Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
What in the world is "siding"? (showing great ignorance here!)
allforcats: I can dream, can't I?
I've actually had a look at the GIS maps of the areas and I actually think having lots of green will not be an issue. I just don't want a built up feel and I want a little bit of garden to grow vegetables and fruit trees in as well and a bit of lawn for the baby. Oh, and enough space to build a cob playhouse, I hear the Pacific Northwest is THE place to learn how to cob ... so I may need the kind of space Woodinville offers! Good to know it can be cycled from, though the road safety is very important of course. It would solve the problem of how to get enough exercise for my desk-bound one though ...
"Siding" is the material used all over the outside of a building, in particular materials that are applied in individual strips which are usually horizontal, such as strips of wood (wood siding), aluminium (aluminum siding), vinyl siding. Applied in horizontal layers, each layer above the one below it and covering a couple of inches of the previous strip so that precipitation runs down all the strips to the ground and does not enter the building.
I like that! I've never before encountered a need to define siding!!!
Herewith, siding (wood siding):
Last edited by allforcats; 03-22-2008 at 03:31 AM..
I've actually had a look at the GIS maps of the areas and I actually think having lots of green will not be an issue.
I just don't want a built up feel and I want a little bit of garden to grow vegetables and fruit trees in as well and a bit of lawn for the baby. Oh, and enough space to build a cob playhouse, I hear the Pacific Northwest is THE place to learn how to cob ... so I may need the kind of space Woodinville offers! Good to know it can be cycled from, though the road safety is very important of course. It would solve the problem of how to get enough exercise for my desk-bound one though ...
Okay. Let's see.
Your GIS adventure is accurate. You could also open Mapquest, search Bellevue WA, then click on the Aerial View. Google maps provide the same view.
There are many cities/towns in the area which will give you enough space for "a little bit of garden..." etc. And there's a Baby Chenebe?? Well, then safety and good-quality schools become really important, don't they? See, this is why you need to come here, rent, live here awhile, and learn. There's a lot of geography here, and a lot to learn.
I've clearly missed a link in the chain! -- what's a "cob playhouse"? Here's the language barrier! Made of corn cobs?? Couldn't be.... that doesn't compute.
What does "how to cob" mean?
"Good to know it can be cycled from, though the road safety is very important of course." I'm lost.... Could you please explain this sentence? Thank you!
Haha, I'm glad you enjoyed having to define "siding". It just shows how absolutely clueless one can be when moving to a new place.
Yes, we are planning to rent a bit, six months up to a year, but never too early to start mining for information. We have been told mixed info about schooling by MSers, some say it's great, others say it's shocking. I've found a similar mix on these forums so I expect it really boils down to locality. Overall opinion seems to be that schooling is *generally* better Eastside than Seattle.
We are also a growing family, so I am actually very interested in things like hospitals, maternity support, etc. as well. Like, is it free like in NZ? (why do I expect the answer is no?)
Re the cob house - basically means an earth house. Cob is a mixture of clay, sand and straw, and Oregon and BC lead the way in the development of techniques and run workshops. Some people actually build their entire house out of it, and so cute they are too, but I think a little playhouse that I can build without a permit will be sufficient to satisfy my curiousity.
I tend to spend a lot of my time out in the garden - that is why I put the question of contamination out there. Eastside was previously farmland I believe, and some of the farm practices in the olden days lead to long term soil contamination. As I plan to grow vegetables to feed my child, that is an important issue.
Re the cycling - well, I am glad that the distance is not prohibitive, but you did mention that some of the roads are not so safe with heavy vehicles, so I would want to check that before I send my husband off on a bike. Also, do you guys get "black ice"?
Actually, your knowledge is extensive, and for that matter so is mine. The only stumbling block we have, and will have, is terminology - Kiwi English and American English. I'm pretty knowledgeable about Aussie English, but unfortunately I don't know enough Kiwi English, and I'm sorry about that. (I do know a few nasty Aussie jokes about NZ, though! Hahahaha!!)
You're so right, that if you have the space in your mind right now to learn, there's no time like the present.
Schools
The strong consensus of posters on C-D seems to be that the following school districts “around” the Seattle area are "the best": Bellevue (usually cited as the best), Bellingham, Issaquah, Redmond, Shoreline and Olympia.
Seattle Metropolitan, a respected local magazine, conducted an in-depth survey on the schools in the Seattle neighborhoods and nearby cities. Here's the link:
December 2007 edition, Seattle Metropolitan Magazine » Back Issues
Bellevue's high schools are rated in Newsweek’s top 200 high schools for the 4th year in a row -- and of course the lower schools graduate into the high schools. The east side of Lake Washington will typically have the best schools, and the neighborhoods are safe.
Of those cities mentioned, the only one not a good candidate for a wee bit of land for those vegetables and playhouses would be Shoreline.
Hospitals, maternity support, public emergency response:
Almost anywhere you locate in western Washington will have excellent American-style medical, dental, maternity, vision, specialist, etc etc facilities and lots of caring physicians, nurses and technical people.
