Shoreline identified again as a “must-live” regional location

By Tavia Tan, City of Shoreline

The City of Shoreline has once again been featured as a top place to live in the greater Seattle region. In fact, Shoreline and one of its oldest neighborhoods, Richmond Beach, fill two of the 15 spots on the list for “must-live” neighborhoods in Seattle Met’s Best Places to Live 2010 issue on newsstands now.

Photo: Shoreline City Hall.

Shoreline has been in Seattle magazine’s Best Places to Live list regularly over the years – ranking number one in 2005 and 2008. In both magazines, cities and neighborhoods are ranked according to a number of criteria such as home values, park acreage, crime rates and other quantitative data that helps determine the quality of life residents enjoy.

“Shoreline’s recognition as a great place to live is a much-deserved testament to our community’s dedication, hard work and investment over the years to maintaining – and improving – Shoreline’s quality of life,” says Shoreline Mayor Keith McGlashan. “And what perfect timing! Yet one more accomplishment to add to the list as we celebrate our 15th anniversary of incorporating as a city.”

In determining this year’s list, Seattle Met (aka Seattle Metropolitan magazine) looked at market value data such as median home price, information about people such as diversity and basic facts such as minutes to downtown Seattle both during peak and off-peak times.

Besides enjoying an overall high quality of life, the City of Shoreline was also recognized as having some of the best home values in the region. Seattle Met says “…Shoreline is as close to a suburb as you’re going to find on this side of the lake. But in actuality, it’s a city of 14 well-defined neighborhoods, each with a character all its own.” It continues with, “Put simply: You get more for your money in Shoreline, and you don’t have to cross the 520 bridge to do it.” Other communities noted in this category include Columbia City, Ballard, Maple Leaf and Renton Highlands.

Kayu Kayu Ac Park in Richmond Beach. Photo by Steven H. Robinson

One of Shoreline’s neighborhoods, Richmond Beach, was noted as one of the locations with the most stable home prices. “Even with Puget Sound views and access to the recently renovated Richmond Beach Saltwater Park, home prices in this waterfront enclave aren’t nearly as expensive as you might expect,” notes the magazine. Normandy Park, Woodinville, Capitol Hill and Kirkland are also listed as solid investments.

Richmond Beach Saltwater Park

Seattle Met gathered data on 116 communities, much of which is charted in the magazine with even more available on its website. Relative to the eastside cities of Bellevue, Redmond, Bothell and Kirkland, Shoreline has a higher walkablity quotient and a lower crime rate than most. Of the non-Seattle neighborhoods in King County, Shoreline has a walk score of 65 (versus 68 for Kirkland, 53 for Bellevue, 48 for Redmond and 45 for Bothell). Shoreline also ranked fairly well on the “crimes” index (remember, lower is better) scoring 33 versus 42 for Kirkland, 37 for Bellevue, 27 for Bothell and 34 for Redmond.