If working at MS, where to live? How bad, really, are clouds? (home, schools)

[mec1212]

So MS is flying me out for an interview in Jan. What is the Bug situation like? For example here in Rhode Island Mosquito's are terrible in the summer, during the winter everything dies because it gets so cold. Is there a critter problem there?

[allforcats]

Are you sure you're not thinking of some place like Fairbanks? Western Washington has the standard temperate-zone insects at the standard times of the year. Nobody exotic, in no exotic throngs. Our insects are not a "problem" because we all live happily together, and they, of course, certainly help to give us our marvelous landscape including flowers in January. One magic fact: I am originally from NYC and Connecticut, and in 22 adult years here, I've never -- that's NEVER -- seen a cockroach! Wow!! I've also never been bitten by a mosquito.

[wannabeaTexan]

I think spiders are a problem, but I hate spiders, so it only takes a few for me to consider them a problem. Some people I know pick them up with their hands and put them outside alive. So if you don't hate them like me, they probably won't bother you.

I think mosquitos are a problem if you live by water...I've had plenty of mosquito bites and I get an allergic reaction to them, so I don't appreciate it. And there's crane flies in the summer...if you don't have a screen and leave your window(s) open and the lights on...they will come in.

I've been here my entire 32 years and I HAVE seen cockroaches. again! In my apt after some new people moved in above me. They were nasty and the complex sprayed for them twice, but they were hard to get rid of. Not sure where the people moved from though...I assumed the roaches came with. They weren't huge tho and that was over 10 yrs ago and I haven't seen one since, so they aren't a problem here.

[woodinvilleguy]

I worked at MS for 7 years and we lived in Woodinville. It was a pretty easy drive, you can ever ride a bike to work if you are so inclined. We found that in Woodinville the schools were good, houses were good sizes, and most have good size yards. To use Redmond was very crowded and felt overpriced to us. But I know many that are happy in Redmond. You just need to search the areas and find what is right for you.

[haggardhouseelf]

I'm a Dallas girl, too! Hey!

If you are still checking out areas - check out Redmond Ridge. Good place for MS people and AWESOME for families. A brand new and WONDERFUL elementary school just opened up - Rosa Parks Elementary. Google it - just awesome. Redmond Ridge is a very walkable community, and it's in an unincorporated area - just outside of Redmond. You're high up on a hill so you don't worry about flooding so much! It's very clean and safe feeling. Lots of gorgeous parks - FOUR we can walk to in under 15 minutes PLUS another 800+ acres of protected wilderness area across the street! It's lovely here. I highly recommend it. Perfect for a family with young children, very positive environment, and close to work for your husband.

[haggardhouseelf]

OH!!! And I have never seen a bug here. Wait that's not what I mean - I have never seen roaches here!!! Being from Dallas... well... roaches were always an issue!!! It's so gross. We had to spray chemicals all the time there. It was awful.

We have not seen one roach since we left Texas. We see all kind of spiders and beetles - but those are beneficial! They eat mosquito's and other flying icky things!

OH! And we have lots of bats, too! In fact - our cats are not allowed to go out on their little cat patio at night anymore (they are indoor only except for a little upstairs patio they can go out on) because they started catching and bringing bats inside. Wow. Luckily they were gentle and didn't kill any of the bats - we were able to get them safely back outside. Phew!

As far as mosquito's - I agree with the other poster... near water they can be bad. Otherwise, you don't seem to notice them. It's NOTHING like Texas mosquito's!! I still remember being covered in bumps all summer from being bitten. It's not like that here... these Pacific Northwest mosquito's which hang out by the watering holes here are eety bitty baby's compared to the vicious Texan mosquito's I grew up with.

[jenlion]

Hi Haggard,

If you weren't in TX this past summer, be grateful. Our baby was born in April and we had a TON of rain this spring and early summer. June and July were the wettest I've ever seen -- our lake went from something like 16 feet below normal (boat ramps well away from the water, buoys lying on dirt) to being at normal levels in a pretty short time. the mosquitoes this year were terrible -- if we wanted to take an evening walk with the baby we had to cover him up with mosquito netting. And even then, sometimes they'd find a way through, poor kid. You literally could not step outside without getting chewed up IMMEDIATELY.

Can you tell me where Redmond Ridge is? This is the 2nd time I've heard of it but I'm not sure where it's located. Maybe some cross streets or a generic address? Is this the area up by Ames Lake? We looked at a new house up by Ames Lake. Looked great.. price decent.. the catch was the double-wide right next door with the trash in the yard. Nuts.

Do you have to worry about flooding in other parts of town??

