Snoqualmie Ridge...What's You Opinion? May possibly move and make it home.

[Seattle CPA]

FYI Snoqualmie Ridge was primarily developed by Quadrant owned by Weyerhaeuser, however, they do not supply lumber to the builder. Quadrant makes money by putting the most houses possible on a developed area. Then, they put more houses on any room that is left and build smaller houses and sell them cheaply under the designation of low-income housing for a major tax break. So really, they build decent zero lot-line homes, but who wants to live in a cook cutter molded home?

[rmerikle]

Ouch, where did this last post come from? I mean really now…have you even been to the Ridge before? Right off the bat it should be noted that 40% of the ridge is set aside as open space. This means small parks, medium sized parks and larger parks. There are trails, there is the golf course, there are the beautiful views of Mt. Si and the surrounding hills. This is why I choose the Ridge over other areas. Recently in the news you are reading about a bunch of park closures, but not here at the Ridge. Yes I do pay for all these amenities, but when you balance it out with how far your house dollar goes I am more then continent with the value I am getting.

And do you even understand what a zero lot-line home is? At least the way I like to explain a zero lot line home is a condo with out a HOA so that you save on HOA dues, but in the long run you have a bunch of houses that have gone in all different directions and usually lose the sense of community that a HOA or ROA provides. I have no qualms with zero lot-line homes, I just really feel you are spreading lies when you compare the Ridge to zero-lot line homes. I encourage you to do a google search on “Snoqualmie Ridge ROA” and look through some of the documents that are posted there. You will see a map of the master plan that ensures a good quality of community not only today, but for many many years to come. Yes a ROA or HOA comes with lots of rules and regulations, but I personally like it that way. It ensures not only does my neighbor act in a responsible way, but it also forces me to not get lazy and forces me to act in a responsible way.

Quadrant along with all the other builders out on the ridge have done an amazing job of making the most efficient use of space. I was just at a friend’s house in Mill Creek and his house sits on a half acre lot, but yet you go out to his back porch and you can look directly into the back of four different homes. There is no privacy. For the most part on the Ridge yes your neighbors are close, but in most cases you do not look right into your neighbor’s window. This is because it has been planned this way, hence the planned community aspect. Again take a look at the map and you will see how many homes back up to open space and the golf course. And I won’t even get into the advantages of having planned streets so that traffic flows smoothly and you don’t get the cluster of streets that seem so prevalent in so many communities on the East Side.

Yes if you wish to live on a compound where you never see your neighbors and live in a unique house with unique challenges then by all means Snoqualmie Ridge is not the answer for you. I personally like the fact that I live in a community where I get to interact with my neighbors and community in general. I like the fact that I got a lot of value for my house dollar. I like going to the neighborhood park and running into my neighbors and doing the general chit chat thing. I like having a sense of community. I encourage you to go up to the Ridge on a bright summer day and see how many kids are out playing and enjoying the many parks throughout the community.

And I won’t even get into the debate on Quadrant homes. Like all things there are good parts and bad parts. Do your research and see if their style fits, but also please remember that there are many homes made by others then Quadrant on the Ridge. Murray Franklyn is one of the premier builders and has built many homes out on the Ridge.

Again after you visit Snoqualmie Ridge and do your research I am sure you will see how the previous post is not only incorrect, but down right dishonest.

[kaps1121]

We moved to Snoqualmie Ridge from out of state 4 years ago and we have loved it here. The sense of community and openess we experienced as newcomers was overwhelming. There are families from the area (eastside, Wa state) and from all over the country. My kids made friends quickly as did we as adults. There are more and more businesses and restaurants opening in the retail area and you can't find better views of the Cascades than up here. CVES Elementary is great school with devoted teachers and involved PTSA. Is our community perfect, no, but we hate to leave here as we have found out we are moving.

Quadrant is one of the builders but not the only or even the main builder~ Murray Franklin, Burnstead, CamWest, Buchan, not to mention custom homes as well.

I 90 is very convenient to the eastside and downtown. It would be hard to get off the Plateau any faster.

The weather can be a bit colder ,windier and cloudier, but if you live in Western WA that's pretty much a given!

You can't put a price on living somewhere that is safe, friendly, community oriented, and close enough to things but far enough away too. For families I don't see how you could go wrong.

[dxenopoulos]

I am not a big fan of the Ridge. Honestly, the commute isn't much worse than it would be if you lived in many other suburbs to the North or South. It's probably a better idea commute-wise for people who work on the Eastside.

Although it's really pretty and has that "small town" feel, like others have said, it is pretty new, it lacks the historical culture that other small towns around here seem to have, like North Bend. For me, I like having more options than the few stores and gas stations they have. The area seems pretty safe though, I imagine it's a lot of older folks, but I would definitely say it has more of a suburban feel to it (like Issaquah) than a small-town feel.

