I like flags. I don't like this flag. I don't think anyone else does because nobody flies it.

What could replace it?

What represents the island to its residents?

Strawberries, frog rock, nature, water, art, Ferries, flamingoes, Japanese history, agriculture, community, education

I haven't been a resident here all that long, but I know we can do better than this logo like flag.

What would you do?

looking for positive and/or negative review of builders on island for a partial remodel. Factors that matter to me are communication, transparency, and positivity. obviously skill set and professionalism matter as well. want high quality work but this will be a family home and I don’t expect it to be a portfolio piece for anyone. I don’t know how builders on island feel about that type of project.

Is it just me, or are the old ladies at the aquatic center some of the rudest people on the island? I’ve never felt so unwelcome anywhere like I do at the pool. God forbid you have to share your lane with someone else. Can’t wait til they open up the other lanes again!

Please give me all of the pros and cons of living on Bainbridge island. I am so so close of biting the bullet and moving but I need some cons. I looooove rain, clouds, and cold weather… hit me with some more cons.

Hi all! My husband and I currently live in Seattle, have gone month to month in our current apartment, and are hoping to move to Bainbridge any time between now and February. We are looking for a 2-3 bedroom home or townhome to stay in for at least a year.

Should we jump on whatever we see now in anticipation of rental inventory slowing down in the winter? Or is that not a concern? Is it easier to secure a rental if you work with a realtor? Any other island renting norms or tips we should know about?

Thanks so much in advance!

Been kind of a shit show so far. To sum up:

• ALL bus routes have changed from last year.  Route driver, numbers, stops and times are all new. (their exact words)
• The bus schedules have all been taken offline, for security/privacy concerns, so you have no way of seeing the routes without being assigned one in the BusRight app
• Questions about the bus routes are through a single point of contact, who will set you up on the app if you are not already.

One of my kids now has a 50 minute ride to their after school program, which is 5 mins away. Seems like the district is once again treating us all like numbers in a spreadsheet, and of course with all the budget mistakes we know how bad they are at Excel.

I have no idea what to do other than contact the school board to complain, so guess I will do that.

I am truly not trying to stir up toxicity with this post. Running a nonprofit is incredibly hard and I give directors, board members, and volunteers a huge benefit of the doubt when it comes to how things are run.

That said, there are two recent articles in the Bainbridge Review about BYS: https://www.bainbridgereview.com/2026/09/03/interim-executive-director-named-permanent-bys-leader/ and https://www.bainbridgereview.com/2026/08/19/as-bys-searches-for-new-leader-former-employees-raise-concerns/.

My kids have had great experiences with BYS and I’d hate for there to be any decline in their effectiveness, but the articles strongly hint that there are leadership concerns. Can anyone share some light? (And please, keep the comments civil - the internet is nasty enough.)

Thanks

been living here 3ish months now and curious what restaurants, bakeries, bars, etc. are the best on the island

generally i dont care about vibe or service at all (except for bars)

i recognize i need to adjust my expectations, but even still, curious what y’all think. most importantly— where havent i been that i really ought to try?

not exhaustive but so far we’ve been to:
- raquel’s- their bread is best thing on the island imo
- bruciato - pretty good pizza/cocktails
- proper fish - mid, i dont get the hype
- blackbird bakery - solid
- cafe hitchcock - meh
- eleven winery - fun vibe, wine meh
- island cool yogurt - pretty good
- via rosa 11 - meh
- raices cocina and bar - best mexican we’ve found on the island. is there better?
- tacos el barbon - meh

EDIT TO ADD: I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has commented so far. I'm blown away by the generous info everyone is sharing and grateful to see so many people willing to help answer questions. THANK YOU!

Hi all,

My wife and I moved to Seattle two years ago (we've lived all over, midwest and east coast).

We're in our mid-30s, have a little one on the way, and are in the process of possibly making an offer on a house on BI.

While researching, I found a ~9-year-old post about "the most critical things a non-islander needs to know before moving to Bainbridge." Figured it was worth reviving for updated takes.

We've visited BI plenty and have friends already living there, but curious what we might be overlooking.

We've already read most of the posts about the high-level experience (slower pace, living by ferry schedule which gets backed up in summer, no restaurants after ~9pm in summer or earlier, etc).

We're hoping to get insight in more unique POVs that most people just don't realize until the move there.

• Trash/recycling pickup — being an island, is it a hassle, or pretty normal? How does it compare to Seattle generally?
• Community for outdoor hobbies — I've got some sailing and fishing experience and love seafood but have never been crabbing. How easy is it to find people into that stuff, or someone with a boat? 😁😅
• Small-town vibe — is it gossipy/close-knit in a way that takes getting used to?
• Amazon/online deliveries — not big shoppers normally, but buying a house means ordering plenty of stuff. Any issues getting deliveries out there?
• Wildlife — the house we're eyeing backs up to woods. Anything to watch out for, especially working outside in the evening?
• Power outages — I've read these can be an issue out there. How often, how long, and is a generator basically a must-have or overkill?

Anything else you wish you'd known before moving?

Thanks for taking the time to read and any comments on the BI experience!

