Bellevue (Redmond, Kirkland, Sammamish: apartment, college, live)

[yaks]

Hi all,

I will be moving to Seattle in the next few months with my wife and young baby daughter of 5 months or so from London, England.

The company i work for are located in Bellevue but my job means i will probably be travelling quite often around west coast of america. Hence, i do not have to reside in Bellevue.

Can you please help in giving me some direction on where to live. My requirments are;

modern appartments or house,
close to amenities (i.e. shops, malls, doctors etc etc.),
baby friendly,
low crime rate,
good area,
young and hip but a scene where 24hr parties are a common occurence,

We are a young couple so the area doesn't have be out on the suburbs. We want to obviously meet young, like minded people.

Thanks in advance,

Yaks

[Citislicker]

Thanks everyone! Two more questions:

1. How do I find apartments that can better withstand quakes? should I pick buildings that are built after a certain year? I know quakes happen, but I'm not scared!

2. Is it easy to drive during the few days of snow in winter? Does it turn to slippery ice?

Thanks again. Looking forward to the move, in OCTOBER!!!

[pw72]

No place west, (or east for that matter) of the Cascades gets 62 inches of precip. a year, with the possible exception of the Olympic rain forest, not anywhere near Bellevue/Issaquah. Must be an error of some sort.

Single, no kids, I would definitely look at Kirkland (near the water), or Bellevue proper, but not too far east.

To your snow question...it can be a challenge because most cities are not well-equipped to handle widespread plowing, and most drivers totally freak out. It usually melts before it ices up, with the exception being overnight. Quakes...few apartments/condos go beyond the basic code, which is usually adequete enough.

[BellevueGuy]

Sounds like you would enjoy Bellevue / Kirkland downtown.

I prefer Bellevue, a bit more happening. Kirkland is more peaceful with more retirees.

[BellevueGuy]

Originally Posted by yaks

modern appartments or house,
close to amenities (i.e. shops, malls, doctors etc etc.),
baby friendly,
low crime rate,
good area,
young and hip but a scene where 24hr parties are a common occurence,

Since you have a baby and prefer low crime rate, I'd suggest Eastside (east of the lake across Seattle), i.e. Bellevue, Kirkland, maybe Redmond / Issaquah if you don't mind the quietness.

There are a few areas in Seattle proper that's good for babies, but commute to Bellevue will be long, also they are starting to toll the bridges next year.

[dxenopoulos]

For the most part, the cities of the East Side are not too different from each other in terms of demographics and crime. Most of the schools are of high quality (particularly Bellevue and Issaquah districts), and your demographics are looking at a slightly older, professional population, with various immigrant communities (mostly from Asia and Europe).

However, parts of the East Side still have their "townie" feel, like in Issaquah, Fall City, Redmond, Duvall, Juanita, Bothell, etc... I doubt crime is much higher in these areas.

Bellevue is the largest city, but has many neighborhoods that are secluded/quiet/peaceful. Are you looking for a house or an apartment? There are plenty of good options for apartments in Bellevue, the "ghettoer" ones being east of 140th to about 164th, and the nicer ones being pretty much anywhere else. Kirkland is also great, lots of variety in terms of neighborhoods, and Issaquah is also nice too. Bellevue has been regarded as one of the safest cities in America, and in my experience the police really do work to serve the residents. I imagine the smaller East Side cities have similar low crime rates.

[JesseJames34]

Originally Posted by Citislicker

HI there everyone,

Will be moving to WA in Oct this year, when the rain starts to fall, right? Can't wait for the move.

If I will be working in Downtown Bellevue, I want to live to the east of work location. Where (city/town) would be a good/safe place to live? Prefer within <10 miles from work.

HOw would you rate/rank the cities on the East side in terms of crime and safety, among Issaquah, Bellevue, Redmond, Sammamish, and Kirkland?

Thanks a lot for your help. Any tip is greatly appreciated.

CS

seriously, just go with bellevue for now until you get settled into your job. believe me, 10 miles sounds short in some states, but depending where you are coming from and where you are going to, 10 miles in seattle metro area can take an eternity to drive! 8th street (check out google maps) and 148th ave in bellevue have many apartments nearby and will put you close to your job and in good(safe, etc) areas. after that you can decide where to live and how much pain from daily traffic you can deal with.

[Citislicker]

Is this address below in Downtown Kirkland? Which is safer, downtown Bellevue or dtown Kirkland? Thanks guys again.

2nd Ave
Kirkland, WA 98033

[Ira500]

2nd Ave 98033 is indeed downtown Kirkland. I don't think either downtown Kirkland nor downtown Bellevue is unsafe, but Bellevue is a much larger city. Busier, more populated, denser. Kirkland is an older city than Bellevue, so to me the place has a little more personality, but I like them both. If more open restaurants and bars and nightlife is important, downtown Bellevue would be preferable, but Kirkland is pretty, kind of charming, and still has stuff to do, just less than bellevue.

[CSBye]

My suggestion for not living in Renton was just to avoid any problems with flooding from the pending issues with the Howard Hansen Dam...I work in the valley and we are planning to move our offices in the next month or so to avoid any problems that may arise.