I agree.
I disagree. Much of Bellevue is dumpy.
Random house on Zillow:
https://i.imgur.com/80l8m3Z.jpgI agree.
SeaTac and Renton prices don't factor in to Seattle median prices. Right?
You can get maybe 40% more square footage per $, but other than that, I don't see what bang you get for living in Bellevue, other than status symbol of having a zip code in Bellevue. Every town has nice neighborhoods and dumpy neighborhoods. Bellevue is crowded.
For $500k you can get a nice house with a yard in Sumner right by the Sounder station and get to AMZN in ~45 mins on a nice smooth train with wifi and a quick bus transfer, or a single express bus with comfy seating. But most people don't want to do that because it's not "cool" to say they live in Sumner.
If you live in one of the elite residential neighborhoods in Seattle, such as Windermere or Magnolia, your commute to AMZN will still be ~45 mins and it'll be on a bus with standing room only that slowly crawls its way to SLU.
lol There are trailer parks in Bellevue just like everywhere in the Puget Sound
There are homeless people hanging out in the libraries just like everywhere in the Puget Sound
There are some decent high schools, also some crappy ones. WA schools overall are mediocre.