Wallingford? (Seattle, Bellevue, Kirkland: apartment, rent, movies)

[tickyul]

I grew up in Wallingford. It used to be an affordable, blue-collar neighborhood.


Now..........haha, forget it, housing prices on-par with many S Cal cities......full of perfumed yuppies. Nice area.....I could not afford to live there. Go to Zillow and check out the prices on RE, yikes.

[Kayela]

Kayela, which are the neighborhoods on the eastside that you'd like?

And not sure what it is about Wallingford - I guess it's just one of the few neighborhoods I had actually driven through on my 1 trip to Seattle, and thought it was quite charming. I liked the little shops and restaurants and tree-lined streets. Seemed very "stroll-able" if you know what I mean. I also liked that it had easy access to downtown, but was still a bit removed. Seemed like the best of both worlds. Based on that, any other suggestions of where I would look that would have similar things, but maybe minus the commute over the 520 to Bellevue?

And it is all those things, but you did ask what people don't like about it...

What matters is what YOU like. And if you drove through Wallingford and it felt right to you, then maybe you should give it a shot. Worst case - you decide the commute is crap and move closer, best case - you find a place that's a great fit for you. If you can I'd recommend doing a dry run (commute to the eastside from the DT Wallingford area around 8 am and then back around 5) and seeing if it's something you think you could be fine with, but chances are it's not going to be so painful that you couldn't live with it for the duration of a lease.

[Ira500]

Originally Posted by grlintheworld

anything you guys DON'T like about living in Wallingford?

The parts of Wallingford on Hwy 99 are kinda "skanky" or "transitional", the parts adjacent to I-5 are noisy and too close to the University District.
There's only one supermarket in Wallingford. The U District nearby has some, Fremont nearby has a couple, nearby Phinney has one, but you'd think that everyone in the neighborhood went out to eat all the time.
But I see more things to like than dislike about Wallingford.
...And before Tobester beats me to it here, may I suggest Columbia City?
It's south of I-90, but not too far, so it wouldn't be too hard to get to Bellevue, and it's in one of the most diverse zipcodes in the United States, which makes it a fun and interesting neighborhood, with a very good bakery and restaurants ranging from Mexican to Italian to Thai to Ethiopian to Middle Eastern to vegetarian.

[orzo]

Originally Posted by Kayela

Sure - the druggies in woodlawn park, the east edge is kinda scuzzy, the parts along 99 are also kinda sketchy, it's only walkable in certain areas and there's a never ending line of cars crawling through on their way to Fremont, Ballard or Greenlake. The traffic is nasty for such a relatively residential place, and unless you live near i-5 or 99, it's a pain getting in and out. It's got some cute restaurants and shopping (Chocolatti!), but you'll probably be going elsewhere for entertainment. Transit is really only good to DT and the adjacent neighborhoods. It's definitely got 'pros' to balance out some of that, and I think Ira has those mostly covered, but those are the aspects I don't like.

For me personally it doesn't have enough in the way of urban amenities to balance out the inconvenience and cost of the commute. If I wanted to live in a neighborhood of mostly houses with a walkable core - I'd move back to the eastside and save $2K a year in tolls or bus fare (plus gas). That's my personal opinion though.

Out of all Seattle's neighborhoods what has you so taken with the idea of Wallingford?

Scuzzy and sketchy are strong words to use there. Yes, the traffic is annoying, but a lot of people view Wallingford as a safe, beautiful residential neighborhood with a great "main street"-style commercial strip. There actually are some cool neighborhood bars (Al's, Grizzled Wizard, Kate's, Rain, etc), a lot of good restaurants, lots of functional stores. It is not the most exciting area by any stretch, but it's a very nice place to live, and is actually centrally located within the activity centers North of the ship canal.

Also, there are no neighborhoods on the Eastside like Wallingford. I can't think of anywhere on the Eastside with that kind of extended Main Street with block after block of unique local shops and restaurants.

[grlintheworld]

urgh - why can't my new (awesome) job just be on the Seattle side?!?!?!

[tobester]

Originally Posted by grlintheworld

urgh - why can't my new (awesome) job just be on the Seattle side?!?!?!

There a lots of Seattle-to-Eastside commuters (I am one of them when I need to go to work - I telecommute some). As Ira mentioned, I live near Columbia City in the Seward Park area. It's not a bad commute to Bellevue. You can drive (has become a little more crowded with 520 tolls), take the bus (about an hour from my home in Seward Park to the Eastgate area) or bike (a little over an hour on the same route, depending on your prowess and I lost my prowess long ago). And, yes, check out Columbia City - it has all you want: walkable, quiet and a quick jump on I90.

[grlintheworld]

Tell me more about Columbia City - I read that there can still be some shady activity around, despite the recent revitalization? It does seem like a nice walkable neighborhood, though...

[tobester]

Originally Posted by grlintheworld

Tell me more about Columbia City - I read that there can still be some shady activity around, despite the recent revitalization? It does seem like a nice walkable neighborhood, though...

Columbia City, Seattle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It's very walkable ... many great restaurants, bars, pubs, clubs. One of the best farmer's markets (in the warmer months), right on bus line. Fairly close to Lake Washington. There's probably shady activity in every neighborhood of Seattle. I've lived in South Seattle for 25 years and never been affected or seen any shady activity. I guess if you look for it, you can find it.

[Andy]

Originally Posted by grlintheworld

anything you guys DON'T like about living in Wallingford?

I do not like the central part at all. The areas near the lake or near Green Lake are cool, but too much traffic, too "cold" of neighborhood. I like the Phinney and Greenwood suggestions above. They have nice restaurants and decent nightlife and better / more affordable housing options.

[seattlenextyear]

I like the Tanleytown neighborhood within Wallingford. Perfect for someone in their 30s. Have some cofffe at Zoka, take a walk around Green Lake. Beer at the pub. Amazing sushi place for dinner.

Hmmmm...I might have just laid out my plans for the sunny weekend.