Bellevue Geography Bellevue has a total area of 33.9 square miles, 30.8 square miles of which is land and 3.2 square miles of which is water. The city, which got its name from the French term for “beautiful view”, lies between Lake Washington to the west and Lake Sammamish to the east. Bordering cities include Kirkland to the north, Redmond to the northeast, Mercer Island, which doesn’t directly border it is connected with the I-90 floating bridge to the southwest, Issaquah to the east, and its wealthy suburbs of Medina, Clyde Hill, Yarrow Point and Hunts Point to the west, Renton to the south, and Newcastle to the southeast.
Bordering Cities Situated on Lake Washington to the east of Bellevue are the four small cities/towns of Medina, Clyde Hill, Yarrow Point and Hunts Point. All are premier neighborhoods of the eastside and are known for their peaceful setting and palatial luxury |
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homes with exquisite views of Lake Washington, Mount Rainier, the Olympic Mountains, the Cascade Mountain Range, and the Seattle Skyline from areas of higher elevation. Medina, Yarrow Point and Hunts Point are all located on Lake Washington; Clyde Hill is more inland. It’s easy to confuse these areas as the city of Bellevue because of the proximity. All cities/towns are mostly residential with the exception of small businesses, government buildings and schools.
Clyde Hill
Clyde Hill was incorporated in 1953 as a small residential town. It has a total area of about 632 acres, zoned mostly residential. Known as one of the eastside’s premier neighborhoods, this city borders Kirkland to the northeast, Bellevue to the east and south, Hunts Point to the north, Yarrow Points to the northwest, and Medina to the southwest. Residents value the amenities, quality residential areas, parks, views, and natural landscaping that the city has to offer. Lot sizes in this city are usually over 20,000 square feet, as that is the minimum lot size that is allowed in the zoning code, though there are smaller lots from before the incorporation.
Clyde Hill has four schools, two public and two private, a city hall, a police and fire station, a gas station, and a Tully’s Coffee. Because of its proximity to Bellevue, the city doesn’t find it necessary to expand commercially. In fact, the city strives to remain a small, simple, and intimate community.Though homes can be rented anywhere from $2,000, real estate in this area cannot be purchased for under $1,000,000. The most affordable property on the market today is a little over $1.15 million. The most expensive home? Currently the spot goes to an almost 10,000 square foot estate for almost $7.9 million.
Medina, WA
Medina is located on the Eastside on Lake Washington and is infamous for being one of the most affluent suburbs in the Seattle area. The total area of the city is 4.8 square miles, with only 1.4 square miles of it being land and 3.3 square miles of it being water. The city was incorporated in 1955 and has a population of 2945, as of 2006. Several multi-millionaires from Microsoft and other major corporations reside or own second homes here. Famous residents include Chairman of Microsoft Bill Gates and Seattle Mariners baseball player Ichiro Suzuki. The median home value in Medina is $1,960,134 as of 2006.
Yarrow Point
The town of Yarrow Point was incorporated in 1959 and is located on the northernmost peninsula of the four cities and is bordered on three sides by the eastern shoreline of Lake Washington. The peninsula covers 231 acres. The population of this small and exclusive residential community is estimated at 1,010. Through the ‘90’s the population is said to have grown by 5%. Though this town is on the waterfront, only ¼ of the homes are waterfront homes or have waterfront access; the other ¾ of the homes enjoy expansive or territorial views. This peaceful community’s property crime level is much lower than the state’s average.
Hunts Point
The town of Hunts Point is the smallest town out of the four cities, with a population of only 443 according to the 2000 census. The town has a total area of about 0.3 square miles, 0.3 square miles of which is land and 3.33% of which is water. Hunts Point was purchased by a Yarrow Point resident named Leigh S.J. Hunt in the late 1880’s, who wanted to cut down the evergreens that were blocking his view to Seattle. Around the 1900’s, the land was taken over by the Puget Sound National Bank who sold it to a group of Seattle men who used the land for family Sunday picnics and summer camping. Before the creation of the two floating bridges, residents commuted to Seattle by a small ferry named the Gazelle.
Compared to the other cities, Hunts Point has very few homes for sale, the current market being two homes, both in the 2 million dollar range. The median income per family is $200,000, and the per capita income is $113,816.
