seattle neighborhoods: why do you love yours?

cheekywife · August 2011

DC nestie looking for a little help. DH & i are looking to relocate in the next year and seattle is on our shortlist. we definitely want to stay in the city and hope to only need one car (we've spent most of our adult lives in NYC and DC so no need). ideally, we'd like a 1BR with den or 2BR. our budget would be around $2K/month. is that realistic or no? we currently live in DC, can walk to work, hop the metro/bus almost anywhere we want to go - basically, we like having a lot at our doorstep.

so, what neighborhoods do you love & why?

TIA!

CDMay2006 · August 2011

Apt or house?

jennlin · August 2011

i love the suburbs, and i rely on my car. can't help you....but good luck!

cheekywife · August 2011

oops, meant to say definitely an apartment! we prefer the amenities and have no interest (or skills!) for keeping up with a lawn/garden anyway. we'd consider townhouses but prefer a bigger apt building.

mgoss228 · August 2011

cheekywife:
we definitely want to stay in the city and hope to only need one car (we've spent most of our adult lives in NYC and DC so no need). ideally, we'd like a 1BR with den or 2BR. our budget would be around $2K/month. is that realistic or no? we currently live in DC, can walk to work, hop the metro/bus almost anywhere we want to go - basically, we like having a lot at our doorstep.
so, what neighborhoods do you love & why?
TIA!

I live in the Northgate area. There are newish (2 years old) "luxury" apartments there. $2K is doable for a 2BR in that area. It's not what I consider a "hip" area, but there is the Northgate Mall and a large commercial area so you can find a lot of vendors close by. It is super easy to get to downtown Seattle with a 10 minutes Express Bus, which you can catch at the conveniently located Transit Center just South of the Mall.

KST_ · August 2011

Our 2 bed/2 bath in Magnolia is $1100/month, so you can definitely find something in your price range. While Magnolia is nice, it wouldn't suit your needs at all. It's kind of its own little peninsula and while you can walk to "the village," it's only a few blocks long and has most, but not all amenities. Plus...viaduct (cue doom music).

One thing you'll find is that Seattle's public transit is not always the best, so if you really want to take advantage of it, then you want to be more central. I don't know rents for 2 bd Capital Hill or Belltown, but you might look at those areas.

Viaduct starts getting torn down in October...which basically screws over Magnolia, Ballard, and much of Fremont for easy north/south transit....so I would just skip those areas completely. Mgoss is right that the area near Northgate has some acceptable areas and it is convenient to many things (and short bus ride to DT).

Joenali · August 2011

We live in West Seattle and LOVE it! We have a two bedroom one bath house and our landlords take care of the yard for the most part. We are very close to downtown, a short bus, bike ride or car ride will get you to where the fun is. EXCEPT there are LOTS of fun things to do in West Seattle. We live close to Morgan Junction, grocery store, coffee shops, bars, restaurants etc. Also just a quick hop skip and a jump is the Alaska Junction: more bars, coffee shops, restaurants, cute boutiques, gift shops etc.

There is Alki beach which I don't really like but is a pretty popular beach area. Lincoln park is awesome, running trails, beach access, 50 meter outdoor swimming pool open in the summer, ferry boat access to Vashon Island for a weekend getaway.

West Seattle feels like a small town, but it's very trendy right now and a popular place to live. There are a few luxury apartments that have been built in the past few years that might suit your fancy.

The downside to West Seattle is the stupid viaduct. They are going to tear it down and make a tunnel. They have already started a construction "traffiec re-routing" project so they can start tearing down the bridge. It causes major traffic back-ups right now because they have the bridge down to two lanes instead of three. They are also closing the viaduct in both directions for 9 days, 24 hours a day so they can get this re-routing project done. It's going to be a NIGHTMARE to get around the area for a long time coming. I would look at the Seattle Department of Transportation to get a better idea of the scope of the project.

Despite the traffic woes, we love, love, love living here! We have everything you need!

therickson · August 2011

We live in Mt Baker/Columbia City and love it here! We just a couple blocks from the light rail and have a decent amount of busses nearby. If we didn't work out of the central area we could easily get by with only one car. It is also a little more affordable than Downtown so you could get more for your money.

This place is a little south of us but has been advertising a ton -

http://thestationatothellopark.com/apartments/

I love Ballard - but hate getting in and out of it, depending where you work though you might be able to take public transport in and out.

With all of the construction on 99 I agree with PP you might want to avaoid the area but I also love Fremont and Lower Queen Anne

CDMay2006 · August 2011

I don't live in the city (or even near it, really), but i've lived here a while and have friends in the city (so that makes me an expert, right?)... anyway, it sounds like Belltown or Queen Anne might fit your style and your budget. Belltown is exactly what you've described, but costs more (still within your budget, but will take a little more looking, maybe). Queen Anne is older, smaller buildings, but still a pretty good fit; also more affordable.

cheekywife · August 2011

thanks everyone, this is a great start for our research!

seattle neighborhoods: why do you love yours?

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