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Good morning. Issue five of the Issaquah Dispatch: five minutes on what moved in Issaquah this week, one item for your own neighborhood, one quick poll, the market in three numbers, and one practical thing for the house.
Heads up
Wednesday, November 11: City offices are closed for Veterans Day. They reopen on the next regularly scheduled business day. City Hall closures
Alerts for your own address: ALERT King County, free (https://kingcounty.gov/en/dept/executive-services/health-safety/safety-injury-prevention/emergency-preparedness/alert-king-county).
Issaquah this week
The council expects to adopt the 2027–28 budget on November 16. The final budget hearing and the 2027 property tax levy hearing were set for Monday, November 2, at 7 PM in Council Chambers, 135 E. Sunset Way, and the city's calendar listing says adoption follows on November 16. Budget hearing · Levy hearing
Update: Lake Tradition's accessible loop is due for new gravel in early November. City crews and the Washington Trails Association have fixed drainage and cleared brush on the Bus Trail and part of the Around the Lake Trail, off I-90 exit 20. The one-mile loop stays open during the work; the viewing platform is rebuilt later. City of Issaquah
Your neighborhood
Central Issaquah. Gilman Boulevard doubles as a walking tour of edible landscaping: about 25 varieties of plants line both sides of the boulevard, bearing everything from apples to nuts through spring, summer and fall. The city's one rule: take what you will use and leave enough for others. Tour page
Sold near you: 3 homes closed within 0.8 mile of the neighborhood center in the last 45 days, median $602K (range $510K to $1.10M); the fastest went from listing to closing in 21 days.
Issaquah Highlands. Tonight, 6:30 to 8 PM, the Highlands Council hosts a free Basics of Emergency Prep workshop at Blakely Hall, 2550 NE Park Drive. It covers windstorms, earthquakes and wildfires, and what a household keeps on hand. No registration. Event page
Sold near you: 9 homes closed within 0.8 mile of the neighborhood center in the last 45 days, median $1.15M (range $493K to $2.00M); the fastest went from listing to closing in 20 days.
Issaquah Valley. Saturday, November 7, at 1 PM, Gibson Hall at 105 Newport Way SW hosts a free upcycled-ornament class. Supplies are provided, and anything from home you want to repurpose is welcome. No registration. Event page
Sold near you: 7 homes closed within 0.8 mile of the neighborhood center in the last 45 days, median $515K (range $310K to $3.70M); the fastest went from listing to closing in 59 days.
Montreux. Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park covers more than 3,000 acres with over 35 miles of trail, open dawn to dusk. The Red Town Trailhead sits off Lakemont Boulevard SE. King County asks hikers to stay on the trails because of the mountain's old mine workings. King County Parks
Sold near you: 2 homes closed within 0.8 mile of the neighborhood center in the last 45 days, median $1.30M; the fastest went from listing to closing in 81 days.
Newport. Tibbetts Valley Park, at 965 12th Ave NW, has five athletic fields, two of them lit; all are natural grass, open dawn to dusk. The city says it is launching a project in 2026 to re-envision the park, a framework for phased redevelopment; the planning stage is what is public now. Park fields · Re-envisioning project
Sold near you: 5 homes closed within 0.8 mile of the neighborhood center in the last 45 days, median $2.32M (range $624K to $3.70M); the fastest went from listing to closing in 34 days.
North Issaquah. The valley floor north of I-90 sits beside Lake Sammamish State Park and the East Lake Sammamish Trail, which runs along the lake's west shore. City of Issaquah neighborhoods layer
Sold near you: 1 home closed within 0.8 mile of the neighborhood center in the last 45 days, median $675K; the fastest went from listing to closing in 145 days.
Olde Town. The Open Mic Night at the Issaquah Train Depot, 78 1st Ave. NE, ran Wednesday, November 4. The Downtown Issaquah Association has hosted it on the first Wednesday of the month since 2008: sign-in at 6 PM, music from 6:30, and each performer gets two songs and 10 minutes. The next one is Wednesday, December 2. Event page
Sold near you: 7 homes closed within 0.8 mile of the neighborhood center in the last 45 days, median $515K (range $310K to $1.62M); the fastest went from listing to closing in 59 days.
Providence Point. The East Lake Sammamish Trail runs along the lake west of the neighborhood: 11 paved miles, 12 feet wide with gravel shoulders, for walking, biking and every other non-motorized use, with a 15 mph limit. Issaquah access points are SE 51st, 56th and 62nd Streets and NW Gilman Boulevard. A 600-foot stretch in Sammamish near Louis Thompson Road NE is closed through the end of the year for culvert work, with no detour. King County Parks
Sold near you: 8 homes closed within 0.8 mile of the neighborhood center in the last 45 days, median $655K (range $300K to $1.96M); the fastest went from listing to closing in 15 days.
