[HELP]Seattle apartment/neighborhood suggestion (Bellevue: apartments, rentals, high crime)

[rplusj]

I am working in downtown Seattle ( less than one minute from Columbia tower ). It takes me more than 40mins to commute from Bellevue to Seattle. So I am planning to move to Seattle coming December.

As of now, I am using padmapper and hotpads for searching apartment. What area would you suggest. Belltown? Queen Anne? Some other place? I want a nice place to stay and don't want longer commute.

I am single so studio apt will be fine for me. I am afraid of dogs ( unleashed dogs scares me to **** ).

[saggitarianamit]

I work in downtown and use to live in Belltown. It's a nice place to live with access to almost anything within walking distance. I was in belltown for about 1.5 Years without a car and never had any problem. There is a zip car parking near 5th and wall so you can rent a car if you need it occasionally.

If you decide to move in a studio please make sure it's at least 450 sqft. My friend lives in a studio which is 423sqft and it's not good. Skye at Belltown has some good studios (~500 sq ft) and they have separate kitchen area in those apartment. I know this because I use to live in one of those.

Happy moving.

[rplusj]

Originally Posted by saggitarianamit

Skye at Belltown has some good studios (~500 sq ft) and they have separate kitchen area in those apartment. I know this because I use to live in one of those.

Happy moving.

Thanks Amit. This looks nice. For 500sqft it is around $1500. It looks expensive and I have car as well. After parking I think it will go upto 1700.

Nice suggestion though.

[rplusj]

Originally Posted by TroyHeerwagen

Hi there. Walking to work is great if you can do it. When my wife and I moved to Seattle, she was just a 15 minute walk from work and she loved it.

I'd start by getting a better sense of how close you want to be and how you'd like to commute. Lower Queen Anne is much closer than Bellevue and a good distance for bussing. First Hill and probably Belltown would be walkable.

For a downtown job, those neighborhoods as well as South Lake Union and Capitol Hill would all be pretty good.

Each of those areas is a little different, however, so also think of what you're looking for in a neighborhood. What kind of food and nightlife? What other amenities like being near the water or parks?

Hi Troy. I would say walkable 25mins will be good. I heard a lot about Capital Hill. I heard it is not safer compared to Belltown.

Nightlife? I don't drink and I never been to bar for obvious reason. Is there something else for nightlife?

[JustAnotherGuy89]

I live at Viktoria in downtown and they seem to have a bunch of studios ~480-500 sqft for around ~1400-1500. Check Viktoria-Seattle | Overview . Its a quite nice/new building. I can refer you if this interests you.

[CrazyDonkey]

Look at First Hill. Walk to work.

Rental Listings in First Hill Seattle - 37 Rentals | Zillow

For instance:

APT: Studio - Paul Revere in Seattle, WA | Zillow

[rplusj]

Thanks Donkey. I am not sure how safe is First hill, but I will check these out.

[CrazyDonkey]

Originally Posted by rplusj

Thanks Donkey. I am not sure how safe is First hill, but I will check these out.

First Hill around Virginia Mason and Swedish Hospitals and Seattle U is pretty safe - and likely safer than the Pike-Pine Corridor. Yesler Terrace, south of First Hill, is less safe, but I wouldn't characterize it as dangerous.

[NoBounce]

Most of first hill is very safe. It is mostly Asian and they are very friendly and keep their houses and yards in great shape. And about a 5 minute bus ride to downtown. But I'm not so sure I understand wanting to move out of Bellevue. If you live in a lot of nice Seattle neighborhoods it will be anywhere from a 15 to 45 minute walk to downtown. Driving to downtown, even taking the bus can take upwards of an hour. On the other hand, there is bus service to Bellevue like every 8 mins and the trip takes about 15 mins. And safe. When the light rail is built it will be even faster. It's faster and easier to get downtown from Bellevue than nearly any other neighborhood I can think of outside of Capitol Hill, First Hill, or Queen Anne.

West Seattle is great and you could take a 10-15 minute water taxi to work. And plenty of parking. More affordable. Capitol Hill is a very nice and safe, mostly yuppies, but expensive and NO parking. Belltown itself has no parking, is very expensive, and high crime...mostly streetwalkers, gangbangers, pimps, crack and meth addicts. It's not the best place to walk around at night by yourself.

So in order I would say West Seattle, Capitol Hill, First Hill, Queen Anne, Beacon Hill and Wallingford/Freemont.

[homesinseattle]

Easy choice: First Hill.