Queensborough-Brentwood

As Queensborough-Brentwood continues to grow, the neighborhood maintains an atmosphere Russ Porter calls “welcoming and culturally diverse.” An agent with John L. Scott and committee member for Bothell’s Annual Tree Lighting Festival, Porter knows the area to its core. He explains, “It’s very community-oriented with great online resources to learn more about the area, like the Bothell community Facebook page, which has 40,000 people involved in it, or the giving page.”

Home to nearly 30,000 people, Queensborough-Brentwood sits within the city of Bothell and along the southern edge of Snohomish County. Sidewalks border main thoroughfares in the area but stop where cul-de-sacs veer off the edges. Most homes include an attached garage and concrete driveway, regardless of whether it’s a Craftsman-style home from 2011 or a ranch-style home from 1969. Construction years range, with an increasing number of recent builds popping up throughout the neighborhood—a testament to the area’s ongoing expansion. Manufactured homes in senior living communities like Lockwood Village cost between $107,000 and $150,000, but most single-family homes range from $800,000 to $990,000. The homes with the highest price tags are found in Village Life, the subdivision’s five-bedroom homes reaching up to $2,250,000.

Because the community is separated into two districts, not all students attend the same schools. While most students will attend Northshore, an A-plus-rated district ranked as the top school district in the county by Niche, others attend Edmonds, a B-rated district ranked as the seventh-best district in the county. For subdivisions zoned for Northshore, students can begin at A-rated Lockwood Elementary. From here, students transition to Kenmore Middle, which earns a B-plus rating, and graduate from A-minus-rated Bothell High. On the other hand, students within the district limits of Edmonds start their education at Hilltop Elementary, an A-minus-rated school, before transitioning to Brier Terrace, which earns a B-plus rating. For high school, students in Edmonds attend Mountlake Terrace, a B-plus-rated school with its own broadcast network and newspaper.

In your free time, choose between several recreational activities close to home. Practice your layup shot on the courts at Cedar Grove Park or climb atop the miniature ranger station and plastic towering pines that imitate Washington’s well-loved forests at Logan Park. If you’re interested in expanding your knowledge about conservation and the environment, 13th Place Garden invites you to grab your trowel and plant vegetables right down the street, and the Wildlife Committee of Washington Shooting Sports provides a space to practice your aim while learning how to approach hunting and fishing in an environmentally conscious manner. When temperatures fall too far for outdoor fun, the Ridge Activity Center provides an indoor play area, laser tag field and dance studio, only 5 miles from home.

Recreational activities aren’t the only thing nearby in Queensborough-Brentwood; the neighborhood also keeps practical needs close, including grocery stores like Safeway and several restaurants. “There’s a bunch of places on Main Street, which has been revamped. There’s the Bine, the Bison, Alexa’s,” Porter expands. “There’s a lot of different cultural restaurants, too, like Thai places, Indian food and Uncle Peteza’s.” If you’re looking for pet supplies or sporting goods, Canyon Park provides additional shopping opportunities less than a mile from home. Should unexpected medical needs arise, you can also reach the emergency room at the University of Washington within 10 miles and MultiCare Urgent Care within a mile.

Before you begin your morning commute, pick up an espresso at Gourmet Latte, a drive-through coffee shop that looks small but carries a big reputation within the community. Once you’ve got your coffee in hand, hop on Interstate 405 to reach Bellevue in 15 miles or Interstate 5 to reach downtown Seattle in 20 miles. Although you won’t find a train station in the community, public transportation is still an option. “We have some great park and rides to take the bus,” Porter says. “It’s equal distance to main workplaces like Amazon in Seattle or Microsoft in Bellevue.” When work takes you outside Washington, catch a cab and travel 30 miles to the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. For a neighborhood growing faster than the trees, find your place in the community of Queensborough-Brentwood.

Written By

Alicia Swain

Photography Contributed By

Howard Snyder

Video By

Luke Mancari