Son is interviewing with Amazon and is trying to get a feel for where he might live in the (admittedly unlikely) event he actually gets an offer. He’s lived in big city suburbs and outlying areas. He’s willing to commute up to half an hour or so for a safe area that isn’t a high rise in the middle of city streets, i.e. something updated with green space and parking and preferably quiet. He’s willing to pay a large chunk of his salary for the right place; pretty frugal otherwise. No family or pets involved, and he’s the kind of guy who likes to spend evenings at home instead of nightlife. No idea of salary but I suspect he’d be able to spend $1500-2000 on rent.
So far it looks like North Seattle neighborhoods such as Wallingford, Greenlake, Belltown, etc. might work. Also Bellevue sounds promising. I’ve sent him some links describing some of these areas. We’ve had short tourist and business visits to Seattle but aren’t familiar with what it’s like to live there. Any other ideas? How close can he live to SLU and get his desired ambience? Thanks!
Most of the areas you are mentioning are well over a half hour commute in rush hour. Bellevue would be more like an hour plus in all liklihood with the commute across the bridges. I grew up just North east of UW and we always figured on 30-45+ to get to SLU and that was in the 80’s-early 90’s. He might find something on magnolia or Queen Anne Hill but I have no idea on costs, might be more expensive. Possibly southern end of Ballard as well would be possible. Greenlake area would be very nice but again cost is the question. You can thread the back streets to avoid traffic as well.
Just a note - Bellevue would be quite a stretch if he wants up to 30 min commute. Bus 550 (nice express commuter bus, BTW) takes about that long to get to downtown. If he gets off at Westlake, he will still have 10-20 min to get to Amazombie land. If he wants to drive, his commute - at least in the morning - will be much longer. Much longer, because buses have dedicated lanes, and they don’t have to deal with the “Mercer Mess” - that is what the locals call traffic on Mercer St when Amazon employees get off work.
What about Lake City or Northgate or Kirkland? In Kirkland, if he can find something close to the Metro Route 255, he can have a 20-30 min commute to downtown, get off at the first stop when the bus exits off I-5, and then walk or take another bus to Amazon.
Lower Queen Anne looked interesting to me! I would encourage him to look for places within walking distance - I gather more and more are being built - but he really is uncomfortable living in a strong urban environment. He would be fine taking public transportation or corporate shuttles to work but likes driving to errands and activities.
Queen Anne is nice, but he might have a hard time finding a nicer apartment with a “suburban” feel in his target price range.
Again, I highly recommend living near a major bus route, because rush hour traffic in the city is simply NUTS. And rush hour lasts from 7 am until 10-11 am and then from 3 until 6:30 pm.
Upper Queen Anne. Magnolia, Wedgwood, Madison Park. Upper Queen Anne has best commute. But all would be under 30 minutes or at about 30 minutes. Queen Anne Magnolia and Madison Park have small charming villages. Magnolia perhaps has the most suburban feel.
“He would be fine taking public transportation or corporate shuttles to work but likes driving to errands and activities.”
Kirkland. Bus 255 to commute to the city. Plenty of waterfront parks and recreation and dining. Google campus is there… Very suburban yet close to the civilization. They are just beginning to discover that $$ can be made by charging for parking.
Wedgewood. Nice area with a bit more urban feel. Lots of city buses. Probably drivable to errands and activities when there is no traffic.
Lake Forest Park and Lake City. Buses 522 and 312. Very suburban.
I do not recommend Magnolia or Ballard for one reason - too much traffic even on weekends, so driving to errands will be tough.
The problem right now is not necessarily the distance, but the time it takes to get into the SLU area. The exit ramps from I5 to Mercer are a freaking disaster in the morning. Then once you get off the freeway it’s another mess to get to the offices themselves.
North Greenwood (north of 105th) decent bus service and groceries/food close by.
Northgate
Queen Anne, Greenlake, Eastlake, north end of Lake Union are all incredibly expensive these days.
Watch out for the micro apartments. They look reasonable $-wise, but his home bedroom is probably bigger and the ‘bathroom’ isn’t separated by a curtain.
Seattle traffic is murder. Trying to get from Bellevue to Lake Union daily would be insane. The freeway shuts down at rush hour (‘rush hour’ is about a 3-4 hour period) and all the small streets coming into Lake Union clog up. In fact, all of N Seattle clogs up. If he can figure out how to commute without a car, that’s ideal or minimal car commute within N Seattle. Study the metro bus options and light rail lines. Bike commuting is a big thing in Seattle, but bike commuting into the South Lake Union area can be sketchy. But the city keeps improving bike commute options into that area.
