Job offer @ UW, where to live? Thanks! (Seattle, Bellevue: middle-class, sales)

[Purplegrrl]

Hi all,
My husband and I live in NYC and I just got a great job offer at Univ. of Washington. We are considering taking the offer and moving to Seattle. A big consideration is that we do not own a car and want to live without one (at least initially). Please: no flames about how uncool it is to ride the bus; we are New Yorkers and LIKE public transit of all types. We want to know what neighborhoods are liveable, quiet, family-friendly, have grocery shopping in walking distance to housing, are otherwise walkable, and are near either buses that go to the U District or else might be bikable on the Burke-Gillman Trail.
FYI, the two of us are hoping to live on $70,000 per year and want to spend no more than about $1200 per month on rent (we're not going to buy yet). We are very frugal (i.e. no cable TV, no fancy vacations, no high-fashion shoes). We are hoping this would be possible.
All thoughts appreciated. Many thanks!!

Here's our budget; I'm assuming that because there's no city or state taxes (SOOO refreshing for us New Yorkers), the take home net paycheck from a gross of $70k salary would be about $4260 per month. Let me know if this sounds right:
Rent $1200/m
Phone (DSL and landline) $70
Cell phones $120
Utilities $100
Groceries $260
Medical $140
Apartment insurance $25
Shoes & clothes $140
Trips $40
Laundry $70
Charity $17
Cash $1750
Other $42
Savings $250
All thoughts appreciated. Many thanks!!

[Ira500]

In Seattle, there is no stigma about taking the bus. UW will provide you with a bus pass?
I think the 1200 number for rent is uncommonly low, but doable...Also, as a UW employee you'll probably be in the state of WA pension system, which will reduce your take home pay.
There are a ton of buses to the UW from all kinds of places. Easy would be places where you could almost walk to work: U district, Wallingford, Eastlake, North Capitol Hill, but within fairly easy bus ride would include Capitol Hill, Central District, downtown, First Hill, Bellevue, and Issauah, to name a few. All have their pluses and minuses.

[Prple]

You might want to look into the Radford Court appartments off of Sandpoint. They are primarily for UW students but also open to faculty and the public. They are nice, new appartments with easy bus access and close to the U. Not too sure about their proximity to grocery stores though, but bikable to the University Village shopping center.

[scirocco22]

"I'm assuming that because there's no city or state taxes..."


Hi Purplegrrl. I know you meant that there's no deduction out of your paycheck for city or state taxes but believe me, Washington state gets it one way or the other from you. Because you don't plan on owning a car, licensing fees and gas taxes will not be a factor for you but you may be paying higher rent because of the property and possibly utility taxes the landlord has to pass on to you and you'll also be paying a slightly higher sales tax (almost 9%) than you do in NYC.

As Ira implied, yes, it's cool to take the bus in Seattle! I'd still stay as close to the U-district as possible in an in-city neighborhood, though, as you'll probably find that style of living more to your liking as opposed to middle-class suburbia. Those locations that Ira mentioned would be a good starting point.

[5chevin5]

Im going to "type" this as jokingly as possible...

Trips $40?? I hope you are not an economics professor!! where are you going..??

Just playing!!
Seriously though I agree perhaps a skosh more for rent and grocery...but you are in the ballpark. Plus by the U-Dub (if you will work there you need to call it the "U-Dub"..its a rule) there are pockets of neighborhoods that could be nice and fit your budget. I currently live in Japan where it is almost unheard of for us gaijin to own a car...for two years I have gotten around just fine without, I miss the freedom of a car, but just like you I can always rent one if the need is there. Seattle has a good bus system and anything anyone can do to keep a car off the road is smiled upon.

BTW, Im originally from NYC....a word of advise. Just go with the flow in Seattle and have patience. There are so many wonderful things about Seattle ..too many for me to mention. Seattle has a few qwirks as all cities do....but thats what makes it a great place. Have fun and enjoy!! I cant wait till I return....

5

[SurfinGirl]

It sounds like Wallingford would be a nice neighborhood for you. It's very close to UW, and you can get anywhere else in the city or beyond easily from anywhere in Wallingford. It has a good mix of fun places to go and Green Lake is very close as well, plus it's also a good mix of people and ages. I believe it's currently about $55 a month for a Metro Bus pass, if your job doesn't pay for one for you. But I may be biased since I already live in the neighborhood, but I just feel as though everything is so close to me and I can do so much even by foot! Good Luck to you!

[springshades]

One good thing about working at UW is you can get there by bus from almost anywhere. There are buses from every major and minor suburb connected by land within 30 miles or so. And if you don't mind taking a ferry, quite a few even commute from the peninsula or one of the islands.

The thing you'll need to be more concerned about are things like... do you need to be able to get home from work at 9pm sometimes? Because some buses don't necessarily run late unless you are in the Seattle metro area. Can you get a bus to the grocery store? Sometimes it's those small connections that are hard even when you live near downtown Seattle. Many people use a combination of the bus and a bike to get around so that you can make those short connections on your own without having to wait for a possibly lengthy connection time.

While the 1200/mo figure is definitely on the "lower than average" side, it's certainly doable in the U-District area. There are a lot of apartments designed for students without a lot of money, so if you don't mind things like having a toilet 2 steps from your kitchen sink (exaggeration of course) there are actually some good deals in that particular area.

EDIT: Since you'll be working at UW, you should be able to opt in for the UPass program that will give you full access to not just the Seattle metro buses, but also the Sound Transit regional buses to other counties and even the Sounder commuter rail system.

[sean98125]

Take a look along the 35th Ave NE / 40th Ave NE corridor. There is a great supermarket, Metropolitan Market, at 65th & 40th and other grocery stores along 35th. There are buses that run down 35th that will take you to the campus. The neighborhood is quiet.

Be sure the check out Metro Online Home Page (http://transit.metrokc.gov - broken link) - if you find an apartment that you like, you can use the trip planner on that website to see what bus or buses you would have to catch to go to the UW and how long it would take.

[Hamza]

Hi Purple:

My partner and I are moving out for virtually the same reason! We're looking at Capital Hill as a possible home. From everything I've read in the classifieds, the prices are reasonable for a 1br. Obviously better than in NYC, though what isn't.