Issaquah (Seattle, Bellevue: landscaping, neighborhood, to buy)

[ToMMyMan1]

Hello me and my family are moving to seattle this september and found this suburb the right place to move into and I'd like to know more about it. How's the weather? The school system, water quality, etc. Thanks in advance.

[jwb123]

We used to live in Issaquah and we loved it!!

The weather - well, it's Western WA you know? The rumors are TRUE - on the flipside though, Issaquah is surrounded by mountains and hilly terrain, so being at the base of all that, and looking up at the lush landscaping, through the drizzly fog is breathtaking.

Great place for kids. Especially younger children - lots of things to do. The community center has toddler drop-in playtime for $2 ... I think it's MWF... great savior on rainy mornings, when you need to get out.

The school system is very good, and there are some quality preschools and montessoris around. We lived in Klahanie, which has a neighborhood elementary.

Let me know if you need to know anything more!

[ToMMyMan1]

Thanks for responding so fast. I'm going to sound stupid for asking this, but in our neighborhood the air and water quality stinks, is it any good over there?

[ToMMyMan1]

Oh, I almost forgot, how's the commute to downtown seattle?

[jwb123]

Where are you?

I will tell you this - we just moved to Austin, TX and had to buy a water softener. I have never had one of these, never HAD to have one of these, and never even knew they existed! Bad water, spots on dishes and soapy feeling on your skin when you shower.

Issaquah, you can drink from the tap (if you like that sort of thing, my preferance is not tap), and I never had a problem with spots. There is floride in the water too.

The air quality is amazing. Seattle isn't great - but Issaquah is fine.

The commute to downtown Seattle is pretty much a straight shot down 90. No traffic, it's a 20 minute drive. With traffic (rush hour) it can be more difficult, but it's the better of the two bridges (the other being 520 which is a nightmare). Issaquah also has a major park and ride depot - and many many people commute on the bus to and from Seattle. Community transit is widely used, and has a very good schedule. Most businesses as well as the state, and most cities offer discounts and subsidies for those who use community transit.

[ToMMyMan1]

Right now we live in Flushing, Michigan. Very unfriendly people here.

[chris]

just to comment on Issaquah water during the drought years that were there for about 3 years. The water in Issaquah smelt like sulfur during the summer and we were unable to drink the tap water during 2004-2005. However, they did get around the problem I believe when Bellevue bought the water rights to Lake Tapps. I believe the smell has been fixed temporarily.

Oh and the bus is a good commute from Issaquah (express buses to downtown). My wife used them and it was under 1 hour.

[jwb123]

I lived in Issaquah from 2000-2003, and didn't have the problem mentioned above. Obviously, things change! I still have friends there and don't remember there being a ban on drinking tap water...

[chris]

there was no ban on the drinking water, it just smelt like sulfur.

Our youngest at the time was drinking the water (mixed with her formula) and she had horrible gas/poo. Once we stopped using the tap water, the problem went away.

Again, it's probably not an issue now that the area has secured water rights to Lake Tapps (white river water)

[jwb123]

We were in Klahanie - and our water didn't smell like that. I don't know if it was different being down in the town of Issaquah, vs. up on the plateau. We just didnt have that problem - but we also don't drink tap water anyway. We also never used formula - but from what I hear, formula babies often have that problem - and it's recommended to use spring/bottled water for their bottles anyway.