Bonney Lake/Enumclaw questions: driving, parks, etc... (Seattle, Tacoma: ski resort, rent)

[e12345]

Hi,
My boyfriend and I are planning on moving to the Seattle area. He's in outside sales, so he'll work from a home office but his territory covers all of Western WA and OR, so he will have to do a good bit of driving to see clients no matter where we live. Most business will be in the Seattle metro area, so we want to live relatively close to Seattle/Bellevue/Tacoma, but he has the flexibility to avoid rush hour most of the time and he's used to driving (we currently live in New Jersey 50 miles out of NYC and he drives into the city, Brooklyn, Queens, Connecticut all the time...it can take an hour to drive across Manhattan!) He will have to go to Portland regularly also, so driving is unavoidable...

So here are my questions:

1. Are the roads leading to Bonney Lake and Enumclaw difficult if you can hit them off-rush hour? I know you're talking about driving into the foothills, are the roads really steep? Terrible in winter (I guess everything was terrible last winter)? We also want to live somewhere that we can find at least an acre.

2. How is the area around North Lake Tapps near the County Park? It looks like there are some nice houses on big lots near the lake. From what I've seen about Bonney Lake, there is a lot of development on the south end near 410 and we would prefer to be away from that. Dieringer looks like a good school district (no kids yet but you never know)...

Any info or opinions on the 2 towns would be helpful, we will rent for a while before we buy anyway. We don't care about shopping, other than groceries we only go to the mall like twice a year, so that's not a draw for us. Recreation (lake, mountains for snowboarding, trails for jogging) and land are more important to us.

Enumclaw seems to be more rural, which we like, but I would enjoy being near Lake Tapps and Bonney Lake seems a little more convenient. I should also mention that I'm no stranger to WA, I grew up in Bellingham and lived in Seattle (Queen Anne), worked in Bellevue but after living in Manhattan, we're ready for more of a rural atmosphere. I'm just not as familiar with South King and Pierce counties. Seems like you get much more bang for your buck than up north, and the towns in the foothills look like they don't have the crime/poor school issues associated with much of the southern area. Still, it's funny to me when people in WA use the term "ghetto"....they have clearly never been to Newark...but I digress.

[Ira500]

I've never done much traveling to Enumclaw, but have gotten stuck in traffic approaching Bonney Lake on several ocassions. Bonney Lake has seen a lot more housing development than Enumclaw, and other than the types of trees reminds me of parts of Central New Jersey where I grew up that used to be farmland....What you also might look at is Maple Valley, Black Diamond, and the easternmost reaches of Renton which is in the Issaquah school district. Maple Valley probably has the best school district south of Seattle, and being near Issaquah means being near all kinds of trailheads for hiking.
And you're SO right. These people don't know from ghetto. The Rainier Valley has nothing on Camden or Newark or Trenton or so many other lovely places in the Garden State.

[tudorjason]

I can't really provide any information about Enumclaw but there are a few things I can help you with about Bonney Lake.

There is basically only one major way to get in and out of Bonney Lake, and that is to use 410 up and down Elhi Hill. Most residential areas grew off of 410, so it can easily get congested during rush hour. It's not really slow moving especially since 410 is about 6 or so lanes wide, but I think its because of the timing of the lights which means there can be a long wait for your line to start moving. Using 410 on the hill during icy weather is dangerous. Many people just stay home or choose one of the more rural and gradual roads, but it can still make your commute dangerous and long.

Now if chose the North end near the County Park, you'd be able to use Kersey Way to get down the hill. This will lead you into Auburn. Just a little driving and you can reach Hwy. 18 and other major roards; you wouldn't have to deal with Hwy. 410 unless it's for shopping. The North end is more wooded, so you'd have a lot of privacy. Most of the new development, especially when Cascadia starts, is around 410. So, you would avoid it if you chose the North end, but I don't know how much land could be developed into new housing near the park.

I don't really know anything about the Dieringer School District. But with Bonney Lake living comes proximity to a lot of outdoor activities. My sister and brother-in-law who live in Bonney Lake go snowboarding during the season nearly every weekend.

Enumclaw is more rural and, according to Washington State standards, more "ghetto". Bonney Lake is just nicer all around but it's probably a little more expensive than Enumclaw.

I hope I have provided some new insight. Good luck on your move.

