Why not review a municipality? The city government provides a variety of services to residents,…read morebusinesses and visitors. As a resident, I've had a good experience with city government overall, although some city staff have ignored information requests I've made in the past. And there is also the thorny issue of how the city government and planning commission are handling Newcastle's growth management. Newcastle is going through a slow and sometimes painful process of de-Rentonization. The commercial area (which city hall cutely refers to as "downtown") is still an unattractive mish-mash of fast food, gas station and strip shopping malls. The city has laid out a new vision for this area (basically downtown Mercer Island) but apparently failed to provide sufficient incentives for property owners to improve or redevelop their non-conforming uses. Coal Creek Parkway is a big part of the challenge. The newer sections of coal creek, south of downtown, offer attractive landscaping, safer sidewalks, and good lighting. But where the road bisects "downtown" there is only one traffic light and no incentive for people who do not live here to slow down. As a result, pedestrians are squeezed onto narrow sidewalks between landscaping on one side and traffic whizzing by at 40+ mph on the other. There is only one protected pedestrian crossing in the commercial area, and it is unlit at night. (The city's growth management plan envisions a future elevated pedestrian walkway connecting the two sides of downtown, a silly idea that the planning commission should have never allowed onto paper). While Bellevue filled in the "suicide" lanes in Factoria years ago, Newcastle waits for the wake up call of a big accident. And so on. Aside from traffic issues, Newcastle lacks many of the basic community resources that Bellevue and other larger Eastside cities offer. There are few marked trails, a shortage of parks and open spaces, almost no waterfront, no library, no YMCA or community center, and no family-friendly pub (no public house at all, in fact, unless you count the former cigar bar up at the golf club) or diner or restaurant serving traditional "American" fare. Some of these things will never be available in Newcastle (increased waterfront). Others are in development (library, YMCA, improved pedestrian safety downtown). Still others are just promises with no delivery date (notably, expanded parks and trails--Newcastle News and the city's blog and growth management documents are packed with chatter about parks and trails, but the city seems to have its hands full easing the commute for residents of Renton and Issaquah, and leaves trail development up to a private volunteer group). Overall the city's charms, location and relative affordability more than make up for its shortcomings, though. And other than the city's poor response to direct public inquiries and some hiccups de-Rentonizing the downtown area, the city government seems to be on top of things.

I went to check out this library on the first day of opening. I was trying to chose a book for my 3…read moreyear old daughter and some old hag, with medium length blonde hair is shouting "hurry up with your selection because we are closing!" To be precise, it was 15 minutes before closing time and I was on my way out anyway. Thanks so much you old hag for the wonderful welcome to the new library. I don't know her name, but she should be fired!

This is a very cute and new library. I didn't have a problem with finding parking but there's…read moresurrounding areas that you could probably park and walk to the library. There's a little garage with some parking space but could fairly be a little tight. There's a flight of stairs that you will need to walk up to get to the library entrance or elevator available, if needed. I would say that this library is not as quiet as other libraries I've been to. You know how when you enter a library and it's super quiet that even a whisper sound loud? Well, not gonna find that here if you're looking for complete silence. No library voices in here. There's plenty of windows so there'a a lot of natural lights available. I would totally recommend here.

Neat little bright with glasses library with underground parking and lot parking. Two rows of…read morecomputer terminals. There were some rocking chairs (just wished some of the chairs were comfortable to sit on).

Extremely satisfied with the storm drainage installation performed by Dirtbusters. I work with…read morevarious trades and I regard Aaron at Dirtbusters among the best in class!. He treats the project as if he was working on his own property: thoroughly went through the design and precisely delivered the execution. He even went above and beyond to fix a problem caused by a previous contractor. True pro! I'm very glad that I've found DirtBusters. I have larger projects coming up in the future, and will work with Aaron again.

From the owner: As an excavation business owner, what makes my business unique is my exceptional communication…read moreskills, unwavering honesty, and commitment to customer satisfaction. In addition, my specialized equipment allows me to access even the most challenging spaces with ease, ensuring that your excavation needs are met quickly and efficiently. With my unique combination of expertise and customer-oriented approach, you can trust that your project will be completed with transparency, integrity, and excellence.

PnD Logging is the only company I will use. They did a fantastic job. They really put the customer…read morefirst. On time, did the work in the amount of time they said it would takprotected all my plants and deck. Our trees were cut into rounds for us to burn. The clean up. Let me say my deck and yard were cleaner when they left than it was before they showed up. Thank you. You a truly amazing and professional company.

Quick to respond to our request for a quote. Very upfront about cost and their honest…read morerecommendations about what needed to be done. We have several laurel trees and they were very frank about what would need to be done. Ended up hiring them to trim some dead branches in a tree over our cars, but will be hiring again for future work.

Ron and His son Brenden gave us top quality work. We had them excavate for our addition as well as…read moreback fill and grade the back yard area. They even had to deal with a few surprises, in the form of some old septic tanks, and they did so expertly. I would recommend them to anyone and My wife and I intend to use them again on the front yard in the future.

We live on a steep grade and have a challenging driveway. We consulted Brendan to expand our…read moredriveway and help with drainage and landscaping. Brendan was terrific to work with! He and his team were very professional and performed the work for a reasonable price. They seemed to genuinely care a lot about the quality of their work and the final product, which is something we have found quite uncommon in other contractors we have dealt with. Additionally, Brendan had many innovative ideas regarding our landscaping that allowed us to come up with a solution we are very happy with on a challenging property. We couldn't be happier with Brendan and his team and highly recommend them!

Worked with Roland from Cascade utilities to address a clogged drainage issue where water was…read morebacking up from the drainage downspouts. Roland was professional, friendly, a good listener as he was engaged in the conversation and we thought through various options of how to address the problem. His team was on the day of work, friendly, professional, good communicators and did a great job at clean up as there was quite a bit of digging with the excavator and with shovels. Roland and team was also good with coming up with alternatives when we couldn't find the underground drainage pipe. The 'plan b' solution turned out to be the best solution in the long run. I've worked with a number of contractors, and Roland and his team stood out in all areas that you can think of such as dependability, quality of work, communications, cleanup and fair price.

From the owner: Residential & Commercial Site Development Drainage…read moreImprovement, Sewer & Conversions from Septic to Sewer, Water & Storm Drainage Line Connections & Repair. Home Demolition & New Foundation Excavation. **We do not offer residential junk disposal services