Where is the 'best' place to live in Western Washington?: Today So Far

• Kirkland is the best. Wait, Sammamish is the best. Maybe it's Bellevue?
• Almost Live! is back! (sort of)
• Langley on Whidbey Island is building a solution to its lack of worker housing.

This post originally appeared in KUOW's Today So Far newsletter for October 7, 2022.

Kirkland ranks high on a list of best places to live in the United States ... say wha?!

Kirkland comes in at third place on Money Magazine's recent assessment of "best places to live." Interestingly, WalletHub did its own unique analysis and ranked neighboring Sammamish among its best small cities in America, but Kirkland doesn't show up (despite the fact that both Money Magazine and WalletHub were aiming for cities with similar populations). Read more about all this here.

I've been having fun with these online roundups for a few years now, and the same cities generally show up, trading places here and there each year. Pop analyses are great examples of playing with numbers without getting a holistic picture. HomeSnacks, for example, ranks Bellevue on its own 2022 list of best places to live in the USA (not Kirkland or Sammamish). But looking at just Washington cities, Bellevue doesn't even make the same website's list. Different data and different methodologies can lead you this way and that way. SafeWise rounded up the "safest" cities in Washington and Sammamish shows up again.

I know that I'm going to ruffle some hometown feathers with this one (hey, someone got mad at me for talking about Tacoma, a city I love). It is not my intention to pile on any local community. Know that a young Dyer once lived in both Kirkland and Sammamish. My main memories of the area are that someone stole my Cabbage Patch doll, and a waiter was pretty rude to me (not on the same day). My general impression of these Eastside communities hasn't changed much from Almost Live's take in 1997.

But that is me. I bring this up because while these "best of" lists are great for chit chat and news blurbs, these websites always miss a very important point: Who are these best cities for?

What makes a great place to live? What features add up to a good, even "best," city? There are folks for whom this town or that city hit the mark, be it Kirkland, Sammamish, Seattle, Sultan, Tacoma, Auburn, Poulsbo, and so on. Personally, I have a few boxes that I like to check.

• Commute times, traffic, mass transit, etc. (25-ish minutes from Kirkland/Sammamish to Seattle, depending on time, park-and-rides, and if the sun comes out prompting WSDOT to close a bridge for maintenance)
• Are there any local watering holes / a nightlife? If so, is the local conversation more about the latest IPAs, sports, or how/if the X-Men can be woven into the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Easy access to the outdoors. (Sammamish stands out in this category)
• Access to pinball (only two pinball machines in Kirkland, and none in Sammamish)
• Affordability? Can a working couple with a mother-in-law find a decent place to live at a decent price? (Average rent in Kirkland is about $2,500; Sammamish is $2,600; Seattle is $2,300 / median income in Kirkland is $117,000; Sammamish is $181,000; Seattle is $97,000)
• Access to coffee (Kirkland beats Sammamish in this category, unless you like comparing the Safeway Starbucks to the QFC Starbucks).
• Will neighbors be OK if I hang a Starfleet flag outside my door? Maybe a Goonies flag?
• Farmers markets? (Wednesdays during spring/summer in both Kirkland and Sammamish)

I should note that I usually haven't lived up to my own standards above (What? I never said I wasn't a hypocrite). And folks could just as easily show people like me, who have lived in Seattle, a list that states: Buildings that aren't painted with migraine-inducing neon colors; don't have to dig a tunnel to get through town; proximity to Twin Peaks filming sites; access to high-class, boutique pot shops; and when I ask people to hang out, they follow through instead of just saying, "Yeah ... sure ... let's do that ... sometime..."

Sometimes, numbers lack nuance. The "best" place to live around here is relative. The most honest assessment is this: Our entire region is the best, not any single corner. It's the collection of communities with outdoor ambiance, indoor concerts, sports teams, and all the DIY creative small businesses scattered throughout. You can drive over to Funko in Everett, hit up a Seahawks game in Seattle, take a trail in the Issaquah Alps, hang out with friends and a board game at Bellevue's Mox, and spend an evening at the McMenamins Elks Temple in Tacoma.

What about you? What makes a great, even "the best," place to live? What cities in the Northwest are "the best" and what is on your personal checklist? Email me at dyer@kuow.org.

And for those who understood the Almost Live! reference above, you'll be happy to know that the show is coming back to your TV, sort of.

A larger, related conversation is: What do you want your community to be? That's what is being discussed on Whidbey Island these days.

The folks out in Langley have come to the conclusion that if they want to have a vibrant community — with all the shops, services, and other factors that make a great community — there has to be a place for people to live. You know, someone who works at that shop, or provides those services.

New housing for workers is going up in Langley. It's small, but that's sort of the point. Also, it's affordable. Local churches are chipping in to subsidize rents, so workers can live in that classic equation of spending a third of what you earn on rent.

It took a lot of local effort, zoning code changes, and goodwill to make it happen in Langley. Can it happen elsewhere? Read more here.

AS SEEN ON KUOW

Rosie Cayou, the great-niece of Henry Cayou, takes part in a ceremony celebrating the renaming of Harney Channel to Cayou Channel, Oct. 2, 2022. (Michael Lundren)

DID YOU KNOW?

October is LGBTQ+ History Month, which includes National Coming Out Day on Oct. 11.

LGBTQ+ History Month is celebrated in a range of countries (Australia, Brazil, Greenland, Canada, the UK), but it was started in the United States, specifically in Missouri. High school teacher Rodney Wilson began the month-long campaign of gay and lesbian awareness in 1994. Wilson chose the month of October because there were two LGBT Marches on Washington that took place this month in 1979 and 1987.

In October, the LGBT History Month website chooses one person to highlight each day. Today, the spotlight is on actor Matt Bomer. Seattle star Sue Bird was highlighted on Oct. 5.

ALSO ON OUR MINDS

Americans are becoming less productive, and that's a risk to the economy

Data now shows that the U.S. workforce is not as productive as just a year ago — it seems people are not producing as much in the hours between clocking in and clocking out each day. In the end, this could have a profound effect on the country's well-being, according to economists.

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