Where to live near Bothell, WA?

[coraljean]

My husband is interviewing for a job in Bothell next week, and I am trying to research good places to live near there. We would be moving from the DC area, and really we have had enough gritty urban living, so we are looking for something a bit different. I'm envisioning something with a small town, or even a country feel. We will be renting, and we have a toddler and a baby. Schools are not an issue though, since we will either homeschool or send them to private school.

The things that are most important to us are:

- Safety (low crime, no drifters)

- Single family houses with big yards to play in, or even a house to rent on some acreage (Hopefully for under $2000)

- Houses with character, not just new cookie cutter subdivisions

- Lots of trees

- Friendly people (some natural-minded folk would be nice, but as long as the people are friendly it is okay if they aren't all like us)

- Nice places to take walks/hikes

Some other things that would be nice (but not necessarily crucial) are:

- Coffee shops
- Parks
- Playgrounds
- Farmers markets
- Organic grocery stores

- Vegetarian restaurants

Are there any towns/neighborhoods that fit this criteria? I don't know much about Bothell - what is it like? We are willing to look anywhere within an hour of Bothell.

Thanks!!

[coraljean]

Anyone?

[memiles]

My first thought would be Duvall.  It's east of Bothell, definitely a country feel but a good crunchy community.

[DahliaRW]

The commute from Duvall to bothell would be killer, though.  I'm not as familiar with the bothell area...you'd probably be best off driving around and seeing what you like.  I know there are areas of Woodinville that might meet your criteria.  I also really like English Hill in Redmond.

[memiles]

There is actually a decent back way to get to 405, then it's a reverse commute back to Bothell.  

[Tigerchild]

My kids go to (public) school in Bothell, but we live in the English Hill area of Redmond.  I live almost within walking distance of two CSA farms (well, one now, since the other changed it up and is renting the farmland to restaurants instead of doing their CSA  Depending on where in Bothell you have to commute to, it's not bad.

It also won't be bad period if you are used to a DC commute (lived there too.)

There are tony places in Bothell, Woodinville, Redmond, Kirkland, those unincorporated areas are really close to each other.

While Duvall is a cute fun country place, I sure as hell would not want to do that commute.  Though at least now for the annual floods people aren't trapped without a grocery store these days.  :D

If you don't care about commute and like country though, you could look at Duvall, Carnation, or Fall City.  Or Monroe or Snohomish.  You could also look at Issaquah.

There are great farmer's markets everywhere around here, and a lot of CSA farms.  Tons of awesome playgrounds too.  We have Whole Foods (I prefer the local PCC though, they have better stuff, IMO, if I cant get to a farmer's market).

I like my place in Redmond because I live in a forest basically, yet it takes me less than 30 minutes to go to Seattle if I want, my city has a kick butt parks and rec department, tons of playgrounds, the local area has a ton of homeschooling groups (I wanted to homeschool until I found my public school co-op).  King County Library System kicks butt too.

But all that being said--be sure to actually commute from your location to where you need to commute to before you settle.  There isn't a ton of crime here, but there *is* a little crime everywhere, even in the "best" neighborhoods.  You just are not going to know how you'll really feel/like it until you're out here and have a chance to hang.

[coraljean]

Thanks so much for all of the great suggestions. It sounds like a really fun area. My husband's interview went well, so now we just have to wait and see! He enjoyed Bothell while he was there.

Thanks again!

[bangerlm]

I live in the Silver Firs/Mill Creek/Snohomish area and it is very much suburbia, but there are miles of nature trails throughout the developments and tons of parks and playgrounds.  There is a huge county park with trails, dog park, playground, community center and amphitheater.  It is a short drive to Everett, Snohomish, Woodinville, Lynnwood, Bothell, etc.  

[LiLStar]

Oooh I recommend looking for a place close by the burke-gilman trail/sammamish river trail (same thing, but the name changes at some point) its an awesome trail for walking/biking. Love it! I live in Kenmore which is right by Bothell (give me 5 minutes walking, and I'll cross the border!) and I love it here. I saw a sign for a house either for sale or for rent? can't even remember. but it had over an acre :D The area of Kenmore I live is a mile up the street from major suburbia, but at the same time you can go for a short walk and see cows and horses and llamas and such. I actually saw a peacock in the road today.. 

Bothell covers a large area, and so there's a pretty wide range of what you can expect from it. There's quieter areas with a more country feel (I think my cow neighbors are technically in Bothell) but there's also busier areas with lots of chain stores and such, a couple pretty major roads pass through. There are no areas in Bothell that I would consider BAD, its a decent town. I can't think of any area that I would consider particularly unsafe or..umm..unpleasant? (aside from personal taste, of course) 

btw, how did the interview go? You going to be moving out this way soon?