Poulsbo/Kingston or Duvall or Snohomish/Cottage Lake or Snoqualmie/North Bend (Seattle: houses)

[rachbarr]

Hi all,

We are moving to Seattle soon for work from Spokane. We took a tour this weekend and saw some areas we are interested in geographically, but I was hoping to get the scoop from locals on the areas themselves. Specifically, we liked the Poulsbo/Kingston area, Snohomish/Cottage Lake, Duvall, and Snoqualmie/North Bend.

Does anyone have any input on the safety/drug use/homelessness of these areas?
Good restaurants and some kid friendly things to do in these areas?
Good schools (we have an incoming 1st and 3rd grader)?
Affordable yet still nice housing in clean, suburban-ish neighborhoods (hubby would like to spend less than $500K on a house, we could probably swing $600K if we had to)?
General commute thoughts to downtown Seattle (Stewart Street area)?
Any of these places more politically centrist or moderate or libertarian than the others?
Any of these have a better small-town/rural/welcoming feel than the others?
General vibes about each place?

Thanks in advance!

[flyingsaucermom]

I think of the three choices Snoqualmie makes the most sense if commuting to Seattle.

A client of mine was looking at Poulsbo a few months ago. They checked out the schools and decided they will wait until retirement. I guess Issaquah high school is ranked like 10 and Poulsbo is in the 90's. Facilities were very different too (i.e. not as good as Issaquah).

[homesinseattle]

Originally Posted by flyingsaucermom

I think of the three choices Snoqualmie makes the most sense if commuting to Seattle.

A client of mine was looking at Poulsbo a few months ago. They checked out the schools and decided they will wait until retirement. I guess Issaquah high school is ranked like 10 and Poulsbo is in the 90's. Facilities were very different too (i.e. not as good as Issaquah).

I agree with saucermom, Snoqualmie is a great little town, added benefit of being able to get to the mountains and rivers easily, or climb Mt Si anytime you want.

[automobilist]

Snoqualmie is nice, though Snoqualmie Ridge is a bland sea of tract houses jammed onto tiny lots. I'm guessing that "hubby" will be using the park & ride bus service, as Seattle traffic is truly dreadful.

Duvall is a slight notch above Snoqualmie, in my opinion. More cohesive, and while growing, is not nearly as bent on developing ultra-dense housing tracts. From Duvall he would go to the Redmond park & ride most likely. Bothell is another decent choice, but heavy traffic in all directions.



Generally, the smaller & more rural towns are going to be less liberal. For some reason, the libs tend to prefer denser housing and a more urban feel.

[CrazyDonkey]

Originally Posted by rachbarr

Hi all,

We are moving to Seattle soon for work from Spokane. We took a tour this weekend and saw some areas we are interested in geographically, but I was hoping to get the scoop from locals on the areas themselves. Specifically, we liked the Poulsbo/Kingston area, Snohomish/Cottage Lake, Duvall, and Snoqualmie/North Bend.

Does anyone have any input on the safety/drug use/homelessness of these areas?
Good restaurants and some kid friendly things to do in these areas?
Good schools (we have an incoming 1st and 3rd grader)?
Affordable yet still nice housing in clean, suburban-ish neighborhoods (hubby would like to spend less than $500K on a house, we could probably swing $600K if we had to)?
General commute thoughts to downtown Seattle (Stewart Street area)?
Any of these places more politically centrist or moderate or libertarian than the others?
Any of these have a better small-town/rural/welcoming feel than the others?
General vibes about each place?

Thanks in advance!

Kingston Fast Ferry? Alternative would be car ferry to Edmonds, then Sounder to DT Seattle.

Where on Stewart? Retail core or Denny Triangle?

Snohomish, Cottage Lake, and Duvall would be tough commutes to DT Seattle.

[Seacove]

Originally Posted by CrazyDonkey

Kingston Fast Ferry? Alternative would be car ferry to Edmonds, then Sounder to DT Seattle.

Where on Stewart? Retail core or Denny Triangle?

Snohomish, Cottage Lake, and Duvall would be tough commutes to DT Seattle.

Agree. The best commute would be from Snoqualmie. Try it during a morning and evening rush hour, the difference will be obvious.

[CrazyDonkey]

One house in Snoqualmie that matches her criteria:

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/9...48846910_zpid/ - $549k, 3bd/3ba, 2,580sf, 1.5-acre lot. Close to I-90.

Also, Fall City:

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/4...48739920_zpid/ - $600k, 3bd/2ba, 2,505sf, 0.56-acre lot.

Issaquah (Tiger Mountain):

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2...96693428_zpid/ - $500k, 3bd/3.5ba, 2,108sf, 0.9-acre lot.