Possible relo to Bellevue from Silicon Valley (initial research) (Seattle: for sale, real estate market)

[gosteng]

I'm doing some initial research to relocate to Bellevue. It'd be great to get this forum's input on what areas to consider and generally speaking, what it's like to live in Bellevue (loaded question, I know)?

Some info:
early 30's single asian male
have lived in chicago, silicon valley (current), and the south bay in los angeles (beach cities)
prefer a large asian population (chicago was not it, but loved my time there)
no pets
no plans to get married anytime soon; no plans to buy a house/condo
i love silicon valley and i only go to sf for special occasions.
my social life consists of playing a lot of tennis (practice and league matches)
i'm not a city person; i'm a suburbanite. working in the city is fine, but i like living in the suburbs. it's a comfort thing.
i hate public transportation

i prefer neighborhoods where there's a lot of trees (if from socal, think palos verdes; if from norcal, think los gatos).
i'd like to stay in a nice/moderate-upscale neighborhood.
don't need anything too big, but >600 sq ft and < ~1100 sq ft
1br+1ba is all i need
max rent budget for 1br+1ba is ~$2,300/mo, but can go higher if needed

Couple other things to note:
- i prefer my commute to be less than 20 min driving 1 way to bellevue (close to the downtown park - i just saw it on the map)
- i lease a car and when i lived in Chicago, it was awkward driving a nicer car especially during the heart of the recession. in Silicon Valley, it's quite normal. generally speaking as it relates to cars, is it closer to Silicon Valley or what i experienced in Chicago? i don't like sticking out too much when i'm driving.


It'd be great to get this forum's input on what areas (and even properties) to consider and generally speaking, what it's like to live in Bellevue? For context if you can make comparisons to the suburbs of Chicago, Silicon Valley, and/or Socal (south bay), that'd be awesome. If you need any clarifications, glad to provide it.

Thanks!

[Seacove]

Bellevue will have your trees, your cars, your upscale living, the rent should be doable, it's every bit as nice (nicer IMO) as South Bay. But tennis may be a challenge.

[Hemlock140]

Probably closest in feel to Silicone Valley, except for the weather of course. I have friends in Bellevue that belong to tennis clubs, and there are many nice apartments close to downtown where you can walk to just about anything at $1,500-1,600 for 1 bedroom. Other than the park downtown is not what I would call wooded but there are plenty of trees in the area. The more suburban upscale areas do not typically have apartments, but there are some on Bel-Red Road closer to Lake Sammamish and near the back side of Microsoft. You could also consider Issaquah Highlands though the area was clearcut for the development, it has great views of the woods that are left. Another area that's more suburban, but not upscale is 148th between Bel-Red Rd and I90. Bellevue has a great Asian market and the population is 27% Asian.

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[509]

Find your INDOOR tennis courts and club first.

There should be one in Bellevue.....I suspect everything will fall into place after that.

If your going to survive a winter in western Washington having an indoor pool and tennis courts is well worth the money.v

[Ira500]

Robinswood Park in Bellevue has a highly regarded tennis center, considered to be one of the best public tennis facilities in the country. There are only a few neighborhoods in Bellevue considered to be less than moderate/upscale, and even they're pretty nice. Nothing wrong with the area around Bellevue College or the Robinswood Tennis Center. Downtown Bellevue is more upscale.

[Blondebaerde]

Originally Posted by gosteng

I'm doing some initial research to relocate to Bellevue. It'd be great to get this forum's input on what areas to consider and generally speaking, what it's like to live in Bellevue (loaded question, I know)?

Will be brief, as there is pretty obviously dozens of posts on Bellevue and eastside in-general, past six months or so (recent data).

I live in Kirkland, because my employers over the years have been Seattle or Eastside-based (IT). I'd recommend it for your purposes, in addition to other eastside (Bellevue, Kirkland, Issaquah, Samm, Redmond).

Housing is weird nationally. This is a weird time to rent, or buy. I'd research that separately, in-detail. You'll have to find a place to live that suits your purposes. I personally would make a recon mission to Seattle metro, hit it hard a couple days, and put money down on a rental on the spot. That's what I did, long time ago, though today's rental market is 10x worse than when I got here late 1990s.

