Great communities with < 45 min commute to SLU? (Seattle, Bellevue: low crime, houses)

[Roloc]

Hello everyone. I am considering a position at Amazon so I would be commuting to SLU. I have two daughters one is about to start Kindergarten next year so I want really good schools and a family friendly neighborhood (read: low crime, quiet).

I am really trying to find a place that I can take public transportation to work and I looked up north in Mukilteo and was shocked to hear the Sounder drops people off way south of downtown making it hard to get back up to SLU.

I looked East at Issaquah and Sammamish but the bus lines to get to SLU looked like 1.5 hours plus to get to SLU.

Am I being unrealistic here? Is this possible? I have worked from home for the most part for the better part of 4 years so I have been out of the commuter game.

We don't mind living in the city if there is a great family friendly community near SLU that people can suggest.

Can anyone help? Thanks in advance!

[seattlenextyear]

My husband's commute from Issaquah to SLU is about 1 hr door to door via bus, but he leaves at 6:30am. It takes him longer getting home. You don't need to do a bus transfer, it's only a 15 minute walk from Westlake center to even the furthest Amazon building.

Bellevue will be closer, more expensive, but with better schools. Mercer Island: even closer, even more expensive, but the best schools and the quietest neighborhoods.

People like North Seattle neighborhoods: from Greenwood down to Ballard, over to Wallingford. Maybe even upper Queen Anne or Magnolia. But you'll have to look up the schools one by one: it's hit or miss. And, depending on how far you live from the busline or I-5, your commute can take just as long as coming from Issaquah.

As for the Sounder, there's a Amazon employee-only shuttle that goes from the International District (where the trains are) right up to the Amazon campus. It runs fairly often. Then you don't have to take a bus all the way through town. Edmonds might be worth a look! We'd look there if I didn't work in Bellevue.

[Roloc]

Thank you so much for the information on the shuttle. That puts the train very much into play and maybe even the bainbridge island ferry if we really found a great house. I sort of dread parking downtown which is why I am looking hard at mass transit especially because amazon gives you an orca pass I think.

They just flew me out to interview yesterday and I think things went very well. We are currently in Boulder, Co and are very happy here and this whole thing got dropped on us when they called me out of the blue two weeks ago. I am trying to do a crash course on all things Seattle. Because so far I really like the idea of working at Amazon and trying to figure out if we like the idea of Seattle is proving more challenging.

As it was when we moved to Boulder a few years ago these forums are proving extremely useful!

[Hemlock140]

I'm in Sammamish and take the bus from the South Sammamish Park & Ride to
Westlake, then walk 1 mile to my work on the waterfront. Several Amazon people are on that bus, their walk is about the same. We leave at 6:06 and get to work about 7-7:10. The 216 bus normally has room to sit down, no wierdos, and runs every half hour during the morning and evening commutes.

Others use the 218 from the Issaquah Highlands P & R but it gets full to standing room only. It is an express with fewer stops and shaves about 10 minutes off the trip.

I used to take another bus between Westlake and work but walking that mile twice a day I lost 10 pounds and even in nasty weather it's easy and enjoyable.

When you look up bus routes and see 1.5 hours it's due to the transfers and wait for the next bus, and there is a good chance of missing a connection, so starting at the right place and walking some speeds it up
greatly.

[Roloc]

Yeah I wouldn't mind the walk at all I don't think.

Just curious what would the drive time be from there? I am guessing no where near the 20-30 min Google maps says.

[Hemlock140]

Originally Posted by Roloc

Yeah I wouldn't mind the walk at all I don't think.

Just curious what would the drive time be from there? I am guessing no where near the 20-30 min Google maps says.

Sammamish goes from Issaquah to Redmond along a plateau, so it depend where you start and whether you go I90 or 520 bridge. If you are in the middle or toward 202 and take the 520 (and pay the toll) you can easily make it in 20-25 minutes in the morning, about 40 coming back as you will run into Microsoft traffic in Redmond. If you are in the middle to the Issaquah end and take I90 (I'm right in the middle) you can make it in 35 minutes if you start by 6:30am, but it will take as much as an hour to get home. Since the 520 toll, I90 Eastbound is congested from 3:30 on. It starts on 99 and 5 south getting to the ramps near the stadiums, moves at 25-30 across the bridge, then is bumper to bumper at Mercer Island and again where it meets the 405 ramps. After that it moves better. After 4pm it can be top and go the whole way. The bus goes in the express lanes which are at or above the speed limit all day. You might also consider a vanpool or carpool with other people you work with.

