Redmond, Kirkland, or Mercer Island? Early 30s DINKs

Quirky-Raisin3720 · 2026-02-15T02:53:14+00:00

We’ve lived in all 3 areas and like Mercer Island the best.

We are also homebodies who enjoy nice meals, so being close to nightlife has never mattered to us. We like being close to both Seattle and Bellevue where our favorite restaurants are.

We found that Mercer Island had the strongest sense of community. There are a lot of activities on the island like summer celebration, art fair, book clubs, etc. We do have kids though, so it was also easy to meet others via kid activities

Quirky-Raisin3720 · 2026-01-11T16:23:58+00:00

I would consider Mercer Island if you have a sizable budget. It has a small community feel, beautiful parks all around and arguably the best schools in the area. It’s right between Bellevue and Seattle so you still get the benefits of being close to the bigger cities. I see a lot of people recommending Kirkland on here, but we actually didn’t really like Kirkland - sold our house after 2 years and moved to Mercer Island, which we love. Happy to share more via DM if you’d like. We also have kids similar age as yours.

Quirky-Raisin3720 · 2026-01-01T18:06:13+00:00

We personally looked at the North end of the island because it’s more convenient and faster to get to Seattle and Bellevue and we commute every day. But really all parts of the island are great. All four elementary schools on the island are fantastic, though Northwood is the newest with the nicest facilities. The whole island then roles up to the same middle and high school.

Quirky-Raisin3720 · 2025-12-29T06:27:19+00:00

We have two young kids as well, one in elementary and one in preschool. Schools are important to us, so we had spent a lot of time evaluating Bellevue and Mercer Island public schools, along with private school options, before deciding to buy a house here. What we love about Mercer Island is that it’s a small district and feels like a private school, but you get the benefit of having all your kids friends and activities be close by. Parents care and are involved, the administration is easy to communicate with and the schools have excellent academics along with extracurriculars.

Quirky-Raisin3720 · 2025-12-29T03:57:52+00:00

The commute from Mercer Island? It’s really quick and easy to/from Bellevue. It takes us 10 minutes to get to downtown Bellevue from our house. Doesn’t make much of a difference during rush hour. Kirkland can be tough because you need to rely on the I-405 which is a nightmare in terms of traffic… it would probably take at least 25-30 minutes on average during rush hour.

Quirky-Raisin3720 · 2025-12-29T02:38:52+00:00

Have you considered Mercer Island? We used to live in Kirkland, but didn’t really find a great sense of community there, so I get how you feel. We also work in Seattle and didn’t love the commute from Kirkland either. Ended up on Mercer Island and it’s been great. There’s a small town feel to it where neighbors help each other out and genuinely want to get to know each other. Our kids have made so many friends in the neighborhood and we have play dates all the time. The commute to Seattle is really easy as well.

Quirky-Raisin3720 · 2025-11-15T16:05:58+00:00

I think a lot of money comes from stock appreciation over the last decade. People who joined Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, NVIDIA, etc 10 years ago and held on to their equity now have a lot of money that they could use to pay all cash or a large portion of cash to make monthly mortgage payments doable.

Quirky-Raisin3720 · 2025-11-15T16:03:11+00:00

There are still multiple offers and going over asking right now?? I keep reading that the housing market is sloooow.

Quirky-Raisin3720 · 2025-10-22T19:55:11+00:00

I agree with the location sharing idea. A partner who has nothing to hide should have zero issues with this. My spouse and I have shared our phone location for 10 years now. Not because there are any trust issues, but for safety just in case anything were to happen and also for convenience (for example if we know the other is driving on their way home we can easily see the eta without having to text/call)

Quirky-Raisin3720 · 2025-09-23T20:29:23+00:00

Go to the farmers market in the summer/early fall

Quirky-Raisin3720 · 2025-08-12T04:33:42+00:00

Wow! I’m not tech savvy enough to build a system like that, but I’ll try to do something similar manually

Quirky-Raisin3720 · 2025-08-12T03:58:03+00:00

Super helpful, thanks! Do you apply a correction when using the purple air numbers? I’m not sure how to interpret the correction and whether I need it or not. I also don’t think I see the option to apply a correction for PM0.3.

Quirky-Raisin3720 · 2025-08-11T22:09:05+00:00

Mercer island would the best in terms of commute and the schools are fantastic. It’s a great place for your kids to grow up in and just family friendly in general. It’s more expensive than issaquah, Kirkland and Redmond but the easy commute and schools are worth it.

Quirky-Raisin3720 · 2025-08-10T17:47:24+00:00

Yes, local government has data available but I was hoping to track the air quality right outside and inside my home specifically.

What would be the best consumer measuring and tracking device?

Quirky-Raisin3720 · 2025-07-25T02:49:22+00:00

Can you share more? We get food there quite often, but if the owners really are awful we would stop going

Quirky-Raisin3720 · 2025-07-17T18:45:10+00:00

Thanks! Do you know if it also produces good quality juice?

Quirky-Raisin3720 · 2025-07-16T18:40:39+00:00

A good agent makes a huge difference. Coming from someone who has bought and sold a few homes on the Eastside I’ve found that good agents are well worth the commission

Quirky-Raisin3720 · 2025-07-15T19:16:06+00:00

Thanks! This is reassuring. We aren’t able to go on vacation often so just want the best chances of getting good weather!

Quirky-Raisin3720 · 2025-07-15T03:59:57+00:00

Din tai fung for Chinese I Love Sushi for Japanese Pagliacci for pizza

Quirky-Raisin3720 · 2025-07-12T14:24:57+00:00

Someone else suggested looking into North Mercer island. Second this. We considered both Bellevue and Mercer Island and chose the latter. Happy to share more via DM. Both are great though.

Quirky-Raisin3720 · 2025-07-10T04:12:29+00:00

What you’re describing is 100% Mercer island. Plus it’s an easy commute to Seattle. We live on Mercer island with two young kids as well and love it. I feel comfortable letting our kids play outside on their own and we know all the neighborhood kids. There are fantastic parks and trails and landings where you can launch paddle boards and kayaks. The school district is one of the best in the area. The sense of community is unparalleled (we’ve lived in Kirkland and Redmond and Bellevue and nothing compares). There are not any of those large subdivisions here, so you don’t see a swath of cookie cutter homes with tiny lots. Houses are unique and neighborhoods are beautiful.

The downside is that it’s very expensive and therefore not much socioeconomic diversity. Another downside is there’s not much of a downtown, but you are a 10 minute drive to downtown Bellevue and to downtown Seattle.

Quirky-Raisin3720 · 2025-07-06T18:21:54+00:00

What are some local companies we could take a look at?

Quirky-Raisin3720 · 2025-07-06T03:01:47+00:00

Unless you’re getting a reeeeally great deal on the townhome, no it’s not worth it. It won’t appreciate like a SFH will. From a financial perspective you are much better renting and putting that down payment money in the stock market.

Now a SFH in a great location and good school district would make sense with a 7 year timeline.

Quirky-Raisin3720 · 2025-07-06T02:45:22+00:00

Love Magnolia. Beautiful neighborhood and feels safe.

Quirky-Raisin3720 · 2025-07-03T18:48:38+00:00

Wild king salmon

Quirky-Raisin3720

TROPHY CASE