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There's a ferry that goes directly to Seattle DT. You can be a walk-on passenger or you can drive your car on -- which cost more money, but also bring on another set of problems like parking (which is PITA and costs even more money). If you choose to drive, just keep in mind the wait time increase a lot during the summer as the tourists are making their way to the peninsula. The island has a "backdoor exit", a bridge, which connects you to the rest of the peninsula. Personally I would choose B.I. over Vashon just because of the bridge.
If you're willing to loosen up on the travel, you should check out Poulsbo as well.
If you live on Bainbridge, you can go hiking in the mountains to the west, the Olympics.
And yes! Poulsbo! I just love Poulsbo. It might be the most "New Hope ish" of all the places mentioned. Except with mountains and water. Beautiful. Cool old buildings. Quirky. Artsy. Norwegian. Microbreweries. Decent pizza. What more do you need?
Vashon.
Bainbridge.
Duvall
Black Diamond
Snohomish.
Burien
All of these are quiet, peaceful, with some charm. Issaquah has some very quiet parts, but also gets godawful traffic, and is rumored to have it's share of corporate, stuck up types.
I'm a Central NJ native, was born in Princeton and am very familiar with Flemington, Lambertville, New Hope. The biggest difference between here and there is how old things are there. Seattle is relatively newer, and when things get 30 years old here, we tear them down. Duvall has a small historic downtown and amazing mountain scenery. Black Diamond is small, but has insane views of Mt. Rainier, and the oldest bakery in the state. Snohomish is a hip historic town on the river, has lots of farmland, and embraces eccentricity. Woodinville is pretty, and people like living there, but it does get overrun with tourists, and it seems like every other storefront is a winery.
The under 45 minute thing might be a challenge. Woodinville and Duvall are easily under 45 to downtown Bellevue, as is Issaquah.
Burien is under 45 to downtown Seattle( under 30 minutes most of the time), and I like it because it's a funny combination of hip artsy small town( independent movie theatre, microbrewery, gluten free bakery, holistic pet food store), and one of the larger concentrations of Hispanics in the Seattle area, so home to some of the areas best tacos.( There's even a Oaxacan place that serves deep fried grasshoppers.) Bainbridge is a 35 minute ferry ride to downtown, so under 45 is feasible if you live close to the ferry dock on Bainbridge. Vashon is definitely quiet and peaceful, and has some of that artsy/hippie vibe.
I did not expect to hear from someone actually familiar with these parts of NJ!
If I may ask, what made you move, and do you miss NJ at all?
I figured I wouldn't find the old, rustic charm on the West coast. I will certainly miss that. But at least the peace and quiet is there, and the majestic nature more than makes up for the shortcomings. Not that NJ is bad - but not nearly as grandiose in that regard. This isn't just based on photos - I visited last Fall, and was blown away. The city felt very quiet, too - I'm kind of surprised so many people say it's crowded and traffic is terrible. Then again, look at what I'm comparing it to.
I will definitely look more into Bainbridge Island, and Duvall as well. I don't want to be *too* far - a long commute has a noticeable negative effect. Bainbridge actually seems like a very attractive option, considering the bridge to the Olympic national park region, and a ferry to downtown(especially considering you could take your car on the ferry). How is parking in downtown Seattle, by the way? Do commuters usually pay for a garage spot, or...
If you live on Bainbridge, you can go hiking in the mountains to the west, the Olympics.
And yes! Poulsbo! I just love Poulsbo. It might be the most "New Hope ish" of all the places mentioned. Except with mountains and water. Beautiful. Cool old buildings. Quirky. Artsy. Norwegian. Microbreweries. Decent pizza. What more do you need?
Poulsbo...the bakery.... the raspberry filled powder donut. I thought I had died and gone to Heaven.
I did not expect to hear from someone actually familiar with these parts of NJ!
If I may ask, what made you move, and do you miss NJ at all?
I figured I wouldn't find the old, rustic charm on the West coast. I will certainly miss that. But at least the peace and quiet is there, and the majestic nature more than makes up for the shortcomings. Not that NJ is bad - but not nearly as grandiose in that regard. This isn't just based on photos - I visited last Fall, and was blown away. The city felt very quiet, too - I'm kind of surprised so many people say it's crowded and traffic is terrible. Then again, look at what I'm comparing it to.
I will definitely look more into Bainbridge Island, and Duvall as well. I don't want to be *too* far - a long commute has a noticeable negative effect. Bainbridge actually seems like a very attractive option, considering the bridge to the Olympic national park region, and a ferry to downtown(especially considering you could take your car on the ferry). How is parking in downtown Seattle, by the way? Do commuters usually pay for a garage spot, or...
I went to college out here, wanting to get as far away from New Jersey as possible, and stayed. I do miss things about New Jersey, even though I haven't lived there in 35 years. The Jersey shore, quaint historic little towns, diners, bagels, pizza. I also miss cold, sunny winter days. I don't miss hot humid summers, I don't miss getting buried in snow. New Jersey also has it's share of non cultured morons. I don't miss them ,either.