How long is the commute from redmond ridge in traffic? We checked out Woodinville at rush hour and found it completely unreasonable. Traffic was completely stopped for miles and miles along one 2-lane road. Maybe there are parts of Woodinville that aren't as bad, I don't know, but where we were it was insane.

Thanks!

[allforcats]

Redmond Ridge is quite a bit north of the Ames Lake area. Redmond Ridge is a massive planned community east and north of “downtown” Redmond, and east and north of Lake Sammamish, in an area that used to be the forest residences of deer, bears, owls, elk and cougar. It’s:

- east of Avondale Rd. NE,

- north of NE Redmond-Fall City Rd.,

- west of Eastridge Dr. NE,

- all the way north to slightly north of NE Novelty Hill Rd.



The residential areas in the community contain single-family houses, condominiums, townhouses and apartment buildings, as well as an age 55+ complex. This is all new construction within the past few years and is pretty expensive. Have you checked with the real estate agent who was helping you here?

[haggardhouseelf]

Originally Posted by jenlion

Hi Haggard,

Can you tell me where Redmond Ridge is?

If you google Redmond Watershed Preserve or The Lodge at Redmond Ridge and then click in your browser to show the images instead of the web results you should see maps of Redmond Ridge as well as the Trilogy area. (Trilogy is right up the street from Redmond Ridge.)

To get from Redmond Ridge from the city of Redmond... find hwy 520 on the map... then follow 520 east out of Redmond. 520 turns into Avalon road... then take a right on Novelty Hill Rd. Novelty Hill Rd. goes all the way up to Redmond Ridge. The Redmond Watershed preserve will be on your left, and Redmond Ridge will be on your right. If you keep going straight on novelty Hill you will end up in Trilogy. Trilogy is more expensive than Redmond Ridge, but very nice. There is a country club/golf club and another little shopping center.

You can also google Rosa Parks Elementary. That is the newest school in the highly regarded Lake Washington School District. It is awesome! That school is right in the heart of Redmond Ridge.

Originally Posted by jenlion

Do you have to worry about flooding in other parts of town??

We have only lived here about a year... but from what I understand because we are high up on a hill (or, ridge...) we do not have problems with flooding. Recently we had the second wettest day in the history of Washington state. Several towns were flooded. In fact - I-5 was flooded!!! I-5 was closed for several days. In many areas people were stranded without power for days and even emergency crews couldn't get in or out. But in Redmond Ridge we were fine. The thing we have to worry about - TREES. Tree's do fall here and we have a lot of them. It also snows here and we do get freezing rain and lots of ice. But flooding doesn't seem to be much of a concern here.

Originally Posted by jenlion

How long is the commute from redmond ridge

Unfortunately - traffic everywhere here is horrible. Horrible! The reason we chose to live in Redmond Ridge, actually, is because my husband works in Redmond Ridge - so he walks. We are also able to walk the kids to school. Otherwise - we would spend hours a day in traffic. I have lived in large metro areas before but nothing compares to the traffic here. Also - it's not just too many cars on the streets... it's how people drive here. The combination of people driving too fast, talking on their cell phones, and being jazzed up on too much coffee here is - well... it's just awful.

I'm a stay at home mom, so I am lucky. I can wait to go to the grocery store and run the errands during times when traffic dies down a little - but even then it's hard to drive here. I've had construction guys in trucks give me hand signals and make weird faces at me (I don't know how to describe it...) and all the time there are people who come up behind you and give you the finger because you won't get out of there way or you are going the speed limit and they aren't... I dunno. I can't stand driving here.

I guess my only advice with regards to the traffic and commute is either to expect the worst, or to try to live as close as possible to where your office is. I have seen park and rides (and there is one in Redmond Ridge right behind the elementary school) but I don't know how those work. Maybe that is something worth checking into? Microsoft is so big out here and traffic so bad that it seems like a lot of people carpool or take the bus. At least I read about it in the paper, anyway. My husband doesn't work with MS so I don't know much about all that though.

Good luck with everything.

[woodinvilleguy]

Originally Posted by jenlion

Hi Haggard,


How long is the commute from redmond ridge in traffic? We checked out Woodinville at rush hour and found it completely unreasonable. Traffic was completely stopped for miles and miles along one 2-lane road. Maybe there are parts of Woodinville that aren't as bad, I don't know, but where we were it was insane.

Thanks!

I'm shocked that it took that long from Woodinville. I live in Woodinville the end of Avondale and it take 25 minutes in traffic to get to the main campus. I suppose traffic can be bad if you were going to the main town of Woodinville. Redmond ridge will have similar traffic issues that that you get from Woodinville. Traffic always depends on the time of day. God forbid you get behind the school buses in the morning that can double your commute. Which campus at MSFT are you working at?