seattle / redmond area
Jun 23rd 2005, 6:09 pm
#1
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Location: 100 mile house BC (tiz a long way away from devon)
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seattle / redmond area
Hi,
What Seattle / redmond area is like ? i.e. climate, lving conditions, etc, tried a few internet searches but not coming up with much, would anyone say it is a good place to live or not ?
or suggest somewhere in daily commuting distance that is ?
Cheers
Jerry
What Seattle / redmond area is like ? i.e. climate, lving conditions, etc, tried a few internet searches but not coming up with much, would anyone say it is a good place to live or not ?
or suggest somewhere in daily commuting distance that is ?
Cheers
Jerry
Jun 23rd 2005, 7:08 pm
#2
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Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 22,105
Re: seattle / redmond area
Originally Posted by jerry brewer
Hi,
What Seattle / redmond area is like ? i.e. climate, lving conditions, etc, tried a few internet searches but not coming up with much, would anyone say it is a good place to live or not ?
or suggest somewhere in daily commuting distance that is ?
Cheers
Jerry
What Seattle / redmond area is like ? i.e. climate, lving conditions, etc, tried a few internet searches but not coming up with much, would anyone say it is a good place to live or not ?
or suggest somewhere in daily commuting distance that is ?
Cheers
Jerry
Jun 23rd 2005, 7:29 pm
#3
Forum Regular
Joined: Jan 2004
Location: Dahn Sarf
Posts: 287
Re: seattle / redmond area
Originally Posted by jerry brewer
Hi,
What Seattle / redmond area is like ? i.e. climate, lving conditions, etc, tried a few internet searches but not coming up with much, would anyone say it is a good place to live or not ?
or suggest somewhere in daily commuting distance that is ?
Cheers
Jerry
What Seattle / redmond area is like ? i.e. climate, lving conditions, etc, tried a few internet searches but not coming up with much, would anyone say it is a good place to live or not ?
or suggest somewhere in daily commuting distance that is ?
Cheers
Jerry
The climate here is about as close to the UK as you can get (if that's your thing), hot and sunny in summer, four definite seasons, not too cold in winter, very wet in spring -- the Pacific NW can be a touch on the damp side
This area is very diverse, Microsoft is the bigest employer round here and people come from all over the world to work so you don't the WASP snobbery that you can encounter further south. There are lots of resaurants and shops selling ethnic foods and people seem to be just a bit more laid back here.
We live in a part of Redmond called Education Hill -- oddly enough it's called that 'cos that's where a lot of the (good) schools are, there are elementary, junior high and high schools within a quarter mile of where we live. Loads of public parks and sports facilities, baseball diamonds, tennis courts and there's an indoor public swimming pool literally at the end of my street.
Unlike a lot of the US the Seattle area is very focussed on pedestrians and public transport, there are pavements and bike lanes along most roads and streets like you would find in the UK, again in some parts of the US you either drive or stay at home, walking would get you run over or arrested
It's very green and beautiful, trees everywhere (and I mean everywhere!!), snow capped mountains in the distance more or less which ever direction you look.
The downside -- its very expensive. In Redmond, to buy a four bed house with a bit of a yard (and remember the houses are made of wood, not brick) you won't get much change from half a million dollars. The housing market is on fire here at the moment..to illustrate: we got a call from a realtor the other week at Noon to go see a house that came on sale at 11:00 that morning, priced at $425k. We got there by 12:30, there were seven offers in already and the bidding was up to $475k, and the bidding was going to close at 2.00!
So be prepared for the house prices ( rental on a 4 bed is around $1500 - $2000 a month ) having said that there are zillions of inexpensive apartments, so if you've not got kids it's ideal. If you don't mind a commute you can live further out of the area and it's a lot cheaper. Gas, electricity and unitlities are all a bit pricey as well round here.
Downside apart, it's great for families, if you get bored of Redmond you can either drive in to Seattle (outside the rush hour about 30 mins altogether) or you can get a park and ride bus into the city for $2.50. There's also Bellevue, another city a few miles away from Redmond. In Seattle there's loads to do, and the whole Puget Sound region has loads of ferries and islands to explore. If you drink wine there's a half dozen vineyards within 20 mins of Redmond...
All in all a nice place -- if a bit expensive, and sometimes damp -- and it would suit either dinkies or a family.
Jun 23rd 2005, 7:47 pm
#4
BE Enthusiast
Thread Starter
Joined: Jun 2003
Location: 100 mile house BC (tiz a long way away from devon)
Posts: 888
Re: seattle / redmond area
Hi,
Many thanks all for the quick and informative replies
Cheers
Jerry
Many thanks all for the quick and informative replies
Cheers
Jerry
Jun 23rd 2005, 8:00 pm
#5
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 22,105
Re: seattle / redmond area
Originally Posted by Big Vern
Redmond is a great place to live -- we moved out here June of last year.