Parking is something you usually have to pay for in downtown Seattle. Some employers provide parking, but more commonly supply a bus pass. It costs lots of money to bring a car on the ferry, and downtown Seattle isn't that big, so most commuters from Bainbridge either walk to work from the ferry dock, or catch a bus( if work is downtown, it's not likely going to be more than a 10 minute bus ride), or bicycle. But I've never found driving in downtown Seattle to be much of a deal. The problem is the traffic approaching downtown Seattle.
I would caution to check work start times if looking at Duvall. I worked with a group of people who live there in an office in north Bellevue last year, and everyone came to work at 10am. They all said if they tried to come in at 9 it was an hour to 1.5 hrs. My understanding is that it's little country roads with zillions of people. Big Microsoft presence there as well.
Woodinville is lovely and feels quite rural, and you can swing an under-45 commute to Bellevue but not Seattle. Rush hour traffic is no fun AT ALL there.
I asked my husband how he would compare NYC to Seattle and he started cracking up. Super, super calm and far more mellow in comparison. He is from Westchester and spent 15 years in the city before coming here. There are a lot of areas right outside of Seattle that remind me more of Sullivan County and all around out there.
North Bend will be more than 45 to Seattle and probably Bellevue. It's an awesome little town tho. Parts of Snoqualmie are nice and the outskirts of Issaquah are as well. We are in the odd little area between Issaquah and Renton - it feels like its own little world here. In ways it seems more rural than where I grew up in SC, and then I remember that the people are wildly different. No snobby corporate types here.
That "odd little area" between Renton and Issaquah is spectacularly beautiful, and does feel like another world. People have horses. And Squak Mountain is great hiking, and usually empty. Maybe not a great area for a 26 year old to live, but it sure has a nice feel.
Microsoft is the #2 employer in the King County area; it was #1 for many years until being overtaken by Amazon recently.
Microsoft's presence is all over the Eastside, but it's particularly acute in Redmond, Bellevue, and Issaquah. Duvall and Woodinville, in particular, have had their traffic patterns transformed because of the thousands of people commuting all over the place - towards downtown Seattle, towards the cities where Microsoft is king, etc.
A lot of the suggestion about where to live should take traffic patterns into consideration. There is not one job center, there are several: downtown Seattle, South Lake Union, Bellevue, Redmond, etc. For that reason, 45 minutes as a commute can mean a 5 mile distance or a 30 mile distance depending on other factors. Keep that in mind.
The first town that came to my mind was North Bend. It's about 30 minutes to Bellevue in regular traffic, and I feel like it wouldn't add much more in traffic since you aren't going all the way to Seattle. It seems like a small enough town where you could find quiet/peaceful areas. I'm not sure about the scenic views, but I wouldn't be surprised if they had that. I would think that North Bend is slightly cheaper than Seattle, so I'm pretty sure you could afford a one bedroom, no problem, with your salary. I wouldn't think the corporate, stuck-up types are the types to live there. It's fairly close to the hiking trails of the Snoqualmie area. I don't think you'd get the alternative/interesting vibe there you are referring to. I've only been to Princeton that I can think of of the towns you describe, and North Bend isn't like that.
I can't think of a rural place near Seattle that would fit to your commute time. It can take an hour in traffic to get from the suburbs to downtown Seattle.
North Bend immediately came to mind for me, too! I love it there. OP, it's jaw-droppingly gorgeous and rural, but you're only about 15-20 minutes from Issaquah Highlands (cute little shopping area with your Trader Joe's, etc.).
Thank you all for the replies. The more I think about it, the more it seems like I should focus on getting a job that's NOT in downtown Seattle, but in the surrounding area somewhere. Even Bellevue would be a great alternative - it sounds like there are plenty of places that are very nice and quiet, but still within reasonable commute distance.
On the topic of commute, I'm really surprised to hear how bad it is! Not just from this thread, but around the forums and online in general. But I suppose it makes sense - tricky geography, lack of public transit outside the city, and how quickly the city is growing...it was just hard to imagine at first, since last time I visited, I was in the "middle of nowhere" by NY standards, about to hike some majestic mountains, less than an hour after getting in the car in downtown Seattle. But rush hour is rush hour.
Despite the traffic and apparent presence of the stereotypical corporate types, I'm still convinced that it's a whole different world from New York, and would be a great fit.
I would caution to check work start times if looking at Duvall. I worked with a group of people who live there in an office in north Bellevue last year, and everyone came to work at 10am. They all said if they tried to come in at 9 it was an hour to 1.5 hrs. My understanding is that it's little country roads with zillions of people. Big Microsoft presence there as well.
Woodinville is lovely and feels quite rural, and you can swing an under-45 commute to Bellevue but not Seattle. Rush hour traffic is no fun AT ALL there.
I asked my husband how he would compare NYC to Seattle and he started cracking up. Super, super calm and far more mellow in comparison. He is from Westchester and spent 15 years in the city before coming here. There are a lot of areas right outside of Seattle that remind me more of Sullivan County and all around out there.
North Bend will be more than 45 to Seattle and probably Bellevue. It's an awesome little town tho. Parts of Snoqualmie are nice and the outskirts of Issaquah are as well. We are in the odd little area between Issaquah and Renton - it feels like its own little world here. In ways it seems more rural than where I grew up in SC, and then I remember that the people are wildly different. No snobby corporate types here.
Where in issaquah area do you live? thanks!
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thanks!
