Might be Moving -- Which Snohomish County Community?

[RogerB]

My job is moving to Mukilteo, WA. I'm wondering what the communities around there are like wrt biking. I'm interested in commuting as well as recreational, family, and endurance riding, so trying to balance all of these.

Of course, other factors play into this, like the cost of housing and quality of schools, but this is a bike forum, so I'm looking especially for any opinions from a cyclist's point of view.

TIA.

[Seattle Forrest]

It's pretty suburban up there. I guess if it were me, I'd start by trying to figure out whether I'd want to live near the coast, amongst the farms, in all the suburban development, in the foothills, or what.

[mrtibbs_here]

Mukilteo is very nice, lots of it are actually extremely nice with great views of the water. There's a ferry from Mukilteo that'll put you on Whidbey Island after just a short trip - And that's a great place to cycle (challenging though, lots of up and down).

As far as where you want to live, you'd have a lot of choice. You could live in Mukilteo? You could also consider living in Seattle, if you like living in the city - If you drove you'd be heading away from the heavy traffic both ways (i.e., the heavy traffic in the A.M. goes from North to South, heading to Seattle, and you'd be in Seattle, heading the other way, to work in Mukilteo).

The road into Mukilteo is steep and goes right down to the water. If you cycle and are thinking to live there, you might look at places higher on the hill so that you don't always have to climb the steep hill as soon as you go out the door (though coming home would always be fast, fun and easy).

Its a nice spot your company are moving too,...could have done a lot worse.

[woodway]

You say you want to bike commute to work, how far are you comfortable commuting?

Take that distance and on a map draw a circle around your office at that distance. Within the circle you will find city living, suburban living or country living. Which do you prefer?

You have many choices.

[ngateguy]

You might look into Snohomish it is a grat place to live if you ride. The Centenial Trail starts there and ther are pleanty of road bike oppurtunities in the area.

[scozim]

I lived in Lake Stevens and loved it. Good roads for riding and access to a nice multi purpose trail. Send a PM to Roger M - he's in the Snohomish area and can provide some good feedback on riding.

[zoltani]

You say you want to bike commute to work, how far are you comfortable commuting?

Take that distance and on a map draw a circle around your office at that distance. Within the circle you will find city living, suburban living or country living. Which do you prefer?

You have many choices.

There is a site that does this for you
http://www.walkscore.com/apartments

You can map out where you work and it delineate an area by commute time given your mode of choice, auto, bus, or bike....pretty niffty actually.

[MillCreek]

I lived in Mukilteo for many years and now live in Mill Creek, a few miles east of Mukilteo. Harbour Pointe in Mukilteo, where I lived, is a planned development with lots and lots of quiet roads for biking. Mill Creek offers the same. Both of these places are great for a quick ride after work or on the weekend.

Lynnwood and Edmonds have much busier roads. Snohomish has the Centennial Trail. Further east, such as Monroe, etc. offers a more rural biking experience.

If you are in Wichita and moving to Mukilteo, I am guessing that you are with Boeing and will be working at Paine Field. If I was in your shoes, I would try to live in an area where I did not have to drive on I-5 or 405 to get to work. The commutes on those freeways around Boeing shift change can be somewhat of a bear.

In south Snohomish county, the Mukilteo, Everett and Edmonds school districts are all well-regarded.

[toolbear]

Snohomish County is a bedroom for Seattle. The woods have gone for tracts of housing. There are a lot of nice Class I trails from Snohomish down to Thurston County.

Probably a shock after Kansas - lots of trees, lots of hills, lots of rain ("NorthWet"), mountains left and right, volcanoes, great recreation, but no tornadoes at 2 AM. Of course, when the Cascadia Subduction Zone cuts loose (again), we are going to have some issues. Tsunami, yep. OTOH - not much snow to shovel. In fact, when we get snow - major furballs. The locals don't see it enough to learn how to drive it.

Here is the TrailLink listing of trails within 50 miles of Everett.

http://www.traillink.com/trailsearch...t=Everett&sp=N

The Snohomish Centennial is a great ride - and should extend to the county line this year.

