Is Bellevue bad for young families, is Woodinville better? (Kirkland: how much, home)

[blewispunk]

I have lived in Bellevue for about 8 years and the longer I'm here the more I think it is not what I was hoping for raising a young family. My wife and I are 31 and have a 2 and 4 year old. We've found it hard to meet other parents in the area and often take the kids to local parks and find them with low attendance and the parents that are there don't seem to interact much with their kids. In contrast, we have been going to parks farther out in Bothell and Woodinville and find that parents seem much more involved with their kids.

I'm not sure how much of our hard time meeting other parents has to do with the seattle freeze (see other thread if you want to comment on it - http://www.city-data.com/forum/seatt...on-thread.html) and how much has to just do with the Eastside (I grew up in Edmonds/Lynnwood and never had difficulty making friends), or how much just has to do with Bellevue (is it the high cost of living - I've noticed most parents are older, probably had to work longer before having kids, and now are just worn out by the time they are done with work)?

I work in Bellevue but we are considering relocating to another area that would lend more to meeting and doing things with other parents that are truly engaged with their kids. I like Woodinville but know little to nothing about it. Housing isn't much cheaper in Woodinville so does it lend to the same hustle and bustle lifestyle that seems to be wearing people out in Bellevue?

I also may have an opportunity to relocate to Gig Harbor and am considering that as well, but I'd prefer to not move quite so far out.

Thoughts?

[Pittgal]

There are all kinds of moms / family groups on meetup you could join. We live in Bellevue and hit all the parks constantly with our groups. My mommy groups have playdates all over Bellevue and those parks seem pretty crowded to me, maybe its a timing thing. We are out in the mornings and home by noon.

[LongDawson]

Kind of hit and miss. In my old neighborhood nobody spoke to each other. We started to raise two kids there and had a big swingset / jungle jim in the yard. Neighbors three doors up never stepped outside. They had kids same age as ours. They would never look at us when the drove by. Turns out they were always fighting and got divorced. Others would walk by and try hard not to look even though they had kids in strollers just like ours. Not sure what it was about that place--Squak Mtn. Bad memories on the friendly-neighbor front. In our new neighborhood everyone talks and the kids play nonstop. It is just a few miles away. I'd suggest a move out of your Bellevue area and get into something new for your kids' sake. Good luck with that.

[texastrigirl]

We live in Sammamish and have found the people to be pretty friendly. Some of the more family friendly subdivisions include Klahanie, the Trossachs and Issaquah Highlands. We don't live in a big subdivision but tend to hang out at Ebright Creek Park or Pine Lake Park if we are not in our neighborhood area. Though your kids are not in school yet, they soon will be, so you will want to consider school districts in the equation if you move. I don't know much about Woodinville schools but we have been very happy in the Issaquah School District.

[Samaara]

Try Kirkland. I LOVE it here. I'm a mom and we live in a great neighborhood which is very connected so lots of free babysitting, neighborhood gatherings, children playing with our children - a true community connection.

[obsidian97]

People are people. I doubt it's a function of the city you live in more than it is the neighborhood or even street you live on. The kids just 8 or 10 doors down from us play all summer, but there's not as much going on at our end of the street because of the local topography and ages of neighbor's kids.