[jinj]

Enumclaw is a huge area, the city is small, but the Enumclaw zip covers miles and miles of unincorporated areas in both King and Pierce counties. We do most of our shopping in Bonney Lake.

Living in Enumclaw means you can be in states parks within 10 minutes of driving, national parks within an hour. Enumclaw areas do get more snow than most King County areas, we got a lot of snow at our home today, where most people won't even know that it snowed. Crystal Mountain ski resort is in the same zip code.
The King county is very poor at ploughing roads, sometimes they never do them at all. So you need to be more self sufficient, have a 4WD truck.

I moved from Maple Valley to Enumclaw, love it.

[XXclimberX]

Not sure why anyone would choose to live towards Bonney Lake, for one thing the road access sucks. And theres to many idiots living out there. The area by Washington state standards is "ghetto". I suppose if you want to spend all your had earned money at a Casino you can always do that. But the reality is that people in Pierce County/South King county are just straight up ghetto compared to people from Seattle.

If you want peace and quiet move towards North Bend and anywhere along I-90, the area is nicer, more educated, and well kept.

[jinj]

See, people have different thoughts, as climberX has. Some people like the cities, then some people do not. I for one think Seattle is a horrible drug ridden dangerous place, and other do not.

There is a new casino in Snoqualmie if you are into gambling, which is very close to North Bend.

[e12345]

Thanks for all your insight, everyone. I know from living in Seattle that a lot of people in the area have extremely strong biases...back in the day I wouldn't even date anyone who lived on the east side because I considered them a different breed. hahaha, I am more open minded now (older) and have different priorities. I still am not too fond of the eastside even though they have good schools, I think it is boring and a lot of people are snobby in a way that is really unappealing...sometimes I refer to them as Seattle's New Jersey--overpriced, proud of their high-end malls, think they are high-class, but overall lacking in culture. I prefer to live somewhere that is a little more down-to-earth, less keeping up with the Joneses. Anyway, from what I read about Bonney lake, the median income is like 75,000...I wouldn't consider that poor or ghetto by any means. I guess we all have our own opinions, I actually read a comment on these boards that Bellingham's crime is out of control, which gave me a great laiugh.

I looked at North Bend, but I don't know if we could afford the type of place/property we want up there, and easy access isn't as big of a deal with no daily commute. My boyfriend drives minimum of 90 minutes to get into NYC 2-3 times a week now (that's when traffic is good) so anything will be an improvement over that. I do worry about the roads, we have a Honda Pilot which is good in snow, but I know they are HORRIBLE about plowing, salting, etc. in the winter. I remember being trapped in my house at the top of Queen Anne hill with no way down other than skis...We actually love the snow, we live at a ski resort here in NJ (yes they do exist), but they do a really good job of taking care of the roads.

I think someone asked about gambling...the answer is no, we're not gamblers at all, although I know they are all over the place in WA because there are indian reservations everywhere you turn. Don't really care either way as long as we don't have drunk drivers crashing through our property. The muckleshoot casino is near the north end of Lake Tapps, right? Maybe that's why there's less development up there, I think a lot of that land is Indian Reservation.

Anyway, I'll definitely add a few places to my list--Maple Valley, Black Diamond, North Bend. Thanks again, any more info would be appreciated.

[tudorjason]

Right on! It depends on what one believes is "ghetto". But much of Bonney Lake is not a "ghetto" atmosphere, especially homes around Lake Tapps and along the ridge of the hill, where homes easily are over $500k. "Ghetto" in my opinion does not mean suburban, it means impoverished. The only place in Bonney Lake that seems "ghetto" is the area of Prairie Ridge, which mostly consists of mobile homes. It is unfortunate, because these homes have amazing views of the mountains and the valley below.

Once completed, Cascadia will the largest master-planned community in the state. It is just south of the Panorama Heights development. This entire section of Bonney Lake isn't and surely won't be "ghetto". Cascadia: Art of Living.

And I think there is some impression that Bonney Lake has a casino, specifically the Muckleshoot Casino. This is incorrect. Bonney Lake doesn't have a casino and Muckleshoot lies on Pig Hill in Auburn. But XXclimberX was correct about the access, which I described myself in my first post.

[secret_squirrel]

You'll have better freeway access and less traffic woes on the north end of the lake in the north Tapps area. It's not ghetto by far (that's down the hill ). Traffic slows down considerably around Sumner.