If you’ve been wondering about the Pros and Cons of Living in Edmonds, WA, we are here to set you straight.
Edmonds, WA is a wonderful waterfront community north of Seattle, WA and on the Puget Sound (West Coast, open to sea water). There are many beautiful places to live near the city of Seattle, but Edmonds has one of the nicest waterfront areas. It has a very nicely developed public beach area, and a walkable downtown near the Edmonds/Kingston Ferry dock.
Many homes around Edmonds, especially in the Edmonds Bowl, have a view of Puget Sound and enjoy a wonderful seaside town community.
Click To See Edmonds Homes For SaleHomes For Sale In Edmonds, Washington
Fun Places To Go When You Live In Edmonds – The Little City On Puget Sound
One of the services we offer to folks who live in the “Greater Seattle Area” is to keep you posted on what’s going on in town!
Every weekend, we’ll send you our personally curated list of fun things to do – with family, or on your own, inside or outside. I hope you’ll join us and come have some fun!Discover Fun Activities Every Weekend
If you are tuning in to this review and looking for housing in the Seattle area that offers GREAT quality of life – you are definitely want to investigate the small town feel at the beach offered in an area with great quality schools, shopping, restaurants, and a coastal experience.
If you are looking to move or relocate to Edmonds Washington, we are going to be going over some of the pros and cons of living in the area, as well as some insider secrets toward the end, too. So, make sure you read the whole thing. This is Emily Cressey and I live here deep in the Puget Sound area. I live just north of Seattle, very close to the bedroom community of Edmonds, Washington. It’s really a suburb. It’s got its own downtown and ohhhh, it’s great!
We’re going to go over what the buzz is all about today, so you’ll know if this is the perfect place for your next move. So, if you’re interested in moving to Edmonds or you live in the area and you just want to hang out in Edmonds, we are going to talk about all things Edmonds, Washington.
To see our other neighborhood review videos of Edmonds, WA and other areas in and around Seattle, WA – Visit our HomePro Associates YouTube Channel! Once you’re there, make sure you subscribe and smash the bell for future updates.
The bottom line is to educate you, serve you, and take care of you. We’ve got your back. So, with no further ado, let’s jump into the Edmonds video, pros and cons of living in Edmonds. And we’re going to start on the con side. (*Is* there anything bad about Washington’s hidden gem on the coast? Read below for the best list of downsides I could come up with…)
Basic Information: Where Is Edmonds, Washington – USA?
First of all, what is Edmonds? Before we can discuss pros and cons of living in Edmonds, WA, we have to know where it is!
Edmonds is a neighborhood north of Shoreline on the Puget Sound. It’s basically a beachfront community. That’s a hill sloping down toward the beach and at the bottom is beach areas, boats, and the ferry that goes across the Puget Sound to Kingston. So this area has a couple of cons, although it’s considered pretty idyllic for a lot of people.
A Few Additional Stats For You Data Scientists To Add To Your Information Bank:
- How much do people earn who live here: Median Salary: $89,000 (2019)
- School Quality Ratings: (Out of ten, according to GreatSchools.org)
Elementary School: 5, 7, 8
Middle School: 5, 8
High School: 6 (Edmonds-Woodway HIgh School) - How many people live in this area: 42,000 population
- What is the Square Mileage of this area: 25.93 square miles
- What are the zip codes in this area: 98020, 98026
- How long does it take to drive into major work areas with no traffic…
- Drive to Seattle can take 23 minutes (16 miles )
- Drive to Bellevue can take 28 minutes (21 miles )
- Drive to Everett can take 22 minutes (13 miles )
- How long does it take to ride the bus/train or light rail to a big city (Seattle and Bellevue?) What are the public transportation options?
The train journey time between Seattle and Edmonds (Station) is around 29 min and covers a distance of around 18 miles.
The journey time between Edmonds and Bellevue is around 1h 24m and covers a distance of around 27 miles.
Cost of Housing:
– Condo Cost: $500K Median (2022)
– 3 Bedroom House Cost: $815K Median (2022)
– 2-Bedroom Rental Apartment Cost: $1700 – $2800 (2022)
The Cons: Worst Things About One Of Our Favorite Places To Live
1. Cons of Living in Edmonds, WA: Commute Time
So, first and foremost, it’s a little bit further away from the freeway. If you are a commuter and you’re trying to get into Seattle or Bellevue, it’s going to take you a little bit longer time because there’s not a lot of bus access through there and it’s just a longer drive to get onto I5. There is a train, the Seattle Sounder that does go through this area. So, if you are looking to commute and you need to get down into the Seattle, or even down into the Tacoma area, take a look at the Seattle Sounder and see if that might be an option that would help you out.
