Raising young kids in Kirkland versus Magnolia (and MI)? (Seattle: transplants, 2015)
Seattle areaSeattle and King County Suburbs
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I got a lot of help narrowing down my choices from an earlier thread. We are relocating from the San Diego area, and I will be working in lower QA near the Space Needle. I know traffic is a major concern, but we are just not city people. I tried to be open mnded, but I just couldn't picture us living in the more urban areas that are closer to work. I toured QA, Magnolia, NE Seattle, Mercer Island, Kirkland, and Bellevue. Of these, Magnolia and Kirkland rose to the top for us (Mercer Island came in third). NE Seattle and QA were too urban and busy.
We want a tight, quiet, safe community with lots of playgrounds and activities for kids. What is very tough to get a handle on is what it is *really* like to raise kids in these areas. We will know next to nobody, so we're looking for a friendly environment (I have heard of the "freeze") and enough to do to keep us busy during the winter months (which I'm dreading). My kids love biking/scootering and playing at parks, so this is important to us. Even in the rain, they will bounce off the walls if cooped up.
Any thoughts on these two communities? Does Magnolia feel too cut off? For instance, if we want to go out to an early family dinner on Friday night, are we stuck within Magnolia due to traffic? That might get old. Same question about Mercer Island. It is so hard to get a true feel for how a neighborhood functions from a quick trip.
I got a lot of help narrowing down my choices from an earlier thread. We are relocating from the San Diego area, and I will be working in lower QA near the Space Needle. I know traffic is a major concern, but we are just not city people. I tried to be open mnded, but I just couldn't picture us living in the more urban areas that are closer to work. I toured QA, Magnolia, NE Seattle, Mercer Island, Kirkland, and Bellevue. Of these, Magnolia and Kirkland rose to the top for us (Mercer Island came in third). NE Seattle and QA were too urban and busy.
We want a tight, quiet, safe community with lots of playgrounds and activities for kids. What is very tough to get a handle on is what it is *really* like to raise kids in these areas. We will know next to nobody, so we're looking for a friendly environment (I have heard of the "freeze") and enough to do to keep us busy during the winter months (which I'm dreading). My kids love biking/scootering and playing at parks, so this is important to us. Even in the rain, they will bounce off the walls if cooped up.
Any thoughts on these two communities? Does Magnolia feel too cut off? For instance, if we want to go out to an early family dinner on Friday night, are we stuck within Magnolia due to traffic? That might get old. Same question about Mercer Island. It is so hard to get a true feel for how a neighborhood functions from a quick trip.
The answer to the Family Friday dinner out is no. You are close to many restaurants in Ballard and Queen Anne. I might mention Maggie Bluffs (in Magnolia) is a total favorite for kids FYI. Outdoor seating and lots of grass to run around on plus awesome views. But back to topic- Traffic clears out by 6:30 many nights and we go to Ballard often (tons of choices) for dinner. Even if you go earlier you will have congestion on the Ballard bridge but it isn't too bad most of the time. Easy short drive to QA options. I like both Kirkland and Magnolia. Both are very nice and were on our short list. We chose to stay in the city due to traffic though we are in QA. My friend who lives in Magnolia always tells me kids can't get away with any monkey business because another parent will spot them and report back to her. It's a very close community. Parks are always full of kids. Magnolia and Queen Anne also tend to be somewhat interchangeable too. So you will be fairly close to QA indoor pool in winter and Magnolias outdoor one in summer. People from both communities use both. I tend to grocery shop in both depending on needs. Both my kids and I have good friends in both communities.
In a close contest, I'd take Magnolia, just because it is near all the great culinary and cultural offerings of Ballard, Queen Anne, Downtown Seattle and quite close to wonderful Discovery Park. They both would be great places to live. They 2 areas have truly different vibes, go hang out in each place and see what I mean.
Last edited by homesinseattle; 08-17-2016 at 05:40 PM..
Magnolia is "in" the city, but not "of" it. A very unique place - a small town in a big city. It will save you an hour a day at least over commuting from Kirkland, which you'll be able to spend with family.
