Redmond Ridge and Rosa Parks Elementary (Bellevue, Sammamish: lease, how much, houses)

[anneeliot]

We may have the opportunity to take over the lease on a house in Redmond Ridge, zoned for Rosa Parks Elementary school. Now I just have a few questions before we commit:

1. While researching on greatschools, I read that Rosa Parks is overcrowded, with very large (30) class sizes. Does anyone know whether this is true? Does anyone have kids going there? And would this be a problem if we move in April, ie. would my daughter have to attend a different school temporarily?

2. Also through greatschools, the demographics of the school appear to be approximately 50/50 white and Asian. Does this influence the focus of the school, ie more STEM subjects as opposed to arts-based classes/extracurriculars? Our current school is 80% Asian, and STEM-focused, to the exclusion of the arts. I have an MA in Literary Studies, so needless to say, I think the arts are very important.

3. What is the commute like to Factoria, Bellevue? Does the neighborhood back up at commute times, and are there alternate routes available that don't include Microsoft traffic?

4. What is the social feel of Redmond Ridge like? Do kids play with each other outside? Do they ride their bikes along the sidewalk? Are there plenty of at-home parents, or does everyone work?

The house itself looks just right for us, but if the neighborhood isn't a good fit, then it wouldn't be worth it.

[EvilCookie]

I haven't actually lived in Redmond Ridge, but we looked at a number of houses there when house-hunting and drove around the neighbourhood some. To me, it just had sort of a weird vibe to it. I think it's just because it's a very new community, and maybe just hasn't had a chance to develop, but it sort of felt empty and artificial, like a movie set, to me, and I'm one who generally likes the concept of master-planned communities. It was just these rows and rows of houses, and the streets were completely empty mid-day, there were nice looking streets and parks strewn around but not a soul to be seen anywhere. Perhaps in the evenings and weekends you have more people and kids around, but i didn't see any. The realtor told me it's a population of mainly immigrant tech workers. In contrast, Sammamish, where we ended up buying, is full of kids playing on the streets and you actually see people walking around, even though it's a pretty typical suburb and not exactly what you'd call walkable. But it's definitely a lot more of a developed neighbourhood feel. That may change as Redmond Ridge grows and gets more settled though, from what I saw it's still getting built up.

[Garfunkle524]

Originally Posted by EvilCookie

I haven't actually lived in Redmond Ridge, but we looked at a number of houses there when house-hunting and drove around the neighbourhood some. To me, it just had sort of a weird vibe to it. I think it's just because it's a very new community, and maybe just hasn't had a chance to develop, but it sort of felt empty and artificial, like a movie set, to me, and I'm one who generally likes the concept of master-planned communities. It was just these rows and rows of houses, and the streets were completely empty mid-day, there were nice looking streets and parks strewn around but not a soul to be seen anywhere. Perhaps in the evenings and weekends you have more people and kids around, but i didn't see any. The realtor told me it's a population of mainly immigrant tech workers. In contrast, Sammamish, where we ended up buying, is full of kids playing on the streets and you actually see people walking around, even though it's a pretty typical suburb and not exactly what you'd call walkable. But it's definitely a lot more of a developed neighbourhood feel. That may change as Redmond Ridge grows and gets more settled though, from what I saw it's still getting built up.

Somebody on this board once said Redmond Ridge is actually 75% immigrants. However, I play the golf course there often (when it's cheap during the winter) and I also see lots of retirees out walking. This tells me that the houses are eventually going to start turning over in large numbers and young families will eventually swoop in, but I've been wrong about that before. I have heard the schools are very overcrowded though.

[anneeliot]

The funny thing is that my husband and I are also immigrants, and he works in technology consulting. However, being western European, we generally don't feel much of a connection to the majority of tech immigrants. We currently live in a tech immigrant-heavy master planned community, and are socially quite disconnected. It's pretty dead here during the day, too, with the exception of live-in grandparents and their young grandchildren. As a full-time at-home parent, I'm pretty lonely. This time I'm looking for an area with plenty of other at-home parents with younger kids (mine are one and five) to hang out with during the week, not just on weekends.

EvilCookie - would you mind telling me where in Sammamish you decided to live? Is it a planned community? Are most neighborhoods like yours, or do you feel yours might be particularly kid- and family-friendly?

[cis_love]

every time i've gone up to RR i've had that same feeling of it being totally empty, esp in the daytime, but i heard in the summer people come out a lot more.

[gingerbreadlatte]

I don't know how much help this would be because I don't actually live in Redmond Ridge but from what I've heard of Rosa Parks from friends who live there, it's not just STEM focused and there is an integrated drama/arts program. Most of the moms I've met who live in Redmond Ridge (not just Asian) are SAHMs. I don't know if the kids play in the street. If I worked in Factoria, I wouldn't live there though. I'd move to Factoria or Bellevue.

[josie13]

Originally Posted by Garfunkle524

Somebody on this board once said Redmond Ridge is actually 75% immigrants. However, I play the golf course there often (when it's cheap during the winter) and I also see lots of retirees out walking. This tells me that the houses are eventually going to start turning over in large numbers and young families will eventually swoop in, but I've been wrong about that before. I have heard the schools are very overcrowded though.

Most of the retirees you see walking in the area of the golf course are residents of Trilogy, which surrounds the golf course and is a 55+ restricted community.