What is the Lake Forest Park area like? (Seattle, Shoreline: real estate, house prices)

[SamanthaMJ]

I'm looking for a home in the Seattle area, somewhere with a good commute to downtown, good schools, around $500K house price. So far have looked within the city, but someone mentioned Lake Forest Park, does anyone know anything about this area? Schools, homes, style, people, etc. Thanks.

[Ira500]

I like Lake Forest Park. The schools are in the Shoreline school district, which is considered to be good, and a lot of the houses are large, on large lots with lots of trees....A lot of the houses are 50's-60's but renovated and well maintained...The big thing about Lake Forest Park is Third Place Books, one of the largest bookstores in the Seattle area. The guy who owns the bookstore owns the entire shopping center where the bookstore is located, and he's something of a quirky visionary. He's transformed this suburban shopping center into a cool community gathering place. There's a big food court, but no chain restaurants, all independent and good, and there's a big meeting room which he lets community groups use for free. Bothell Way/Lake City Way can be slow moving, if you're driving. But Metro has their own bus lane, so it's faster to take the bus.

[cyberwulf]

Lake Forest Park is great (at least in my opinion). Very family-friendly, safe, lots of trees. You may find, however, that even with house prices down dramatically, $500k is on the lower end for houses in the area. One thing to consider when looking at houses here is sunlight; a heavily wooded lot may look beautiful, but may really restrict the (already very limited) amount of light that we get in Seattle.

Commute to downtown would usually be ~45 minutes, and there are several express buses passing through LFP which make it to downtown even faster than that. Off-peak hours driving time (which in Seattle seems like 10 p.m. - 3 a.m., but I digress) to downtown is under 20 minutes.

And to echo the previous commenter, the Third Place Commons shopping mall is great. There's a big weekly farmer's market in the summer, and the Lake Forest Bar & Grill (sort of an upscale bistro/bar) just opened there last week.

[Prple]

I like Lake Forest Park. There is somewhat of a mix, but for the most part it is pretty nice. There are a lot of pretty houses and lots of trees. Lake Forest Park is part of the Shoreline school district which has a good reputation, but I would recomend reading some of the (High school) parent reviews on Great Schools. Shoreline Schools - Shoreline Washington School Ratings - Public and Private

I also like N. Seattle and there is always the east side which has minimal traffic along I-90. And if you like Lake Forest Park, there is a neighborhood just east of there called the Arrowhead neighborhood in Kenmore. It has a similar "feel" but is farther away form downtown and is a bit cheaper... I think they are part of the Northshore school district, Inglemore High.

Good luck!

[TheRef]

Difficult to describe -- it's more a state of mind than a place, really.

[pw72]

Lake Forest Park is great. Heavilly wooded residential, with one strip mall down on Hwy 522. (The Bothell highway) Pretty easy access to Seattle, not hard to get to the eastside. I-5 not far away, either. A very attractive area, with home prices running the gamut, from 350K up to a mill. It is quite diverse when it comes to neighborhood real estate.