March 2008
Our Neighborhoods: Redmond
If you think of suburbs as white bread, Redmond should make you think again. Just take a look inside the Redmond public library: In addition to English, the library offers children’s story times in Japanese, Russian, Chinese, Spanish and Hindi. Or take your children to play at Idylwood Park, where chances are good you’ll see monks in crimson robes from the nearby Buddhist temple strolling the beach.
Eight years ago, when Cat Whitaker arrived as the library’s children section lead, stories were read only in English and Spanish. But she watched as foreign language picture books flew out the door and realized that the town was evolving. “The community has become so multicultural because of Microsoft,” she explained.
Microsoft has come to define the town, so much so that “Redmond” is often used as shorthand for the company. See children in Redmond, and odds are one or both parents work for the software giant. But Microsoft is only part of the story. Many other high-tech firms, from Nintendo to AT&T to Physio-Control, are headquartered or have offices in the city, and they all draw employees from around the world.
Redmond has come a long way from its roots as a rough-and-tumble logging town originally named Salmonberg. Its economy is booming, and the city ranks in the top 20 areas in the state for per capita income. Redmond’s median home price in 2007 was $454,727, and median family income was $92,164. Only a prosperous city like Redmond could have absorbed the loss of a major employer, Safeco, without a blink.
The wealth translates into remarkable resources for families with children. You can find a story time somewhere in town nearly any day of the week, whether one of the dozens offered by the library or the weekly sessions at Borders and Hush Baby in the Redmond Town Center. The mall is a hub of children’s activities. It houses REI’s climbing rock and Sprouts Children’s Theatre, which performs hour-long musicals for children older than 4 and runs special shows for younger children several times a month. A play area and bear sculpture fountain draw children in the summer, and the mall lures parents year ‘round by offering children’s events and discounts on Thursday mornings. Older kids flock to the Old Fire House, a downtown teen community center that offers pool tables, art classes, all-ages music shows and a space to hang out.
The resources are so rich that keeping track of them is a challenge, a vacuum that two Eastside moms set out to fill last year by creating Rubyslipperguide.com – yet another way the high-tech culture pays off for the community. The site lists dozens of children’s activities in Redmond.
“The neat thing about Redmond is that it has that small town feel, but it’s really close to the big stuff,” says Rubyslipperguide cofounder Lexi Tigre, who lives on the Redmond-Bellevue border. The only family amenity that she thinks Redmond is missing is a child-friendly coffee shop.
Redmond has more than its share of parks (34), including Marymoor Regional Park, with its many walking and bicycling trails, large off-leash dog area and the state’s only velodrome, as well as Sixty Acres, Perrigo and Anderson Parks. With 25 miles of trails, Redmond calls itself “The Bicycle Capitol of the Northwest.” Rural amenities are available right in town at Farrel McWhirter Park, which has a working farm area and pony club and classes. Just outside of town, South 47 Farm hosts weekly Farm Tot programs.
The highly educated community supports a solid public school system that is part of the Lake Washington School District, whose average student test scores are in the top 10 percent in the state. Redmond High School’s high-tech building incorporates many environmentally friendly features, such as solar panels on the roof and a state-of-the-art geothermal heating system. Students study the features in their physics and environmental sciences classes.
Private schools include Bear Creek School, The Goddard School for Early Childhood Development, Childtime Learning Center, Conservatory High School for performing arts and Overlake School, one of the Eastside’s largest and oldest private secular schools (as well as one of its most expensive). Overlake has gained national attention for its sponsorship of a school in Cambodia.
Surprisingly, although Redmond is suburban, it’s possible to get around much of it by walking. Kay Tarapolsi, mother of three little girls, walks frequently to Marymoor, and her husband walks to work at Microsoft. When she does get in the car, it is usually to go out of town, often to Seattle, where she volunteers as a Seattle Art Museum docent. “We’re so close to (Highway) 520 that I can just get on it and go to Seattle, and yet we can go to Duvall and get even more of a small town experience,” she says. Tarapolsi, who ran the Arab Festival for the Seattle Center, grew up in Oklahoma and Libya and feels at home among Redmond’s diversity.
