Anyone live on the west side of the sound, Kitsap County, and commute to Seattle or somewhere else on the east side of the sound?
Is it that difficult? What are other issues, other than taking a ferry daily?

I'm looking at a house with some property near the Kingston area. I work in Edmonds, so I could wall on daily, but the wife works in Seattle. I know the walk on ferry to Seattle is coming, and it's driving property prices on that side up.

I did a Bainbridge to Bellevue daily commute a decade ago and it was hell driving onto the ferry. Some days it would be over two hours round trip commute. Sometimes I would fly out of Seatac and my return flight would be late enough to miss the last ferry.

Driving onto the ferry is bad enough most days but in summer, ferry traffic backs up both ways and just getting to the ferry terminal in Seattle is a major PITA if there is any sort of sports event on or if it's Friday after lunchtime when everyone and his dog is driving to Kitsap for the weekend.

Passenger ferry might be OK. I have to imagine that route is even more crowded today. They didn't have wifi back then either.

Only upside is I was so desperate for an end to the commute I ended up buying a stupid big house on the east side - and it's now worth 2x.

I did the commute from Silverdale to Bellevue via Bainbridge for a little over a year.  I did not like it.  

The driving part wasn't bad, 35 mins to Bainbridge with minimal traffic, but the overall door-to-door time was about two hours just to get to work.  Coming home was as much as four.  The Edmonds ferry return trip was a lot of suck the two times I've used the Kingston terminal.  

Walking on from Bainbridge is OK.  When the wife and I want to visit Seattle we leave the car in the lot at Bainbridge and walk on the ferry (free going east), then walk through Pike Place, then up the hill to the Pacific Science Center.  If your wife works within walking distance of the ferry terminal in Seattle or doesn't mind hiking up the hill to the bus terminal it's not bad- but she's going to lose a lot of home time.  

The expense adds up when you do it daily though, so factor that in.

If you buy a house in Kingston with the premise that the walk on ferry will allow you to work in Seattle then I think it's a great investment. I have friends and family who are considering this as well.

Just really depends where you work in Seattle, how certain you are you think they'll actually get a ferry in the near future, etc

I grew up on the peninsula but work and live in Seattle

The new "fast ferries", that are walk on only, are going in service but seem to be breaking down about once a week with no notice, they just send out a message "surprise, enjoy finding a new way home".  No way i would count on that as a way to get to and from work reliably.  they also only run 6 trips a day I think, three in the morning and three in the evening.  

There is the traditional ferry that is a nice trip but it's an hour on the water each way.  If your job will let you work remotely it could be better because of the free wifi on the boat so you may be able to count that as work time but still it's a lot of time getting to and from work.

Housing process here in Kitsap county have skyrocketed in the last 2 years.  Our house is up about 20% in about 18 months.  Still much cheaper than Seattle housing but only you can decide how much your free time is worth.

I'm still looking at houses in North Kitsap. I would be walking or motorcycling on the Kingston to Edmonds ferry every day. My wife's job is currently walking distance from the Seattle ferry terminal, though there is talk of a move. She also has thoughts of starting her own business in North Kitsap.

Some of my neighbors just buy a car and leave it over at Edmonds side. Then take the ferry over and go to work. If you buy in Poulsbo you can either go to the Bainbridge Island Ferry (Seattle) or the Kingsland Ferry (Edmonds) . You are kinda in between both.

You saw the part about it being a two hour commute in the morning and anywhere between 2½ to 4 hours coming back right?

The part of the plan that may suck...

I live in Kingston and in 10 years Iv seen the walk on ferry to seattle FAIL 3x. And I don't mean out of order fail, I mean lock the doors and shut off the lights kinda fail.
Very low on riders just don't cut it, and all these liberals just keep voting to try again....and fail.
Then it's head to Bainbridge.
That may be easier to park on Bainbridge anyway.

I live and work in downtown Edmonds now, I'm well aware of how long the ferry line gets, but I would be bypassing the line everyday by walking or motorcycling on. So where is my 2.5 to 4 hour wait?

I didn't say 2½ to 4 hour wait, I said 2½ to 4 hour commute.

The bike will cut that time a lot because you can arrive at the terminal a few minutes before the boat leaves and still drive right on; something you cannot do in a car.  

I think you will like Kitsap; a traffic jam out here is six cars backed up because someone is trying to turn left.

I know people who commute from Whidbey to Kitsap and vice-versa everyday (except when the winds or tides are fucked up).

Unless you are between Bremerton and gorst during commute times.