The climate here is about as close to the UK as you can get (if that's your thing), hot and sunny in summer, four definite seasons, not too cold in winter, very wet in spring -- the Pacific NW can be a touch on the damp side
This area is very diverse, Microsoft is the bigest employer round here and people come from all over the world to work so you don't the WASP snobbery that you can encounter further south. There are lots of resaurants and shops selling ethnic foods and people seem to be just a bit more laid back here.
We live in a part of Redmond called Education Hill -- oddly enough it's called that 'cos that's where a lot of the (good) schools are, there are elementary, junior high and high schools within a quarter mile of where we live. Loads of public parks and sports facilities, baseball diamonds, tennis courts and there's an indoor public swimming pool literally at the end of my street.
Unlike a lot of the US the Seattle area is very focussed on pedestrians and public transport, there are pavements and bike lanes along most roads and streets like you would find in the UK, again in some parts of the US you either drive or stay at home, walking would get you run over or arrested
It's very green and beautiful, trees everywhere (and I mean everywhere!!), snow capped mountains in the distance more or less which ever direction you look.
The downside -- its very expensive. In Redmond, to buy a four bed house with a bit of a yard (and remember the houses are made of wood, not brick) you won't get much change from half a million dollars. The housing market is on fire here at the moment..to illustrate: we got a call from a realtor the other week at Noon to go see a house that came on sale at 11:00 that morning, priced at $425k. We got there by 12:30, there were seven offers in already and the bidding was up to $475k, and the bidding was going to close at 2.00!
So be prepared for the house prices ( rental on a 4 bed is around $1500 - $2000 a month ) having said that there are zillions of inexpensive apartments, so if you've not got kids it's ideal. If you don't mind a commute you can live further out of the area and it's a lot cheaper. Gas, electricity and unitlities are all a bit pricey as well round here.
Downside apart, it's great for families, if you get bored of Redmond you can either drive in to Seattle (outside the rush hour about 30 mins altogether) or you can get a park and ride bus into the city for $2.50. There's also Bellevue, another city a few miles away from Redmond. In Seattle there's loads to do, and the whole Puget Sound region has loads of ferries and islands to explore. If you drink wine there's a half dozen vineyards within 20 mins of Redmond...
All in all a nice place -- if a bit expensive, and sometimes damp -- and it would suit either dinkies or a family.
The climate here is about as close to the UK as you can get (if that's your thing), hot and sunny in summer, four definite seasons, not too cold in winter, very wet in spring -- the Pacific NW can be a touch on the damp side
This area is very diverse, Microsoft is the bigest employer round here and people come from all over the world to work so you don't the WASP snobbery that you can encounter further south. There are lots of resaurants and shops selling ethnic foods and people seem to be just a bit more laid back here.
We live in a part of Redmond called Education Hill -- oddly enough it's called that 'cos that's where a lot of the (good) schools are, there are elementary, junior high and high schools within a quarter mile of where we live. Loads of public parks and sports facilities, baseball diamonds, tennis courts and there's an indoor public swimming pool literally at the end of my street.
Unlike a lot of the US the Seattle area is very focussed on pedestrians and public transport, there are pavements and bike lanes along most roads and streets like you would find in the UK, again in some parts of the US you either drive or stay at home, walking would get you run over or arrested
It's very green and beautiful, trees everywhere (and I mean everywhere!!), snow capped mountains in the distance more or less which ever direction you look.
The downside -- its very expensive. In Redmond, to buy a four bed house with a bit of a yard (and remember the houses are made of wood, not brick) you won't get much change from half a million dollars. The housing market is on fire here at the moment..to illustrate: we got a call from a realtor the other week at Noon to go see a house that came on sale at 11:00 that morning, priced at $425k. We got there by 12:30, there were seven offers in already and the bidding was up to $475k, and the bidding was going to close at 2.00!
So be prepared for the house prices ( rental on a 4 bed is around $1500 - $2000 a month ) having said that there are zillions of inexpensive apartments, so if you've not got kids it's ideal. If you don't mind a commute you can live further out of the area and it's a lot cheaper. Gas, electricity and unitlities are all a bit pricey as well round here.
Downside apart, it's great for families, if you get bored of Redmond you can either drive in to Seattle (outside the rush hour about 30 mins altogether) or you can get a park and ride bus into the city for $2.50. There's also Bellevue, another city a few miles away from Redmond. In Seattle there's loads to do, and the whole Puget Sound region has loads of ferries and islands to explore. If you drink wine there's a half dozen vineyards within 20 mins of Redmond...
All in all a nice place -- if a bit expensive, and sometimes damp -- and it would suit either dinkies or a family.
Vern summed it up a whole lot better than I did. I'd dearly love to live in Redmond or Bellevue but it isn't feasible, if ever. I'm a bit annoyed about that. We currently live in Kent, but couldn't find anything decent to buy here and we felt forced to move even further South. Btw Vern, we encountered the same scenario 5 months ago when we first started looking for property to buy.... We ended up going for new construction and our house will be done the beginning of August....its already increased in price by $10k. Amazing, and we don't even live in it yet.