I got a lot of help narrowing down my choices from an earlier thread. We are relocating from the San Diego area, and I will be working in lower QA near the Space Needle. I know traffic is a major concern, but we are just not city people. I tried to be open mnded, but I just couldn't picture us living in the more urban areas that are closer to work. I toured QA, Magnolia, NE Seattle, Mercer Island, Kirkland, and Bellevue. Of these, Magnolia and Kirkland rose to the top for us (Mercer Island came in third). NE Seattle and QA were too urban and busy.
We want a tight, quiet, safe community with lots of playgrounds and activities for kids. What is very tough to get a handle on is what it is *really* like to raise kids in these areas. We will know next to nobody, so we're looking for a friendly environment (I have heard of the "freeze") and enough to do to keep us busy during the winter months (which I'm dreading). My kids love biking/scootering and playing at parks, so this is important to us. Even in the rain, they will bounce off the walls if cooped up.
Any thoughts on these two communities? Does Magnolia feel too cut off? For instance, if we want to go out to an early family dinner on Friday night, are we stuck within Magnolia due to traffic? That might get old. Same question about Mercer Island. It is so hard to get a true feel for how a neighborhood functions from a quick trip.
What part of Kirkland, exactly? Evergreen is marginal, West Market and Carillon Point are exceptional. NorKirk, Everest, and Houghton are also nice.
That I would live in Magnolia, too, means that like-calls-to-like. More suburbia than Ballard.
Yes, Magnolia is cut off. That's the only thing I'd mention, hard to get in and out during commute hours.
The kids won't be outside when it's 37 degrees, raining constantly, sunrise is late and sunset early, and the day pretty dreary. You'd need to have your head examined. There are a few hard-core exercisers out, they must not mind pneumonia. I mostly stay indoors or in a car from about mid-November - March, with some days that miraculously clear up. Better figure out other things to do.
Kirkland has a plethora of parks, I don't even know where to start. Including my secret beach park: could tell you where it is, but hardly anyone seems to know so would would I want to do that? Walk around, you'll find it eventually. Oh, I have a shot from there: New Year's Day 2015. Come to think of it, New Year's Day 2016 was equally spectacular, and I spent that in Kitsap and Poulsbo.
What part of Kirkland, exactly? Evergreen is marginal, West Market and Carillon Point are exceptional. NorKirk, Everest, and Houghton are also nice.
That I would live in Magnolia, too, means that like-calls-to-like. More suburbia than Ballard.
Yes, Magnolia is cut off. That's the only thing I'd mention, hard to get in and out during commute hours.
The kids won't be outside when it's 37 degrees, raining constantly, sunrise is late and sunset early, and the day pretty dreary. You'd need to have your head examined. There are a few hard-core exercisers out, they must not mind pneumonia. I mostly stay indoors or in a car from about mid-November - March, with some days that miraculously clear up. Better figure out other things to do.
Kirkland has a plethora of parks, I don't even know where to start. Including my secret beach park: could tell you where it is, but hardly anyone seems to know so would would I want to do that? Walk around, you'll find it eventually. Oh, I have a shot from there: New Year's Day 2015. Come to think of it, New Year's Day 2016 was equally spectacular, and I spent that in Kitsap and Poulsbo.
We were thinking the market area of Kirkland. Beautiful photo! Houghton was OK too and the commute would be a bit better than further north (I think?), but it didn't grab my like west market.
Honestly, after my house hunting trip, I am feeling really apprehensive about this move. I'm starting to wonder if the drawbacks of the miserable winters and horrible traffic (yes, it is way worse than San Diego) can be balanced by the amazing job opportunity... Any other transplants with preschool aged kids have thoughts/experiences?
No one can really answer that question, but go to the Haters stay on your side thread and you can see why we put up with the negatives, couple that with your job opportunity and maybe you can see if the pros outweigh the cons. Personally if I were you, I would rent, I know that would mean two moves instead of just one, but it's better then tying yourself to a house if you decide you hate it here.
