Mirrormont commute? (Bellevue, Redmond, Maple Valley: houses, neighborhood, clubhouse)

[Mstarr]

We are new to the area and considering a home in the Mirrormont area on Tiger Mountain. Can anyone give me a realistic commute time from that area to Bellevue and Redmond? Thanks!

[Gordonshumway79]

Hi Mstarr,

I've lived in Mirrormont for the past 5 years so I know all about the commute. So the short answer is that it sucks. But it really can depend on the time of day you're commuting. Ive noticed traffic on Issaquah Hobard Rd skews towards the early commute. If you can leave for work at 8:30 it's a lot better. Similarly the evening commute starts really backing up about 3:30! But if you're coming through closer to 6 it's not too bad. I commute to and from downtown Bellevue and it takes me a little under an hour to get here. From mirrormont to downtown issaquah takes anywhere from 20-30 minutes in traffic, and 10-15 without traffic (seemingly rare these days). They've talked about widening the road, and adding a round about where that first traffic light is. Either option would help but there's nothing planned right now. It's hard because with the mountains there's only so many ways to get in and out of there so everyone funnels down into issy hobart road. It seems more and more people care coming from Maple Valley too

[Mstarr]

Thanks Gordon. So, what would you say makes living in Mirrormont worth the commute? Is there a sense of community there, or do people tend to keep to themselves? Is Issaquah pretty much the closest shopping, or are there other closer options?

[Gordonshumway79]

Well the commute pretty much sucks everywhere lol. Unless you happen to live very close to a freeway on ramp or live close to work. But it does add quite a bit of time to the commute. I've thought many times sitting on that road if I lived near downtown issaquah I'd be home by now ha ha.

Yes, issaquah is probably closest for stores and things. Although you can head down 18 to Maple Valley too. Its further distance wise but if there's traffic it's faster to go to MV.

What makes it worth it is a personal choice. There really isn't another neighborhood like it, all the houses are mostly in the woods and on about an acre so you get privacy and a sense of being away from it all even though you're only about 5 miles from population. There's also great hiking and mountain biking trails very close by. I've fallen asleep to owls hooting and have even heard coyotes hunting in a pack in my back yard. It's pretty cool to be 'out there' but getting 'out there' can be a pain.

I think if you love tranquility and nature you'd like it. There is a sense of community, there's a clubhouse with a pool and you can join the 'country club' which is more or less just a group of people that live here and get together. We do halloween parties for kids, and there's a big easter egg hunt in the spring. Everyone comes out and swims in the summer and there are a lot of bbqs in the summer. In the fall and winter you see less people but people still do get together.

I'd suggest driving the commute during rush hour and seeing for yourself if you can live with it.

[Mstarr]

Thank you! We've lived out in the country before, just trying to decided if we are willing to make the long drive to work & shopping again.

[Gordonshumway79]

Having that little store just down the street helps for last minute forgotten groceries and gas, and there's a bigger 'grocery' store in Hobart about 5 mins away (further up issaquah hobart rd) so you're not completely screwed if you forgot your milk, but yeah, any big store needs are going to be 15 minutes away all the time.