Seattle Neighborhoods?

ektaylor · Jul 27, 2010

I'm moving to Seattle within a week (sudden job offer) for a minimum of 3 months. I'll be sleeping on a friend's couch until I can find a place (preferably a studio). I'm wondering what neighborhoods an early 20s young "professional" with an SF-approved mentality should look into. I don't want to spend more than $800/month since I'll be working 12 hours a day, 7 days a week in the Mercer Island/Bellevue area.

dtmt · Jul 27, 2010

Assuming you want to live in Seattle itself (not the suburbs), First Hill area is probably your best bet, it will give you easy access to I-90 which will get you to Mercer Island, and is reasonably close to downtown/shopping/bars/restaurnts/etc.

RedLantern · Jul 28, 2010

You could always stay in bellevue.

Svenn · Jul 28, 2010

I'm in Bellevue at the moment for a few days, pretty posh place compared to the grunge of Seattle... seems like a lot of young people around... though I'm from the boonies and any area of seattle seems hip to me (though I prefer portland). If you're really going to work that hard, can you really afford the commute of living so far away from work? I wouldn't wanna sacrifice the at least 1 hour a day of commuting for the vague possibility of meeting more people in a more active neighborhood, but to each his own.

ektaylor · Jul 28, 2010

Originally Posted by Svenn

I'm in Bellevue at the moment for a few days, pretty posh place compared to the grunge of Seattle... seems like a lot of young people around... though I'm from the boonies and any area of seattle seems hip to me (though I prefer portland). If you're really going to work that hard, can you really afford the commute of living so far away from work? I wouldn't wanna sacrifice the at least 1 hour a day of commuting for the vague possibility of meeting more people in a more active neighborhood, but to each his own.

I will be spending 2-3 hours of my 12 hour day at home on the phone. Second, my working location is temporary and could very well be somewhere in Seattle come December. It's sort of a complicated situation, I guess. Essentially, my work -- for the time being -- will be my life (professional, social, etcetera) and most all my coworkers are based in Seattle. I'm guessing the 1 hour commute is dependent on traffic? Mercer Island and downtown Bellevue seem relatively close by, as the crow flies at least.

From browsing craigslist, there seem to be a lot of reasonably priced studios in the First Hill area ($6-800). Having lived in Oakland/Berkeley (while working in downtown SF) for the past 2-3 years, I'm tired of living in the 'suburbs' and working in the city. I'd rather live in the city and work in the suburbs.

Jayhawk1412 · Jul 28, 2010

I live on Alki Beach in West Seattle. If you want to live in the city, then Belltown, First Hill, and Queene Anne are good choices. Capitol Hill is real funky and hipster.

Kirkland is another great city outside of Bellevue you could look into. It's near the water, plenty to do, and very close to Seattle and Bellevue.

And in response to Svenn's post. I commute to Bellevue 5 days a week from West Seattle, it takes me like 30-40 mins max. Not bad at all.

KitAkira · Jul 28, 2010

Originally Posted by Svenn

I'm in Bellevue at the moment for a few days, pretty posh place compared to the grunge of Seattle... seems like a lot of young people around... though I'm from the boonies and any area of seattle seems hip to me (though I prefer portland). If you're really going to work that hard, can you really afford the commute of living so far away from work? I wouldn't wanna sacrifice the at least 1 hour a day of commuting for the vague possibility of meeting more people in a more active neighborhood, but to each his own.
ew. In Seattle I'd say Capitol Hill. It's not the cheapest neighborhood (okay, it's quite expensive) but it's pretty central (Belltown is just downhill with I-5 between, equal distance from 520 and 90 depending on which way you'd need to go to avoid traffic) and the gays are very welcoming. It is a really nice neighborhood though, and especially good if you're a fan of quality coffee shops

Originally Posted by Jayhawk1412

And in response to Svenn's post. I commute to Bellevue 5 days a week from West Seattle, it takes me like 30-40 mins max. Not bad at all.
405 can make or break a commute, though

dtmt · Jul 28, 2010

Bellevue is the most boring, sterile, generic suburbia type of place imaginable. South Bay suburbs like Mountain View would seem like the funnest place on Earth after living there.

zippyh · Jul 28, 2010

Originally Posted by dtmt

Bellevue is the most boring, sterile, generic suburbia type of place imaginable. South Bay suburbs like Mountain View would seem like the funnest place on Earth after living there.

Apparently you've never been to Lynnwood.

ektaylor · Nov 29, 2010

Once again, I am looking for a place. After landing in a nice studio in Cap Hill (with a great view of downtown) I lost it to a miscommunication with my landlord. Anyway, now I'm looking at places again. Now that I've had a chance to get a general sense of the area I think I might want to move to the more residential parts of Cap Hill or Queen Anne. My only concern is that I'll end up isolating myself from any sort of nightlife.

For a young professional (in his early-to-mid-twenties) would Queen Anne be a suitable place to live? Beltown seems filled to the brim with hipsters and fixed gear bycicles and I got my fill of that when I lived in Oakland.

As per the First Hill recommendation, that neighborhood seems to be a bit rough? I live right in the Pine and Pike cooridor and it seems that south of Pine, the area doesn't get much better?

robin · Nov 29, 2010

Queen Anne is nice, but it has a different sort of nightlife than Belltown or Broadway/Pike/Pine.

I'm not a fan of First Hill, mainly because of the noise from the hospitals. There are some nice buildings in that area though.

Originally Posted by ektaylor

Beltown seems filled to the brim with hipsters and fixed gear bycicles and I got my fill of that when I lived in Oakland.
I've lived in Belltown for about six years now and I cannot agree with this. Drug addicts, yes. Hipsters? No. Maybe you only visit on the nights when the bike messengers meet up and ride around.

ektaylor · Nov 30, 2010

Originally Posted by robin

I've lived in Belltown for about six years now and I cannot agree with this. Drug addicts, yes. Hipsters? No. Maybe you only visit on the nights when the bike messengers meet up and ride around.
This is good news. Any buildings to keep in mind when I go apartment hunting down there? I'm not sure what gave me that impression of Belltown--probably a mixture of a coworker with a weird hatred of the place and spending most of my time there in the bars.

Jayhawk1412 · Nov 30, 2010

Look at Upper Queen Anne, that is probably my favorite area of Seattle besides where I live.

Also, Fremont is full of people in their 20's. Mostly recent college grads, or some are still in College.

First Hill can get a little sketchy, but if you stick with anything under 10th Ave you should be fine.

Belltown has gone downhill in the past few years. Its not really full of hipsters, but mostly douchebags and old guys wearing Affliction and Robert Graham shirts trying to act young.

Capitol Hill is a safe area, but that is where your hipster and gay scene is at. Everyone in tight pants, scarves, makeup, and man bags.

greenleaflettuce · Nov 30, 2010

capitol hill is the least annoying neighborhood imo. too many homeless in belltown. queen anne is nice but lacks convenient freeway access

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