Posted by unregistered user at 2/17/08 8:18 p.m.

Park at the south Bellevue Park and Ride and leave the driving to Metro! You have the chance to relax.......listen to the ipod, tap on the laptop, play with the pda, or just watch the bus denizens. Once you are in Seattle.....no parking hassles! I know I know....you have to stand out in the cold and rain and watch out for the characters but this gives you the chance to cuddle with your loved on (BF Mel) to stay warm. And in Summer....work on your tan.

Best,

BHS '74

PS....wait for light rail in about the year 2020!

Posted by unregistered user at 2/17/08 8:41 p.m.

Is Bellevue the New Seattle?
The answer is no.

Posted by unregistered user at 2/17/08 9:11 p.m.

I think the main difference is that Belleveue is the cookie cutter version of every other new city in the united states. It trades character for the shiny windows and shopping malls. I have many times asked people what unique restaurant exists that defines Bellevue and 90% of the time they come up with the name of a restaurant that's a chain or started and fought to gain their name in Seattle.

To be fair I do some of my everyday shopping over there because the malls are easier to wade through. However, there isn't anything there I couldn't get elsewhere.

I think it will take some time and some uniqueness for Bellevue to be accepted by people. So here is a question for you... what defines Bellevue? What kind of people? What's the point of its existance. And being overflow for MS employees just doesn't cut it.

Sorry to say it but even though Seattle is a little difficult to get around in... when you are here you feel like you're in a place that has some history.

Posted by BenSchiendelman at 2/17/08 10:12 p.m.

The answer is certainly no. A few years of new, car-oriented development doesn't add a hundred years' difference of history.

Posted by unregistered user at 2/18/08 12:11 a.m.

NO, Bellevue is not the new Seattle...It's better, it's different, it's Bellevue! Seattle is the old, and Bellevue is the new. There is good in both, and a need for both. There is a market for the differing cities.

Many try to make it into a competition, but really they compliment each other quite well.

It is an exciting time for Downtown Bellevue, for all whom live, work and play in or around the city!

Posted by unregistered user at 2/18/08 12:22 a.m.

Truly exciting times in Downtown Bellevue! It has a lot of special things to share with the rest of Seattle and the Eastside, and growing at rapid speeds. You'll find everything from new condo developments to a growing nightlife scene!

A simple differentiator from Seattle is how easy and accessible everything is in Bellevue. I spent 30 minutes parking this weekend while going to a restaurant in Seattle. In Bellevue, the parking is free, and don't expect it to take more than 5 minutes once you've arrived to find parking!

For more news stories and everything related to Downtown Bellevue visit:
http://www.downtownbellevue.com/

Posted by unregistered user at 2/18/08 12:47 a.m.

Bellevue is the new Seattle...how? Because expensive steakhouses open up secondary shops in stripmall parking lots and similarly-shaped giganto-tower developments are planted in the middle of the downtown core?

No. It's not the "NEW" Seattle. It is and remains a dominantly white upper middle class community that polishes its fingernails at how trendy it happens to be now that there's that brand-new fancy-schmancy chain restaraunt that just went in.

Want to be "NEW SEATTLE"? Develop unique stores and for the love of god, don't try to be LIKE another city. Be your own damn city.

Bellevue Trendwhores show up in my neighborhood in Fremont all the time, pee on my doorstep, swagger out with their Italiano spiked-hair and spray-orange tans, puke on my tires, and then drunkenly weave off, scraping the sides of cars parked along the road.

On second thought, maybe Bellevue SHOULD be the new Seattle, and those of us who live over here can come pee on YOUR doorsteps and vomit into your yards for a change! Sounds like fun to me!

Posted by unregistered user at 2/18/08 12:54 a.m.

No Bellevue is not the new Seattle and I'm sad to say that Seattle is not the new Seattle either. I live in Seattle and often think that moving to Bellevue would be quality-of-life enhancing. Seattle has managed to invest in sports arenas instead of neighborhoods and mass transit. The result is libraries and community centers that are closed when people can actually use them and of course less community services and of course a mess of a transit system.

Posted by JewelyaZ at 2/18/08 1:30 a.m.

Nope, Bellevue's not the new Seattle... it's a truly-livable place with a great sense of community that happens to be pretty different. Sure, we don't have Capitol Hill... nor do we have the anti-gay violence and murders. I'd skip the brass dance steps to not have the high crime and ridiculous rents. We don't have Fremont's cool and funky old stuff... but nothing here is old compared to the East Coast anyway. If I want west-coast "old", I'll take a day trip to Port Townsend. I lived in an unremarkable house in Philadelphia that was 215 years old; your 1891 facade is unlikely to impress me that much.

