First and foremost,  Bainbridge Island is a bedroom community for downtown Seattle.

Every morning the Bainbridge-Seattle ferry runs are full of doctors, lawyers and corporate chiefs and drones of all shapes and sizes headed for their jobs in Seattle (not to mention the Microsofties headed for the software mines of Redmond). Every weekday afternoon, those same workhorses come running back to their Island refuges on the late afternoon Seattle-Bainbridge runs. Those ferries are full of carpools, bicyclists, motorcycle riders, individual drivers and walk-ons who will be picked up at the terminal or take one of the Island’s commuter transit buses to get home.

Until the Great Real Estate Meltdown of 2008, residential real estate development, residential construction and home sales were the ultra bright novas of the Island’s economy.  Things have slowed a lot in one year. Which means there are bargains galore in land and homes to be found on Bainbridge Island. The best perspective is to look at Bainbridge as a great place to raise kids that is only a short ferry ride from downtown Seattle and its international airport. A place where there is only a finite amount of acreage available. Bainbridge is not just another suburb without end, amen.

The Island also has a thriving community of businesses that service state, national and international clients and customers. The downtown Winslow area has numerous two and three story office buildings offering space for Island entrepeneurs and professionals. The middle of the island is home to companies that range from bio-tech to fly rod manufacturing.

Downtown Winslow’s main streets, Winslow Way, Madison, High School Road and Ericksen, are the cultural, arts, tourism shopping and economic ground zero of Bainbridge Island. This is where Islanders come to do their government business, banking, supermarket shopping, see their doctors and dentists and attend cultural and artistic events. Tourists stream off the ferry and make the rounds of Winslow’s shops, restaurants, galleries, and museums before heading back to Seattle. The Island’s two hotels and a European style Inn are located in the Winslow core for visitors who wish to stay a little longer.

The hidden part of the Bainbridge island economy is the number of people who work from home; in offices and studios that are hidden among the trees or have waterfront views. Writers, artists, architects, engineers, software developers, film directors, and even a hedge fund work from home based offices on the Island. And that is just a quick short list of home based Bainbridge Island businesses.

Like we said, Bainbridge Island is a nice place to live