I will be moving this summer to work in a company located in Bothell WA. (Monte Villa Pkwy, Bothell, WA 98021)
Recommendation where to live?
I probably will rent an apartment the first year then look for a house.
Requirements are good places to ride, run and swim. I prefer riding safe than riding with traffic so access to trails would be awesome.
Thanks in advance
Tona
Invest in some good rain-gear!
Also . . how are you with extended weeks/months of grey, wet and misty weather.
It’s the Pacific North West . . it rains a lot! 
That was a concern but I currently live in Iowa. Today the temperature is Zero and the forecast for monday is -50 with the wind factor.
Ill be happy to get wet
I work for a company in Bothell at the North Creek Business Park. It looks like where you are working is very close. It’s a business park but has pretty good run options on sidewalks/“trails” as well as decent cycling infrastructure (though it’s pretty much flat IMO).
You can ride directly to the Burke Gilman bike trail and ride to UW campus or Fremont or you can ride out to Redmond & Lake Samm plus the Carnation Valley.
I don’t live up there but worked up there a few months last year and would ride from my office after work- getting to the trail from office on my bike took maybe 5-10min; you have to ride through UW Bothell campus to get there.
You will be working very close to the Burke Gilman and Sammammish River Trails. If you live anywhere along those trails you’ll be fine for training (and commuting to work). Look at your map in bike-view and you’ll see them all. What’s your family situation? Bothell is very suburban, so if you’re by yourself you may want to live in the northern parts of Seattle and commute out. Or maybe Kirkland/Lake Forest Park?
I am married and my wife will be looking for a graphic designer job. That is the main reason I am considering something closer to Seattle since I am not sure where she will find a job. Is Kirkland as good as Bothell(Trail wise).
Ill be happy to get wet
You’ll be that way . . a lot in the winter.
I lived up the coast in Vancover, BC for 10 glorious years. Loved it. But I knew people that moved out there with high intentions, but then got really down about the seemingly endless grey and rain in the winter.
Requirements are good places to ride, run and swim. I prefer riding safe than riding with traffic so access to trails would be awesome.
My daughter lives and works in Bothell - If you want to minimize the mileage interacting with cars, then you should try and nail a place right near downtown Bothell (I was just there a month ago, and they’re building a complex and working on the roads right by downtown). It’s an easy trailhead for the Sammamish River Trail, and connects to the Burke Gilman (both mentioned above). Lots and lots of distance on paved paths. HOWEVER - they hate fast cyclists (actually have a 15mph speed limit, not often followed), and hate in-aerobar-tri-bikers. Too fast for a multi-use trail, so if you’re looking for interval work on the bike, this isn’t a good solution. But there are tons of rides up Cougar Mountain (timed/strava climbs), and tons of rides around Woodinville, Kirkland, Redmond and parts East.
Check out Woodinville Bike Shop. Just south of Bothell on the 405, and right by the Sammamish River Trail.
Kirkland does have some good trails, but they are rarely connected to anything and Kirkland doesn’t have many dedicated paved trails for cycling so sharing the road is a requirement. Redmond has some well connected trails and good bus service to downtown Seattle and Bellevue. Almost anywhere on the Burke-Gillman or Sammamish River trails gives you options for training/commuting. No one has mentioned swimming, Cottage lake, Martha lake, Lake Serene (my favorite), are all good smaller lakes for swimming. For large lakes Lake Washington and Lake Sammamish are available, although boating traffic can be an issue with both and depending on wind can be choppy to nasty, Lake Washington has some restrictions on where. There are many other lakes, but these are all near-ish to Kirkland/Bothel.
Ok, so if I understand correctly Bothell is good if I dont want to drive at all but I think I will be taking a risk that my wife is the one that has to drive.
Is Kirkland and Redmond in a better place logistically? Driving wise?
Are you saying that Redmond is a little bit better than Kirkland when it comes to trails?
What would be the best start to do a 5+ hour ride?
thanks in advance and thanks everyone for replying so far!!!
Commuting Bothell to downtown Seattle is not fun. 1 hour each way, rush both directions. Not ideal. You either get close to her work, or you get close to trails. But not really both.
