27 yr old female moving to downtown Seattle; neighborhood/apartment help please. (Pacific: apartments, home)

[laitaumiel]

I will be moving to Seattle sight unseen at the beginning of October and need help with apartments. Right now, M Street Apartments on 8th and Harbor Steps on 1st are my top two choices. I would like to stay below $1500/month for a studio/studio loft. Safety is my number one issue as I will be car-less and working at a second-shift job (7pm ~ 2am). I searched my walking route from M Street Apartments to my job (I will be working near the Bank of America Tower on 5th) on Google Earth and it looks like I'm only a few blocks away but I would have to walk through I-5?!? What are my public transportation options at 2am? How safe are the areas around these apartments at night? Any info would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!!

[Ira500]

Madison Street goes over I-5, so at least you won't have to worry about dodging cars on the freeway.

[laitaumiel]

I had dismissed The Cobb due to bad reviews but now I'm reconsidering. M Street apartments are carpeted and I prefer hardwood flooring. Also, The Cobb is right in the middle of everything downtown and equal distance from my work as M Street. Does anyone have any opinions on The Cobb apartments?

[206er-InNY]

Seattle shuts down by 2am....The streets will be empty unless its a Sat night and there are clubs around your area. Its a pretty safe city though, but there are always gonna be 'sketchy' characters out that late in the downtown area, as there is in any city

Public transportation in Seattle is relegated to Metro Buses, which I have not stepped foot on in 10 years. You need a car in Seattle IMO.....You can always catch a cab also.

And Interstate-5 is elevated throughout the City, so you'll be walking under it, not Over it lol.....Under the freeway there are alot of Homeless people though.


Get a car. Its Seattle, a very spread out city for the most part, you need one

[goodvedderbest]

Totally disagree about needing a car, especially if you'll be living/working downtown. I have a car, and only seem to use it when leaving the metro area. You'll be fine without it. There are plenty of busses, and the light rail will be operational next year.

[Ira500]

And Interstate-5 is elevated throughout the City, so you'll be walking under it, not Over it lol....

Yesler, Madison, Pike, Pine, Denny, and Olive are all ABOVE I-5, and you can also walk up the hill via Freeway Park, so just to be clear, there are plenty of people who walk over I-5 every day.

[206er-InNY]

Originally Posted by goodvedderbest

Totally disagree about needing a car, especially if you'll be living/working downtown. I have a car, and only seem to use it when leaving the metro area. You'll be fine without it. There are plenty of busses, and the light rail will be operational next year.

She gets off work at 2 am everyday


I'm just saying

[Jennibc]

Originally Posted by 206er-InNY

She gets off work at 2 am everyday


I'm just saying

I agree with you about needing a car. Many years ago, I lived here without a car (not by choice!) while it's POSSIBLE, it was a miserable existence. I was really restricted in where I could live and where I could work. It was a drag to go grocery shopping and have to drag groceries either on the bus or walk a mile in the rain hauling bags. I had to leave over an hour before my shift started (at the time I was a waitress) because I couldn't risk being late for work and Metro was so unreliable.

Because I haven't had to rely on the bus in years, I cannot say whether it is better now, but my understanding is that it is worse since of the Tim Eyman initiatives.

[206er-InNY]

Originally Posted by Jennibc

I agree with you about needing a car. Many years ago, I lived here without a car (not by choice!) while it's POSSIBLE, it was a miserable existence.

It was a drag to go grocery shopping and have to drag groceries either on the bus or walk a mile in the rain hauling bags.

No joke. Like I said, I stopped riding metro buses all together 10 years ago (No coincidence that it was when I turned 16 and got my license and a P.O.S. A-to-B car).......There is nothing worse than having to be somewhere, with a handful of ______(Whatever), while the bus is running late, all the while its Raining on your head....


Why ANYBODY would want to live in Seattle without a Car, is beyond me. There is so much to do around the Greater Seattle area that buses won't reach. If you want to relegate yourself to the downtown area, where buses frequently run, than fine, I guess you can be OK. But not if you want to see too many things the northwest has to offer.....


On a given day, I might want to go to West Seattle to visit my Grandma and Alki beach and get some breakfast with her, then Go to Pike Place Market to get some groceries, then head to Ballard for Lunch with friends, head home to the U-District, put my groceries in the fridge and head to Southcenter mall to shop and get dinner with a date, and head downtown to catch a movie at Pacific Place..This is a normal type day for me and many Seattleites (Usually payday lol).............I can't imagine what catching buses to these locations would be like, much less if its raining (And if its anywhere between September and May, it probably is)........Can you even get a Metro Bus from the University District to Southcenter???


Like I said, get a car, if yuo truly want to enjoy the city, and the surrounding cites........Don't short yourself, unless you truly can't afford it, or have something against fuel emmisions

Plus if you get off work at 2am you'll need it.....

[laitaumiel]

Thank you everyone for your opinions!

I have decided to go with The Cobb. I prefer not to have a car. If, after living downtown for a few months, I feel like I need a car, I can get one then. I enjoy living in big cities and have lived the majority of my life in big cities. I've lived in Seoul and Tokyo and absolutely hate having to drive just to get a pack of ciggs where I currently live (Charlotte, NC). I like to buy groceries daily instead of buying in bulk and stocking up. I would also be happy if I never saw a strip mall again so from what I've researched so far, the shops downtown seem sufficient. I wasn't too concerned with how convenient it would be to live downtown without a car. I was more concerned with safety. But from what I gather, Seattle seems like a pretty safe city. Definitely safer than Charlotte and I work downtown here and go bar-hopping past 2 in the morning all the time.

I have a question about cabs though. I recall reading somewhere that you can't hail a cab, you have to call a service?