My oh my, we're talking about "free" British-style medical care, are we? You are so wise!! Hahahahahahaha!!! Oh my...... No! The American system is a minefield of complication. To simplify: One purchases medical insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance, prescription (chemist) insurance; the insurance company pays for the medical care, pharmacy items, etc etc. But not entirely -- there's usually some cost left over that the patient must pay. The insurance is paid for by the employer, in part or in its entirety, depending upon the employer. More financially happy employers, such as Microsoft, usually pay just about all the costs of the insurances. Microsoft will annually buy the insurances which your family needs, and the insurances will "cover" you , your husband, Baby Chenebe, Next Baby Chenebe, and so forth.
It's actually a bit more complicated than that, but that's basically how medical care is not free in the U.S. Fun, eh?
Cob house
I didn't know it was called that. Maybe it's called something else here. But I'm entirely ignorant on the subject. You might want to investigate this in the C-D forum called Green Living. I think it sounds as though that's the right forum.
As for "a little playhouse that I can build without a permit", I think a permit is required by the city or county to erect any permanent-type structure, as such construction constitutes changing the value of the property, and involves all sorts of safety codes and material quality codes. The C-D contributor Ira500 might know for sure.
Contaminated earth
In the entire upper half of western Washington that you are considering, I have never heard of any contaminations that would prevent growing vegetables. However, you might want to consult SEATTLE TILTH, Welcome to Seattle Tilth! — Seattle Tilth
our local organic gardening expert organization of national renown. They can either answer your questions or direct you to a resource that could.
Road safety
I'm sorry; I didn't understand you were talking about bicycling. With those corn cobs in my brain, I thought it was something about recycling.... I'm sorry!
Please let go of Bridle Trails, unless you are wealthy and can give up cob playhouses and growing vegetables. Bridle Trails is a very controlled, regulated area. It's very "uppity" and maintained for show, and not for the slightest hint of "rustic" living. I have a friend in Bridle Trails who purchased in the early 1980s a house with a bit of land; he and his wife grow veggies and fruits, but he had the homeowner's organization rewrite the rules to allow that for his property! They are also quite wealthy...
Isn't this fun??!!!
Last edited by allforcats; 03-22-2008 at 04:58 AM..
OMG, the thought of a restriction on the right to grow vegetables!! Boggles the mind. Where I live, it is definately "urban" and we are allowed up to 6 chickens. Not that I know anyone who has exercised that right. But I suppose bordering a park, there would be concern for pest plant or exotic invasions.
Haha, I seriously doubt a cob house would add to the value of the property. But I would check out the local rules if and when I start. I'm a very law-abiding sort.
"Free British style medical care": Yep, that is what I am talking about, and better by the sounds of it, when I talk to my friends in the UK. I have heard that health care insurance is essential in the US.
Thanks for all those tips and website referrals re growing stuff! And all your help so far.
As for Bridle Trails, I think unless you are living right on the border of the park (or get to be neighbours with horses), any house with the pre-requisite greenery within a certain radius distance of MS would do just as well. Well, the "right" property would have to tick all the boxes, and price is of course one!
Chenebe,
You can legally build up to a 200 square foot structure on your property in King County without a permit...I've been toying with the idea of building a garden shed in my yard made of either cob or straw bales. From what i've read, it's a little tricky in Western Washington to build with straw bales in that you have to be absolutely certain that the bales are completely dry before you apply stucco or whatever exterior coating you're going to use., and well....we get our share of moisture.
...and let me second Allforcats referral to Seattle Tilth. They are a wonderful organization and have great classes there...I'm a pretty enthusiastic, if slightly lazy organic gardener.
Some things that you grew in NZ might not do well here..some varieties of tomatoes, corn, eggplant and peppers take too long to ripen for this climate...But we can grow broccoli practically year round.
OMG, the thought of a restriction on the right to grow vegetables!! Boggles the mind. Where I live, it is definately "urban" and we are allowed up to 6 chickens.
New Zealand has a much smaller population, per square mile, than the U.S. or Washington state. Because of the density, various restrictions limit the use of property. Urban property, i.e. that within city limits, has the most restrictions in terms of allowable resident animals, allowable use of the space one's dwelling sits on, allowable changes to the dwelling, restrictions on noise, what kinds of items can be left in front of one's house (visible to the rest of the world; the aim is to avoid piles of garbage and junk), and so forth. The idea is that the more "crowded" with human population a location becomes, the less tolerant those humans will be to the sounds and odors from, and space occupied by, other life forms and manufactured forms.
So no chickens and no vegetables and not much space for playhouses in urban settings. I'm thinking one of your best locations would be Bainbridge Island, where all manner of non-human life forms from peacocks to goats to berries and spinach live side by side with the humans and trees. But that is a drive, ferry ride, and another drive away from MS, probably a good hour's commute each way.
So we're back to Woodinville, Duvall, Carnation, Fall City, Preston, North Bend -- locations away from both the urbs and the suburbs. All those towns are east of MS and at the foothills of the Cascade Mountains.
But you also want the best schools you can get in combination with the trees and the animals and the good earth, plus reasonable closeness to MS. The schools in the school districts of the towns I just mentioned are not top notch but nevertheless are good schools.
For the highest quality schools east of MS combined with trees, mountains, gardens, playhouse-building, and rural animals, I'm thinking Issaquah. Or the southern part of Issaquah, near Renton. Ira500 knows the name of that area, and I'm sure he will mosey on by here soon enough.
So maybe we have a new idea?...
Last edited by allforcats; 03-22-2008 at 03:10 PM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Siding
