Young Professional looking for neighborhood to rent and hiking spots (Seattle: fit in, apartment)

[USHiker212]

Hi Everyone,

I lived in Seattle a few years ago during a summer internship and fell in love with the city. I'm 24 and plan on moving there from Phoenix in February. I was in Seattle in 2012 from June to early August and I know the sunshine won't be like that the vast majority of the time, but coming from AZ weather I think I handle the change.

I wanted to get your feedback on good neighborhoods for a young professional/techie to rent a nice studio or 1 bedroom apartment. Neighborhoods I've looked into so far include: Belltown, SLU, and Capitol Hill.

I don't own much stuff, so I'm leaning towards getting a studio. My budget is at ~$1500 a month. My company's office is near downtown Bellevue, but since I work remotely, the most I'd be there is 1 or 2 day a week max.

Would also appreciate any tips on hiking spots in the area. Was only able to hit Rainier once while I was working in Seattle, so would love to know what other hiking spots or other outdoor activities are recommended.


Thank you!

[CrazyDonkey]

The most accessible hiking from Seattle is in the Issaquah Alps (Cougar, Tiger, and Squak Mountains, etc.):

http://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/hike_search?title=®ion=592fcc9afd9208db3b81fdf93d ada567&subregion=all&rating=0&mileage%3Aint=0&elev ationgain%3Aint=0&highpoint=&searchabletext=&sort= &show_adv=0&filter=Search

Hikes 30 Minutes from Seattle

[Blondebaerde]

When traveling light at about your age, had I not gotten a good deal on a one bedroom I'd have gone studio, too. In retrospect, maybe I should have. Didn't own much, if-any, furniture worth keeping until I was 30. Everything I cared about fit into the hatchback of a 1981 Mercury, demonstrably, 'cause that's how I moved West.

Bet your budget will support a studio in a place like you mention.

If you like the vibe, stick with the three places already mentioned? Eastside, including Bellevue, may or may not be interesting enough for your purposes. All of that is somewhat suburbia.

If that's the case (Seattle), might suggest figuring out a mass transit route to Bellevue. Not that you'll be there often, but would make life easier, ultimately. That may guide where you'll live. Every place I've lived past few decades is or was within a mile of medium or large transit center. Never know when you'll need it.

As for hiking, several of many options: Meetup has groups that hike, both urban and wilderness. There are trail guides online, maintained by the state (I think) for all the major districts, though the season is winding down for two I like (Darrington, Mount Loop).

And/or, if you're into devices, Garmin's MyConnect site: people record and then upload courses via various GPS units. Download it to yours, let it guide you. Some have been downright interesting, like a 8 mile Mercer Island loop that went through some odd spots. Found that the other year.

[analogkid84]

The Issaquah Alps are a great suggestion if you want to start with something close by. As mentioned above, I would peruse the Washington Trails Association site, Washington Trails Association, as well as the NW Hikers site, NWHikers.net forums. There is a wealth of information there, and the trip reports pages can provide some useful insight from those that have recently been to an area of interest. A couple of good hiking books would be very useful as well. Craig Romano has some very recently published volumes that would be good to have, Books | craigromano.com, as well as others published locally. Take a trip to Metsker Maps or REI downtown to look at some books.

I used to love spending the winter looking through the older Spring/Manning hiking books planning out the following summer's hikes. Don't be discouraged by the fall/winter weather there though, as many great lowland hikes can be found during the gray time of year.

[MissAlexRZ]

I think those are neighborhoods I would recommend for a young professional. I'm guessing you can get a studio for that amount. I think South Lake Union would be best for a techie as it is right near Amazon.

There seem to be a lot of hikes in the Snoqualmie Area, but I would recommend looking at the Washington Trails Association site.

Snowshoeing seems to be a thing to do in the winter. I know people join rock climbing clubs, but I'm not sure about the "real" outdoorsy rock climbing activities. I'm not sure about the ice climbing opportunities around here. You might also want to try skiing, snowboarding, sledding, etc. in the winter. You could certainly bike, boat, swim, etc. I'm not sure what else to list.