If you think Bellevue has no soul, you're just not paying attention. There's a fantastic, thriving community hub in Crossroads Mall... oh, whoops, Seattle folks have to sneer at a community that gathers at a MALL... but the food court is incredibly diverse and is all locally owned... Russian, Japanese, Mexican, Indian, Southern food..., and only a few of the restaurants are members of even two- or three-store local chains. The farmer's market all summer ain't Pike Place Market... but it's really good anyway and your wallet probably won't get stolen (as mine did in my first three months in Seattle in 1998 at PPM).

The Crossroads Mall ownership has worked really hard to cultivate a place where people come play games (chess and lots of others, including Eurogames at Uncle's); they've given the public library a fantastic lease and that means we have free books and wi-fi (not to mention having several bookstores and news agents too); and there's music or some other kind of public cultural performance at least four nights a week, always free. The local kids show off their art and writing, parents come to chat with friends, and the park a few blocks away is used by kids and families for well, park things -- picnics, barbecues, the playground, volleyball, par-3 golf, and a new fountain play area being put in for little kids that's supposed to open this summer... it's not full of a bunch of urine-reeking winos stealing office-workers' lunches. Sorry Seattle, I don't miss the street people harrassing me and my kids. Seattle needs to do a lot more to help its homeless people.

The schools here are excellent and where they have their rough moments because of property tax fluctuations, there's nowhere near the turmoil of Seattle's schools, which seem to always be on the verge of complete collapse. Our high school kids don't ride Metro buses over an hour each way either.

Is it perfect? No. Is it slightly overly-suburban? Sure. But there's a thriving community of workers AND people living downtown, and unlike downtown Seattle, families living there don't have to worry too much about risking their kids' safety or education... it's pretty safe downtown and there are essential services all over the place already... lots of grocery stores including Whole Foods, good schools nearby, a huge public library, and so forth. Young singles who want to live there amongst their hip counterparts have plenty of gyms, bars, and other nighttime venues to choose from, all within easy staggering distance. And other neighborhoods have their own distinct characters, perhaps less immediately noticeable than those of Wallingford or West Seattle, but no less real.

I love Seattle, but honestly, I often hate going there. And I had a great job downtown for almost a year and did the bus thing, and it was cool as long as I was working normal hours and didn't mind being jammed onto a bus like a steamy wet sardine on a rainy day. But all it took was needing to work late, or on the weekend, or for the weather to go terrible for it to turn into hell's errand. I got paid more but I spent too much money dressing up a bit (which was required), never mind the bus pass and the really expensive lunch places.

Now I live and work in Bellevue and honestly, it's bliss. We live in a quiet, friendly neighborhood with views of Lake Sammamish and lots of stars at night (low light pollution), parks, and a school where the crossing guards know all the kids and parents. Our rent for a 2800 sq ft house with a sport court, hot tub, and 1400 sq ft of deck is the same as the rent of my friend's two-bedroom 1200 sq ft apartment on Queen Anne (no view or garage). I drive or bus 4 miles to work at the edge of downtown Bellevue. Bad weather means leaving home before dark so that the roads haven't iced yet. Whoopie. It doesn't mean hours and hours of gridlock on any bridge... bad weather or not.

Keep Seattle. We'll visit, and we'll spend some money there too. Feel superior to us if you want. We don't care. We're busy living happy lives. You can come visit us if you feel like it... we're friendly here and there is actually a lot to do. But don't expect us to take your insults too seriously. It just sounds like jealousy most of the time.

Posted by Uptown Girl at 2/18/08 7:16 a.m.

In 1963 when my Dad had to commute across the 520 Bridge to work in Seattle it took him 10 minutes no matter what time of day, from our home in Clyde Hill. That same commute today during rush hour...hard to say but depending on the weather, and traffic...hey...you could almost drive to Portland quicker than you could across one of the bridges in gridlock.
My point is, the good comes with the bad. More development means more density which means more cars and people, traffic, parking woes, and crime. We have a nice downtown Bellevue mecca so I choose to stay on this side of the bridge to enjoy the cleaner, safe lifestyle.

Posted by unregistered user at 2/18/08 7:37 a.m.

Doesnt matter what is Bellevue or what is Seattle to any body but yourself.

I will take them both but prefer the semi slower pace of life and history I am part of in Bellevue.

BHS '74

Posted by unregistered user at 2/18/08 9:26 a.m.

