Commute from Lake Stevens to Seattle... Do people do this commute or am I crazy? (Bellevue: mortgage)

[elephantsofa14]

Hi all.
We've been trying to buy a house for nearly a year without success. Since my job is located in Seattle (SLU) & spouse works 100% remote, we initially looked at areas close by: Shoreline, Bothell, Kenmore, Mill Creek, etc. The budget isn't enough for nicer areas in Bellevue/Kirkland/Redmond.

Then we saw a few places in Lake Stevens, and we love it. The house is newly built, safe neighborhood, super easy access to nature, good schools for kids, and much more affordable. Buying a house in this area would cut my mortgage payment by half (or more) than the same quality house I would be able to get in Mill Creek/Bothell. This would allow me to save $$ quickly.

I would use a public transportation 3 days/week by driving to the Everett Station and take a bus all the way to Seattle. It would be an hour+ commute but I could get work done or whatever on the bus since I wouldn't have to drive.

But.. now I am searching some posts related to commuting from Lake Stevens to Seattle.. I saw a post where someone said they'd rather hang themselves than do this commute. It does seem long, but not tooooo much longer than people that would use public transportation from.. a certain part in Bothell or Woodinville. I am wondering if I am crazy to consider this, or are there other people out there that do this commute regularly?

Thanks!

[Blondebaerde]

As a commuting choice, doesn't sound like a great idea. Sad day when one cannot find a house that fits the bill in the areas mentioned. I lived in Mill Creek more than a decade and commuted to Eastside, that being Redmond/Bellevue/Kirkland for the most part. While back in the 2000s, nothing good about that either. 90 min or so out of my day (r/t) I wished to have back, and there were multiple variables. Due to the weather I could only ride my motorcycle about half the year, which took it from "abysmal" to "a bit dangerous". Moved to Kirkland a decade ago, erasing any commute problems and I'm not leaving anytime soon.

I think this is what you'll be facing: traffic volumes seem to be up, as the pandemic continues and/or wanes (pick your stance, I don't care to argue the point). That I-405 corridor is never fun during rush hour, it formerly started up just north of the 520 junction with little letup to beyond 160th. Everett via I-5 has never been fun in the 23 years I've lived in the area. I worked with a guy in Renton briefly in '19 who commuted from Snohomish, he worked flex hours (c. 6:30-2:30pm) daily and had a jovial personality. Otherwise, forget it. He was on the road by 5am and returned home 4-ish, as I recall.

Adding Seattle and SLU onto that would literally be intolerable for most...two dangerous words "I'm guessing" suggest to me you're looking at 2 hours each way, daily, and in crummy weather c. 6-8 mon/year. I would not under any circumstances call that a life, if you work in tech in SLU (I'm assuming). My opinion only, I've been remote since 2017 with a few brief bouts of onsite like that mentioned above and will if I can help it never do those commutes again. Ever.

[mayfair]

I agree- horrific commute. You could drive/bus it and get an idea before you buy since you're already in the area. The trestle can back up if you go that way to I5, and every other road out of Lake Stevens will be tough.

[homesinseattle]

Originally Posted by elephantsofa14

Hi all.
We've been trying to buy a house for nearly a year without success. Since my job is located in Seattle (SLU) & spouse works 100% remote, we initially looked at areas close by: Shoreline, Bothell, Kenmore, Mill Creek, etc. The budget isn't enough for nicer areas in Bellevue/Kirkland/Redmond.

Then we saw a few places in Lake Stevens, and we love it. The house is newly built, safe neighborhood, super easy access to nature, good schools for kids, and much more affordable. Buying a house in this area would cut my mortgage payment by half (or more) than the same quality house I would be able to get in Mill Creek/Bothell. This would allow me to save $$ quickly.

I would use a public transportation 3 days/week by driving to the Everett Station and take a bus all the way to Seattle. It would be an hour+ commute but I could get work done or whatever on the bus since I wouldn't have to drive.

But.. now I am searching some posts related to commuting from Lake Stevens to Seattle.. I saw a post where someone said they'd rather hang themselves than do this commute. It does seem long, but not tooooo much longer than people that would use public transportation from.. a certain part in Bothell or Woodinville. I am wondering if I am crazy to consider this, or are there other people out there that do this commute regularly?

Thanks!

Don’t do it! Edmonds (and even Everett) are better as you have overland bushwhacking options when traffic is tougher. Lake Stevens adds a whole other layer with small roads funneling out of Lake Stevens and how busy Hwy 2 gets as it approaches the I-5 merge. My advice, adjust something in your search so you can be farther south. Can you possibly consider a bit smaller home and/or older vintage. Mid century homes can be open and spacious, gorgeously remodeled and have large lots with mature landscape. If you are resolute about getting a “newer” home, buy something 5-10 years old in Mill Creek/North Bothell, the home will still have modern features but your commute life will be much more reasonable.

[rjshae]

It might be a decent spot if you have a WFH job that only requires you to go into work one or two days a week. But I wouldn't want to do that every day -- it would be equivalent to working an extra day every week.

[Transmition]

Everything backs up to get over the trestle, there just aren't enough options. They built too many houses in Lake Stevens and south/east Marysville, and no infrastructure to support it, and no one wants to pay for it. A two-lane road doesn't cut it.

If you drive outside of commute times then you're fine though.

[Hemlock140]

I wouldn't go so far as to hang myself, but I would definitely consider many less drastic alternatives. I work in Seattle and just for various needs have driven to Snohomish after work many times over the years. Lake Stevens is only about 20 minutes beyond Snohomish, but getting from Seattle to Snohomish was always a nightmare, even leaving Seattle at 2pm. Going up I5 through Seattle was not too bad, but then at about Shoreline and all the wat to Highway 2 exit in Everett it was always stop and go. I once left my Belltown office at 2:30pm and go to Bickford Ave in Snohomish at 5:30. There were no accidents or anything along the way, just a lot of traffic.

[rkcarguy]

Originally Posted by Hemlock140

I wouldn't go so far as to hang myself, but I would definitely consider many less drastic alternatives. I work in Seattle and just for various needs have driven to Snohomish after work many times over the years. Lake Stevens is only about 20 minutes beyond Snohomish, but getting from Seattle to Snohomish was always a nightmare, even leaving Seattle at 2pm. Going up I5 through Seattle was not too bad, but then at about Shoreline and all the wat to Highway 2 exit in Everett it was always stop and go. I once left my Belltown office at 2:30pm and go to Bickford Ave in Snohomish at 5:30. There were no accidents or anything along the way, just a lot of traffic.

The I-5/Hwy2 interchange area was stated as the worst traffic area in the state according to WSDOT, people spend more time in their cars on this commute than anywhere else in the state. Throw in an accident and it's just awful. I had to go to the mill creek area and there was a wreck on the way back, it was backed up south on I-5 from the interchange almost to the 112th St. exit (about 6 miles), and took 45 minutes to get past.

[mayfair]

There's a reason the house in Lake Stevens is affordable- there's no way around that commute. In the past (before it got built up), Lake Stevens was popular with Boeing workers who worked in Everett and wanted to live around nature and have more space.