Bothell is better access to the highways, but if you live out in the boonies like Bothell, you don’t go all that far for things because they’re all close. Kirkland is pretty cool.
For driving traffic is an issue on I-405, I-5, and SR520 in the morning and evenings, it doesn’t matter if you live in Bothel, Kirkland, or Redmond. If you (or your wife) are okay with public transit there are several convenient/direct bus routes from Redmond to Seattle and Bellevue, the public transit picture for Bothel and Kirkland can be a little more complex (one or more transfers).
I’ve found it’s easier to get around Redmond by foot or cycle than Kirkland. I admit there may be a little bias since I live in Redmond.
An example of an out and back 90 mile ride from Redmond, mostly along country 2 lane roads, minimal stop lights or intersections. There are plenty of other routes available, and even the Lake Stevens half IM course is within reach. The greater Seattle area has a strong cycling community, with several centuries per season, the century routes are usually open to the public year round.
http://i594.photobucket.com/albums/tt22/gleep9/90mileride.png
It looks like google sends me using 202 does anyone know how bad that one is to get in and out of work?
How connected are the trails. If I am in Bothell can I get to that route? what if I am in Kirkland?
Thanks everyone for their help
First off Strava heatmap is super useful for figuring out the common cycling routes.
The best riding in the area is all going to be out in the valley. Lower traffic two lane roads. No shoulders but fairly good visibility and light traffic sort of counteracts that.
I am halfway between Bothell and Kirkland. The ride between the two is not too bad. Fairly generous bike lanes through Kirkland and into Juanita before a light climb up Big Finn Hill with generous shoulders and then descent into Bothell. 4 big lights in total. All of this is part of the Lake Washington Loop:
http://www.seattlebiketours.org/members/maps/lake_wash_clockwise.pdf
The other way to get out of Kirkland via mostly trails is to ride to 520 and then take the 520 bike trail into Redmond. Couple of annoying lights but nothing too bad. Once in Redmond you have access to the Sammamish River Trail and can also make it into the valley by doing a short ride on 202 (55mph somewhat sketchy) and then turning up Ames Lake Road.
http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/SR-520-bike-trail
http://www.kingcounty.gov/transportation/kcdot/Roads/Bicycling.aspx
I’m in Kirkland (toward the north end) and the cycle access isn’t bad. As long as you’re north of 124th it’s smooth sailing. It also means more commute options depending where in Seattle your wife gets hired. The drivers in this area are also pretty respectful to cyclists.
As a serious cyclist, I’d avoid Bellevue and Redmond entirely if possible.
Really>?
that is interesting pretty much everyone tells me Redmond is good for cycling. Can you elaborate in that?
If you’re on the northern / eastern fringes of Redmond it’s ok. The closer you get to central Redmond / Microsoft the more dazed and confused / entitled bike commuters you get, and correspondingly the more road rage you see.
Bellevue just sucks because of it’s infrastructure, while Redmond has the infrastructure needed but more incidents of driver / cyclist rage.
My two cents on quality of life. I live in North Seattle (Ballard) and commute to Everett every day. The commute is not bad (~30 minutes) and I have access to everything in the city at night. If your wife is considering a job in the city, you should definitely consider one of the North Seattle neighborhoods. The commute into the city would be brutal otherwise. Plus you still have easy access to the Burke-Gilman trail, although getting to the less busy roads for 5+ hour rides will take some time.
I would suggest looking at Fremont/Wallingford area. It’s a bit more expensive, but there is so much more to do at night. I honestly think it more than makes up for the extra commute and cost of living. I’m in my mid-20’s though, so I may have different priorities than you.
Thanks for the input. The problem is that we still dont know where she will find a job. She is a Graphics Designer.
I will be traveling there next week to look at places and grasp a better idea.
Would Olympic hills be a good middle ground? and how can I find places there? I put north seattle and it comes with Everette results.
Thanks
I would consider north Seattle neighborhoods to be Fremont, Wallingford, Greenlake, Phinney Ridge, etc on the west of I-5. I’m not too familiar with the areas north of the U-District on the east side, but I have a few friends that like the Ravenna area.