2. Cons of Living in Edmonds, WA: Not A Lot of Night Life
Another thing about Edmonds, they actually just built a fabulous new senior center down there, right on the beach. So, if you are a senior and you want a place to go hang out for free with a million dollar view, right on the beach, the senior center is the place to go. But if you are a younger family or just someone that’s younger, that’s looking for a lot of nightlife or a hipster thing, then it may or may not be exactly what you’re looking for.
3. Cons of Living in Edmonds, WA: Congestion From Ferry Traffic
Okay. Now let’s talk about ferry traffic. One of the cool things about the ferry is people who like to watch the boats come in and out, it can be a lot of fun, but the ferry, especially in the summer, does attract a lot of people who drive into Edmonds with the specific goal of getting on the ferry and going across the Sound. And in the summer, when there are a lot of them, they don’t always get onto the first ferry.
So, this can cause big traffic backups that can clog things up a little bit. For the most part, I think the city does well with encouraging people who are waiting in line for the ferry to park on the shoulder and try to stay out of the way so they don’t block the rest of the traffic, but there can be that ferry traffic, and it can create a line and can create a lot of tourism. So, if you’re in that retail area downtown, it’s not going to be just locals. At some point, especially in the summer, it’s going to be bringing in a lot of tourists, a lot of people that are waiting to go on the ferry, and even folks from the peninsula who have come over for the day, who are looking for something fun to do on our side of the water. So there is a little bit of ferry traffic, and there is a little bit of tourism that happens in this area.
4) Cons of Living In Edmonds, WA: The Downtown Is Walkable, But Not Much Else
As far as walkability, the Edmonds downtown has a very small, very cute, very upscale shopping center, that’s walkable. So, you can kind of mill around, imagine going to a beach side town and wanting to spend the day window shopping and getting a bite to eat. It’s that kind of a vibe in the downtown Edmonds area.
Most of their residential areas are further away from this and the town is kind of on a hillside, so it tends to be steep. So, once you’ve made it downtown, there’s a lot of walkability and there are a lot of different things to do on foot. But if you’re up at your house, you can walk along the side of the road and there are big shoulders and things, but a lot of areas don’t have sidewalks. A lot of areas are fairly steep, and there’s not a lot to do except go down into downtown Edmonds. So, in terms of walkability, you’re not really getting an urban lifestyle unless you’re living, for example, in downtown Edmonds, where they have a lot of condos to take advantage of that semi-urban beach community, city, lifestyle, otherwise you’re out in the suburbs and you’re not going to get anywhere by walking. You would definitely want to have a car.
5. Cons of Living in Edmonsd, WA: Not A Big Employment Center
The last thing that I can really say about Edmonds is that there aren’t a lot of jobs. It’s not a big job Mecca. They do have in Edmonds, a couple of cool businesses. One is The Hotel Group, which is actually one of the largest employers in Washington, and it’s based in Edmonds. But for the most part, that’s not where the good paying jobs are. You’re going to have your retail and shopkeepers and that type of a thing. But a lot of people find that their jobs are located in downtown Seattle, downtown Bellevue, or in Everett. And so it’s not really a job hub or employment hub, which is why you need to pay attention to the traffic and where you’re going to be driving and how long it will actually take you to get there from your house in Edmonds.
But, Here’s Why We Love Living Near The City Of Edmonds, WA Anyway!
Okay. Now let’s switch gears and talk about some of the wonderful things about living in Edmonds. When I discuss the pros and cons of living in Edmonds, I like to leave the best for last.
So, when you look at real estate in Edmonds, they’ll always talk about whether or not the house is in the Edmonds’ bowl. So, the bowl: Imagine a hillside that’s rounded like this, kind of like stadium seating, and this is the shape of the land. So, everyone that’s in this Edmonds’ bowl is kind of looking down with a view of the water out to Puget Sound and it is fabulous, but not everything in Edmonds has this wonderful water view. There are other places that are flat that are not on this bowl and maybe are even in the woods or the forest. So for example, Woodway is a very nice luxury real estate type of neighborhood that is in the Edmonds area, but is not a part of the view bowl there.
