Peak time commute from Snoqualmie Ridge to Seattle Downtown? (Bellevue: rentals, how much)

[Babui]

I may move from MA for a potential job opportunity in Seattle Downtown (2nd Ave). After researching forum threads and home prices - I'm looking at renting (and later buying) at Snoqualmie Ridge. Qts - how much time does it take for a morning peak-time (say, 7:15am) commute from the Ridge to Seattle Downtown? How much on the way back if I leave the office at 5:45-6 pm?

Also - how long will it take to get from the Ridge to Bellevue (Whole Foods) on a weekend?

Thanks

[Hemlock140]

If you leave home by 6:30 you can make it in about 40 minutes. After 7:00 add another 10. The return home is even longer starting at 3:30pm, but after 5:45 the worst of it would actually be over and except for holiday weekends be about the same as the morning. Maybe add 5-10 minutes getting to the freeway (I90) from your office with additional congestion around the stadiums. When the viaduct comes down and people are forced to I5 and surface streets, all bets are off.

The weekend trip to Whole foods is about 25 minutes, but for a more scenic drive you can go through Preston/Fall City
and take Tolt Hill Road near Carnation and then 202 to the one in Redmond which I like better.

[texastrigirl]

If you have kids I would check out the school matriculation situation in the Ridge. I have several very unhappy friends out there right now with the School Board, redistricting issues, potential closure of a campus that redirects kids who were very recently redirected within the past few years, etc. This can happen anywhere there is growth and there are positives to living out there. The education system may not be one of them.

As far as commute goes, we live a few miles off of Exit 15 (the Ridge is 25) in South Sammamish and it can take my husband anywhere from 35-55 minutes to get home in rush hour, so 40 minutes would be the low end to get to the Ridge and I am not sure that's door to door because Snoq Parkway can get really backed up. JMO. We looked at living out there but our friends that live there discouraged us because of schools and commute.

[TonyG5003]

I live in Snoqualmie Ridge, and the downtown commute during rush hour can be anywhere from 40-50 minutes - but this can vary depending on the day of the week. There are some days where the traffic patterns seem to change. I agree with Hemlock above... if you leave before or after the peak, you can shave 10 minutes off the time.

If you can share the ride, you can use the HOV lane which begins in Issaquah. This will shave 5-10 minutes off on most days.

I'll add, that I live closer to I-90. If you're farther back in the development, you'd want to add another 5-8 minutes. If you leave the office at 6pm, you should be home in 35 to 40 minutes - unless there's an accident or some other anomaly - which in my case, always seems to get me stuck in the tunnel on Mercer Island.

I would agree with texastrigirl above - it's true that Sammamish can take longer to get to/from Downtown than Snoqualmie Ridge. In fact, it can sometimes take 15 minutes alone to get to I-90 from parts of southern Sammamish. Ironically, it also takes 15 minutes to get to Issaquah from Snoqualmie Ridge. So, while Sno. Ridge is farther out... it's the same (or less) in travel time.

As for getting to Whole Foods in Bellevue on the weekend - you're looking at 20-25 minutes. Getting to Downtown Seattle without traffic is 30-35 minutes, and SeaTac Airport is also 35 minutes with normal traffic.

With all of this said... if you're looking to rent a single-family home, note that there are usually only 0-3 rentals available at any given time in Snoqualmie Ridge. Thus... when they come up, you need to be prepared to act!

[Babui]

Thankyou all so much!! My current commute in MA is 1:15 mins. So, anything less is preferable. I've looked at Bellevue and Issaquah but I cannot afford to buy in those areas (my budget is $450k for at least 2500 sqft). My wife also has her heart set on buying a brand new home down the road. Snoqualmie Ridge seems to have some new communities coming up in that price range.

I do have a 11 yr old girl and schools are very important to me. GreatSchools rate the middle and high school as a 9 or 10 (except for Two Rivers School in North Bend which is a 3). However, I'll have to keep an eye out for re-districting issues.

Craigslist and other websites have very few rentals in Snoqualmie area. As soon as I get a job offer, I'll jump on the first decent rental. Thanks for the tip.

[madflava]

My wife, 1 year old and I carpool every weekday to work in downtown Seattle (SODO) from Snoqualmie Ridge. If we leave at 7:00 AM we are in the parking lot by 7:30AM consistently. Granted, we live close to the highway in Snoq. and also work close off the highway. The carpool lanes are really great...you even get your own two lane bridge towards Seattle!

Coming back, we leave at about 4:30 and are in our driveway right before 5.