Questions about Lake City/Northgate area-West Seattle (Renton, Burien: apartment, rentals)

[franklin42]

I was wondering if anyone could shed some light on a few Seattle neighborhoods for me?!(Who makes up these particular areas mostly? Families? College kids? Young couples?). I realize it's kind of a vague question, so let me know if you need some more info and I'll do my best.

Lake City and/or Northgate?(I know it's broad but anything North of Wedgewood to N 125th and east of I5?

West Seattle?(mainly the puget park area/delridge/anything west of the golf course and south of SW Dakota to about Fauntleroy?)

There have been quite a few small starters/fixers in these areas that are in our price range and just curious about the areas. We are both 29 with no kids and would like to reside in a relatively "quiet" and "safe" neighborhood for ourselves and our dogs.



Any info on these specific areas would be great. I'll probably be asking some more questions, so heads up!

[azoria]

Being in the perpetual mode of looking for a job and cheaper apartment, I've looked into all the same places.

Lake City is a bad neighborhood north of the Fred Meyers, I think it's 125th St.? Bad. Below 125th, I like Lake City because it has lots of business and buses and is an easy commute to other places. Lots of rental housing. I'm actually pretty ok with Lake City, I keep an eye on rentals up there though nothing has tempted me enough yet to move.

Northgate has tons of rental housing and awesome Seattle bus service. The bus just rocks all over Northgate, every which a way. Because of it's great central location, public transit, and shopping, rents are higher than the quality of the housing deserves. And there's some lowlife hooligan activity in the area.

I live in West Seattle by Lincoln Park. It's ok. Public transportation is difficult and it is a terribly underserved area by Seattle Metro. It is geographically isolated, there is only one bridge into Seattle proper, and one way out to the south. West Seattle is largely populated by aging hippies who wish the world had stopped turning 25 years ago. Very little in the way of shopping and commercial business. Decent rents for Seattle. Lots of nice views. Nothing to do. The eastern part of West Seattle, Delridge as you mentioned with the reasonably priced rents--is a bad neighborhood. Tons of petty property crime. Some gang activity. Probably 80% of the police calls to West Seattle are in the Delridge area. I wouldn't consider renting there, period.

Frankly, a lot of Seattle is tattered and run down. Seattle discourages businesess so that you're always having to search out a place to find common stuff. There is no Walmart in Seattle. Seattle hates development and Big Business which really limits shopping and eating choices and keeps the cost of living very high.

[Ira500]

Azoria is sort of right. Lake City has some bad spots, but also nice spots, even north of 125th, particularly west of Lake City Way. Lake City is pretty diverse, and the commercial strip on Lake City Way has some good hole in the wall ethnic restaurants.

Delridge: Yeah, Can be kind of scuzzy, but the further north you go the better it gets, and there's a little pocket neighborhood just south of the West Seattle bridge between Delridge and Avalon Way that's pretty nice.
The Alaska Junction neighborhood in West Seattle is a nice area with the West Seattle farmer's market and a bunch of good restaurants...Also, just west of Delridge is the Westwood Village area, a mall with a great pizza place and a great place for pastrami sandwiches...That area is nicer than Delridge for the most part, but close to it and also relatively inexpensive.
Also, West Seattle has a nice off leash dog area in Westcrest Park, in the Highland Park area. It's kind of block by block around there, some nice and some not so nice, but the dogpark is great.

[pw72]

Many parts of Lake City don't even have sidewalks for gawdsakes. Anything near Lake City Way north of 125th is pretty scary. Do not recommend.

[franklin42]

Shoot, I guess I could've mentioned that we are planning on buying. Sorry. Thanks for all the info though. Will think twice now about those areas. It's hard being 3000 miles away "looking" at houses online. We have visited twice in the past 3 years and did alot of exploring. I guess the next step is flying up to the area and meeting with an agent.

[Ira500]

It's hard being 3000 miles away "looking" at houses online.

It really is. And even getting people's opinions here are just that, opinions.
Actually being in the neighborhoods is the only way to really tell how you'll feel.
Most of the Seattle area is pretty safe, even in the so called "bad neighborhoods".
Generally speaking, I'd have to say that Lake City has better quality housing stock and more safe quiet streets than Delridge.
franklin,
Was it simply home prices that drew you to Lake City and Delridge? Or their proximity to downtown?
There are several areas within a 30 minute drive from downtown where home prices are comparable to Lake City and Delridge. Renton, Burien, and the 98178 zip code are a few.

[franklin42]

I'd say both. The prices really drew us in though. Our "ideal" house would be a fixer(we have completely renovated a 3000sf house and a 1000sf house over the past 5 years so we are willing to do the work)in Queen Anne or Magnolia, but we are dreaming!. I guess 30 minutes is the farthest we are willing to be since my wife will most likely be working downtown. We commute here an hour each way, so anything less is a bonus! Like most other people that want to move to Seattle, we are hoping for that "quiet, urban, single family home" setting. You know, close to downtown, safe, nice little house with backyard.... We are willing to compromise. As soon as we sell here, we are heading up to meet with an agent. Thanks Ira500!

[Ira500]

franklin,
Where do you live now? I'm a native of New Jersey, and when I first moved out here 30+ years ago and was shown the "slums" of Seattle, I was shocked at how nice they were.
So when you're advised to avoid certain areas here, it is often by people who don't have an east coast perspective. They're perfectly entitled to their opinion, but they've never been to Newark or Camden.

Also, there is a certain amount of south end snobbery around here. People believe that if you somehow find yourself south of I-90, you'll be in grave danger. South of I-90 may be a little more ethnically mixed, and has some spots worth avoiding, but crime stats indicate that it's not more dangerous than other parts of the city, and you get more house for your money there....I believe the last time I looked, the most crimes were committed in downtown/First Hill, University District, and Ballard, and Ballard is generally considered to be a very desirable area to live in.

[franklin42]

We actually live on the big island of hawaii right now. I'm originally from a working class suburb of Boston. I've seen my share of "slums" or "white trash ghettos" as they are known back east. Not too familiar with what people think are "ghetto" in the Northwest. I have definitely gotten the vibe that anything in the south end is awful. When we have visited in the past, we didn't really go and tour the south end so we have nothing to go on. We will keep an open mind when we are checking out places in a couple of months(hopefully sooner...). All I know is where I DON'T want to live. I'm over the whole urban slum thing. Not my style. We're staying positive out here that we can find something that'll suit us and our 3 dummies(dogs)! Thanks! I'll message you if I have any questions or feel free to message me.

[franklin42]

What about North Admiral in West Seattle? Is the "thumb" section(I do apologize if this area has a name!) considered North Admiral? What is this neighborhood like? Thanks everyone!