For Maple Valley, the lake is the heart of the community

On a popular Internet homebuyers forum, a California mother recently asked what it was like to live in Maple Valley in Washington state.

"Noooo!! Stay away!!" responded countrygirl76. "If you're OK living in developments where you can see what your neighbor is eating for dinner, then, yes."

Poppymac countered: "I love living in Maple Valley. This is a great place to raise kids. I feel safe in this area."

Some forum members complained about the one-hour commute to Seattle; others praised a "town where life can still be simple."

Driving through the Lake Wilderness neighborhood near the city's center, you get a sense that all of the above are true.

Like many once-rural areas near Seattle, Lake Wilderness has a mix of older homes on landscaped lots, new developments packed into cul-de-sacs, and some condominiums. The residential areas are broken up by a forest, a golf course, a few vacant lots and two small shopping centers.

And at its center is a blue lake, surrounded by tall Douglas firs and with a wide, white beach that has been a magnet for swimmers and sunbathers for generations.

"The lake really is the heart of the community," says Colleen Fischesser, a Re/Max real-estate agent who has lived in Maple Valley for 15 years.

Overlooking the lake is a lodge that has a big deck and once held a ballroom and a roller-skating rink.

In the 1920s, Lake Wilderness was a resort for well-to-do Seattleites.

Today, the lodge is used for weddings and meetings. And the Greater Maple Valley Community Center down the road caters to everyone, with rock bands for the teens, family movie nights and outings for seniors.

Brian Wargo, 37, a city maintenance worker, has lived for four years north of the lake.

He likes the expansive yard where his two boys can play, and fishing at the lake. He says both he and his wife have country roots.

"We just like the peaceful, getting-out-of-the-city life," he says. "We both like a lot of nothing."

Fischesser says you can find a four-bedroom home on a one-third-acre lot in the well-groomed east side of Lake Wilderness for $500,000 to $750,000.

A modern two-bedroom town house or an older rambler farther from the lake might cost as little as $250,000. A 4,000-square-foot home with lake views could set you back more than $1 million.

Despite the growth, the area maintains a small-town feel.

In the spring, Fischesser says, there's a midnight fishing derby, where "everyone pitches tents and they have prizes for the biggest fish." In late summer, "You see everybody you know at the football games on Friday night."

Just to the east is Cedar River Trail for biking and the Cascade foothills for hiking.

While Maple Valley has a growing number of stores and restaurants, the big stores are five miles west in Covington, while Kent, 12 miles west, has Kent Station and its movie theaters, restaurants and nightlife.

For some people commenting on the City-Data.com forum, that kind of civilization — big shops, cinemas and restaurants — is just too far away from Maple Valley.

For others, it's the "civil" part of civilization that matters more. Reminiscing on a two-year stay in Maple Valley, Moon Waffle writes in the forum: "I wanted a quiet, family-centered town, and that's exactly what I got."