Originally published Saturday, May 31, 1997

By DEBERA CARLTON HARRELL
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Hordes of people have filled the upscale new homes that crawl up the hillsides like creeping vines. One builder recalls the real estate market being so hot from 1988 to 1990 that home buyers tried to cut deals on homes as he was putting up the frames.

While the real estate market is not quite as heady, it is still sizzling. The average home price (three bedroom, two bath) is $220,000, but the fancier homes on large lots are also moving, realtors say. A custom English country estate in Tuscany, an area near Bear Creek Country Club, is listed for $875,000.

Livability, if not affordability, is the reason people say they move here. In addition to bigger lots and more space, crime is low and recreational opportunities abound.

A prime draw is also the Northshore School District.

"Our schools are bursting at the seams," says Pamela Steele, director of communications for Northshore School District. "They are absolutely one of the big reasons people move here."

Overflowing classrooms have prompted the building of Kokanee Elementary School in 1994 and Timbercrest Junior High, the district's sixth junior high, which opens this September.

The district's reputation was enhanced last fall when its fourth-graders scored the highest of any large district (with 1,000 fourth-graders or more) in the state on standardized tests. Those scores put it ahead of Lake Washington (second) and Bellevue (third) for large schools.

Jeff Shaw, executive director of the Woodinville Chamber of Commerce, says Woodinville's median income -- $60,900 -- is the highest of any Eastside community that's not on the waterfront or doesn't have waterfront views.

Demographics and socioeconomics have not escaped the notice of retail businesses and commercial developers, says Shaw, citing Woodinville's new shopping center and a recent boom in the industrial corridor.

"Merchants have a whole different perception of this place than the residents do," says Shaw. "The myth here is that you're moving out to the country, but the reality is that this area is increasingly suburban and urban-dependent. People think of themselves as living in isolation because they live 'out' (away from Seattle), yet they expect to have dry cleaners and video stores."