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Old 04-12-2012, 11:37 AM
 
Location: Seattle, WA
72 posts, read 146,968 times
Reputation: 16

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What can you guys tell me about the Wallingford neighborhood?

I'm in my single, in my early 30's and just got a job in Bellevue. I'm looking for a neighborhood with a decent commute, and that has a nice neighborhoody feel (a bit of character, not super urban but still has things to do, places to eat/drink/shop, etc.). I've heard great things about Wallingford...

Any insight on the neighborhood? Likes? Dislikes? Thoughts on a commute to Bellevue? Or getting into Seattle proper for nightlife, etc?
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Old 04-12-2012, 12:21 PM
 
9,618 posts, read 27,226,083 times
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Sometimes the solid waste facility has traffic issues, but I've never smelled it, and used to walk by there all the time
Wallingford has different feels. It has far less apartments and more single family houses than Capitol Hill, but a long established and vibrant retail core. There's an image of a qunitessential Seattle. A guy in his late 40's who's bald on top but has a gray ponytail, is active in liberal politics, and owns a Subaru wagon or a Volvo but often bcycles. He would live in Wallingford. It's got some great places to eat, drink, and hang out. Transportation to Bellevue might be OK if you were driving,I don't know, 20 minutes? though there would be a toll on the 520 bridge. You'd have to get to the University District or Montlake to catch a bus to Bellevue. Overall, Wallingford is a very nice place. Not suburban feeling, kinda funky in a good way, nice places to walk, with Gasworks Park and the Tilth Organic urban gardening center.
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Old 04-12-2012, 12:43 PM
 
1,108 posts, read 2,274,323 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by grlintheworld View Post
What can you guys tell me about the Wallingford neighborhood?

I'm in my single, in my early 30's and just got a job in Bellevue. I'm looking for a neighborhood with a decent commute, and that has a nice neighborhoody feel (a bit of character, not super urban but still has things to do, places to eat/drink/shop, etc.). I've heard great things about Wallingford...

Any insight on the neighborhood? Likes? Dislikes? Thoughts on a commute to Bellevue? Or getting into Seattle proper for nightlife, etc?
Wallingford is nice, I would look at Phinney Ridge/Lower Greenwood as well (although the commute might not be great there). Neither are that urban, but both are walkable and have nice amenities. Fremont and Ballard are nice as well, and they both have more active nightlife scenes, but Fremont especially tends to skew a little younger. Greenlake is very nice as well, although it's commercial district isn't quite as big as the others. Overall, I'd visit and check out Wallingford, Phinney/Greenwood, Fremont, Ballard, and Greenlake. Then weigh which one you like best with how long/tedious your commute will be, and make your choice from there.

One other thing to remember: Of these neighborhoods, Ballard has the most apartments (inner Ballard is virtually all multi-family), Fremont and Phinney/Greenwood have slightly fewer but still a good amount, Greenlake has slightly less than those, and Wallingford has the least.
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Old 04-12-2012, 03:26 PM
 
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Might also look at Capitol Hill
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Old 04-12-2012, 03:29 PM
 
Location: Seattle, WA
72 posts, read 146,968 times
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A lot of people have suggested Capitol Hill, but I get the impression that it's a bit more urban and a little bit louder and more brash than Wallingford...Is this accurate?
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Old 04-12-2012, 03:41 PM
 
7,743 posts, read 15,799,792 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by grlintheworld View Post
A lot of people have suggested Capitol Hill, but I get the impression that it's a bit more urban and a little bit louder and more brash than Wallingford...Is this accurate?
Capitol Hill is a broad area... the Pike/Pine Corridor, Broadway street is the most urban part-- hence the loud/brash... but go further east, it gets quieter, lovely with these beautiful old homes. Lots of apartments west of Broadway, but not necessarily loud nor brash.
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Old 04-12-2012, 04:23 PM
 
9,618 posts, read 27,226,083 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by grlintheworld View Post
A lot of people have suggested Capitol Hill, but I get the impression that it's a bit more urban and a little bit louder and more brash than Wallingford...Is this accurate?
In general, yes. The eastern and northern parts of Capitol Hill are not brash and loud. As Inkpoe stated, the Pike/Pine corridor and Broadway are the loudest and brashest, but they only comprise a fairly small part of Capitol Hill.
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Old 04-12-2012, 04:48 PM
 
Location: Seattle, WA
72 posts, read 146,968 times
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anything you guys DON'T like about living in Wallingford?
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Old 04-12-2012, 06:28 PM
 
Location: Seattle
1,651 posts, read 2,764,236 times
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Quote:
anything you guys DON'T like about living in Wallingford?

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?
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Old 04-12-2012, 06:44 PM
 
Location: Seattle, WA
72 posts, read 146,968 times
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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?
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