South Lake Sammamish. Tonight, 6 to 7 PM, city staff and WSDOT hold a South Lake Sammamish open house at Tibbetts Creek Manor, 750 17th Ave. NW. Topics include fish-passage progress, the NW Sammamish Road walking and biking improvements, utility work ahead of road closures, and the coordinated 2027–2029 closure timeline for Newport Way, NW Sammamish Road and West Lake Sammamish Parkway. Event page
Sold near you: 3 homes closed within 0.8 mile of the neighborhood center in the last 45 days, median $1.40M (range $300K to $2.30M); the fastest went from listing to closing in 39 days.
Squak Mountain. Mine Hill Park is five acres of natural area at the base of Squak Mountain, along Wildwood Boulevard SW and Issaquah Creek, with a viewing platform over the creek. There is no parking; it is walk-in only, dawn to dusk. Park page
Sold near you: 1 home closed within 0.8 mile of the neighborhood center in the last 45 days, median $1.36M; the fastest went from listing to closing in 139 days.
Sycamore. The climb to Poo Poo Point starts south of the neighborhood off Issaquah-Hobart Road. The Chirico Trail and the Poo Poo Point trail link Tiger Mountain State Forest with the West Tiger Mountain Natural Resources Conservation Area. Tiger Mountain trailheads are day use only, and a Discover Pass is required to park. Washington DNR
Sold near you: 2 homes closed within 0.8 mile of the neighborhood center in the last 45 days, median $1.59M; the fastest went from listing to closing in 45 days.
Talus. South of Talus on SR 900, the 730-acre Cougar/Squak Corridor links Cougar Mountain with Squak Mountain State Park, part of about 5,000 contiguous acres of public land, and protects the headwaters of a salmon-bearing stream. Margaret's Way climbs 2.5 miles from the gravel lot on 190th Avenue SE. Mountain bikes are not allowed. King County Parks
Sold near you: 8 homes closed within 0.8 mile of the neighborhood center in the last 45 days, median $570K (range $310K to $3.70M); the fastest went from listing to closing in 34 days.
This week's poll
Last week readers voted, and Squak Mountain's trails led.
Which would you pick for a weekend in Issaquah this month?
The upcycled ornament class at Gibson Hall
A walk on the Lake Tradition loop
The Open Mic at the Train Depot
The Lake Sammamish State Park shoreline
The market in 60 seconds
Across Issaquah ZIPs, the median home sold for $1.15M over the last 30 days (37 closings; single-family alone $1.50M). The median home took 64 days from listing to closing, and there are 5.4 months of inventory on the market.
Against last week's count, the median is down from $1.21M and days on market held at 64. Closings slowed to 37 from 41, and homes for sale dipped to 200 from 213, so inventory rose to 5.4 months from 5.2. About one home in nine (11%) closed above asking, down from about one in seven last week. The two 30-day windows share most of their sales, so one week's move says little about direction. At 5.4 months the market stays in balanced territory: under three months favors sellers, above six favors buyers.
One useful thing: a free day for state parks on November 11
Wednesday, November 11, is a state free day. No Discover Pass is needed to park at Lake Sammamish State Park or on other state-managed land. The free day does not cover overnight stays or rented facilities, so a camping spot still needs its pass or reservation. Plan the walk for the morning, when lots fill slowest. State free days
Reader asked
A reader asked whether Issaquah is planning more pool space, Squak Mountain sidewalks, bike lanes or field upgrades at Tibbetts. The city's own Tibbetts Valley page is the place to start. Tibbetts Valley Park has five athletic fields, two with lights, all natural grass, and the city is re-envisioning the park with a framework for phased redevelopment; the project page lists its request-for-qualifications stage from November 2025 to January 2026 and does not name lights, turf or a pool. The city's project list also includes a Squak Mountain Non-Motorized Improvement Plan and NW Sammamish Road non-motorized improvements, which are the places to check for sidewalks and bike lanes. We did not find a published plan for a new pool in the materials we read, so none is claimed. Know a neighbor asking the same thing? Forward this; they can subscribe at issaquahdispatch.com.
Your turn. What does your street need the city to do next that it has not done yet? Hit reply; every one gets an answer, and the best answers run in a future issue.
That's the week. Next Thursday: the budget adoption calendar and where NW Sammamish Road stands.
Bring a neighbor in. Your own link: {{rp_refer_url}} · you have brought {{rp_num_referrals}} so far. 1 neighbor: Your first name in the issue, and the Issaquah weekend list a day early · 3: A coffee and a pastry at an Issaquah café · 5: The Issaquah Dispatch tote · 10: Dinner for two at an Issaquah restaurant.
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The Issaquah Dispatch is published by Neighborhood Press LLC, owned by Adriano Tori. It is researched and written with AI tools, and every item links its public source. Reply to this email; every reply gets an answer.