I hated public transit until I started using it in the Bay Area, c. 1992. Then I became a BART nut, and fan of the buses. It isn't quite as good in Seattle metro (arguable point, I suppose). But if your firm issues a free go-everywhere sort of bus pass, you'll want to consider the upsides. Bellevue TC is one of the major hubs on Eastside, perhaps "the" major hub, thus if you can get there via bus at-all in Seattle metro it probably leaves or connects from Bellevue. I use Kirkland TC extensively, which has routes downtown and various parts Eastside. Fine for my purposes.

Bellevue is a tech center, plenty of Asians there and in Kirkland. Look at demographics tables for more on that.

Los Gatos was my first choice for ReLo when I took a swing at a job with a major in Silicon Valley (offer rescinded during stock market crash of 2008, however). Spent a lot of time there, and in Saratoga, back in the day. Bellevue is similarly green, wetter, and you won't be outside playing tennis for roughly half the year. Los Gatos season for that was/is IMO 9 or months per year, though I wouldn't personally be out doing any of that in July-August due to heat. Spent a lot of years in that, in California, and didn't mind it though it did give me pause RE certain outdoor activities when really hot middle-of-summer.

Nothing related to cars is "awkward" on the eastside. This time of year people break out the Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and other exotics for trots around the area. While perhaps a bit...how shall we say..."ostentatious," there is wealth here and it is what it is (I have a P-car 911, not quite "exotic" but still gets a few looks. Very fun to drive, if one wants to join what I call "cult of 911s"). Lot of Teslas, a few Fishers, and other interesting hybrids or other avante garde new tech, as-well. Whatever you enjoy, drive it (or lease it).

[SouthSeasLifestyler]

And all I mainly noticed were SUVs!

[gosteng]

Awesome, thanks all for the helpful responses.

Just a few updates:
-tennis - the usta leagues aren't nearly as available to play in as it is in norcal (understandably), but i've been told it's still quite competitive. only difference? i need to get used to playing indoors (a la chicago days). as long as i can keep my tennis going, i'm a happy man.

-car - i won't be porsche fancy, but good to know i won't feel awkward like i did in chicago.

-housing - i've been told that issaquah (lots of trees) and kirkland is something to look into. my commute currently is 15 min 1 way so as long as it's around there (max), i'm happy. i thought bellevue would be my first choice, but was told that high rents could be a problem, but with my budget, perhaps it isn't a problem. i also don't like living in the city downtown...again, i'm a suburbanite. i can never live in a city like chicago. it's too busy even in the outskirts of downtown. i'm hoping there are pockets in bellevue that aren't city/downtown like (hard to explain if you don't get what i'm saying).

if others have thoughts, please share. this helps, thanks.

[ecsdude]

Originally Posted by Blondebaerde

Housing is weird nationally. This is a weird time to rent, or buy. I'd research that separately, in-detail. You'll have to find a place to live that suits your purposes. I personally would make a recon mission to Seattle metro, hit it hard a couple days, and put money down on a rental on the spot. That's what I did, long time ago, though today's rental market is 10x worse than when I got here late 1990s.

I am in California and it does seem like the real estate market is weird this year for some reason.. Q3-Q4 of last year things were still pretty active with houses for sale and offers in a short period of time.. seems to have slowed and prices seem to have leveled off.. not sure what's going on but I hear prices may fall as more inventory comes to market that was previously held back by banks or whatever.

[gosteng]

thanks to those who responded. i'll be moving to bellevue from silicon valley this month and will be working in downtown. i'm traveling to bellevue every week until my move and have been able to check out different parts of bellevue as well as apartment complexes.

some comments:
-bellevue is absolutely beautiful. however, i've been going there while it's 75 and not raining, so i'm sure the winter time will change my mind. i love the green...the trees, the mountains. when i initially wrote i wanted to live in a neighborhood with lots of trees, well, that's bellevue.
-traffic sucks even coming from a person who lived in chicago, la, and norcal. it never gets old and it's crap. even the backroads are congested for those trying to avoid the freeways. frustrating.
-downtown doesn't feel like a downtown a la sf or chicago. that said, i still don't want to live in downtown bellevue. that's just not me.
-i'm not a fan of old town bellevue. wouldn't want to live there mainly because it's off bellevue way and main street, which are congested. it's also just a smaller, congested version of dowtown.
-rent is slightly cheaper than silicon valley so no sticker shock.

are there specific zip codes i should look into or avoid? in silicon valley, there are zip codes to avoid so i'm guessing it's similar in bellevue.

any other thoughts, please share. thanks.