Redmond does face challenges, largely due its economic success. Tarapolsi notes that the town is in the midst of a debate about how to deal with its growth. “Traffic has become a big issue in town, in part because of all the people who work here, but don’t live here,” she says. Growth became such an issue in the 1990s that the town imposed a moratorium on commercial development, prompting Microsoft to plan a new campus in the Issaquah Highlands. Redmond lifted the moratorium two years ago and Microsoft canceled its plans for the Highlands, in favor of expanding in Redmond.
The Redmond Ridge development on the east edge of town has been a source of controversy for years, mired in litigation over congestion on Novelty Hill Road, the main link between the Ridge and Redmond. But unlike similar developments outside Issaquah and Snoqualmie, Redmond Ridge is close to many employers, and last year lured Prime Advisors, an insurance investment company, into its business park.
The first school in the development opened in 2006. Although it is called Rosa Parks Elementary after the civil rights activist who fought to desegregate the Montgomery, Alabama, bus system, no children will be bused to the school – all live within a mile. The name pays homage to Redmond’s diversity, and the building itself reflects the town’s high-tech economy. In place of chalkboards, interactive whiteboards connect to computers, and environmentally friendly features include radiant heat in the floors, lights that are turned on and off automatically by motion detectors and carbon-dioxide sensors that trigger ventilation. The school is a fitting emblem of the town’s character.
Carolyn McConnell is a Seattle-area writer and mother of one. She blogs at rockthecradleblog.com.
Visiting Redmond – Upcoming Events
12th Annual Eggstravaganza
March 22, 8 - 11:30 a.m. and 7 - 10 p.m.
Redmond Senior Center, 8703 160th Ave. N.E.
425-556-2300; www.redmond.gov/recreationarts/Eggstravaganza
The pancake breakfast begins at 8 a.m. and the egg hunt at 10 a.m. sharp,
along with free arts and crafts, face painting and games. The Flashlight
Hunt and Family Dance begin at 7 p.m. with the egg hunt at 8:30 p.m. sharp;
desserts and drinks are available.
Redmond Saturday Market
May 3 - Oct. 25, 9 a.m. - 3p.m.
7730 Leary Way, at the northwest corner of Redmond Town Center
425-556-0636; www.redmondsaturdaymarket.homestead.com
The Eastside’s oldest, original, open air market features fruits,
vegetables, flowers and crafts, with live music twice a month.
Redmond Derby Days
July (2008 dates not available at press time)
Redmond City Hall Campus, 15670 N.E. 85th St., and surrounding streets
www.redmond.gov/recreationarts/derbydays/festival.asp
The free event, linked with the regional SEAFAIR celebrations, includes
a grand parade, children’s parade, bicycle races, inflatable playgrounds,
rides, food and entertainment.
Arts in the Parks
June 19 - Aug. 26
Redmond City Hall Open Space, 15670 N.E. 85th St.
www.redmond.gov/Arts/eventsparks2.asp
The free series includes music and dance from various countries, outdoor
painting exhibitions, open jam for musicians, singers, poets and comedians,
two Shakespeare plays and a teen center night.
Concerts at Marymoor
Summer (2008 artists and dates not available at press time)
6046 West Lake Sammamish Parkway N.E.
www.concertsatmarymoor.com
Redmond Lights Celebration
December
Redmond City Hall campus, Sammamish River Trail, Center Court at Redmond
Town Center and various indoor concert venues
www.redmond.gov/recreationarts/redmondlights/redmondlights.asp.
The kickoff celebration includes a tree-lighting and holiday walk along
the Sammamish River Trail, lit by candles and lights. Concerts and children’s
events run all month.
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