Is Kirkland the "sister city" to Redmond?

If you were to name a local "sister city" to Redmond, most would probably choose between Bellevue  and Kirkland.   I would like to know your choice.  I'll  explain why my pick is Kirkland.

The benchmark decision for me was Rosemarie Ive's last City Council meeting of December, 2007.  Kirkland Mayor James L. Lauinger was one of many giving tribute to Rosemarie.  Mayor Lauinger presented a stirring tribute and impressive honorary plaque to Mayor Ives.  This act of kindness triggered an emotional response from Rosemarie saying, she had oftened considered Kirkland  "Redmond's sister city".

I can barely scratch the surface guessing all the reasons why Rosemarie would coin Kirkland our local "sister city".  Perhaps, Rosemarie would comment to this post.  Allow me to list a few reasons, similarities, connections and "intersections' between our cities; and some differences.

 I've found many of the connections between Redmond and Kirkland  attributed to politicians.   For example: 

1) Doreen Marchione was a Redmond councilmember and Mayor of Redmond prior to Rosemarie Ives.  Doreen now lives in Kirkland and is running for a Kirkland Council seat.
2) Mary-Alyce Burleigh lived in Redmond for ~ 30 years before moving to Kirkland to become a respected, long-standing, influential Kirkland councilmember with terms as Mayor.
3) Warren Appleton, MD was a Redmond Councilmember during Rosemarie's term  and is now the Director of Emergency Preparedness and member of two Boards of Kirkland's Evergreen Healthcare.

A) Lake Washington High School provides an intersection for Kirkland and Redmond students.
B) A county annexation by Redmond is planned bordering Kirkland and Redmond on 132nd St. (I think)

Culture:  Little league Baseball and Softball park facilities are extensive and well maintained in both cities. Kirkland won the Little League World Series in 1982.  Redmond is the "Bicycle Capital of the NW" and has extensive trail systems.  Kirkland is a classy Lake Washington waterfront restaurant and boating community.  Both cities value art:  Kirkland boasts a variety of galleries; Redmond has an outdoor art collection of over 100 pieces.  Rob Butcher publishes the popular KirklandViews for profit blog.  I'm asking the community to fund the Redmond Neighborhood Blog as a nonprofit.  

Comparable *demographics:

• Residential population of Redmond is 49,427 : Kirkland is 47,325 
• Population density:  3,065 (R) : 4,365 (K)
• Median income:  $76,155 (R) : $69,711 (K)
• Median home value:  626,000 (R) : 675,000 (K)
• Median age:  37 (R) : 40 (K)
• Singles:  43% (R) : 50% (K)
• Families with kids:  22% (R) : 17% (K)
• LWSD ratio of pupils:students:  24:1 (R) : 19:1 (K)  $4350 expenditure/student for R/K.
• College BA degree:  36% (R) : 33% (K)
• Bellevue is twice the distance of Kirkland from Redmond.  Kirkland is 3.1 miles away.   

Employment differences are significant:  Redmond is "on the Edge" of Microsoft.   Google is "on the Edge" of Kirkland.  The largest employer in Redmond is Microsoft. (41,000 in Puget Sound).  Redmond population doubles during the work week.  Evergreen Healthcare  is Kirkland's largest employer with 3,229 employees.

Governments are dissimilar:   Redmond has a "strong mayor" who is an elected representative and the Administrator of city staff and operations.  Mayor John Marchione is the city CEO.   Kirkland has a "council form" where the Mayor is an elected councilmember but a business manager is hired to run the city and carry out Council policies.  Redmond has a super-sized City Hall.  In comparison, Kirkland's Hall is a donut hole. 

Do you have any opinions or points of fact you want express in a Letter?  Please comment here.  If you think Bellevue or Woodinville is a more appropriate sister city please say why, and I'll post your comments as a Letter.

* Yahoo Real Estate, Neighborhoods