Kirkland or Redmond: lake town or campus town, and what each costs

Price

Days on market and competition

Housing stock

Kirkland is an older city in housing terms. Its single-family stock is mostly mid-century, on standard lots in Houghton, Rose Hill and Juanita and on larger lots in Finn Hill, with a steady share of rebuilds. Waterfront and lake-view homes are the top of the market. Condos are low- and mid-rise, downtown and in Totem Lake, where most of the city's recent construction is.

Redmond is newer. Downtown Redmond and Overlake have been rebuilt as mid-rise residential over retail since light rail was planned, and that is where the city's condo and townhome inventory sits. Education Hill holds the largest block of single-family homes, mostly 1990s on the ridge north of downtown. Further out, the plateau edges hold subdivisions from the 2000s onward. If the requirement is a house older than 1980 with mature trees and a lake within a mile, look in Kirkland. If it is a home built this century with a warranty still in force, Redmond has more of them.

Commute

School district

Both cities are served by the Lake Washington School District, so the district is not a deciding factor between them. Attendance boundaries within the district are set by the district and cross neighborhood and city lines in places. Verify the boundary for a specific address before you offer. The school pages under each city hub list attendance areas and feeder neighborhoods and do not rate schools.

The two downtowns

Downtown Kirkland ends at the water. Central Way runs downhill to Marina Park, Park Lane is a block of storefronts closed to through traffic, Lake Street follows the shore, and the buildings are a few stories. Downtown Redmond is organized around Redmond Town Center and Cleveland Street, with mid-rise apartment and condo buildings over ground-floor retail, the Sammamish River trail on its west edge, and a light rail station. One is a lakeside main street; the other is a transit-oriented center built mostly in the last twenty years. Which you prefer is a matter of shape, not quality.

Pick Kirkland if, pick Redmond if

Pick Kirkland if

• You want a house near the lake, or a lake view, and the budget reaches the Houghton or Juanita range.
• Your job is at Google Kirkland or requires a car regardless.
• You want an older house on a lot with mature trees, and Finn Hill or Rose Hill pricing fits.

Pick Redmond if

• Your job is at Microsoft or anywhere on the 2 Line and you want to leave the car at home.
• You want rail access to Bellevue as well as Redmond.

The Kirkland home-buying guide and the Redmond home-buying guide take each city down to the neighborhood and price-tier level.