Nice suburbs- GOOD SCHOOLS? (Seattle, Bellevue: transplants, house, school districts)

[Taboo2]

We are considering moving to Seattle from the East Bay of SF. Can anyone give me a comparison to each place? I have friends in Queen Anne (across from the park), Bellevue, Redmond, and Mercer Island. I was trying to be somewhat reasonable with our house price but i need an excellent school district. That is first and foremost!

Thanks

[Ira500]

Bellevue, Redmond, and Mercer Island are all very good school districts, in fact Mercer Island's is often rated the best in the state. Queen Anne has some very good public schools, but the Seattle school district as a whole leaves a lot to be desired...Queen Anne has lovely homes and great views and is all in all a very nice area...Bellevue is a place in transition, from suburb to big city, so it's pretty diverse, has nice parks, great shopping and restaurants, many newer homes but still a lot of very overpriced homes built in the 1950's...Redmond is almost indistinguishable from Bellevue, though it's an older town and has more history.
Mercer Island is bucolic, lovely, safe, incredibly convenient to both Bellevue and Seattle, and it's home prices have fallen far less than anywhere in the immediate area ( About 2% from the peak vs Redmond's 10% off the peak)...I like Mercer Island a lot. There are some nice restaurants and things to do, but far larger entertainment needs it's only a ten minute drive to either downtown Seattle or downtown Bellevue.

[CityGirl72]

If I could have afforded Mercer Island - that is where we would have bought.

I have my child in one of the top elementary schools in Seattle, and it still pales in comparison to Mercer Island or anything on the Eastside

[Ira500]

A couple of other very good school districts include the Issaquah district and the Tahoma district...Both of those are comparable to Bellevues and Redmond's ( which is the Lake Washington district)...The Tahoma district is the city of Maple Valley and parts of Renton, and the Issaquah district is the city of Issaquah, parts of Newcastle, and parts of Renton, so you can have a Renton address and be in a very good school district, or live in Renton and be in the Renton school district, which aspires to mediocrity.

[allforcats]

You may be aware of excellent resources about schools, but in case you're not here are some great links, in this brief thread:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/seatt...l-ranking.html

[texastrigirl]

All of the above mentioned are great school districts. Sammamish is partly in the Issaquah School District and partly in Lake Washington. Consistent, excellent schools with a median home price of $625,000 (last year's data). Nice place to live as well with beautiful parks, safe, quiet streets and 10 minutes to hiking in the Issaquah Alps and 40 minutes to the slopes. 20-25 minutes to downtown in no traffic, 45-55 commuting in rush hour. Bainbridge Island also has highly rated schools and quality of life if you are looking for a unique experience of living on an island a bit more of a commute from Seattle. If you have small kids and are looking for a high quality family life, Sammamish is a really nice place on the Eastside. It lacks a lot of good restaurants, etc. but we do have Costco and Trader Joe's right down the hill and the town of Issaquah has a few nice restaurants. I would also have commute as a factor in my decision. Lastly, where in the East Bay are you coming from? Do you like it/what would you change about it? I am familiar with the area as my husband and his family are from the area. It might help to know that. The greater Seattle area is a really beautiful place to live...good luck!

[Taboo2]

Originally Posted by texastrigirl

All of the above mentioned are great school districts. Sammamish is partly in the Issaquah School District and partly in Lake Washington. Consistent, excellent schools with a median home price of $625,000 (last year's data). Nice place to live as well with beautiful parks, safe, quiet streets and 10 minutes to hiking in the Issaquah Alps and 40 minutes to the slopes. 20-25 minutes to downtown in no traffic, 45-55 commuting in rush hour. Bainbridge Island also has highly rated schools and quality of life if you are looking for a unique experience of living on an island a bit more of a commute from Seattle. If you have small kids and are looking for a high quality family life, Sammamish is a really nice place on the Eastside. It lacks a lot of good restaurants, etc. but we do have Costco and Trader Joe's right down the hill and the town of Issaquah has a few nice restaurants. I would also have commute as a factor in my decision. Lastly, where in the East Bay are you coming from? Do you like it/what would you change about it? I am familiar with the area as my husband and his family are from the area. It might help to know that. The greater Seattle area is a really beautiful place to live...good luck!

I am from Castro Valley but have lived in Pleasanton and Livermore also. I want something comparable but reasonable (so that makes the Pleasanton option out). 2 of the friends listed are transplants from here to there but they dont have children.

[texastrigirl]

I would prefer Sammamish to both Livermore and Pleasanton...it's beautiful! I used to work at PeopleSoft so I spent a bit of time there. If you can afford Mercer, it's a great place for schools and commute.

[Taboo2]

Originally Posted by texastrigirl

I would prefer Sammamish to both Livermore and Pleasanton...it's beautiful! I used to work at PeopleSoft so I spent a bit of time there. If you can afford Mercer, it's a great place for schools and commute.

Ok Mercer is what we will aim for. I worked across from People Soft and near Shaklee at the newspaper.

[Ira500]

Mercer is the name of a major street in Seattle as well as the name of the island, so if you want to sound like a native say " Mercer Island"