Issaquah neighborhoods

[carlh]

Sps is planning to fuck over our zoned elementary school and is canceling advanced learning so considering a move to the eastside.
Wants
Good schools, quiet location, easy i90 access pricing inline with north Seattle.
Current job is in south center but want flexibility on commute.
I haven’t spent much time in towns on the eastside but thinking Issaquah or sammamish. I think Bellevue is too uppity and expensive with hyper competitive schools. Might consider Kirkland or Redmond but not very enticed.
Where can I find a rundown of different areas? Currently have squawk, klahanie, Eastlake and highlands areas on the radar.
Probably target next summer for a move so no rush just starting to do research.

[plugboots]

Issaquah neighborhoods

I have a place in Issaquah Highlands, B-I-L is in Klahane. We like the Highlands because we can get to Alpental in about a half an hour, I mountain bike Grand Ridge, wife runs there all the time and we walk to dinners. I’m not so sure if Issaquah is less uppity than Bellevue though. We placed a high priority on being able to walk to things so we pay a definite premium for that. We have an incredible real estate agent by the way.

[Buster Highmen]

Eastlake was a kickass high school when our kids went there. Lots of AP offerings. Emily Dickenson grade school has an Explorer co-op school too.

It does seem to be getting detuned a little with the abolition of the French classes and cuts to music and art , but bolstering the football team/coaches.

We've been on Union Hill for 17 years and love it. No businesses up here, so I do miss walking for coffee or beer, but it's quiet, overlooked and low key with Redmond Ridge easy access for food. A friend just sold their house 1/3 mile away on 5+ acres for 1.35M.

But getting to South Center will either be a nightmare on 405 or will require sneaks through May Valley/SR18.

[carlh]

Union hill is likely further than I want to commute but you do get a lot of house for the money.
How packed in is the highlands? I would love to not stare at my neighbors wall and listen to them with the windows open and not sure I can afford that in the highlands.
My agent is one of my close friends who lives in Seattle but works across the region, he has solid info but I like to crowdsource as well.

[PNWbrit]

Lived on Squak for 23 years.

Big Snow events can be an issue with very steep streets (my even steeper driveway) and the fact you can be 1000? feet above downtown Issaquah in the higher neighborhoods

Power outages also frequent with mostly overhead lines running through so many trees.

No kids so can't speak about the schools but I understand that they're well regarded?

I like Issaquah even with the growth of the place since we've been here. Some good restaurants, bars and lots of small businesses/stores inside the ring of big box strip malls.

Traffic can be a bear but you'd probably be going against the worst of the flow if regular office hours in South Center.

Highlands is pretty tightly packed. A couple of years ago we thought about a townhouse in a new development up there. Leaving our forested acre of privacy was one of the deal breakers.

[Huskier]

Highlands is rife with HOA (sorry), the lots are miniscule, stare at your neighbor taking a shit affairs. Dollar does NOT go far. It was a good return in the early 2010's when reasonable $ got you a solid house, but that is no longer the case. Arguably you'd get more for your money in the central/north Zone of Sammamish but ski/bike commute gets longer. Not sure what your budget is but detached SFH on a normal lot you're looking at approaching 2 mil, give or take

OG Issaquah (Squak, Sycamore, Park Pointe) I think gives the best balance between school quality, cost and access. Came very close to winding up here

Orrrrrr you be like the cool kids and look South in Mirrormont (still technically Issaquah) and make your dollar really stretch. We're on a little under 4 Acres and paid about 800 less than a similar footprint in the Highlands, 500 less than Klahanie. Liberty HS, so you'd be lumped in with the Newcastle crowd. Not terrible. Also, 13 minutes to Tiger, about 25 mins to Tukwilla.



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[carlh]

How bad is the commute north out of mirrormont? I know I can get to tukwila around the back but jobs don’t last forever and I don’t want to hate life if I need to get to Redmond.
Being further in the woods is appealing to me but probably less so to the wife.
Budget depends on selling our house in Seattle and if interest rates drop but likely 1-1.5 with a preference for the lower half the range. We only have 1 kid so don’t need a giant house and I would prefer money in my retirement account to designer finishes.

