would you live in bothell or redmond? (Seattle, Bellevue: how much, buying a house)

[joyinthejourney]

our family lives in redmond and my husband works in bellevue (i work from home). we are in an apt and thinking of buying a house. we heard a lot of good things about bothell but after visiting the city twice i didn't like it as much as i thought i would. i generally like convenience, things to do. (i lived most of my life in san francisco and los angeles). bothell seemed quite congested with lots of older neighborhoods and inconvenient shopping. also my husband has a high chance of changing jobs to seattle soon. now that we've been living in redmond a few months it's growing on me. the schools are good, maybe not as good as NSD but my kids love the schools and i think they're great. at first i thought this area was overpriced b/c of MS and thought who would live here if they weren't working at MS? but its a nice city overall and i heard commute to downtown Seattle isn't too bad.
anyway my husband thinks i might need to spend more time in bothell to make a better decision. anyone have an opinion about which city you'd choose to live in, redmond or bothell and why?

[shaylahc]

I live in Woodinville, which seems to be a compromise of those two. Have you visited Woodinville? I love it here.

[Hemlock140]

Originally Posted by shaylahc

I live in Woodinville, which seems to be a compromise of those two. Have you visited Woodinville? I love it here.

Yes, Woodinville would be a good compromise. The farther you are from the job centers the lower the prices. All of these cities have good schools, not enough difference to be a concern. Redmond is not all MS people any more, with so many of them up in Sammamish and Issaquah Highlands. There are also Boeing and more recently Amazon people there too and of course others from various companies and business owners. If it were me, I'd go with Redmond, perhaps a little older neighborhood like Education Hill, which has good access to 510.

[MafHoney]

We just moved to Redmond from West Seattle and love the convenience of everything. We're right across from QFC and Trader Joe's, the transit center is a block and a half away, Town Center and Marymoor are right behind us. This was actually last in the places we even thought about moving to, but I think it's the best out of all of them. I work in the U District so taking the bus over is incredibly easy (25 minutes in the morning, 30 minutes getting back in the afternoon). So you know of all the things around here to do.

We looked at a few places in Woodinville, but if he's commuting, he better like sitting in traffic. Especially if he has the possibility of his job going into the city. 405 is usually a nightmare, and was a big reason why we chose NOT to move there. I think as far as things to do it tends to be lacking. There's the main core with Target and some restaurants and things, but from us just driving around that really seemed to be it. There are a lot of wineries and breweries that are fun to go to, but not a place you can really go to with kids in tow. It's pretty quiet up there.

I felt the same way about Bothell as you did. It didn't seem convenient to getting anywhere really, and with all the construction going on in the main center it seemed like too much of a hassle. They are definitely adding a lot that in a year or two it may be worth revisiting, but if I were you I'd stay in Redmond. I actually can't believe how much I like living in that area.

[Kayela]

I used to do the reverse - live in DT Seattle and commute to Redmond. I will say it's pretty darn slick to take public transit between the two areas. Bothell, not nearly as well-situated for that possibility.

I can certainly see where you're coming from with the shopping and convenience too. In your shoes, I'd probably also pick Redmond, there's just a lot more to do, but I don't have kids. However, speaking as a former kid (and good student) - yes, good schools make it easier to achieve high, but they are not the only factor. You get out of school what you put into it, and good parents, and liking where you're at, are also big factors. If your kids like it where they're at, I'd be reluctant to change that.

[Prince Mongo]

No.

[MissAlexRZ]

I'd choose to live in Redmond because I love what they have to offer.

[Seacove]

I hope a bunch of you move to Redmond around that Town Center and reinvigorate it. The last time we were at that mall it looked like it was going through tough times. That was months ago, not years. I don't know why either, it would seem to have everything going for it.

[mkarch]

Originally Posted by MissAlexRZ

I'd choose to live in Redmond because I love what they have to offer.

Buggy software?

[BellevueNative]

Hmmm... there are pros and cons of all these places. They all have good schools, so I won't be mentioning that.

Redmond: certainly a cute downtown and very walkable down there, but not many single family residential neighborhoods within walking distance of the downtown. It's closest to Bellevue and Seattle, but 520 can sometimes get very backed up and then you'll find that Redmond can actually be very difficult to get out of.

Bothell: a very spread-out city going through some growing pains while also preparing for some really cool changes. The "old" downtown area is getting completely redeveloped to make it more pedestrian friendly, and it will be really great when it is finished. But Bothell also has a significant portion of its north end that is actually unincorporated, and that is where much of the growth is happening. It's resulting in really bad traffic on Bothell-Everett Hwy during commuting hours. But if you stay toward the south end of the city, closer to downtown, it's quite charming and you can bypass most of the congestion from Canyon Park. Although the neighborhoods in the areas close to downtown are older, that's not always a bad thing. Sometimes those houses are built really well and they've often been updated inside. There are some newer neighborhoods there as well.

Woodinville: appeals to many people looking for more land and privacy. Some nice subdivisions, but a lot of custom built homes that can be quite spread out. Like Bothell, a significant portion of homes with Woodinville addresses are in unincorporated areas. I find the town to be quite charming, but it's definitely quiet. The wine and spirits business here will only continue to get bigger. Town will also be home to some land development in the next few years. Not a place to live if you want your house to be within walking distance to everything; there are a couple of neighborhoods where that's possible, but not most. But it's not like parking is a problem if you need to drive somewhere, and there is good shopping (love the Haggen market, and of course Molbak's). It can be tricky to get in and out of if you need to use 405 during commuting hours. I use the back roads a lot!

ETA: I don't understand the "more stuff to do" type comments for these towns. They're all suburban, and I can't think of anything one of them offers kids that the others don't. They all have parks, lots of kids sports leagues, summer concerts and movie nights, 4th of July parades, etc.