You will need good GoreTex. Cabelas offers a fine selection.

[milnerpt]

i worked throughout Snohomish county. It may be a little close minded, but here is my take:

Living in Mukilteo.... maybe better if you have a family and wat to live 'in town' as well as a short commute. My fiancee grew up there.

living in everett or marysville. You couldnt pay me enough. Granted, ol town Everett can be cool, but ugh.

Live in Lynnwood or Mill creek if you like living around traffic associated with national chains, strip malls.... the real suburban life. Its not me.

I know quite a few people who live in Whidbey and commute to work on the ferry. Whidbey has great riding. Its much more of a sense of community. If you enjoy the arts and weaving, my fiancee's mom is waaaay into the guild on the island. You get used to the ferry, but I dislike driving on it... $$ and a time sink. Bu as long as you jst want to shop regular stores once a week and can handle a smaller grocery chain during the week you are fine.

Snohomish and Monroe. Great riding. We do a lot of training out this way. Gotta look out for the angry people in beat up trucks giving you the bird, but they arent violent at you. The city of Snohomish has some real 'cute' and 'up and coming' places I feel. Both of these towns have some reeeeeaaaaal backwoods people out in the country though. But they mostly stick to themselves.

I think biking to work may not be too feasable unless you live in Muk or Everett.

If you enjoy city living, I would greatly recommend living closer to Seattle. I lived for a year near 90th, and commuted every morning to Marysville. Only took 25-30 min because you are going against traffic. The same thing oter direction would take 3x as long.

These are the perspectives of a early 30's racer, engaged, no kids, seeing people in the homes throughout King/Snohomish county the last 5 years.

[Satchmo]

How hot are you on living in Snohomish County?

Woodinville/Bothell are right on the border of King and Snohomish and have nice access the Burke-Gilman Trail. Also they are right off of 405 which is a direct shot into Mukilteo going against the flow of traffic (assuming you work normal hours).

Of course if you wanted to bike to work it wouldn't such a good spot.

[RogerB]

Well, I hear Snohomish is better than King for taxes, but I've also been advised to look in the Bothell area. Bike commuting to Muk may be a pipe dream, because other considerations will take precedence. Nothing is off the table, though.

It's also possible, even likely, that after a few years working in Mukilteo, I would be asked to move to some program that is south of I-90. So, while initially I was considering Marysville, we are now more biased to be as far south (in the north) as we can afford.

[ngateguy]

Well, I hear Snohomish is better than King for taxes, but I've also been advised to look in the Bothell area. Bike commuting to Muk may be a pipe dream, because other considerations will take precedence. Nothing is off the table, though.

It's also possible, even likely, that after a few years working in Mukilteo, I would be asked to move to some program that is south of I-90. So, while initially I was considering Marysville, we are now more biased to be as far south (in the north) as we can afford.

Just a heads up, but I have found that Marysville is not very bike freindly.

[Black wallnut]

If after a few years your job moves to say Renton you might wish to move south. Commute north to south along either freeway is with the traffic and will be time and resource heavy. I've no knowledge of the schools but you might also want to consider north of Everett as well. Marysville seems like a nice community based on the few times I've been there delivering freight.

[Mr. Cranky]

I live in Kirkland and work in Everett. It's just over 20 miles each way but I do manage to commute by bike once or twice a week during nice weather, albeit less often during the crummy/dark season. Logistically it's very feasible but time limitations prevent me from doing it more. It's halfway between Everett and Renton so in the off chance that your job moves south you wouldn't need to move. That very reason is a large part of why I ended up in Kirkland myself.

I have found that the Kirkland area is very bike friendly, in my opinion. Easy access to the Burke-Gilman and Sammammish River Trails, good mix of roads to do weekend rides, enough of the roads have bike lanes or wide shoulders, etc... I can't speak much of Everett or Mukilteo since I've only gone directly to and from work and haven't ridden there recreationally.

I'm happy to share more, just let me know.