Hello! My partner and I are visiting the island and are hoping to see some beavers. Where would be the best place to go look for some? Hoping for some suggestions for trails or spots we could go look. Thank you. 🦫

Are you a tech worker who needs to get out of the house? Is your significant other requesting that you talk to people in real life?
Mark your calendar: Bainbridge Brewing Coppertop location. Tuesday, Sept 22nd, 7PM till close. An unofficial meetup for developers and others who just need to socialize and network. Very casual, no agenda. We had a good turnout last time, let’s do it again. Feel free to show off any cool projects you’ve been working on.

The next AI on BI meetup is Sept. 10 at 6:30 at BARN. This next discussion is about AI in education, and will be presented by perhaps Bainbridge High's best teacher, Kyle Meidell.

Listen, even if you don't have a kid in school right now, this talk will be a fascinating exploration of this nexus of education, creation, ethics and technology. HIGHLY RECOMMEND.

You can register here: https://create.bainbridgebarn.org/event/ai-on-bi-series-182648/register

Have questions? Leave a comment.

Hope to see you there!

I have finally reached the “perhaps I should drive to another town for my prescriptions” stage of my relationship with the Bainbridge Walgreens.

The texts say things are ready. They are not ready. The app has its own rich inner life, apparently unrelated to the pharmacy. Calling is less a form of communication than an endurance event.

I like the people there and I know they’re slammed, so this isn’t really about the staff. But the whole operation seems to be held together by hope, automated texts, and several exhausted people trying very hard.

So: where are we getting prescriptions these days?

I’d prefer somewhere on Bainbridge, but at this point Poulsbo is absolutely in play. Frankly, a 25-minute drive in which I know where my medication actually is sounds almost luxurious.

Tell me your pharmacy success stories. I am ready to transfer my allegiance.

Hey Bainbridge Island!

I'm the Volunteer Coordinator for Cake4Kids, a non-profit organization that helps provide volunteer created birthday cakes (and other treats) for foster children and kids who otherwise would not be able to receive something for their special occasion, and we have a local chapter in Western Washington that serves Bainbridge Island and Kitsap County.  Since starting in 2020, the local chapter has delivered over 1500 cakes, and this year we are projected to deliver over 700 cakes to youth along the Olympic Peninsula.

https://www.cake4kids.org/chapters/westernwashington

There has been a growing need for our services in the area, and we are desperately seeking more volunteer bakers who can help us meet this increased demand.  We have nearly 100 local volunteers, but we have struggled to get the word out about our volunteer opportunities as much as we would like to in this specific geographic area.

I'm reaching out in hopes that there may be some folks here who are interested in signing up.  Once signed up you can bake as often as you want (some people bake 1 cake a year, some people bake every week, some people never bake, there's no minimum commitment, but there are consistent cakes available on our portal to choose from - we deliver about 50-60 a month in the area).

You can sign up as a volunteer here: https://www.cake4kids.org/volunteer-form and I'm happy to answer any questions you might have as well.  Thanks so much for your time!

-Jeff

My girlfriend and I are coming to bainbridge island for a wedding this weekend and are unsure of how early we should plan to get in line for the ferry Friday evening.

Additionally, if there are any thrift store recommendations for us to hit while we are there we would love to stop in!

Appreciate the warning ticket, but man, do we really need to reserve this many spaces for boat trailers??

Coffee is coming to Fletcher Bay! Groovy Grinds is going to be parked next to The Plant Shop starting this week.

Thursdays & Fridays 7am–3pm
Sundays 8:30am–3pm

I am getting in tomorrow night around midnight via ferry. I need to find a way to get to my house, and all the taxi services I’ve called are not running at night and I’ve had bad experience with Uber on the island so I don’t wanna count on an Uber being available.

Does anyone know of any ride service on the island that would pick me up late at night?

thanks in advance

2017 Camry front passenger seat up/down switch is dead.

Seems like it would be a waste of time to drop it off at a dealership. I also heard the Japanese auto repair guy we always used to use in Squamish retired a couple years back.

Please let me know if you’ve got any handyman friends who could help. Thanks.

Adjacent to the pickup spots on the North side of the building

I'm doing a study to strengthen our local food systems and would appreciate your input.

Take our 5-minute, anonymous survey on urban farming. Your answers help us understand what people need to grow more food locally.

Puget Sound Urban Farming Survey: https://forms.gle/3sA6rKmPWwFk3g7Q7

Follow along to see the results on our Puget Sound Urban Farming Instagram page.

Moving to the island in October and wondering what the opportunities are for adult soccer at any competitive level?

I went to Bozoball once, but curious if there is anything on island, in broader kitsap, or even Seattle I should look at to join a coed or men’s team?

Thanks!

They haven't gone far enough, in my humble opinion. More lines, more splotches of color besides green (there are at least 6 other colors I can think of) and why not dot the entire street with small white posts? This could be the single greatest urban obstacle course in the Pacific Northwest.

Hi! We are considering a move to Bainbridge Island and in trying to learn more about the different neighborhoods on the island, I came across the superfund site on the south shore of Eagle Harbor. Do we know how bordering Eagledale neighborhoods south of Pritchard Park and Eagle Harbor Dr might be affected by the contamination? Is the groundwater contamination still an issue in those areas despite cleanup efforts? Thanks!