Clean and tidy community

By DEBERA CARLTON HARRELL
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Drive from any direction toward Mill Creek and it's tough to miss the real estate signs, strip malls and roadside attractions ranging from Christ-mas tree lots to video arcades.

But once you hit the city limits of Mill Creek, the clutter abruptly ends. Real estate signs vanish. Shopping areas are clean, with upscale shops and family restaurants. Streets and sidewalks are litter- and gravel-free. Homes are immaculate, lawns newly mowed, bushes trimmed, with all cars and boats out of sight in three-car garages.

Nothing seems out of place.

Mill Creek, arguably the tidiest and most successful planned community in the Pacific Northwest, has been called a "Bellevue North" fantasyland where the majority of upper-middle-class residents live in a country-club "bubble."

As one local joked, "We 'R' us."

While not all 9,300 residents would agree with such descriptions of their relatively new and rapidly growing city, most would not be insulted.

Locals gaze at their woodsy, evergreen environment in Snohomish County from gorgeous homes in subdivisions called Vinemaple, Cottonwood, Huckleberry, Heatherstone and Wildflower. They know they are in suburban nirvana. Their kids breathe fresh air, bicycle in cul-de-sacs and attend excellent new schools that are among the most technologically advanced in the state.

When Mill Creekers are not stuck in traffic commuting to Boeing, high-tech companies in Bothell or Redmond, or to jobs in Seattle and Everett, they can enjoy the jogging and walking paths, bicycle lanes, nature preserve, pocket parks or the private golf course, country club, tennis courts and swimming pool.

Continued:

• 'Pride in home ownership' is city's motto
• Even paradise has growing pains
• It began with a clear vision
• A 'master plan' guides the city
• Safety and schools top list of concerns