work in redmond, school on mercer island.... house where? (Seattle: 2009, rental)

[etrock]

Our family is moving to the Seattle area soon. Work location is in Redmond, our daughter will be at school on Mercer Island until spring 2009 (no school bus). Where would be the best place to live with commuting in mind? Mercer Island prices are out of our budget for buying (we were trying to rent there temporarily, but it may not work out). Would Sammamish be a good choice? Proximity vs. drive times are sometimes difficult to know from a map. We are also looking for an area with a good school district for our son (not going to school on Mercer).
Thanks!

[jwb123]

Would Sammamish be a good choice?

So you would live in Sammamish, drive out to Mercer in the morning to take your child to school, and then commute into Redmond for work??

Noooo!! That sounds crazy and stressful - and I can't even imagine the gas prices for that....

I would RENT as close as possible to the school in Mercer (Bellevue, Mercer, Factoria) so you can leave your home, go right to school, and then head off to work.

After 2009, are both your children going to attend the same school? You may want to settle near the good schools in Bellevue then, if you don't plan on moving in a year.

[vnodak]

Why does your child have to go to school on Mercer Island???? Commute is not good.

[allforcats]

Originally Posted by vnodak

Why does your child have to go to school on Mercer Island???? Commute is not good.

Vnodak, there are various specialty schools on Mercer Island; one of a kind schools that can't be substituted for.

Etrock, it's worth knowing that driving commutes here can be a great lesson in patience, planning and outthinking!

From the I90 entrance at SE 56th St at, say, 7:00AM on weekdays, to the first exit on Mercer Island, if traffic is normal the I90 drive should be 10-12 minutes, plus the drive south along east Lake Samm to I90, and the drive from the M.I. exit to the school. I've never driven that exact route, but from my experience here I would plan on at least 25-30 minutes if there are no slowdowns on westbound I90.

Just reading a map, you might think you'd like to go north from Sammamish, then west on SR520, south on 405, and then west on I90 to Mercer Island. No!!! That's death!! 520 and 405 are variations of parking lots in commuter hours. I90 is much, much better.

Hope this helps!

[etrock]

Thanks! - these are helpful comments.
Jenbar - I'm hoping they will be able to go to the same school eventually, this would make life lots easier! We had a rental on Mercer lined up that fell through, so we're scrambling to find another place to rent for awhile while we look for something to buy.
allforcats - You are correct in the reason for the choice of school. Is 405/520 a difficult commute in both directions in the a.m. or just southbound?
Are all the communities along 90 OK to live in - or would you recommend some over others?
How about living around Issaquah? I'm guessing Issaquah to Mercer could be do-able (?), but would a commute from Issaquah to Redmond be decent? Would it be quicker through Bellevue or through the Sammamish side?
I had a look at the "traffic" feature on Google maps, but don't know how reliable that info is.

[Ira500]

Issaquah to Mercer island is very do-able. I-90 is much better than 520 or 405. I think 405 is actually worse in the AM going northbound..Issaquah is a very pleasant place..
From Issaquah to Remond, both East Lake Sammamish Pkwy and West Lake Sammamish Parkway are not highways, but the traffic tends to not stand still. It's also not that bad to go west on I-90 and then north to Redmond via 148th street.

[allforcats]

etrock, listen to Ira500 -- he d' boss!

BTW, we call it "Mercer Island" as there are other places with the name "Mercer" in them. Those who live on Mercer Island also use the full name.

I would add to what Ira500 said about 405 that it's a trap Mon through Fri pretty much from 6:30AM to 9:00AM and 3:00PM to 6:30PM, and you can expect stop-and-go in both directions. Sometimes southbound is better, sometimes northbound. But "better" than stop-and-go can be 15mph....

Also, 520 has been too narrow for some years for all the traffic it takes westbound in the mornings and eastbound in the evenings....

--------------------
I just remembered about your son. The Issaquah public schools are considered one of the six best school districts in the state. Bellevue would be another.

[jwb123]

People sometimes do call it just "Mercer". It's not always "Mercer Island".

[jwb123]

From Issaquah to Remond, both East Lake Sammamish Pkwy and West Lake Sammamish Parkway are not highways, but the traffic tends to not stand still.

That's not been my experience when we commuted using those roads. That was in 2001 - I can't imagine it's gotten better?

[seattlerain]

Originally Posted by Jenbar

People sometimes do call it just "Mercer". It's not always "Mercer Island". Sometimes I have no idea how/where you come up with some of the things you post here.

I've never heard it called "Mercer" in my life. Perhaps some the residents of Mercer Island call it "Mercer" amongst each other, but I've not heard it in general conversation.