If you're defining the East Side as only Bellevue and Sammamish, maybe... But I just did a search in Bothell and there are a number of decent-looking houses for

If you're defining the East Side as only Bellevue and Sammamish, maybe... But I just did a search in Bothell and there are a number of decent-looking houses for under $1M. Yeah, it's absolutely crazy compared to what it was even a few years ago, and I'm not going to argue that the values should be anywhere near as high as they are. But if you actually want to buy (rather than just vent, which is valid), you don't have to broaden your search that much to find much better options.