Eastside King County DUMPS their homeless problem on Seattle! It works this way: Random homeless person loiters or panhandles on the eastside. Eastside police send them to the King County Jail in downtown Seattle, where they are immediately released as there is no room to jail homeless people for loitering. Presto, Seattle has to pick up the social services tab. Ask a friend who works at Harborview or a downtown shelter about this ongoing process.

"Seattle needs to do a lot more to help its homeless people." = ignorant eastsider who dumps their problems on the city...

Posted by unregistered user at 2/18/08 9:34 a.m.

To UR Post #99521....

So IF Redmond and the Eastside dumps their homeless to Seattle and it is causing economic problems for Seattle....then please tell Seattle to keep their gangs, thieves, hit and run drivers, murderers, graffiti artists, etc...etc...over in Seattle so the Eastside police departments can save some monies and do not have to deal with them and send them back to Seattle. Have you ever been to the Bellevue bus terminal and surrounding areas these days?? Looks like the type of folks you see crawling around 3rd and Pike and so forth in Seattle. The homeless are nothing compared to these Seattle thugs.

Posted by unregistered user at 2/18/08 10:52 a.m.

bellevue = white upper class brats, so bland.
seattle =diversity

stay in your dream bubble.

Posted by unregistered user at 2/18/08 11:23 a.m.

Seattle= thugs, bugs and drugs

Bellevue= class, some ass, sass

Bellevue dont need your pennies or thugs.

Posted by unregistered user at 2/18/08 1:14 p.m.

Both are inside King County. Seattle Needs Bellevue's property tax generating machine and Microsoft's power and prestige. Bellevue needs Seattle's Ports and historical identity for tourism. They coexist beautifully. Diversity includes all...

Posted by unregistered user at 2/18/08 2:33 p.m.

Trish: PLEASE, no more Eastside v. Seattle topics!!!

Stick to the Eastside!

Posted by unregistered user at 2/18/08 3:00 p.m.

You have got to be kidding me... First off, Hellvue is a pale imitation of Seattle that is nothing but a yuppified circus of cash and excess. There is no "soul" to your city and the traffic problems you speak of are typically due to your local employers hiring people from other states and nations who have little to no ability or experience driving in our environmental conditions. The fact that you don't even think to check the traffic online to better plan your route shows you are not the person to be criticizing any city, let alone the one your city of choice is desperately trying to clone.

Here's a tip on traffic for you: http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/traffic/seattle/
That should help you out considerably and also watch it between 3 and 7pm. The most congested areas are all "passing through" seattle from one area to another, it's not the city's fault and the east-side? Well, your gloriously pot-hole ridden, warped roads (405 north off of I90 anyone?)have far more traffic density than Seattle's as you can easily take almost any exit you like through Seattle and find a secondary road. I live in West Seattle and work in Redmond so I deal with your roads and your "city" all the time. Hellvue is for self-important yuppified jerks, Seattle is the real deal. Get over yourself already...

Posted by unregistered user at 2/18/08 3:28 p.m.

Sounds like YOU need to get over yourself first you west seattle I am better than thou attitude person.

If you want some "soul" I suggest you travel alittle further south into white center and let one of the bro's there introduce you to the pavement.

Posted by unregistered user at 2/18/08 7:06 p.m.

It seems to be truly a tale of two very different cities.

Posted by unregistered user at 2/19/08 9:23 a.m.

Bellevue the new Seattle? Not until the streets get a lot dirtier and the random assaults start to approach those of Cap Hill.

I meet more people in Seattle that won't hesitate to bash the Eastside, but very few on the Eastside eager to bash Seattle. Funny how that feeling of inclusion and diversity Seattle so cherishes doesn't extend to those who live across the lake....

Posted by unregistered user at 2/19/08 3:53 p.m.

Bellevue is not the new Seattle. Bellevue is Bellevue and I love it!

Posted by unregistered user at 4/8/08 7:26 a.m.

Hi,

For those saying Bellevue is not diverse, the most recent statistics say one out of every three people living in Bellevue was born outside the U.S.

I grew up in Seattle, and the neighborhoods were and still are very segregated (Ballard, Rainier Valley, West Seattle, etc.) Not so where I now live in the Overlake area.

My daughter's school is real close to 30% Hispanic, 30% Asian, 30% white. If you just visit Bellevue to go to Bellevue square, you are not seeing the full story. And we there are trees, and quiet at night, and lots of good ethnic restaurants.

I'm learning first tier suburbs are great places to raise kids and have access to all services and exposure to different cultures. Our bus system is getting better too!

Reformed Urban Hipster