Go Pacific-Northwest, young dog!

July 12, 2017 7:10 AM

We are relocating to the Bellevue, WA area with our anxious cattle dog. Do you know of an apartment complex where The Nervous Dog can relax?

My wife and I are relocating to the greater Seattle area within the next 4-8 weeks. My new job is in downtown Bellevue, where we lived for three months this spring for an interim job assignment. Coming from a smallish East Coast city where pretty much everything is at least a fifteen minute drive away, we were thrilled about lots of things while we were there: the ability to walk to amenities and entertainment (and work!), the robust transit system, the scenery, the demographics...

Our very nervous cattle dog had a different opinion. She's not big on cities or even medium-traffic roads, so we feel strongly about finding a place where we are secluded enough that she can pee and play ball in relative peace.

After more than a dozen in-person showings (mostly in the DT Bellevue area) and much Googling, we are running out of leads, so we are hoping that y'all might have recommendations supported by anecdata -- places to investigate or definitively avoid.

Some more information:

• We'd like to stay on the east side of the lake. The bridge commute in the morning seems like a non-starter for us.
• The Nervous Dog is approximately 50 pounds.
• We are most interested in 2BR units (or 1BRs with dens) with a minimum of 950 sq ft.
• The DT Bellevue apartments more or less flunked out for either their expensive-but-underwhelming interiors, and/or because some aspect was problematic for The Nervous Dog. For example, some apartment complexes have a shared inner courtyard where there's an unfenced "leash enforced" pet zone amid barbecues and communal patio furniture. Ground-level units use the courtyard as their backyard, and let their toddlers and dogs free to roam (despite the formal leash rule). The Nervous Dog is not aggressive, but she can let loose a very loud and scary bark when she is surprised or stressed. We like to know the kids and dogs that we introduce her to, and do so in a controlled way.
• We are debating whether we have enough liquidity to buy a small house or a condo, but renting is probably preferable in the short term.

posted by zeee to Grab Bag (6 answers total)

Are wedded to downtown Bellevue? There are tons of less dense communities on the East side of the lake where things are more chill than Bellevue that might be more compatible with your dog. I would look at Kirkland or Redmond as possibilities.
posted by asphericalcow at 8:06 AM on July 12, 2017

Nthing Redmond. Marymoor Park offers an incredible off-leash dog park and the park itself is incredible.
posted by Tardis_Spin at 9:21 AM on July 12, 2017

[Quick point of clarification from OP: nope, not necessarily married to Bellevue. We were looking around there to make the commute easy. However, we are most interested in specific recommendations about particular complexes, moreso than cities.]
posted by zeee at 10:46 AM on July 12, 2017

Honestly, we looked around a bit and ended up just buying a place in Kirkland rather than dealing with our two dogs in a rental. It didn't seem like there were a lot of options on the Eastside that weren't pretty restrictive, and we felt it would add a lot of additional stress to an already stressful situation.
posted by potrzebie at 5:21 PM on July 12, 2017

I don't have recommendations for aparetments, but I do have some thoughts on the area. You may need to get out of DT Bellevue. I like the King County and Sound Transit buses for getting around the Eastside, even if they mostly run into the City.
There were some fourplexes and courtyard apartments in the West Bellevue / Moorland area that looked nice to me,but I feel like you may have seen them...
Clyde Hill / Medina are very quiet, but you will have to rent or buy a VERY EXPENSIVE house.
The Lake Hills / Weowna Park area was nice, you might want to stay off the major roads when looking. Crossroads is pretty busy with traffic. Bridle Trails sounds like it's what you're looking for - but it's mostly houses around there.
You may want to look around Factoria, especially SE of there up the hill.
The hill / 405/ lake acts as a chokepoint for commute traffic, so you may be better off going north or east if you look further out. Kirkland is pretty dense but quiet, especially if you stay away from the 405. Juanita, or ever further up by St. Edward State Park, may be a better bet (but you're out of the nice walking of Bellevue / Kirkland)


Msg me for more.
posted by the man of twists and turns at 9:13 PM on July 12, 2017

Thanks to all. We ultimately ended up renting a home in the Lake Hills neighborhood. Best decision all around -- acceptable commute, yard for the dog, no parking/pet fee, and great walking trails very near to the house.
posted by zeee at 1:25 PM on September 2, 2017