We’re really just looking for the first year and a roommate is a real possibility but he’s not sure of starting out with with a stranger roommate. thumper, Yes he could afford $1700.
if he is relocating for work, perhaps his employer had names of others who are also looking for apartments.
Tiny office - only four people. He’ll be the new guy.
Wrong about A/C. Son told apt hunter he wanted a new building when he moved there two years or so ago- new upscale highrise did NOT have A/C. He told me he actually meant newer and downsized to a studio a year later (rent going up, parked his car 4 blocks away to save money at first place). He used to walk over a mile (distance runner so no big deal) then, now far less than a mile. He uses his car for shopping- traded distance to grocery store for distance to work. Frugal kid can easily afford more but, he’s frugal. Doesn’t bother him to see I 5 from his window. Doesn’t want to pay for parking at work. I’d offer his help in a PM but since he often has good intentions to talk but forgets to follow up doubt I could be helpful, sorry.
Son is looking for a newer building because they are better for earthquakes, not because of the ac. He’s not used to having that now.
South Lake Union is where most new apartments are these days. It’s where Amazon and the Gates Foundation are headquartered. The area is up and coming, with many new restaurants, shopping etc. I think of it as Seattle’s SoMa (of San Francisco). New but not much character, almost an industrial feel. Expedia also recently relocated downtown from the East side but I think it’s near Pike Place market. There are some decent new apartments there too. Queen Anne is known to have a lot of single/divorced women, and Capital Hill is the Castro Street of Seattle, i.e. gay area. The U district is pretty sketchy and run down. There are also lots of young people who like to live in and around Alki beach in West Seattle. The commute downtown could take 1/2 hr to 40 minutes depending on traffic. Finnie Ridge, an area near the Woodland Park zoo, is becoming more upscale these days but mostly single family homes. The Green Lake area has a nice walking/biking trail all around the lake.
IMO most of downtown Seattle is old, run down and grungy, full of homeless people and high crime. Traffic is often congested, parking is expensive and hard to come by. Public transportation is severely lacking. Taxis aren’t that plentiful either. Seattleites’ favorite pastime these days seem to be protesting. The city has pretty much been taken over and run to the ground by wacko liberal left wing nuts. The mayor rides his bike to work and is openly gay. It’s great if you are a liberal and love homeless people, but I prefer the newer, cleaner and much safer suburbs on the east side like Bellevue or Kirkland. Kirkland is across the 520 bridge from Seattle. The waterfront area of Kirkland is nice and lively with lots of nice condos and restaurants, and a beautiful waterfront area with running trails, bike trails. Microsoft is on the east side in Redmond, just east of Kirkland. Lots of Microsoft employees live in Kirkland, Bellevue, Mercer Island, Issaquah, Sammamish, all the way to Snoqualmie Ridge, all on the east side. Public transportation into Seattle is by bus and takes about 40 minutes. Lots of Park & Ride areas where you park your car and take the bus into Seattle.
Rent is so high in Seattle these days micro-apartments (300 sqr ft or less) are all the rage. Some only has one parking spot for every 2 apartments, and one shared kitchen for 9 apartments. Here’s an article about a guy and his 300 sqr ft, $950/mo. apartment in Wallingford, crazy!
http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2013/10/22/seattles-footprint-wallingford-micro-apartments/
IMO micro-apartments may be worth putting up with in cool cities like NYC, SF, Boston, DC, San Diego or Santa Monica, but just isn’t worth it in a city like Seattle.
Depending upon where he is downtown - south lake union could be a short walk or bus ride (down westlake). South lake union is lower crime than belltown, but is quiet on weekends and after work hours. It is still being built up with developers planning new housing structures there everyday. In the long run, most likely a good investment as the area will only get better.
Yes, well. I guess I am a “wacko liberal left wing nut”, because I can’t imagine at all living on the East Side.
Bellevue, etc. is great if you’re setting up for a family, not a single, young person. Seattle itself is vibrant, energetic, diverse, fun. Since he will be in a small office, being around more young, single people should be the priority. If he’s going to be working a lot, living close to work is a bonus. Taxis and Uber are plentiful, and the bus system is great. Car2go (or something like that) has a fleet of Smart cars parked around the city. Great for short trips (charging is by the minute).
If it is a building w/o AC, the apt should be on the North or East side of the building. Much more comfortable. The heat really builds up in the afternoons on the west.
Belltown can be noisy due to the clubs and nightlife.
As for earthquakes, older buildings have actually made it through some strong ones, but I can understand the concern.
My suggestion is to find a VRBO or air bnb for several nights/over a weekend in the areas he wants to see if he likes it or if noise, etc is too much. Check the crime stats, but I would stay away from anything from 4th and University to 1st and Bell.
Oh ^^^^ you forgot to say, “not that there’s anything wrong with that.”
