What makes these 3 cities in WA so enviable? Here’s what each of their mayors had to say
We’ve told you about the three Washington suburbs that made the “most envied suburbs in America” list, but did you want to learn a little more about these places?
Last year, Moving Feedback, a moving company reviewer, released a ranking of the most desirable suburbs in America that was created by surveying 3,000 U.S. adults. The ranking included two western Washington cities and one city in eastern Washington. Mercer Island ranked #10, Medina ranked #11 and Liberty Lake ranked #85.
We spoke with the mayors of each of these cities to hear their thoughts on what makes their cities so desirable.
What makes Mercer Island so enviable?
Mercer Island was ranked #10 on the list of most desirable suburbs in America for its location which “provides picturesque waterfront properties and scenic views,” according to Moving Feedback.
Mercer Island Mayor Salim Nice said that one of the best things to do in Mercer Island is to explore the natural beauty which surrounds the island, including the lake, but also the many parks that Mercer Island has.
Mercer Island, which is 12.9 square miles in size, has 19 parks located throughout the island. Many of the parks feature basketball courts, picnic tables, baseball diamonds, playgrounds and walking trails.
Mayor Nice, a Mercer Island native, said residents care deeply about their parks so much so that in 2022, they voted to renew the 16-year park levy.
“Mercer Island is blessed with 475 acres of park and open space and just in my last term, Islanders passed the 16 year parks levy where they increased parks funding by 66% for 16 years,” Nice said.
The park levy increased funding for parks operations and maintenance from $980,122 in 2022 to $1,629,332 in 2023, according to the city.
The mayor added that aside from the many parks, he believes the city’s investment into public safety is also an important factor that makes Mercer Island a place to envy.
“Myself and the city council have invested significantly in public safety over the last four years, not only in police but also in fire,” Nice said. “We have hired a head in our police department, we’ve equipped our police cars with automated license plate readers and we’ve regionalized our fire system with East Side Fire and Rescue. All of the fire personnel and Mercer Island are part of a much larger and more durable network of regional firefighting which is the future of firefighting in this region.”
The mayor said the regionalization of the Mercer Island Fire Department was due to the city thinking ahead about structure fires as well as wildfires. The Mercer Island Fire Department was regionalized this year on Jan. 1.
Mayor Nice said that along with investing into public safety, the city is also working to protect the natural environment and preserving the tree canopy on Mercer Island.
“When you think about Mercer Island and the rural kind of field that it has, that’s going to continue for generations because we’ve made those policy investments in protecting those natural resources,” Nice said.
What makes Medina so enviable?
Medina was ranked #11 on the list of most envied suburbs in America, and the second most enviable suburb in Washington state, according to Moving Feedback.
Medina is 1.4 square miles in size and has a small population of less than 3,000 residents that includes a small concentration of high-profile tech billionaires, including Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates.
Medina Mayor Jessica Rossman said that although Medina has large waterfront estates, it is just a small and mostly residential community with a suburban feel.
The mayor said that people that move to Medina are attracted to how quiet the city is and usually move there to start their families since there are three highly-regarded schools in the city.
“We have opportunities for kids to go to good schools close to home,” the mayor said. “We are part of the Bellevue School District, so we have the excellent Medina elementary here in the city and we also have highly regarded private options such as Saint Thomas and Bellevue Christian.”
The mayor also mentioned that Medina is well-known for its parks. There are seven parks throughout the city, but the biggest is Medina Park which is 18.5 acres and has a playground, tennis court, walking trails, a dog park and a sheltered picnic area.
Mayor Rossman says she likes to think that Medina is a safe, kid-friendly place and said that due to the size of the community, residents know the names of the people that take care of the parks as well as the names of the police officers.
What makes Liberty Lake so enviable?
Liberty Lake was ranked #85 on the list of most desirable suburbs in America, According to the reviews on Niche by residents, Liberty Lake, which is located in eastern Washington, is safe and provides a sense of community. Liberty Lake Mayor Cristella Kaminskas agrees with these reviews.
The mayor said in an interview that Liberty Lake is a young, master planned community that has only been around for about 23 years. Liberty Lake is only 6.5 square miles in size and contrary to its name, the city is lakeless. The city is small with a population of a little over 13,000 residents and five schools – two elementary schools, one middle school and two high schools.
Mayor Kaminskas said that due to the size of the community, residents are very close to each other and come together to put on big events during the summer, support and promote each other’s small businesses and help in times of need.
Liberty Lake is quiet during the colder months, but in the summer, the amount of activities are endless. The mayor said volunteers put on large events such as marathons, bike rides, car shows, firework shows during the 4th of July and family-friendly events for Labor Day weekend.
The mayor said Liberty Lake residents live a very active lifestyle since they have access to trails and although it’s not in the city, the lake.
“The kids start, I think they start unofficial cross country like in elementary school,” the mayor said. “We have tons of people out here who are Iron Men or half Iron Men, we have miles of paved asphalt paths for people to ride their bikes on or run. Then if you just go south of the city, overlooking the lake is the Liberty Lake Regional Park, but then there’s the lake where people kayak and water ski and they jet ski.”
Aside from that, the mayor says Liberty Lake is a safe city. Although minor crimes still occur due to people dropping their guard since they feel safe.
“Every once in a while we’ll have our string of crimes as people have left their garage door open and somebody has stolen stuff out of their garage or some car break ins, but those are crimes of opportunity, but people watch out for each other and our officers are usually pretty successful at at tracking those people down,” the mayor said.
The mayor added that the residents have good relationships with the police officers serving their community and even know their names.
Overall, “it’s just a great, family-oriented, safe community,” the mayor said.
This story was originally published January 12, 2024 at 5:00 AM with the headline "What makes these 3 cities in WA so enviable? Here’s what each of their mayors had to say."
