personality of bainbridge island, wa (Seattle, Silverdale: transplants, renting, low crime)

[hbm]

Hello all, My family and I are considering moving from northern california to BI in the future. We are seeking a place that has good schools, low crime, and a sense of community. We have visited BI and think it is beautiful. It seems friendly, but, one never really knows what a place is like until one lives there.
Any comments on BI's "personality"? We are outgoing/fun/down to earth/sensible/moderate liberals.
Also, it seems like it is really a driving community,but, I noticed some bike trails and have heard they are expanding those. I was hoping for a place where my kids could ride their bikes around, to school maybe, or to friend's houses. I also love to mountain bike.
Next: Since it is an affluent area, do the highschoolers party with a lot of drugs any more than what may be considered normal ? Where we live now , it is much more prevalent than the national average with the resultant 4 year college bound rate at about 30%! (Santa Cruz, ca)
Next: with the weather, we wondered how the kids do all the outdoor sports. Do they just play in the rain all the time? I have no issue with that, just wondering how it's done.

Any comments would be very helpful..

Also, does it really rain 53 in per year or 35in. the stats seem to vary depending on the website.

[Malloric]

Might be a good fit. Like Santa Cruz it's liberal... but its pretty uniformly white, well educated, well to do, and socially conservative. I know the high school ranks well but aside from that...
It rains a lot, way more than 36 inches. A little rain never hurt anyone, imo.

[hbm]

Malloric, thank you very much for the reply. Any knowledge about the bike trails/highschool drug use/whether , in general, kids are predominantly mannered vs spoiled?
We think we can handle the rain, but, have never really experienced the 6 months of rain/ cloud cover/gloom/etc. One never really knows what it is like until you live in it. Here, it is sunny so much, that I get tired of that! This year we had a lot of rain and it was nice. In general, I can never go outside without getting a sunburn on a day when I forget to put on the sunscreen.

In the past, I would have said that I prefer diversity, but,now, it is no longer as important. Unfortunately, here, wonderful diversity also brings very bad escalating gang crime/drug trade/violence problem. This is not the right place to go into that, but, suffice it to say, it is getting very very bad.

[Hemlock140]

The minor drug problem is mostly due to kids with little to do. There are youth sports and other activities like anywhere else for the younger ones, but once in high school the kids have to catch the Seattle ferry to do anything fun. I wouldn't say that Bainbridge has a "personality." The downtown area is tiny, and the homes are far apart. Only a few areas that would be considered a neighborhood, at least not in the suburban tract home style. Yes, there are bile trails but once off the main roads there is little traffic anyway.

I'd probably recommend Poulsbo as a better alternative for families though it's only 10 minutes off the island.

[Gully Foyle]

Originally Posted by bisjoe

The minor drug problem is mostly due to kids with little to do. ...Yes, there are bile trails but once off the main roads there is little traffic anyway.

Are the Bile Trails related to the drug issue? I can understand how the Bile Trails would have little traffic.

[Sobefobik]

Originally Posted by hbm

Malloric, thank you very much for the reply. Any knowledge about the bike trails/highschool drug use/whether , in general, kids are predominantly mannered vs spoiled?
We think we can handle the rain, but, have never really experienced the 6 months of rain/ cloud cover/gloom/etc. One never really knows what it is like until you live in it.

In my opinion the kids down in southern California are the most disrespectful and rude people I have ever come in contact with (as well as adults) and I'm 24. From what I can tell Seattlelites and Portlanders are much more down to earth and social status really never even comes up in conversation. I'm not at all saying, though, that you are that way. That has just been my experience visiting family and friends down there, and even the people at the grocery store have a huge chip on their shoulders and an ATTITUDE. I think you will find the people here refreshing.

I have heard that BI is very walkable (so I assume bikable as well) and there are many activities to do on foot. You can take the ferry directly to downtown Seattle. Several times I have just walked on the ferry and there is a lot of stuff to do close to the terminal not requiring a car.

I agree that you won't know what it's like to live in the weather here until you do it. A lot of people from California come up here saying they love the rain and are sick of the sun and end up leaving because they can't handle it. Others end up loving it. I think the most important thing to do to get used it is to get involved in outdoor activities rain or shine. Sitting around all winter waiting for summer is a no no for me. Biking, hiking, kayaking, skiing, and other activities are in abundance here and can be done year round.

As far as drugs go I have never seen a real big problem. But at the same time I have never searched it out . Meth is a big deal around here and so is pot, but isn't it everywhere? I just don't think it's going to be any more of an issue here than anywhere else.

[Sobefobik]

Originally Posted by Gully Foyle

Are the Bile Trails related to the drug issue? I can understand how the Bile Trails would have little traffic.

Lol, I try to avoid those too. Fortunately I haven't seen too many

[Old Salt4]

Can totally sympathize with folks who want to exit California. Bainbridge is a very welcoming place and if you can leave behind the crass materialism and competitiveness that dominates daily living where you are at now you'll enjoy the lifestyle here. The rain isn't that bad, its a complaint we keep alive as immigration control. We have about 6 bike shops at last count so that should tell you something, you have to drive slow and share the road around here which takes some getting used to for transplants. BHS has one of the highest grad rates and college bound student bodies in the state (if not the nation) and drug problems tend to be tied in with absent minded parenting more than anything else.

[ukiyo-e]

Originally Posted by Sobefobik

In my opinion the kids down in southern California are the most disrespectful and rude people I have ever come in contact with (as well as adults) and I'm 24. From what I can tell Seattlelites and Portlanders are much more down to earth and social status really never even comes up in conversation. I'm not at all saying, though, that you are that way.

Well, that's good, because the OP isn't FROM southern California. Santa Cruz is in northern CA, near San Francisco. Very different, culturally.

[cabocurtis]

I grew up around Bainbridge and worked on the island as a youth and also am familiar with Poulsbo and Silverdale. Poulsbo is quaint will have to drive farther to get to the ferry. Currently I live in Seattle but drive through BI often. The schools are rated very well due to higher test scores. It is much stronger than north kitsap school district. Some may argue they teach to the test but a high population of the students due well on the tests over many years and have good college acceptance rates. The high school was recently renovated and I saw that with all the state school cuts the parents on the island kicked in funds to maintain programs thats were to be eliminated. Most other public schools are not so fortunate. The island has many back roads for biking but there are some hilly areas. In fact once a year bikers come from all over for the BI hill climb. Many bikers from BI ride on the ferry to seattle and can then ride down the waterfront toward elliott bay marina. Overall crime is low and the crime historically is of the petty nature, very little violent crime. I heard for some kids growing on the island its a fishbowl and look to seattle for excitement. That is the same for poulsbo, silverdale bremerton and port orchard kids also. With Seattle's roads worsening with the upcoming viaduct replacement and mayor mcscwhinn taking out road lanes for urban bike paths commuting to seattle on the ferry system isn't too bad of an option to have. Many islanders walk on the 35 minute ferry ride to attend mariner, sounder and seahawk games or concerts or plays in seattle. Bainbridge by far have the nicest ferry boats in the entire system and I believe will be getting the new class ferry system boats being built.