Bellevue Lifer

I was born in Bellevue in the 60s to parents who were heavily involved in church life and city planning meetings to first ensure our family was not negatively impacted by changing city policy and also to lend their opinions to how Bellevue should grow - school boundaries were a big conversation back then. My mom served as a teacher in the Bellevue School District for 45 years. My dad had a business that employed neighbors and other Bellevue people.

Bellevue has been an exclusive neighborhood for as long as I can remember.

My parents borrowed money from my grandfather to buy their home for $25K that they lived in from 1956 - 2007. I purchased a home in 2000 for $450k which is now worth $2.7M. The cost of housing has kept pace with both supply and the demand to "move to the eastside" and out of Seattle. My brother, by contrast, is disabled and lives in low income housing in Issaquah as there was none available in Bellevue, but he also didn't NEED to be in Bellevue.

I have seen Bellevue grow, build relentlessly and with little attention to infrastructure. This lead me to wonder if City of Bellevue places income from property and business above the real livability of the city. At some point, we need to slow or end development. If we don't there will only be skyscrapers and high rises in Bellevue - the beauty of the Northwest will be gone along with the culture of the city. I am very concerned that we are developing too fast and with little concern for the quality of life you can have living in Bellevue - will we just be the next Seattle? Trees are taken down daily and not replanted. There's more and more concrete everyday.

Housing in Bellevue should be, for the most part, supply and demand. Gov't should not get overly involved in subsidizing an unnatural economic situation.

That said, it's sad that people like my mom who contribute to Bellevue (e.g. school teachers, firemen, policemen and women, grocery workers) cannot afford to live in Bellevue. I'd like to see the people who are contributing to Bellevue be able to live here.