We drove from Everett last Thursday around 4:00 and it took 1 hr and 35 minutes to drive about 36 miles.At one point it took 42 minutes to drive 16 miles. Be very aware of how congested Seattle often is as they are second only to LA for traffic.
H and I walked around 4th,5th, and down to 1st at 11:00m p.m. and did not feel worried at all. A fair number of people were out and about on a Thursday night.
Also, rentals go fast! sometimes there is an open house and many show up and the landlord chooses his/her best choice.
Are you using the interactive Padmapper search tool? We found a place on the East coast using this tool–virtual tools and you can walk down the street and figure out the neighborhood.
IF he has a choice about AC he should go for it. Many apratments are not allowing window units due to safety. We run hotter than Seattle but they did not run far behind us this year and it was unusually HOT.
Finally let son read this thread and of course, I got some details wrong. He is looking at Belltown and Capital hill- not U district. Also, his upper range is $1800, not $1600. He is a lefty liberal so would be fine with like minded people. He’s staying at an airbnb place for a couple of weeks while he tries to nail down something. He is using some sort of app that filters apt’s by price, distance from work, washer/dryer etc.
Uhhmmm… Actually, bars in Bellevue are hopping at night because all young, single folks who live there like to go out at night. But that is not the point… Commute from Redmond or Bellevue would be 30-45 min on a good day, 1 hour and up on a downtown protest day. The young man would be better off living closer to work. Then he can walk home if the traffic is bad and the buses are running late.
One area that has not been suggested is the Seattle U/bottom of First Hill (aka Pill Hill). It is within an easy walking distance to downtown office corridor, and there are several new apartment buildings that were just recently constructed and are looking for renters as we speak.
My kid lives on Cap Hill near the freeway, just tell him to make his list of amenities and then pick a place, it’s always a matter of choosing what you can live with or without- size, parking, building age, features, laundry in unit, etc.
We were up on Capital Hill today and you couldn’t swing a cat without hitting a new building going up, almost finished or already renting space. This just south of Seattle U-new construction EVERYWHERE. There are many young people moving into that area-we saw singles, couples, families all over the place walking, biking, etc.Cap Hill is fine and safe with the exception of some problems they’ve had around the bars at night, but there are plenty of strictly residential parts where that wouldn’t be a problem. The area I’m talking about will be close to the new trolley set to start running soon, but it’s close to buses as well.
This thread brings back some positive memories, but it also is an alarm bell of the new Seattle. LOL.
First of all, public transportation is one of Seattle’s assets and has been for a long time. The downside is, many main routes do not operate late at night.
Yes, rents are outrageous and many young suckers willingly pay for fairly ordinary accommodations, or worse. No such thing as rent-control in Seattle, but if enough newcomers arrive, you’ll see them voting for rent control sooner than later, a la Berkeley, California.
There are “restored” neighborhoods outside of the downtown core. Places like Genesee and Columbia City were never bad, just unappreciated. Now they are hot, but certainly less than Capitol Hill and the Central District, the historical African American areas that are as pricey as Marin County CA. Thanks, you Californians. LOL.
Kirkland and the Eastside is beautiful waterfront property. There are plenty of things of millennials to do in Kirkland, downtown Bellevue, and even Paul Allen’s Landing in Renton is up and coming. One more thing; air-conditioning is really unnecessary in Pacific Northwest. But of course this year was full of quite unusually warm weather. Good luck.
BunsenBurner, Would “U/bottom of First Hill (aka Pill Hill)” be a place that has a lot of activity for a young person? My son isn’t really into upscale club scene stuff, but would probably like a good brewpub and other people similar to himself. As a new person in town, he wants to be in a place where he can meet people and make friends. He is not planning to have a car and would ideally like to walk no more than 30 minutes so he doesn’t have to always plan on public transportation if it’s a nice day, but he will be working long hours so conversely would like public transportation for that reason.
btw, here in my area of Pennsylvania, we blame rising home prices on people from NY and Northern New Jersey.
In Pill Hill he would be able to walk to work downtown and then walk to the capitol hill action after work or on weekends
I’ll mention it to him, but I’m guessing he really wants to live where he wants to hang out. Work, go home, have dinner, walk out to grab a beer and chill for an hour. Just guessing, of course, but for a newbie I think that would make the most sense.
Seattle University is located at the bottom of First Hill. I think this is the neighborhood that posters are referring to. Plenty of twenty-somethings.
New apartments replacing underutilized properties especially along 12th Avenue. It looks like gentrification is radiating from the Seattle U. campus. Looking for an apartment near the campus is a safe bet.
Yes, exactly, PacNWparent. The gentrification is a whole other matter, but it should serve the OP’s son well. There are brewpubs all over the place in Seattle. One in that area that H likes (he’s a beer snob) is Chuck’s Hop Shop. Getting downtown would be walkable, but the trolley will run continuously and buses from that area run quite often, should he prefer that option.