As we expand up and down the west coast from our Bay Area base, we’re always working to make ourselves — and our community — feel at home wherever they are. As part of that, we are launching a coastal tour, and the first stop is the bucolic city of Bellevue, Washington.
Across Lake Washington from Seattle is one of the hottest zip codes in the country: home to the garage that gave birth to Amazon and a perennial contender for the best city to live in America.
With the six amazing neighborhood pluses described below, is it any wonder that so many people want to live in Bellevue? Not to us — nor will it be to you, once you see why the housing market is booming in this beautiful little city. It’s a boom that makes Belong’s ability to connect people who own much-loved homes, to those looking to become infatuated by a domicile, all the more important.
1. Employment Opportunities
Jeff Bezos might have up and moved his empire across the lake to Seattle, but many big-name tech companies still call Bellevue home. T-Mobile’s North American corporate headquarters is located in Bellevue, as is Expedia’s and Drugstore.com’s. Other major tech companies like Facebook and Nintendo also have big offices in the city. Bungie and Valve both have their HQs there, too, making it one of the gaming capitals of the world!
2. Great Schools
Bellevue is home to one of the best school districts in the U.S., with several of its high schools ranking in US News and World Report’s top 250; niche.com ranks the system as third-best in the country. The crown jewel of the district, the International School, ranks #27 among all traditional high schools in America, and #60 if you add in all the magnet and charter schools. We’d say “Not too shabby,” but then a recent Bellevue grad might snicker at us for using such an inelegant cliche.
3. Bucolic Urbanity
They don’t call it “The City in a Park” for nothing. In addition to the acres of green space and sprawling parks contained within the city, the city’s also borders on the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, giving residents easy access to the Snoqualmie Pass. And of course, Mount Rainier, the most topographically prominent peak in the United States, is only 60-ish miles to the south. (The North Cascades National Park isn’t very far, either.) If water is more your thing, then there’s plenty of fun to be had on Lake Washington, too. From skiing to waterskiing, Bellevue has it all.
4. The Views are Dazzling
True to its name, Bellevue is one of the most scenic cities in America. Not only because of the lush park system we mentioned above, but because of the breath-taking view of Seattle and Lake Washington to the west, and the snow-tipped Cascades ranging to the east.
5. Proximity to Vancouver
Of course, America is a lovely and wonderful place to live, but we’d be remiss if we didn’t observe that Bellevue isn’t very far from Vancouver, which is another of the most exciting cities in North America. And one of the most ethnically diverse, too, with a famed Chinatown offering some of the best Chinese cuisine you can find this side of the Pacific. A quick two-and-a-half-hour drive through some of the most stunning scenery in the world, it’s the perfect daytrip. Pack your passport and come hungry.
6. Shopping
Bellevue is home to a number of upscale stores and shopping malls, but it is the smaller, mom-and-pop institutions that intrigue us most. From Frans Chocolates, to the Larsen Lake Blueberry Farm and Mac and Mabels, there are tons of local shopping options to choose from!
