Seattle Move??? (Bellevue, Farmington: apartment, rent, lofts)

[SeaMove]

Hello,
I am a female in her mid-30's and considering a move to Seattle in the Spring once I sell my MI house and spend hopefully a good winter here snowboarding. I am an IT consultant and travel for work so where I actually live is kind of irrelevant. Eventually I will stop the travel thing but for now..its not a bad gig. I am orginally from the East Coast.. NY burbs but really have no desire to move back but am interested in doing some city living and have access to outdoor activities in my backyard!!

I was in Seattle for the first time this summer and was really taken with the area...what do they put in the air there??? I am returning with a girlfriend of mine to do some wine tasting this fall and see if I still get a good feeling about the place.

If I were to move there I would want to live downtown or very close to downtown but not sure what recommended areas are for folks in my age group, etc. What are thoughts on the housing market there now and career opportunities?

Cheers
SeaMove

[CityGirl72]

What is your budget?

And without kids - I'd say get a condo. Belltown or Capital Hill/First Hill

[SeaMove]

Conservatively I would say $315 based on current salary. However, if adjusted for Washington comparative salary or if I was able to change jobs relatively easily then $350-$375.

Any suggestions on recruiters that I could contact for positions in the area?

Is it relatively easy to meet new people out there?

[LordBalfor]

Originally Posted by CityGirl72

What is your budget?

And without kids - I'd say get a condo. Belltown or Capital Hill/First Hill

I agree. You should be able to find a condos (probably small) within your price range.

Ken

[SeaMove]

A condo will definitely be the way to go for me...the house I have right now is too much...lots of outsourcing.

So where is Capitol Hill in relation to downtown? Pretty easy to meet people there?

[CityGirl72]

CApital Hill is right next to downtown and it's the hip kitchy area

Belltown is the other side of downtown, and it's a bit swankier and more for 30 year olds

And if you don't mind just a little bit farther - but close to downtown there is also Queen Anne, which is nice and quite safe for women

[kmfseattle]

Capitol Hill is across I-5, north-east of downtown. Definitely walkable to downtown if you're in and around the Broadway strip. Just moved out of the area to Bellevue, but I frequently wandered downtown from just east of Broadway with no problems. A LOT of really nice condo's going up in the area (although this is true for a large portion of Seattle...). A lot of younger folks, but plenty of established ones as well.

Trace Lofts are just getting finished up on 12th between Pike and Pine, was watching the construction (or, renovation..) out my window for upwards of a year now. Look very interesting although I don't know what they're going for. Google 'Trace Lofts' for more info, their page should be the first one to come up.

First Hill is directly south of Capitol Hill, interesting urban mix of people in the area, hit and miss for the most part, but a lot of money flows through it in general due to the large amount of hospitals (and subsequently, highly paid hospital employees).

[SeaMove]

Thanks everyone...your feedback has been very helpful!!

[dajam_fxdli]

Originally Posted by SeaMove

Conservatively I would say $315 based on current salary. However, if adjusted for Washington comparative salary or if I was able to change jobs relatively easily then $350-$375.

Any suggestions on recruiters that I could contact for positions in the area?

Is it relatively easy to meet new people out there?

You can hardley touch an apartment for 3-400 bucks, unless you want to live in a closet. I would say anywhere from 500 to 800 for a samll place you would be lucky and not that nice either.

I used to live in Farmington Hills and I would give an arm and a leg to have my old house back. My present house is an ice fishing shanty when compared to that.

Jobs are available out here especially if you are young and in IT. There is a very tight culture here and it is hard to get by it. You pretty much have to know someone for a "good" job.

Plenty of things to do if you are a social person but beware of the over abundance of two faced people out here.

[CityGirl72]

Wait - is that $350 per month rent for an apartment???

Oh geez - okay all the areas we told you are way out of your range - actually the ghetto might be out of your range - you can get a studio here for about $600 or $700.
One bedrooms around $800 to $1000