Neighborhood summaries

[Ira500]

West Seattle is big and is made up of neighborhoods that are all different from each other. Much of West Seattle is great. Pretty. Walkable, Cool. Delridge is a bit more run down. But the Alaska Junction in West Seattle is pretty happening.

Originally Posted by Rcsligar

Thanks everyone for your input. Funny thing is, I actually am an incoming college student at Seattle U, but I prefer not to think of myself as a generic college kid. I am guilty for choosing the school for hedonistic reasons, given the fact that I love seattle, but I also intend to utilize the city to get my journalism career rolling and hopefully land a job within the first couple years after graduating.

Regarding the U District, I personally did not prefer the ambience not just because of the fraternity, husky presence (don't shoot me, I'm not a football fan), but rather because the section of retail and restaurants that I saw looked more weathered and less inviting than say, Ballard. I also thought that it lacked the quaint feeling of other areas such as Wallingford or eastlake. I have only looked into Beacon Hill briefly but I don't know if its at the top of my priority list. I didn't enjoy the aesthetic of the intl district/little Saigon and that area kind of spills in to it. I will look into further but as I said other oats need to be sewn first.

I think I will start off exploring the Columbia/Georgetown area and the Greenwood/Roosevelt area. I assume I don't have any business going to the Aurora/Northgate are as well as the South Park/White Center area as nobody has mentioned them yet. Anything to see around west seattle/delridge? I've heard west seattle is a bit of a commercialized, so cal knockoff, but once again I am ignorant and don't have much evidence to base this opinion off of.

Thanks again for your input everyone; I am relieved to recieve some food for thought. You all should be thankful to live in such a vibrant, creative city.

[Rcsligar]

Originally Posted by Ira500

West Seattle is big and is made up of neighborhoods that are all different from each other. Much of West Seattle is great. Pretty. Walkable, Cool. Delridge is a bit more run down. But the Alaska Junction in West Seattle is pretty happening.

I will have to add the alaska junction area of west seattle to my pursuits.

[orzo]

Originally Posted by Rcsligar

Thanks everyone for your input. Funny thing is, I actually am an incoming college student at Seattle U, but I prefer not to think of myself as a generic college kid. I am guilty for choosing the school for hedonistic reasons, given the fact that I love seattle, but I also intend to utilize the city to get my journalism career rolling and hopefully land a job within the first couple years after graduating.

Regarding the U District, I personally did not prefer the ambience not just because of the fraternity, husky presence (don't shoot me, I'm not a football fan), but rather because the section of retail and restaurants that I saw looked more weathered and less inviting than say, Ballard. I also thought that it lacked the quaint feeling of other areas such as Wallingford or eastlake. I have only looked into Beacon Hill briefly but I don't know if its at the top of my priority list. I didn't enjoy the aesthetic of the intl district/little Saigon and that area kind of spills in to it. I will look into further but as I said other oats need to be sewn first.

I think I will start off exploring the Columbia/Georgetown area and the Greenwood/Roosevelt area. I assume I don't have any business going to the Aurora/Northgate are as well as the South Park/White Center area as nobody has mentioned them yet. Anything to see around west seattle/delridge? I've heard west seattle is a bit of a commercialized, so cal knockoff, but once again I am ignorant and don't have much evidence to base this opinion off of.

Thanks again for your input everyone; I am relieved to recieve some food for thought. You all should be thankful to live in such a vibrant, creative city.

Sounds good! It's great that you're taking such a thorough approach. Just to clarify - Phinney/Greenwood and Roosevelt are two completely different neighborhoods, separated by a few miles. Greenlake (also a nice neighborhood and park, although probably not what you are looking for) is between them, as is I-5 and Aurora. To explore Phinney/Greenwood, I'd recommend starting at 87th and Greenwood and walking or biking all the way down to 62nd and Greenwood. There are nice hubs near 85th, by 73rd, and south of 65th (with a bit of a relative dead zone between 82nd and 75th) . The neighborhood gets nicer generally the further South you go. I used to live on 75th and Greenwood and really enjoyed it. Ken's Market is awesome.

Also, Columbia City and Georgetown are two very different neighborhoods as well - they are relatively close to each other but have pretty different feels.

Have you looked into Queen Anne yet? Lower Queen Anne, while not the hippest neighborhood in Seattle these days, is urban and vibrant, and close to downtown. Upper Queen Anne is more of a quaint, upscale strip but is very walkable and has a great neighborhood feel. You probably wouldn't want to live there, but I'd also recommend checking out Madison Park and Madison Valley.

Finally, West Seattle has several distinct sections. Alki Beach sort of has that SoCal vibe, but the Alaska Junction and Admiral District are just laid-back walkable neighborhoods with a a good amount of commercial activity (especially the junction). The only issue with anywhere in West Seattle is it feels a bit more isolated since the easiest way to get there is across a big bridge, and there aren't as many taxis around.