Living in Brier, WA means a small, largely single-family city of about two square miles in the southwest corner of Snohomish County, about 15 miles north of downtown Seattle. Its RS 12,500 zone sets a minimum lot of 12,500 square feet, Brier Park holds a public horse arena, and each August the SeaScare parade runs down Brier Road.
How did Brier become its own city?
Brier incorporated to keep its lots large. In 1964 a developer, McGrath Homes, sought to annex 35 acres it was building on into Mountlake Terrace, the city to the west, to get sewer service sooner. Residents feared the land would be zoned into smaller lots, and a citizens’ resolution that year asked that new subdivisions have lots of at least 12,500 square feet. On February 2, 1965, voters approved incorporation by roughly 70 to 30 percent.
A court challenge to the certification failed. Newly elected councilman Van Heeter then raced the papers to Olympia, where, by HistoryLink’s account, he arrived with muddy shoes after his car stuck in the mud at the airport. Brier became a city late on February 11, 1965. The name had been settled at a citizens’ committee meeting, where Brier took 19 of 23 votes over Shasta and Alderwood.
The land has an older record. John and Anna Salty, who emigrated from Finland in the 1880s, are the only homesteaders the city’s history places on land now inside its limits. The first City Hall was a back room in the home of Mrs. E. G. Towner, the first city clerk, rented for $50 a month.
What is it like to live in Brier, WA?
The city describes its landscape as large homesites, wooded and semi-rural in nature, and states its intent “to remain relatively small, simple and intimate.” The RS 12,500 zone sets a minimum lot area of 12,500 square feet, the same figure residents asked for in 1964. That is the zone’s minimum, not a description of every lot.
Commerce is limited to a small neighborhood business district on Brier Road. The Brier Library, part of the Sno-Isle system, stands at 23303 Brier Road, and City Hall is at 2901 228th Street SW, beside Brier Park.
Where do people spend weekends in Brier?
Brier Park, at Old Poplar Way and 228th Street SW, is the 12.8-acre center of the park system: walking paths, tennis courts, fields for baseball and soccer, a playground, a covered picnic area, a skate park and a horse arena. By the city’s 2020 account the arena is one of two public arenas in Snohomish County; Public Works laid a new surface in 2019.
Brierwood Park, beside Scriber Creek in the northeast, is left mostly undeveloped as wetland and wildlife habitat. City Light Woods is five wooded acres the city uses under an agreement with Seattle City Light, and Locust Creek runs through Locust Creek Park on Vine Road.
SeaScare on Brier Road
On a Wednesday evening each August, Brier Road closes to traffic and fills with pirates. SeaScare began in 2002, when the city’s volunteer Park Board created a nautical festival to replace Brierfest, and it centers on the Porch Light Parade. The parade starts just north of the library at 232nd Street SW and moves south down Brier Road to 238th Street SW.
The 2026 parade included pirates, classic cars, the Kenmore & District Pipe Band and a pie-eating contest. In June, at a Brier Elementary assembly, Carmichael the sea cucumber is brought out of his tank to predict the weather for SeaScare.
How long is the commute from Brier to Seattle or Bellevue?
Drive times depend on traffic. Downtown Seattle is about 15 miles south. Brier has no state highway and no rail line; it sits between I-5 and I-405. The city’s transportation plan describes residents reaching I-5 west through Mountlake Terrace or north toward Lynnwood, heading east through Bothell toward Canyon Park, and going south through Lake Forest Park for I-405 and the Eastside.
Community Transit Route 111 runs between Brier and Mountlake Terrace Station. From there, Sound Transit’s Link light rail runs two lines: the 1 Line south through Seattle to Federal Way, and the 2 Line to Downtown Redmond.
Living here
A horse arena in the park beside City Hall, a parade down Brier Road each August, and a zoning minimum that matches a 1964 petition: these are the details that set Brier apart from the cities around it.
If you are weighing a move to Brier, or selling a home here, Chase Hedin, Managing Broker, works Snohomish County and the Eastside from Woodinville and can help you weigh how Brier’s lot sizes and parks fit your plans. Start a conversation or ask what your home is worth.