Leaving Bellevue behind

My grandparents move to Bellevue in the 1940’s when people in Seattle thought they were crazy to move all the way over there to the sticks. Clearly the city is not longer a suburb in the sticks. My grandfather owned a building that housed his jewelry store and a sporting goods store on the property where Lincoln Square now stands. My parents married and, before I was born, moved their lexpanding family back to Bellevue from Seattle. I have lived her my whole life until the last 3 days. My parents bought there first home in the neighborhood behind Larsen Lake. Just before my 4th birthday they moved us across Main Street where my mother still lives today. After getting married, my husband and I moved into a house in my original neighborhood and ended up purchasing the house in 1999 for $155,000. We raised our 2 kids here in a safe and friendly neighborhood where we made great friends with the neighbors. My youngest just graduated from the BSD school district this past spring and we started looking to move. We bought a house up north and are currently prepping the house to sell. Our recent assessment came in the mail 2 days ago and our house/land has jumped in value to 1.5 million dollars, that is an increase of $500,000 in one year. I am very concerned for the new property tax rates to come out. Bellevue is no longer an affordable place to live and there are not enough smaller houses or condos to downsize into. There is no stepping stone into home ownership because Bellevue dropped the ball over 20 years ago when the stopped planning the need for affordable housing. Now they are scrambling to catch up while letting builder’s tear down the smaller “affordable” homes to build mega mansions that sell for over 3 million. Bellevue has become greedy and uncaring about it citizens. The tree canopy is more important than the actual residents. Bellevue will be the new Seattle, it has already started with an increase in property crime. All of these reasons are why we chose to sell our home in a city where I spent my whole life. I am that rare unicorn that is an original resident until 3 days ago. So long to my home town where my kids could never afford to live on their own and where fixed income seniors are forced to sell and move because they can’t afford to retire and still live here.