[marchethomas1]

After living on Snoqualmie Ridge for 7 years, we decided it was time to move closer to Bellevue and Redmond. Being closer to the stores has been such a relief, especially in some of the winters we had. The cost of living has also been MUCH cheaper.
If you like living very close to your neighbors, and our neighbors were great so no complaints there, then you will love Snoqualmie Ridge. My wife always said it had a twilight zone or Stepford Wives look. The lawns are all manicured, people are out walking or running with their kids and dogs and people seem to always be smiling. It's just unfortunate that all the homes look pretty much the same.
As for growth, housing and shops; well when we moved off the ridge in June, the majority of the "open land" is now being turned into housing once again. There are so many empty houses for sale and still selling for no less that $400K so we still can not understand the reasons for the new housing developments. You can find used condo and townhouses for around $150K with some beautiful views. Snoqualmie Valley Hospital is finally building a new hospital about 100 yards from the I-90/18 Hwy interchange. They hired a developer that will also be building a new hotel and some more shopping centers. Shopping is limited to one small grocery store, a couple of coffee shops and a few restaurants. The schools need some major work due to overcrowding, however there is so much politics that nothing seems to ever get finalized for new schools. Oh, they are just about finished with a new YMCA right next to the new elementary school. Many feel that the YMCA will hurt some of the local business and increase crimes and traffic. There is a large business park by the police department that is pretty much empty and wasted space. The owner wants so much money for rent that there is very little appeal to new business owners to rent. Many companies on the Ridge have come and gone due to the rental rates as well. $35K a month for a 1000 sqft 4 office space? Wow.
Well this is just my opinion on Snoqualmie Ridge. If you are looking for the small town feel and being away from the big city, then this is the place for you. You are only 25 mins from snow skiing and 20 minutes from some beautiful lakes. The falls is a wonderful sight to see as well and you are only 5 mins from that location.
Hope this helps those thinking of living there. Talk to the residents about the ridge before you make your decision to move there. The Starbucks is almost always packed with them sitting outside looking at the beautiful views and they are open and honest about what they think of the place, the politics and anything else in general.

[pwright1]

Think about the people who actually live in the little town of Snoqualmie. People loved living there for years including a former coworker to be in peace and quiet and away from sprawly developments, traffic and tons of people. It use to be a small quaint, quiet little town. Suburban living is fine but this behemoth of a development completely ruined the natural beauty, quietness and actual quaint small town living and feeling of the area.

[snodenmom]

I know this is an old question, but for anyone looking at this thread for info, I think it is worth it to add my 2 cents.

We have lived on the ridge for just over 4 years.

The Truman Show quality of the community is kinda funny, but it comes with some great perks - a high value placed on keeping the community desirable, beautiful and interesting and a neighborly citizenship that encourages actively participating in making the Ridge a great place to live and be. The level of community involvement and participation in schools and celebrations is impressive to say the least.

The 4th of July & Halloween & sledding on the hill on snow days are huge events and are part of what make this place such an incredible place to live.

If you have a family it is hard to beat this area.

The view is breathtaking. Issaquah and other towns are closer to the city or larger or even better in some ways, but they are still suburban sprawl and none of them can compete with the sheer beauty of Snoqualmie Ridge.

And if you like the outdoors there is no end to how much there is to do here - hiking, biking, camping and more.

On the down side

The schools are not responsive. If you have a pretty good student who is very social and you are very active in the school you are probably set. But if you have any special needs, then you are probably outside of their ability to serve you. SES has a much better reputation than CVES for having personal investments in individual children. The teachers and administrators and nice, professional and well trained... but the systems in place are simply unable and uninterested in meeting needs students who don't fit into the "norm" box. The most frustrated parents I have known have highly capable students. Most of the ones I know eventually pulled their kids and either home school or private school them. I have not heard of any instances where the school successfully worked with a family to bridge a gap between the set curriculum and the individual student's needs... Also bullying and cliques come into play early and stay a part of the school experience for the kids for the duration. I have also not heard great things about the schools' responsiveness to those issues.

And the cliques aren't just for the younger crowd. The country club "important/unimportant" people thing is evident... although navigatable.

Housing is still being added, which makes it a great town to buy in right now, but is artificially holding housing values down in a way that is very bad for current residents needing to sell.

Businesses come and go. There is a lack of recognition that in a small town businesses can't be overly specialized or overly expensive. They want to create an "exclusive" feel, but retail space here is very expensive and specialized businesses just cannot get enough traffic for their distinct niches, especially in the winter months.

The weather is not as mild as it is closer to the city. The Ridge deals with some pretty hefty winds every year and most winters we get a couple of serious snows. It is usually not so cold though that you can't just go out and have fun in it and when the community goes out to sled on the hill by CVES it is a wonderful day. Not to mention how gorgeous this place is covered in sparkling white. There is definitely too much rain for my taste - but the Ridge is not as grey as North Bend or Fall City. We get more snow AND more sunshine than the surrounding communities. But our growing season is about a month behind Seattle's, not really hitting warm "summer" weather until the beginning of July.

There is good and bad. We're happy to be here for awhile, although we don't have any desire to stay here permanently.

Best wishes to you in finding the best place to live for your family!