Is Seattle turning into California? (Bellevue, Redmond: rent, cheap home, landscaping)

[41Willys]

Ness, I would check out the Seattle freeze thread. After all Seattle and Bellevue are too different places. It's not the Washington freeze is it??

[ness]

I was being somewhat sarcastic. forgive me. I also figured that since Issaquah Highands is a popular suburb of Seattle that the same people who work in Seattle and contribute to the freeze might live here. anyhow. moving on.

[PencilMeIn]

Those kind of neighborhoods are quite common in FL too. It wasn't my "cup of tea" ( I need some privacy and space and I prefer the charm of older homes) but I have some good friends who absolutely love it. And I love my friends. You can't really judge a person on where he chooses to live that's too much of a generalization. To each his own.

[VeronikaW]

I'm not sure what the problem is with how close the houses are in Issaquah Highlands, if you look at houses in Seattle proper, they're practically stacked on top of one another, and they're all old and musty. And because they're so old, they mostly only have one bathroom. My husband and I searched for a 3 bedroom 2 bath rental in the city, and it was nearly impossible to find one.

If you go into Issaquah proper you can find houses that are more spread out, but most of them were built in the 60s or earlier and look like real crap boxes. I'd rather have a new place without mold problems than some dank 60s tract home with a little land (that I can't even enjoy most of the year because of the rain).

To be honest, the only place in WA state I've been where the houses seem to have some land around them is like the North Bend area and further east on 90, and some places like Sultan, and the other little cities on the way back from Leavenworth. Anywhere between Seattle and North Bend looks like massive urban sprawl, not dissimilar to CA, and the houses are older, so you can't blame it on the Californians.

V. =)

[JTC]

Is it just me or is alot of people on here making a bigger deal of this than it really is? I dont think Seattle is turning into California at all.....but then again im only 18, what do i know? LOL.

ALTHOUGH I have noticed some people dress as if their straight out of LA..lol.

[ness]

Veronika,
I think it is all about personal preference. I am a historic preservation consultant and so I love those old musty houses. it takes all kinds right? = )

[wythors]

I prefer my 60's era tract crap box on it's 1/4 acre lot with a Puget Sound view, thank you. I can't imagine paying $500,000+ for a house that really isn't much more than an apartment in that you're so close to your neighbor that you can't help but hear everthing going on over there.

[VeronikaW]

Originally Posted by ness

Veronika,
I think it is all about personal preference. I am a historic preservation consultant and so I love those old musty houses. it takes all kinds right? = )

I totally understand. I love the looks of the old houses (like the craftsmans in the city), but my husband has terrible allergies, so we could never live in any of them without completely gutting one first.

Originally Posted by wythors

I prefer my 60's era tract crap box on it's 1/4 acre lot with a Puget Sound view, thank you. I can't imagine paying $500,000+ for a house that really isn't much more than an apartment in that you're so close to your neighbor that you can't help but hear everthing going on over there.

Well, they're building houses much better than they used to. We share walls with 2 neighbors, and have never heard them.

V. =)

[41Willys]

Originally Posted by wythors

I prefer my 60's era tract crap box on it's 1/4 acre lot with a Puget Sound view, thank you. I can't imagine paying $500,000+ for a house that really isn't much more than an apartment in that you're so close to your neighbor that you can't help but hear everthing going on over there.

A buddy of mine is in that situation. His neighbor's is so close he can change the channel on his neighbor's TV with his remote.

[jwb123]

Ness, I would check out the Seattle freeze thread. After all Seattle and Bellevue are too different places. It's not the Washington freeze is it??

Bellevue and Issaquah are different places, and yes different from Seattle too - but when people talk of the "Seattle freeze" they aren't specifically talking about Seattle City Limits - it encompasses all of the Seattle suburbs, especially places like Bellevue and Redmond where a good bit of the Tech Industry is situated.