Bellevue vs. Kirkland vs. Redmond for quieter neighbors? (Seattle, Newcastle: rentals, HOA)

[TheGreatAndPowerfulOz]

Hi everyone,

Our family is relocating to the Pudget Sound area--specifically, the Bellevue/Kirkland/Redmond area. Over the past five-plus years we've lived in several different cities in a couple of different states. Putting aside whether the cities/states were wonderful or not, we've had the extreme poor luck of landing in houses with neighbors (next door, two doors down, across the street) who have extremely noisy cars or motorcycles, or play loud music with the bass pumped up, or have loud parties until 11:00pm or later on a very regular basis.

The people with the cars or motorcycles haven't just hopped in/on them and driven off...they all work on them throughout the day, revving loudly from mornings until evenings on a nearly daily basis. The people with the bass up have done it at all hours; I'm not opposed to music being a bit loud--but the bass comes through walls and windows as if they're made of paper, making our home like the bathroom at a techno club. And the late night partiers have been families with college age kids who didn't feel the need to respect the fact they had neighbors with very young children. Parties are fine a couple times a year (and parties where people are civil and quiet are actually very pleasant to see going on)--but near weekly parties at night where the people are extremely loud and don't give a damn about the noise they're creating for neighbors is just inexcusably rude.

Seriously, it would be comical if it wasn't such a miserable experience. It's started to feel as if we're forever doomed to live next to inconsiderate neighbors.

So my question for any of you reading this, with experience with the Bellevue/Kirkland/Redmond area and willing to answer: Are there any of these cities better or worse for noisy or inconsiderate neighbors? And the same for any specific neighborhoods within the "quieter" cities?

Of course, we're not talking about downtown areas or multi-dwelling structures--all our bad experiences have been in single family homes in suburban ("family") areas, and that is the type of area we're looking to rent in the Eastside. We would really like to settle in and finally put down roots again, and having courteous neighbors would be amazing. (They don't need to be "chummy best friends"...just not self-important to the point of being rude to everyone else.)

I realize there is no universal answer to this question--even in a quiet neighborhood there can be jerks. But people who have experience with an area can generally say "there are many people who have loud cars" or "there's a lot of noise, but only during the day" or "it's very peaceful through the night and usually most of the day."

In case anyone is going to ask, we've been eyeing the area of Bellevue south of the 90 and north of Newcastle as a big possibility. But we're open to all this area, which is why I ask this question.

(For the record, I'm not trying to insult car/motorcycle enthusiasts, or people who enjoy their music a bit loud, or people who enjoy throwing parties. While there have been some very rude people we've encountered, I know there are completely courteous people out there who can enjoy these things without being obnoxious in their enjoyment of such. I just haven't lived near those people yet.)

Thank you in advance for any input!

[pikabike]

Redmond was ranked the emptiest city during the daytime, so someone told me. Everybody has DAY JOBS. Leave in the am and come home in the late afternoon or evening.

You need to find a neighborhood like that. Sorry I can't give you specific areas but maybe starting in Redmond can save you time spent looking. Good luck. I prefer quiet also.

[TheGreatAndPowerfulOz]

Thank you for the input, pikabike--I really apprecaite it. Yes, I can't believe just how many people, in so many different areas, are home throughout the day with nothing better to do than make noise. (I'm home because I put my career on indefinite hold to raise our children--wife had a more marketable and lucrative career, darn it.) That said, daytime noise, while irritating, isn't as bad as before 8am and/or after 8pm...that's when it disrupts my children's sleep, and I rage!

[robrath]

Talk to neighbors in areas that you are interested in, if you go during the day you're going to find retirees or housewives or househusbands that are out and about walking the dog, doing yard work, etc. Strike up a conversation and see what they say. Even with the Seattle frost that's been described, most are willing (at least in my experience) to talk about their neighborhood if you indicate you are interested in living there.

[homesinseattle]

Newport Hills is a quiet, nice location and more affordable than Bellevue proper. I always tell my clients to talk to the neighbors: they will tell you the good, bad and ugly.

[modc]

Perhaps some place with an HOA would have either noise restrictions or be the type of place where people would not want to offend their neighbors. The lakemont area of Bellevue always seems really quiet to me when I drive through it.

[tobester]

A big question is rental budget ... I would think the higher the rent you pay, the nicer your neighbors. The areas you mention are among the most expensive housing areas (if there are even rentals available - have you checked the inventory?) I'd suggest driving in the areas you can rent in and see if they fit your mold.

[TheGreatAndPowerfulOz]

Before I get to a couple of specific replies to a few respondents, let me just extend my gratitude to everyone who has responded thus far. Even if I don't address you directly, I've read, will give serious consideration to and appreciate everyone's input.

robrath: That's something I've heard people say before and, while I've never done it, I've thought it's such an excellent idea. I wish I had done it several times. The problem, however, is I can be very social when comfortable, but extremely bashful or awkward when uncomfortable...and talking to people I have absolutely no prior connection with can be daunting. That said, I will keep your advice in mind and take serious efforts to do it if the opportunity presents itself.

modc: HOAs can be a mixed bag from what I understand. While I've never actually lived with one, I thought they could be a good advocate for keeping noise down during inappropriate times, too. However, I've also heard people actually living in HOAs talk about favoritism, corruption and skirting of the rules. I guess it's a matter of whether or not it's an honest and fair HOA. Lakemont is within the area we were considering, so I'll be doing a bit of research into that neighborhood based on your recommendation...so thank you.

tobester: Yes, I imagine many people would think higher rent equals nicer neighbors, but I've found it to not be the case. While we're not super-affluent, many of the places we have lived have been in the "better" neighborhoods with greater demand and higher rents (thinking people would be more respectful)...and, let me tell you, you wouldn't believe how many of the people act as if their being able to live in the area means they can do whatever they like--to hell with everyone else's inconvenience. I once had neighbors who thought it was perfectly acceptable to block our garage access by parking their car in front of it. Regularly. "You can just call us when you need us to move it." What? Really? How damn generous of you. Rent = $3,300 a month. And they had a stinking four floor mansion-type house with a garage which only fit a single car. It was appalling. Based on research, there is inventory, although maybe not a ton of options. As for driving around, we're not in the Pudget Sound area yet...and, once there, we'll probably need to get a rental as quickly as possible. That's actually the major reason I've turned to all of you--since I'm not able to do it myself, beforehand, I'm hoping the generous insight of people in-the-know will provide some direction.

[mike62pp3]

I live and work in the Bellevue/Redmond area and I would say that most parts on the Eastside are generally quieter than what you have described. I grew up in a small city that had a lot loud music, kids screaming and running, and constant noise at all time of the hours. Most of the Eastside is not like that (with the exception of parts in Bellevue). The quieter of the three suburbs you mentioned will likely be Redmond, but it's also the most expensive for various reasons (better schools, close to MSFT, nicer/newer homes, etc.). Your price range will help get you into those quieter neighborhoods.

[sunburned_in_seattle]

I certainly thought Kirkland was quiet; I lived there when I first moved here.

you wouldn't hear anything like loud motorcycles, etc.