Sammamish Plateau can feel like two worlds in one -- a modern suburb in a rural setting that has garnered national attention, and a place where home values have held up over the past year.
Population: 46,246 (city of Sammamish 2010 estimate)
Distance to downtown Seattle: About 18 miles.
Schools: Residents of the Sammamish Plateau are served by either the Issaquah or Lake Washington school districts.Recreation: Pine Lake Park, 228th Avenue Southeast and Southeast 24th Street. Offers swimming, boat launch, fishing pier and two new play areas. The park is host to community events, including the annual Summer Nights At The Park series of music concerts, plays and outdoor movies.
Fun fact: Sammamish High School is actually in Bellevue and served by the Bellevue School District. The school opened in 1959, 40 years before the city of Sammamish was created.
Perched above Lake Sammamish on the edge of the Cascade foothills, the Sammamish Plateau appears to be a peaceful, forested retreat just minutes from Bellevue, Redmond and Seattle.
But the last 30 years have seen sweeping changes to the Plateau. When Janell Focht moved there in 1981, Sadlier's Country Store was a favorite local gathering place. There was still a hitching post and Focht saw horses tied up outside along with the cars. But Sadlier's closed in 1984 and today the site is home to a restaurant near a new, busy four-lane roadway in the fast-growing city of Sammamish, which was incorporated in 1999. While Focht has fond memories of the country store and rural feeling of the area, she says most of the change is good. She used to have to drive all the way down to Redmond for groceries or gas. And the widening and improvements to the roads have eased traffic considerably, too, she says. "It is a beautiful place to live," says Focht. "We are still pretty small town, even though we have grown."
Home values have remained relatively stable over the past year, according to figures compiled by Seattle-based Zillow.com. The median value of all single-family houses in Sammamish, not just those that recently sold, was $512,600 in November, down 1.1 percent year-over-year, the Zillow Home Value Index shows. That compares to a drop of 11.3 percent for single-family houses in the Seattle metro area, according to Zillow. Meanwhile, the median value of all condos in Sammamish was $223,500 in November, down 8.5 percent year-over-year, according to Zillow.
At times, the Plateau feels like two worlds melded together by its geography. Some parts of the Plateau look like a scenic country drive dotted with large estates and farm-style homes on acreage with horses, and many residents report seeing deer, raccoons, bobcats, and even the occasional bear. Other areas have been developed into denser suburban neighborhoods with plenty of amenities, such as stores, businesses and parks. In fact, residents say it is the amenities that set the area apart and make it a unique place to live.
This includes a new King County Library that opened in Sammamish in January, with a stunning view of the Seattle skyline from its vast windows. There is a skateboard park, climbing wall and basketball court just across the parking lot as part of the Sammamish Commons, a 30-acre site owned by the city that also includes wetlands and hiking trails.
Pine Lake Park, with towering trees, a soccer field, swimming beach and play areas, is a popular destination for families and people who like to fish, kayak and canoe. In the summer, there are concerts and outdoor theater in the park. Homes dot the edge of the lake, with a recent flier advertising a house with 115 feet of waterfront for $1.9 million.
Nearby Beaver Lake Park is quieter and features a park popular with dog owners. The park's large totem poles remind visitors of the Native American heritage in the area, as do a number of places on the Plateau, such as Sahalee (Chinook for "high heavenly ground") and Klahanie ("out of doors").
The Sammamish Plateau is high, reaching an elevation of 615 feet at its highest point, nearly 100 feet above Seattle's highest point, which is in the appropriately named High Point neighborhood (520 feet) in West Seattle.
While there is only one plateau, the southeast part of it, which includes The Highlands development, is commonly referred to as the Issaquah Plateau.
Known for its world-class golf courses, including Sahalee and Aldarra, the Sammamish Plateau also has attracted acclaim for its livability and schools.
The city of Sammamish in 2009 ranked 12th in Money magazine's annual list of the 100 best small towns in America and 11th in 2007. "This Seattle suburb is a work in progress," says the 2009 story. "Residents praise the town for its excellent schools and youth activities, as well as its proximity to high-tech jobs in nearby Bellevue and Redmond."
"It is the newer, up-and-coming area," says Roy Towse, an agent with Windermere Real Estate who has lived on the Plateau for eight years. "The schools are fantastic here. There is an abundance of parks and a lot of new development."
0 comments:
Post a Comment
Tell us what you think