Bellevue vs Redmond vs Kirkland? (Seattle, Issaquah: homes, landscaping, neighborhood)

[nursemegan]

My husband and I have made the decision to move from Michigan to the Seattle area next summer with our two children. We are looking at the Bellevue, Redmond, or Kirkland areas. Any thoughts about one versus the other? We have narrowed it down to these three due to the quality of the schools we have read about.

[Blondebaerde]

By reputation, there are certainly good schools in each of the three. "Eastside", 'tis called.

I grew up in Birmingham, MI area. Returning there a couple years ago with a buddy (we both live Eastside), he opined Birmingham was "Bellevue East. There are socioeconomic similarities. Guess we gravitate towards what we find comfortable, by and large.

I live in Norkirk, close to Kirkland Jr. High and Peter Kirk Elementary. No complaints, in fact the opposite: pleasant area for families, wonky homes, and a number of small parks plus a couple larger ones up Juanita way. Million-dollar renovations or new construction literally next door to tumble down cottages built in the early/mid 20th Century. Surf the streets via Google Street View. I find that rather quaint and endearing, especially when the older homes are renovated with interesting landscaping and other motifs.

Big business these days is renovating the tumble-down cottages (or leveling them for the land, and building fresh). One home at a time, the area is going upscale, and my guess is that will continue barring some sort of macroeconomic catastrophe. Property values are up a rather-crazed 20% YoY from this time in 2012 (per Zillow). Lot of that going around, Seattle metro: if you're going to do something about it, do it fast.

98052 (Redmond) is nice, in a slightly different way. Depends where you want to live. I have friends in Tam o'Shanter (neighborhood), which seems pleasant enough. Eastgate (Bellevue) is nice, likewise various others. Quite suburban. Microsoft campus. Big watershed forested space, to the east.

Bellevue on the whole varies from urban (a rapidly growing "Satellite City") to suburbia to wooded areas, too.

Do some zip code surfing, and look into aggregators that measure "walkability" or similar factors by-neighborhood. I think a downside of Eastside is it's mostly car-centric. I live about a mile from Kirkland Transit Center (downtown), which is right on the edge of "inconvenient" for walking, but that's just how it goes.

Clearly a big factor is where you intend to work: traffic can be awful in a truly epic way. Or tolerable, if you have options. Depends.

Take a look at specific areas, hone in on what you think you might like based on various factors (in addition to schools), ask again. Good luck.

[xboxmas]

Bellevue schools have been ranked among the best in the nation. I would look there.

[Hemlock140]

Take your pick, all 3 cities would be great for you. It comes down to what you can afford and where you might be working.

[jjinla]

I personally think Issaquah ranks higher than Kirkland and Redmond, but that is certainly debatable based on your priorities.