By MARK HIGGINS
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Small-town feel continues to draw newcomers (continued)

Despite its shortcomings, North Bend continues to attract more and more people, and those who do move away often move back, says Victoria Bettes, whose family came to the Valley in 1883. In 1983, the family held a 100-year reunion that drew 150 people, Bettes says.

Growing up in North Bend was wonderful. The children had horses, and everyone looked after one another. As a kid, "you couldn't get away with anything," Bettes says laughing.

"Right now it still has that small-town feeling," she says.

Neighbors Julie and Rob Worcester lived a couple of years in Issaquah, which felt like a "commuter town." The couple and their two sons live in one of the oldest homes in North Bend.

"Here, we come into town and we feel like it's really home," Julie Worcester says.

Maintaining the quality of life in the valley will be a difficult balance as North Bend grows.

The community and neighboring Snoqualmie Falls recently joined forces to buy Meadowbrook Farm, which straddles both cities.

Jeanne Hansen, mayor of Snoqualmie Falls, says the investment will pay dividends. "Imagine 1,000 years from now when the county is built out all the way to Snoqualmie Pass. We'll still have pastures, and the land will be open.

"You have to think ahead if you want to save it. In fact, there is not that much around to save anymore," Hansen said.

As to the future of Meadowbrook Farm, both cities are working on plans that would leave most of the area in a natural state. One idea, says Anne McGill, a North Bend resident helping plan the park, would be to plant enough hops to sell to local microbreweries. Any profit would be used to sustain the property as open space.

"This piece of land will become more and more valuable as more and more homes come out here," she says.

Continued:

• As century comes to close, city searches for new niche
• Where wilderness and suburbia meet ... and clash
• New development threatens area's 'rural aesthetic'