Shoreline Thanksgiving Shopping

Shoreline, the city just north of Seattle, is convenient to all the city has to offer. Shoreline starts at about 145th, and it only takes a few minutes on I-5 to be in the Seattle city center, which explains some of it's popularity and high property values. In fact, it used to be an unincorporated part of Seattle before it became a city in 1995. You can also easily go around the top of Lake Washington and be in Kirkland/Redmond/Bellevue in a half hour. This is great news for some househunting couples when one person will be working in Redmond or Kirkland, and the other will be commuting to a workplace in Seattle. There's an old saying here, "never cross the water for your commute" and this solves that little problem nicely!

The city's website says, "Covering 11.74 square miles, Shoreline is Washington's 15th largest city with more than 53,000 residents. It is primarily residential with more than 70 percent of the households being single-family residences. Over the years, the Shoreline community has developed a reputation for strong neighborhoods, excellent schools and abundant parks."

Neighborhoods include Ballenger, Briarcrest, Echo Lake, Highland Terrace, The Highlands (gated), Hillwood, Innis Arden, Meridian Park, North City, Richmond Beach, Richmond Highlands, Ridgecrest and Westminster. Most of these have their own little shopping areas and character.

Now for the exciting news! According to Seattle Magazine, Shoreline is the hottest neighborhood in the Seattle area! A couple months ago, Seattle Magazine looked at the top 84 neighborhoods and based their selection on median home price, percentage change in median, average days on the market, crime rate, % of students passing the fourth grade WASL test, park acreage, diversity, and commute time (to Redmond and Seattle).

Shoreline Community College is around 150th, west of Aurora Avenue (Hwy 99). The shopping around there is great, lots of both little and big stores, and of course restaurants, including a rainbow of ethnic fare. One of the crown jewels is Central Market, and what better place to stop in for a last-minute Thanksgiving run? We needed canned chestnuts (for the stuffing), which none of the other markets I tried had, organic Italian black kale and smoked ham for our "Black Kale and Ham" dish, and crab for the crab cakes. I also wanted grits to replicate the Kentucky Derby traditional breakfast Friday brunch... Turkey Hash and Fried Grit Cakes, and we needed some extra mushrooms for the Wild Mushroom soup. And of course flowers for the holiday table.

Central Market goes far beyond the ordinary with fresh fish, including tanks of live crabs, clams etc., knowledgeable staff in chef's whites sprinkled throughout the store giving last minute advice and dispensing samples, amply staffed checkout to keep the lines short, and even an antique tractor out front to delight the kids and keep things fun. I also recommend stopping in and checking out their extensive cooking products and utensil section if you're holiday shopping for those committed gourmet chefs on your list, as they have tons of really special items that make perfect gifts. And there's a large Asian and ethnic food section, we picked up mango mochi ice cream balls for our post-shopping snack!















Edy Kizaki
Realtor, Team Leader