Looking for a nice town with decent commute to Seattle, Kirkland, or Bellevue (Renton: for sale)

[mrosemaher]

My family is planning to relocate from the CA Bay Area to the Seattle area next spring. Since we will choose the town we move to before my husband finds a job, we need to keep our options open for a commute to Seattle, Bellevue, or Kirkland.

My parents live in Poulsbo, so the Bainbridge Island option is very attractive to me, but my husband just isn't sure about the ferry commute. I would like to find some options on the Eastside without going too far from the Sound. I know that the Lake area is nice and offers many options, but we would first like to try to find something on the Sound.

Here's what we are looking for: A smaller town with a population under 40,000, a safe community to raise our 4 young children. So far Edmonds is the most likely option but I'd like to have a few more. We are willing to spend up to $900,000 on a house. Thanks.

[krypton727]

Originally Posted by mrosemaher

My family is planning to relocate from the CA Bay Area to the Seattle area next spring. Since we will choose the town we move to before my husband finds a job, we need to keep our options open for a commute to Seattle, Bellevue, or Kirkland.

My parents live in Poulsbo, so the Bainbridge Island option is very attractive to me, but my husband just isn't sure about the ferry commute. I would like to find some options on the Eastside without going too far from the Sound. I know that the Lake area is nice and offers many options, but we would first like to try to find something on the Sound.

Here's what we are looking for: A smaller town with a population under 40,000, a safe community to raise our 4 young children. So far Edmonds is the most likely option but I'd like to have a few more. We are willing to spend up to $900,000 on a house. Thanks.

Live close to work. If your working in Seattle, live in Poulsbo. If your working in Bellvue, live in Kirkland. If you work in Kirkland, live in Kirkland.
You don't want to be commuting, TRUST ME. Your life will be much better, unless you don't like your husband all that much and want him out of the house as much as possible.

[mar1373]

what if I worked in Renton, where would be a good spot?

[AzDreamer]

If you don't know where you will be working or you might be moving after a while then maybe Mercer Island would be a good choice. It has good access to Seattle and Bellevue, but a commute to Renton will occasionally be a problem. I used to have to drive down to Renton every day and you have to learn the alternate routes for when the freeway is backed up.

The town of Mercer Island is about 32000 and is one of the safest places in the metro area. The public schools are rated pretty well.

There are lots of houses in your price range but you might not get a water view. Redfin.com is a good site to see what is available for sale in a particular area.

[vnodak]

If you like the small town feel----I am not sure I would be in any of the areas mentioned---not too say they are not nice or do not have alot of positive things about them. It is just that they all run together and it seems like just one huge big town with traffic, traffic and more traffic. Land is an issue here. I would actually come for a visit and look around. The commute into Seattle is ugly unless you take mass transit or live close by. I am sure your family can give you advice and yes I would not want to take the ferrys myself but that is me. I might consider Woodenville and their are other places like around echo lake area that are nice. I so prefer Snohomish county. You have time so look around. I wish you the best---ps--I live off of Echo Lake Rd and I work in Kirland---commute time is around 20---rarely 30 minutes.