The Eastside is booming with thousands of new jobs and businesses but still must find solutions to long-term problems, such as crammed freeways and a lack of affordable housing and developable land, a group of local leaders told the Metropolitan King County Council yesterday.

The council and business leaders discussed the Eastside economy in front of about 120 people in a town-hall format at Bellevue Community College (BCC).

King County needs to consider loosening the urban-growth boundary and allowing more development on land that is close to freeways and other amenities, said Bob Wallace, CEO of Wallace Properties in Bellevue and a panel member. Operating in a free market is "going to be difficult if we have such a stranglehold on the land," he said.

The five-person panel of leaders also included Betty Nokes, president of the Bellevue Chamber of Commerce; Eddie Pasatiempo, board chairman of the Washington Software Alliance; Paula Boyum, vice president for work-force development at BCC; and Chip Nevins, King County conservation director for the Cascade Land Conservancy.

The Eastside rivals Seattle for net worth, retail sales, state exports, and the number of minority-owned businesses, Nokes said. And after the Internet crash of 2000, the area's tech jobs account for billions of dollars in revenue to the state and are among the highest-paying in Washington, Pasatiempo said.

"We went from dot-com to dot-bomb to dot resurgence," Pasatiempo said.

But protecting open spaces, while still finding a way to build more affordable housing, is important, Nevins said. "Economic development is really dependent on quality of life as much as the economy," he said.

If the Eastside wants its workers to also live in the area, it must provide cheaper housing and more entertainment for young people, Bellevue resident Martin Hickman said during the public-comment period.

Hickman, 21, said he and his friends think Bellevue is "a terrible place to live," with few nightlife options and rents beyond their price range. "One nightclub in downtown Bellevue could do so well," Hickman said.

The County Council's monthly town-hall meetings are held in locations across King County to better reach residents. So far this year, the council has met at a Seattle housing complex, the University of Washington, Emerald Downs racetrack in Auburn, King County Fairgrounds in Enumclaw, Des Moines and Lake Forest Park.

Ashley Bach: 206-464-2567 or abach@seattletimes.com