I’d recommend looking at Magnolia, Queen Anne, Fremont, Wallingford, Capitol Hill. Great neighborhoods and fun places to live. Belltown has a reputation as having more crime and Capitol Hill also.
Lake City, Northgate and Kirkland will require getting on I-5, which is not a freeway much of the day. It’s a parking lot. Also you lose the Seattle ‘vibe’ as you go North (or east). That ‘vibe’ I assume is part of the attraction of coming to Seattle.
If it were me, I’d look at Queen Anne. There are a lot of apartment buildings tucked away and many little parks and green spaces. The views over the Puget Sound are great. Just consider when looking at places where you can walk to—you want to be close to restaurants, shops, grocery etc.
The kid does NOT need the city vibe and will be commuting by bus, as the OP said.
Just had an idea… Mercer Island? That is about as suburban as Bellevue. Have no idea what the rents there are, but homes on the island are cheaper than in Bellevue, so rents might reflect that. The abovementioned bus 550 goes through the island, and it takes 15 min to get to the center (Westlake) through the tunnel.
In the hot Seattle housing market, it’s a beggars-be-not-choosy situation, for both rentals and home buyers.
You’ve gotten some good advice already concerning neighborhoods, but also consider that when he puts in his rental applications, there will likely be competition, and he will have to expect to maybe lose a few before he finds a place. Move quickly on acceptable places and don’t be overly choosy waiting for perfection.
OP said: "He’s willing to commute up to half an hour or so for a safe area that isn’t a high rise in the middle of city streets, i.e. something updated with green space and parking and preferably quiet. "
That makes me think of Queen Anne & Magnolia and rules out Belltown, Lake Union and Capitol Hill. Queen Anne & Magnolia are quiet with many little (and one huge) parks. Greenlake and Ballard also qualify though commute time and metro routes need to be considered. Those areas are not “high rise in the middle of city streets”. They are quiet and residential. When I said “Seattle vibe”, I was not thinking city/uban vibe rather N Seattle vibe. Which is vague, but South Lake Union/downtown definitely feels like a different city to me.
^^Yes, but are there non-shared apartments in the nicer areas of QA that fall within the OP’s price range?
Plus, it sounds like the son would like to drive to places on weekends… Does not work well in QA.
(Nothing against QA - very nice area, but definitely does not have any suburban feel. You will have cars street-parked along the front yard… Not in garages.
I worked in that area and can walk it with my eyes closed. )
I do it (plus a bit) every day. It’s not that bad–25 minutes in the morning (leave home at ~0800) and ~35 minutes at night (critical commute rule: use Waze to route away from eastbound Mercer between 1630-1800). If I worked in SLU, it would be ~20 minutes in the morning and ~25 minutes at night as Amazon’s essentially located on the onramp.
Granted, I pay ~$8/day extra for this so I don’t know how much longer it’d take if I took I-90.
" If I worked in SLU, it would be ~20 minutes in the morning and ~25 minutes at night as Amazon’s essentially located on the onramp."
It might be close to the onramp, but getting through those 3-4 blocks to the onramp sometimes requires… an extra 30 minutes. That especially is true for the hours between 4 and 6 pm when Amazon and Gates Foundation employees hit the road.
Ok, so QA is not “suburban” but it’s not “high rise in the middle of city streets” either. That said, I agree rents are likely out the roof. Magnolia might have the closest to a “suburban” feel (but again rents are probably very high).
Is there really someplace “suburban” you could live and get to South Lake Union in 30 min reliably/realistically? The 550 bus is a good eastside to downtown connection, but still you have to get from the convention ctr to S Lake Union and you have to get from your apt to whatever park-and-ride you use. Seems to me that the commute time will add up fast. Though the lines coming in from Shoreline/Bittler Lake/Lake City are even slower it looks like. The neighborhoods off the light rail line going south maybe would get you to a less urban feeling neighborhood within 30min, house to work. Maybe.
I absolutely agree about 30 min commute from suburban areas being unrealistic. I even posted anout that. That’s why I suggested Mercer Island. There are very nice apartments within a walking distance to the transit center. The feel is suburban, for sure. That same bus 550 goes through there, and it takes 10-15 min to get to Westlake stop in the tunnel. In Westlake, pop out of the exit under Nordstrom, walk less than a block to the trolley (the SLUT, as the locals call it, short for South Lake Union Trolley) and ride it to the SLU area. That might be 30-40 min including all walking.
(How do I know all of this? We almost bought a condo on MI, but Mr. rebelled against living in anything with association fees).