[woodway]

I live in Snohomish County, maybe a mile north of the county line between Woodinville and Maltby. My work is in Bellevue and I commute there by bike every day. Pretty nice commute. From Bothell, a bike commute up to Mukilteo would be very feasible, as would a commute south to I-90. It just depends on how much time you want to put in. I

I've never cycled in Kansas, but from visting the city I remember it being pretty flat. You may need a gearing check when you get here.

[Seattle Forrest]

Well, I hear Snohomish is better than King for taxes

Honestly, this is a bad reason to choose one part of Pugetopolis over another to live in. Would you really drive an extra hour and a half to and from work, or live in a community you don't like, to save a pittance on taxes? At least narrow things down to a short list of places that are acceptable to you before you consider this.

Also, don't buy a house sight-unseen. Don't even buy one without living in the neighborhood for a while. You should rent for your first year out here, in case you don't like where you wind up, or our long, wet, and dark winters. Plus, Mukilteo and Renton aren't exactly close, by congested urban driving standards. There isn't a place where you can reach both of them comfortably at rush hour. If you might wind up working in Renton in the not too distant future, your best bet would be to cross that bridge when you get to it ... by moving.

[RogerB]

I would say that my job is in Mukilteo for the foreseeable future: 5 years or so.

County taxes are one consideration of many. The old "if all else is equal" argument applies, here, but when is that ever true? Another friend in the area (who also came from Wichita) mentioned the taxes. I floated the baloon here to get another opinion, which S. Forrest has provided.

Bottom line is I'm not hard over on Snohomish County, but that's where my work is for now so it makes sense to live in that general vicinity.

Thanks to all for your inputs so far. It is very helpful.

[Black wallnut]

In years past on a good day i could make it and did from Everett to Kent in just over and hour at the tail end of the morning commute in a big truck. Many times. By utilizing the express lanes and driving to my abilities; ymmv. That said going against the flow on 405 would have taken at least as long. I've no idea what traffic is like in Kansas but in the Puget Sound region it is more often than not terrible and getting worse every year. It is wise to find housing within a comfortable bicycle commute distance. Should your job change move or change jobs.

[MillCreek]

I work for a large healthcare system and often have to travel between facilities in the Greater Puget Sound area. Here are my usual morning travel times with typical traffic and with all departures from home at 0630 to 'beat the traffic':

Home (Mill Creek) to Everett (12 miles) on back roads: 20 minutes
Home to Renton (33 miles) on 405: 60-75 minutes
Home to downtown Seattle (27 miles) on I-5: 60-90 minutes
Home to Olympia (92 miles) on 405 and I-5: 150-180 minutes

It usually takes longer on the trip home, except for the Everett trip. Add more round-trip time if the weather is bad.

As someone who has lived in this area for 50 years, the traffic is not getting better, that is for sure.

[moleman76]

Snohomish, if you don't mind a bit of hill climbing in the last 1/3 of your 15-20 mile commute. Great and direct access to a lot of cycling territory without having to drive to the start. Nice bike shop in the quaint old part of town.

Southeast Everett - Mill Creek, west of Highway 9, if you'd rather be up on the same level (more or less), with Boeing etc.

http://www.commtrans.org/FAQs/BikeMaps.cfm will give you some fairly reasonable ideas about bike-friendliness of roads/streets, and the >> marks pointing up the hills.

welcome!

[toddles]

Muk or Lake Stevens are your best bets IMHO. Lake Stevens gets you access to the Centennial Trail which is a kick arse ride that you can almost take all the way to Skagit County (the North End trail which extends the CT out of Bryant, Snohimish Country will go all the way to Lake McMurray).

[RogerB]

Snohomish FTW! Actually, Seattle Hill area, closer to Mill Creek. Good schools, only 10 miles from work, and just a few miles from the Centennial Trail. Unfortunately, the place is less walkable than where I live now, but moving from where we are, we knew there'd be compromises. On the plus side, there appears to be an actual transit system.

[MillCreek]

Welcome, neighbor. And we probably are neighbors. I am in the same area.

[toddles]

Welcome, neighbor. And we probably are neighbors. I am in the same area.

Don't listen to MillCreek. He thinks he lives there.