1. Pros of Living In Edmonds: Great Views of Puget Sound Waterfront
So, when you think bowl, think view property with a view of the Puget Sound. That’s very desirable. It’s a fantastic view. Not only are you looking out to the water, but you can look out across the water to the Olympic Peninsula with a beautiful mountain range. It’s just a fantastic view. And you’ve got it right there if you live in the Edmonds bowl in a view property. So, take that into account when you’re looking at different homes and trying to compare where to live. Next, I should’ve put this first, one of the things that is probably most idyllic about Edmonds is the beach and the waterfront itself. We have Brackets Landing and Edmonds Marina Park down there. It’s just fantastic. They’ve got sandy beaches, the kids can play, the water is swimmable. They actually have an underwater scuba playground. So, there’s a scuba dive shop that takes classes and groups out, and they go underwater and I’ve never been, but I think that sounds amazingly cool.
2. Pros Of Living In Edmonds, WA – The Ferry is Fun To Watch and Fun To Ride
They have the ferry, which you can drive onto, you can walk, you could take your motorcycle. You could go across the water, across the Puget Sound, have lunch in Kingston, do a little window shopping, and then come back. And that’s only about a 20 or 30 minute ferry ride to do that.
3. Pros Of Living In Edmonds, WA – Great Downtown With Lots Of Shops and Restaurants
Downtown Edmonds itself, there are a lot of nice restaurants that you can park and walk to. And it almost has a bit of a European village feeling or a beach side village, if you have gone to seaside Oregon or any of those other towns that you just kind of walk around, and mill around. Everyone’s friendly. There are a lot of tourists as well as locals. And you can duck into different types of restaurants, wine shops, stone shops, all sorts of different things. They have the Edmonds Museum. So, there is a lot to see. And a lot of, I don’t know, call it cultural things. There’s a lot of shopping and a lot of cute things. Downtown Edmonds has that big draw.
4. Pros Of Living In Edmonds, WA – The Beach, Edmonds Marina, Brackett’s Landing
The beach is my favorite thing about Edmonds, WA because it’s totally free. And there’s so much to watch there.
There’s a fisherman’s pier and lots of people take advantage of it. I was down there in August last year, and I saw so many people with crab traps, dropping traps into the water, and of course, fishing pole fishing as well. And then there were actually people who had parked up in the Edmonds parking lots and brought their inflatable boats or their portable boats, any kind of boats that they had at home. And they were actually just launching them into the water right there from the beach and going out to drop crab traps, just even with a little rowboat or a canoe that they had. So, crab season is amazing here, but if you don’t have a little boat and you have a big boat, you can actually park it in the water permanently. There’s Edmonds Yacht Club and there are a lot of sailboats and motorboats and that kind of a thing here in Edmonds as well.
So, if you do want to keep a boat and you don’t want to park it in your driveway and trailer it back, back and forth, you can actually moor it here in the water at Edmonds, which is a gorgeous sight to behold. I always like to walk by there and pretend if I were going to buy a boat, which one would it be?
And then down further, there’s a park, there’s an off-leash dog park. And it’s just a really pleasant place to walk around and just slow down, have a cocktail if you want, grab a seafood salad from one of the waterfront restaurants. It’s just, it’s absolutely lovely. So, I think the downtown of Edmonds is definitely one of the big things that goes hand in hand with the beach. You can really make a day of it there in Edmonds. And that’s what I spent last summer doing with my kids. We’d go down there about once a week and spend a couple hours with friends on the beach. It was just lifetime memories, really lovely.
What they say in Edmonds is, “It’s an Edmond’s kind of day.” And that’s just those days where you can unplug, have a slower rate of life, enjoy the water, and the Sound. It might be breezy. You know, it’s not always super hot at the beach on the Pacific coast. We get a little bit of wind off the water that’s cooler, but we do get some glorious sunny days and seagulls and just whatever kind of day it is, it’s an Edmond’s kind of day when you’re at Edmonds I think is the bottom line there.
Good, Bad or Ugly? – The Train
When making the list of pros and cons of living in Edmonds, WA, I wasn’t sure how to rate the train. Now there is a train that runs through Edmonds and for people, this is a huge plus because I think most of them are under five. I saw, we were at Richmond Beach today, as well as Edmonds. And we saw a kid standing on the bridge with his dad, the train passes under the bridge, and they stood there for about 45 minutes waiting for the train to come by. And it hadn’t come yet, but that little boy was confident that it was just around the corner. So, for a lot of kids, it’s very exciting to see the train come through.
