Growth, you say? Not here, at least not much

Originally published Saturday, July 26, 1997

By CECELIA GOODNOW
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Once known for berry farms and summer homes, the 28-square-mile island is now characterized more by upscale housing developments and bumper-to-bumper ferry traffic on state Route 305, which will worsen when a third ferryboat comes on line in 1999. By the year 2012, the island's nearly 19,000 residents can expect more than 5,000 new neighbors.

The attractions are obvious. Bainbridge Island, incorporated as an island-wide city in 1991, is known for good schools, low crime, a sophisticated population and down-home atmosphere.

"On Saturday morning, we don't get in our car at all," said Jane Allan, a former land-use attorney who moved here six years ago from Chevy Chase, Md., seeking a quieter lifestyle. Now senior planner for the new city, Allan, 48, and her husband Bill, 60, initially bought a home at Rolling Bay on the island's east side, but later moved to a condo in Winslow.

"We walk down to the farmer's market, go to the store and rent a movie," she said. "I'm lucky -- I can walk to work."

She leaned forward conspiratorily and added, in a stage whisper, "Plus, it's beautiful here."

Outside Winslow, vast tracts of fir and cedar forest remain. Some, like the 240-acre Grand Forest of Bainbridge and 318-acre Gazzam Lake Park, are preserved as open space. Deer occasionally wander into front yards to graze on shrubbery, mallards nest in drainage ditches, and a black bear was recently sighted.

Of course, Bainbridge isn't quite as homespun as it once was. The late '80s brought Safeway, PayLess, McDonald's and other suburban-style retail development, helping spur the campaign for the city to take over the island. Contrary to popular belief, the new city didn't ban franchise restaurants outright, but it created enough roadblocks to discourage corporate bloodhounds from sniffing at the borders, helping the island retain its unique style.

"The island still has kind of a small-town, rural character to it," Mueller said. "You go in a grocery store and people know you."