Don't Move To Issaquah WA UNLESS...You Can Handle These 5 Things! 

Anything on the south side will have extremely bad traffic going up to issaquah (north) starting at around 6:30 up to around 9:30, then again (heading south) between 2:30 and 6:30. I can describe Mirrormont, which is not too far away from High Valley, and, based on when we were shopping for houses, not that different. It’s often easier to go into Renton (especially so from High Valley), or go south to 18 and go to Maple Valley or Covington. These southern outlying areas are the last priority in the winter when King County is clearing the roads, and similarly if there’s a widespread power outage. One of these days, we’re installing a whole house generator (the house is all electric). I assume that High Valley also uses wells (like Mirrormont), and you’re going to usually get big lots, larger houses, slopes, ‘70s construction, septic tanks (no sewer lines). The one house we looked at in High Valley also had oil heat, and, even if converted, you may have old oil tanks to deal with. (Mirrormont mostly doesn’t, but that’s only because they tried having a central oil tank that distributed oil to all of the houses- and it turns out there are reasons you don’t do that. Half of the houses here are gas; half are now all electric). Other downsides- you can get DoorDash or Amazon Prime deliveries here, but you’re not going to be able to call a pizza place and get delivery from them. The buses don’t run this far south; they’re concentrated in Issaquah. There are cougars, coyotes, bears, and I see deer pretty frequently in Mirrormont (would assume HV is similar). It is not extremely uncommon for cougars to kill and run off with cats or small dogs, so, strongly advise against this area if you have these sorts of animals and want to keep them outside. If you’re someone who really likes to go out to eat, or who really loves to shop, or who loves the opera, symphony, theater, etc,- don’t live this far out. Just don’t. Doing any of these is an ordeal worthy of a heroic saga. It’s also very quiet and pretty dark at night. We don’t have street lights or sidewalks out here, for example, which isn’t shocking, but wait until winter when you are trying to get up early to walk your dog and see how you feel about it. We’ve owned a house out here for more than 20 years now, and the large house and large lot are sufficient inducement for us to live here, but that’s not going to be true for everyone.

I'm about a mile from High Valley. It's a nice neighborhood, but definitely on a mountainside. Expect a sloped lot. Weather can be "special" out here: more snow and ice. Your services will as likely be in Renton Highlands as Issaquah, but it's Issaquah Schools. Rain and clouds are worse than further west. Power outages can last for days, so be prepared for no electricity. With a generator you can run your oil or gas furnace, but you wouldn't need a whole house generator, unless that's your only heat source. You'll need to maintain your septic. Definitely a Subaru or Volvo neighborhood, or you'll need to stay home if it's snowy. I think upper High Valley will be about 1,000' elevation; down near the bottom is more like 3-500' elevation. For being so close in to the urban area it's very rural. It takes me 30 minutes to get into Seattle with no traffic, and going through Renton is a good alternative if I-90 is clogged. If the weathmen start talking about "The Cascade Foothills", these areas are it!