Two of my dearest friends live in Magnolia and Kirkland respectively, thus I spend a good deal of time getting to both (usually after work during peak commute times). In your shoes I'd go with Magnolia to avoid the Mercer Mess and the bridge. Sure, there's usually a slowdown getting into Magnolia, but Kirkland can be just as bad to get into, and I've seen it much worse than Magnolia ever has been (and I've been visiting these friends for 5+ years).
Overall, they're both great places for kids. Magnolia is a bit more serene when you're there, whereas Kirkland has more energy to it. Kirkland also has more restaurants and nightlife, but don't count Magnolia out - the ones that are there have been universally excellent IMO, and cover the spectrum from mom 'n pop to fine dining. In fact I'm a bit chagrinned that if I didn't have friends there, I would have likely never tried any of them (with the possible exception of Palisades), and that's a shame. If you live near the entry to Discovery Park, there's a fun walk over the locks to Ballard and allll the restaurants and breweries you could want. Will you walk it in the dark and pouring rain? No, but when the weather is decent, which is more often than you'd think, it's not that far and makes for a lovely brunch or evening out. Kirkland has more parks and public waterfront than any other city in the metro area, but all of them together could probably not fill half of Discovery. When it comes to parks, both places are each incredible in their own way.
They are both really great areas with a lot to offer. That's why to me, the traffic from where your job is located would be the deal-killer for Kirkland. All other things being pretty great - driving/sitting through the Mercer Mess, and then sitting on 520, and then creeping into Kirkland would not be worth it. Especially when its competition has plenty going for it. I'll grant you - you'll sit on Mercer (or Denny) to get to Magnolia too, but not for nearly as long, plus there are more alternate routes.
As someone who has really enjoyed the mobility of renting - perigree has a great suggestion. Two years is really enough to tell whether you can hack the weather here. We tried several neighborhoods before we found the one we wanted to buy in, and it saved us from making a costly mistake on something that sounded good on paper, but wasn't for us. I know moving with kids complicates things, but it's definitely an option.
I'll throw out some views regarding Mercer Island. I don't live there but have family who do, so I'm a pretty frequent visitor.
For decades MI has had a similar reputation to Magnolia - very vanilla, very suburban; the Perkins Lane (Magnolia) big-bucks people vs. all the waterfront yachty people on MI, tending to middle-aged and older households, very white (more Jewish folks on MI - several synagogues and the big JCC) - solid, even boring.
But tech people and their kids are changing MI's face big time. The downtown area, which used to be a couple of banks and supermarkets, now sports numerous cafes, shops and places to hang out. Magnolia Village is still stuck in the 1970s by comparison, which isn't to say that's a bad thing at all; MI is just a bit more dynamic these days.
I personally think the "freeze" is right up there with Bigfoot on the local urban legend scale. Most people are welcoming, and kids (and dogs) are always effective icebreakers. But sure, there are jerks among us.
MI schools are terrific, some of the best in the state. Luther Burbank Park is one of the best parks in the region, and beautiful to boot.
For family evenings out, MI and Magnolia are pretty comparable - a few local options, but many more with a few minutes' drive - Factoria in Bellevue heading east, downtown Seattle and the I.D. heading west, vs. Queen Anne, Ballard or downtown for Magnolia.
For going someplace outside Seattle, MI is probably easier as you're right on I-90, with easy access to I-5 and I-405. By comparison, getting from Magnolia to I-5 will drive you nuts, whether you go out via the Magnolia Bridge or out to the north through Ballard or past Fishermen's Terminal and Seattle Pacific University.
Commuting from Mercer Island to SLU will take longer than from Magnolia, but neither would be as horrendous (or as expensive) as commuting from Kirkland.
Both Magnolia and Mercer Island would be great places to raise kids. There are plenty of bikes and scooters, and they're not all stored all winter. But many kids put them aside and pick up their snowboards around December. On MI you're around 50 minutes to the snow, call it 90 from Magnolia.
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