Highlands is rife with HOA (sorry), the lots are miniscule, stare at your neighbor taking a shit affairs. Dollar does NOT go far. It was a good return in the early 2010's when reasonable $ got you a solid house, but that is no longer the case. Arguably you'd get more for your money in the central/north Zone of Sammamish but ski/bike commute gets longer. Not sure what your budget is but detached SFH on a normal lot you're looking at approaching 2 mil, give or take

OG Issaquah (Squak, Sycamore, Park Pointe) I think gives the best balance between school quality, cost and access. Came very close to winding up here

Orrrrrr you be like the cool kids and look South in Mirrormont (still technically Issaquah) and make your dollar really stretch. We're on a little under 4 Acres and paid about 800 less than a similar footprint in the Highlands, 500 less than Klahanie. Liberty HS, so you'd be lumped in with the Newcastle crowd. Not terrible. Also, 13 minutes to Tiger, about 25 mins to Tukwilla.



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[Huskier]

It's, uh, awful. But a big confounding factor is all the construction on 18 diverting northbound traffic, which won't last forever. Unfortunately the Maple valley crowd has found it a convenient way to get to Bellevue and that area is definitely growing. Ms. Doc didn't love the move out of the city either but she did love the peace and quiet.

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[phatty]

Lived in Issaquah for 23 years. Lived on Squak first, then Highlands before it got fully developed. Been in Klahanie for the past 18yrs.

Squak is pretty nice, but as Brit says, snow gets dicey and loses power.

Highlands is great access and convenience with shops, etc. I hated it because the streets are narrow and you pay for the privilege of living in the Highlands. Great internet, though.

Klahanie is great as the schools are walkable. We have an HOA, but it's not too bad. We have 2 swimming pools with 1 year round. Lots of trails close and Duthie/Grand Ridge is 5 minutes away. Can get to Alpental in 40 minutes. Also, all power is underground. We have not lost power for more than 5 minutes in all the years we've been here. So we got that going for us.

Lots of other great neighborhoods around the plateau. Also agree that it's just as uppity out here as Bellevue but not quites as bougie as the waterfront neighborhoods there. The heavy Asian influence here keeps competition going at school. My kids in college say it's pretty easy coming from Skyline HS.

You've been to my place, so you've seen it out here. I love it, but would move down on Lake Sammamish in a second if I could afford it.

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[PNWbrit]

"How bad is the commute north out of mirrormont? I know I can get to tukwila around the back but jobs don’t last forever and I don’t want to hate life if I need to get to Redmond."

Can be ~30 minutes to get between Mirrormount/90 or 90/Mirrormount during commutage. On a day there's a wreck on IH (often) don't bother.

And it's only going to get worse as the huge development in Black Diamond continues.

[Going Coastal]

I have lived in North Bend since June. Things are a lot quieter once you get past Issaquah, and if you have a long drive to/from 90 it may be a wash in commute time. 20min to the pass and biking right out the door.

[phatty]

I have lived in North Bend since June. Things are a lot quieter once you get past Issaquah, and if you have a long drive to/from 90 it may be a wash in commute time. 20min to the pass and biking right out the door.

Was just talking with a buddy from Issaquah and saying we both were thinking about North Bend. I'm lucky to work remote and not worry about a commute, so NB becomes more of an option. Unfortunately it rains an average of 12" more there than Issaquah (59" to 46"). The quicker access is nice, but I'm not sure I want that much more rain.

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[Going Coastal]

I can definitely understand that. I will personally take rain everyday of the week if I can avoid suburbia, because I don't know if I could last more than 3mo before having a Falling Down moment, haha.

[carlh]

Great info so far, keep it coming. I need to bring the wife and go wander some areas this fall.

[puma]

We have been in North Bend for a few years. Love the access to recreation, views, walks out the front door with the dogs, and privacy. I am mainly WFH, and Bellevue is where I go if not WFH so that helps. Adding 15 minutes (As compared to Issaquah) going anywhere but east is noticeable if done often. We miss having a multitude of walking options for food\beer\coffee, but something I miss less than my other half does. I would also say the chance my political views do not align with someone is higher out here than closer to the city, but that does not worry me as much as the better half...

With the very recent and inevitable announcement of RTO 5 days a week by the Amazonion overlords, my wife is much more insistent upon moving closer in. I hear Magnolia is nice...