Now, a while back, we had some controversy because some of the trains were carrying coal and people felt that it was bringing coal dust into the air. So, it’s just interesting, I’ll put the train in the neutral column. There is a train track. It can stop traffic for a few minutes. It doesn’t tend to be an overly long train or anything like that. So, just a good thing to know about. It can also be a convenience. The Seattle Sounder train is for commuters. And so that’s a big plus for a lot of people as well as just the folks who like to watch trains.
Now, when it comes to local businesses, I would not be doing you any favors if I forgot to mention Rick Steves. Rick Steves is kind of a local boy made good. He is a travel writer who turned his passion for visiting Europe into a whole business franchise called Rick Steves’ Europe, Rick Steves’ Through the Back Door. He actually had his own PBS special where a cameraman would film him traveling around in Europe and talking to locals there. And so he has his own tour company and travel shop. And they’re based out of Edmonds as well. We’ve been on a Rick Steves’ tour in Ireland, and it was two weeks of fabulousness.
I highly recommend all of the Rick Steves’ tours, as well as the Rick Steves’ travel books, which really focus on giving you not just the Hilton American cookie cutter experience in whatever country you go to, but really helping you get in through the back door, the underground, the meeting of the people, the culture, getting to know what it would be like to live there, and how people treat you, what they do for fun. Just kind of getting in under the skin of the area that you’re visiting a little bit. I think it’s a really wonderful way to travel. And so, he’s made a huge business of that. It’s called Rick Steves, and it’s in Edmonds.
5. Pros Of Living In Edmonds, WA – Wonderful Arts & Culture Experiences
And then the last thing I think I’ll mention today, just going back to culture is there is a lot of cultural events available in, there are a lot of cultural events available in Edmonds. So, we have the Driftwood Players, which are a community-based theater group that are very popular. There’s also the Edmonds Symphony and there are some dance performances that take place. So if you do enjoy the arts, whether you’re on vacation or living there, and you don’t want to go all the way into downtown, Edmonds has made itself into something of an art and a cultural center. So, I hope that you have a chance to take advantage of some of the shows and wonderful performances that they put on in Edmonds as well.
Now, when it comes to secrets for Edmonds, I have to say, this is the place that I go for my anniversary, and I love it. It’s Arnies, and they have a waterfront cafe. They have a beautiful seafood salad with a vinaigrette and shellfish, octopus. It’s really lovely with a cocktail. You can sit there at any time of year. They have windows, so you can look out and see the water and it’s just beautiful. If you ask for a table by the windows, you’ll be doing yourself a favor. So, make sure that you check that out. If it’s summer, you can actually sit outside on the patio as well. And it’s just, it’s not to be missed. It’s one of the great things about living in Seattle is this access to water, this access to seafood, and the access to the great views. So, make sure you take advantage of that the next time you’re in Edmonds or you have a special occasion.
I am so excited that I was able to offer these pros and cons with you to help you compare your options when you are thinking about a move to the Pacific Northwest. We would love to show you around the city or take you through some home listings (any price range) when you come to the city for a visit. We want to give you the information you need to find a home you love. These reviews on our website are a part of that service.
Fun Things To Do In Edmonds, Seattle and The Puget Sound Here in Washington State
One of the services we offer to folks who live in the “Greater Seattle Area” is to keep you posted on what’s going on in town!
Every weekend, we’ll send you our personally curated list of fun things to do – with family, or on your own, inside or outside. I hope you’ll join us and come have some fun!Discover Fun Activities Every Weekend
Would You Like To Explore Housing Or Retirement Options For Living in Edmonds, WA?
After reading about the pros and cons of living in Edmonds, WA – have you decided you’d like to come visit? If you are someone that’s looking to relocate or just hang out with us here for a while in the Pacific Northwest, our contact information is below and I’d love for you to send me an email, shoot me a text, give us a call, send us a postcard. We love working with people who are here and learning about the area. It’s what we do every day.
In addition to this video on the Pros and Cons of Living in Edmonds, we have other Pros and Cons and Neighborhood Review videos (of other Seattle-area neighborhoods) on our YouTube Channel – so be sure to check it out!
Take a look at what’s currently for sale in Edmonds, WA: Edmonds Homes For Sale
I’m Emily Cressey. I’m at HomeProAssociates.com with HomeSmart Real Estate in Seattle. And if you do have any questions about Edmonds, WA or figuring out what neighborhood is best for you, be sure to drop us a line or ask your questions in the comments below. I look forward to connecting with you soon on the next video.
Is Today An Edmonds kind of day? We would say, “Yes!”