[seattlenextyear]

Amazon does give you a free Orca pass (not sure how this works on the Sounder, but it works on all the buses and the light rail). They will also subsidize parking for what adds up to a handful of days per month, so you can drive for free on days that you have, say, a dentist appt or want to go meet people for dinner after work. There's a lot of competition for the parking garages, but there's street level lots that you can get reimbursed for.

[noexcuseforignorance]

I'm not sure where you're moving from, but there's a boatload of neighborhoods on that side of downtown that are awesome and from which you could walk/bike. a 45 minute commute, means 1.5 hours a day away from your kids. That's basically missing a day a week plus all of the money you'll spend commuting.

You can live in SLU itself though it's mostly buildings, capitol hill, queen anne, Sandpoint, Madrona, Ravenna, Wallingford, Fremont, Ballard, etc.

Seattle also has been real neighborhoods. More walking and more time with people. As one of the posters notes below, he has to leave at 6am and waste 1:10 minutes on a bus. There's not a lot of free time in the modern workday. Spend it at home doing things with the people you love instead of wasting it commuting alone or with strangers.

I think it's time you visited the city and looked around.

[texastrigirl]

Amazon has pretty good corporate housing relo benefits so you would not be forced to buy something right from the get go. I think they gave us 3 months in 2007 so I would assume it's something similar. I would have used more than a few weeks of it if I had not had older kids needing to start school not long after we arrived. Would be great for you to get to know the area and for your wife to check out schools. One thing to note is that WA State does not have mandatory all day K. You get in all day K through lottery and have to pay extra to go full day. Ours was about $300 per month in the Issaquah School District. The lotteries would be happening very shortly in most school districts.

My husband's commute to AMZN at SLU was anywhere from 55 minutes to 1 hr 20 minutes from the south end of the Plateau (South Sammamish/Issaquah) on the bus depending on time of day he left. Driving could be much faster, esp. since he liked to leave early 25-35 minutes on the way in, longer on the way home. Echo what everyone else has already said on parking DT, etc. AMZN gives you Orca pass and supplements like 8 days a month or something.

One plug for Issaquah/Sammamish is that it is going to be most similar to Boulder in terms of the hiking and nature available outside your door. Some of the best hiking in the region starts in Issaquah and personally I love being able to walk a half block down my street and pop my kayak in Pine Lake. You also have Beaver Lake and Lake Sammamish right in Sammamish/Issaquah. Plus the Issaquah School District is fantastic as are the parks, etc. in the area.

We lived in the Green Mtn area of Denver and loved being able to Mtn Bike right outside our door. Again, Sammamish wins. Duthie Hill Mtn Bike Park is supreme in the area. Plus we are 40-50 minutes tops to Snoqualmie Pass for skiing.

Good luck with your decision. My husband just left AMZN after almost 5 years but had a mostly good experience while he was there and was able to parlay that into a fantastic next step. His resume is pinged constantly online and it is the AMZN connection they are most hungry for, even though he has mgmt consulting experience with top tier firms and an MBA.

[Ira500]

There are a bunch of places within 45 minutes of AMZN that are pretty, pleasant, and have good schools.
On the Seattle side, one place is Whittier Heights. Safe, great elementary school, but pretty close to a bunch of cool urban amenities like the Ballard neighborhood and the zoo. super fast bus ride to South Lake Union from there ( Route 28).
All the places that border Issaquah are pretty and have great hiking. That includes Sammamish, Newcastle, and the northeastern part of Renton ( near Cougar Mountain). All have good schools ( All in the Issaquah district, except for the northern part of Sammamish, which is in the Lake Washington district).
Kirkland has some very nice parts. Bellevue has great schools, but high housing costs except for older homes. On the Seattle side, Wallingford is a kind of neighborhood I'd expect to see in Boulder. Volvo station wagons, and folks who take their left wing politics seriously. The Tilth organic garden is in Wallingford and they have a bunch of classes and activities there. Great places to hang out, a vibrant community, good schools.
North of Seattle, I think of Lake Forest Park as a mostly unappreciated nice area. Bigger lots, huge trees, nice views, good Shoreline schools. Lots of cool older houses with huge windows. An unusually pleasant shopping mall, transformed into something a little different.