hearing things coming straight out of their own mouths that sort of convinced me that maybe its true. 'We're rich', 'we live in the 98004 zipcode which is the wealthiest in America'(which it isn't), 'Seattle's a crime infested dump, how on earth do you live there' and so on. Some people say it reminds them of the Housewives Of Orange County reality show. Some things I've heard from clients and others were so shocking I won't ever repeat. I think it is so so interesting when you have a job dealing with the public. It's quite fascinating imo. Remember that local SNL type show called Almost Live? They use to do skits making fun of different areas around the Puget Sound region and the eastside was always someone acting snooty. They always made fun of Kent or Renton showing characters with missing teeth, big hair, smoking a cigarette and driving a pickup. Anyway enough of me rambling.

[NorthernCalifornia]

I live in New York City and am from the west coast. I know Seattle well and have spent time there frequently over the years.

There is no way someone from New York should move to the Eastside, be it Bellevue, Kirkland, or Redmond.

Where in New York do you live? The Eastside is the suburbs - Long Island, outer Queens, Staten Island, Jersey. Sure, it's much nicer than those places, but culturally it's the same. You'd be living in a small town, essentially.

Seattle is a city but it's already enough of a down-shift from NYC. If you know anybody in Seattle, move near them, so you'll have a friend to hang out with. Otherwise I'd recommend Fremont, Ballard, Lower Queen Anne, Belltown, Capitol Hill, Beacon Hill, and downtown itself.

If you want to walk out your door in the morning and be in a city you need to live in Seattle.

As for driving, you'll be fine. Driving in Seattle is nothing like driving in New York.

[BellevueNative]

Growing up in Bellevue, I always was called a snob...by people who didn't even know me. Because the suburb was white collar business and a bedroom community for Seattle. People drove nice cars, some moms stayed home with the kids, people attended charity fundraisers and joined private clubs, education was valued, and in general everyone was really supportive of family. These things are still true of Bellevue, but they're true of a lot of places in the Seattle area (though nowhere on the Eastside has a downtown business core like Bellevue).

And you know what else is the same? Pretty much the only ones that I hear call Bellevue residents snobs are Seattleites. Recently I've decided that the REAL snobs are Seattle residents, most of whom haven't crossed a bridge and come over to this side in years. Yes, Bellevue is not like Seattle, but it doesn't WANT to be like Seattle. We're good at different kinds of things. I happen to think that Bellevue is a much better run city than Seattle - I don't know if it's our form of government, or if it's the Freeman family's longtime role in planning and development, or what. We're smaller, but I don't think that's the only reason why. Oh, and Bellevue hasn't been a Republican stronghold for many years; yes, there are some conservatives, but Bellevue voted for John Kerry and Barack Obama in the last two presidential elections (I think it might have voted for Gore, too).

[Kayela]

And you know what else is the same? Pretty much the only ones that I hear call Bellevue residents snobs are Seattleites. Recently I've decided that the REAL snobs are Seattle residents, most of whom haven't crossed a bridge and come over to this side in years. Yes, Bellevue is not like Seattle, but it doesn't WANT to be like Seattle. We're good at different kinds of things. I happen to think that Bellevue is a much better run city than Seattle - I don't know if it's our form of government, or if it's the Freeman family's longtime role in planning and development, or what. We're smaller, but I don't think that's the only reason why. Oh, and Bellevue hasn't been a Republican stronghold for many years; yes, there are some conservatives, but Bellevue voted for John Kerry and Barack Obama in the last two presidential elections (I think it might have voted for Gore, too).

This++

I've lived on both sideds of the lake and I have to bite my tongue when people get going about one side or the other. And it's usually the Seattlites who come across as provincial to me. I'm happy as can be that we do have two such unique, distinct places and that I live in good proximity to take advantage of the best that they BOTH have to offer.

[Xanathos]

Originally Posted by BellevueNative

Growing up in Bellevue, I always was called a snob...by people who didn't even know me. Because the suburb was white collar business and a bedroom community for Seattle. People drove nice cars, some moms stayed home with the kids, people attended charity fundraisers and joined private clubs, education was valued, and in general everyone was really supportive of family. These things are still true of Bellevue, but they're true of a lot of places in the Seattle area (though nowhere on the Eastside has a downtown business core like Bellevue).

And you know what else is the same? Pretty much the only ones that I hear call Bellevue residents snobs are Seattleites. Recently I've decided that the REAL snobs are Seattle residents, most of whom haven't crossed a bridge and come over to this side in years. Yes, Bellevue is not like Seattle, but it doesn't WANT to be like Seattle. We're good at different kinds of things. I happen to think that Bellevue is a much better run city than Seattle - I don't know if it's our form of government, or if it's the Freeman family's longtime role in planning and development, or what. We're smaller, but I don't think that's the only reason why. Oh, and Bellevue hasn't been a Republican stronghold for many years; yes, there are some conservatives, but Bellevue voted for John Kerry and Barack Obama in the last two presidential elections (I think it might have voted for Gore, too).

Bellevue is clearly better run. You can tell a lot about a city by the quality of their streets. Bellevue's roads are always smooth as silk. Driving in Seattle is like driving on an old dirt road, they're in such bad shape. The downtown Bellevue core exists today because the Seattleites kept being so hostile to businesses that they started fleeing the city and coming over to the east side. As Seattle's commercial vacancy rate has risen, Bellevue's has disappeared, and a mess of construction has sprung up a wonderful sister city that will at some point probably be considered the primary city in the area. While Seattle has actively sought out to irritate those who provide tax revenue, Bellevue has welcomed them.

The way I always explain it to visitors who ask about the reverse San Francisco-Oakland dynamic we now have up here is activists, freeloaders and dreamers on the west side pushed realists over to the east side. What you see is the logical result of what happens when people who live in the real world design a town. We have our spot, and can always go over into the other one as we see fit to enjoy some of the things that still work over there. And yeah, east side is definitely not a "Republican stronghold". I'd say the east side is pretty independent as opposed to just voting along a party line. Probably another reason why the east side doesn't have nearly the problems the west does.