Moving to Seattle (Eastside) from PA (Philadelphia) end of May - Need help please! (Bellevue: apartments)

[jujappers]

Hi, I've been browsing this forum for the past few months while I was going through the interview process at Microsoft. Now that I got the job, I could really use some help on deciding where to move to. I am currently living in Pennsylvania (near Philadelphia) and will be moving out to the Seattle area the last week in May. I am leaning towards renting for 6 months to a year until I am familiar with the area. I will be working at the Microsoft headquarters in Redmond. I am a single, male in my mid 20s. I enjoy an area that is safe and clean and has lots of other young professionals in it. I like to be close (either walking distance or a short car ride) from shops, restaurants and other amenities.

So, my first question is what area around the Microsoft campus would you recommend? I have been looking into Redmond, Kirkland/Juanita, and Bellevue. So far all of these areas look like pretty nice. Does anyone know where most younger (20-30 something year old) professionals who work at Microsoft live and hang out?

Also, if there's any other advice or tips you can give to someone trying to house hunt from the other side of the country, I would appreciate it. Looking forward to being able to join all you fellow Washingtonians in a couple weeks! Thanks for the help.

[scirocco22]

Having been a resident of Redmond for over 30 years, my recommendation would be finding a place to live as close to the campus as possible. My reasoning is that traffic in the area is SO bad that you wouldn't want to spend a lot of time commuting.

I'm assuming that apartments and rental houses in the immediate area will be at a premium and you might have to pay a bit more if you find something available but I personally think it would be worth it.

I'm no longer in my 20s but I saw many young Microsofties hanging out in the Overlake and Crossroads areas. If you stay in the Overlake area of Bellevue/Redmond or the Crossroads area of Bellevue, you'll be close enough to the campus to even walk it if you had to. If not into walking or biking, transit service into or around the campus is extremely good, and if you are actually emloyed by Microsoft, you have free access to public transit. The Crossroads and Overlake areas are comfortable middle-of-road income areas and would probably be a good place to rent until you become more familiar with the area.

Crossroads Mall is less than a mile from the campus and you'll find just about everything you want in that general Overlake/Crossroads area.

...just my opinion.

Oh, and Craigslist is always a good place to see what's available in the area. There's also a couple of good rental finders sites on the net to check.


Thanks.

--'rocco

[jujappers]

Thanks Rocco! That was some great information. I will look into the areas you recommended.

I'm also trying to determine how far from the Microsoft campus I could live but still have a decent commute (less than 30 minutes). I found out that Microsoft will pay for employees to take mass transit so maybe finding an apartment/condo near a bus station would be helpful as well.

So far I've seen some very nice apartments/condos for rent on Mercer Island (this is the farthest from the campus so I'm not sure what the commute would be like), Newport Shores area (by Mercer Slough Park and Factoria), downtown Bellevue, downtown Kirkland, and by Kirkland City Park.

For the areas I mentioned above, would you recommend that I stay away from any of them (either due to long commute or just being a bad area)? I just want to make sure that I pick an area that I'm going to enjoy being in and have great access to all the amenities.

Also, I know there are probably other threads on this site about this, but I was wondering if anyone could help by listing things a new resident to the state and Redmond area would need to do when they arrive (things such as getting a new license, registering a vehicle, etc.). I was trying to figure out how many of these things I can start to do now or at least start the process now so I can save time when I arrive. If you have links to any helpful websites, that would be great too.

Thanks again for all the help and sorry if this is getting long. It's a little overwhelming to be moving all the way across the country without knowing anyone in the area and never having moved out of state before. All I know is I'm excited for the adventure though and definitely looking forward to it. Thanks!

[scirocco22]

Hi again jujappers.

All of those areas you mentioned are EXTREMELY nice. Of those you mentioned, I'd say downtown Kirkland is THE place to be. It will probably be the priciest but you'll definitely enjoy the ambience of the Kirkland waterfront.
There is direct bus service to Microsoft from the Kirkland Transit Center.

Mercer Island would be my second choice partly because you'll have to make one bus transfer. All the apartments on the Island are located primarily in the north end away from the pricier homes on the island. The business center is there so it'll be a convenient location for all the amenities of shops, stores, etc. I believe Paul Allen still maintains residence on the island.

The Factoria area (or the apartments located close to Newport Shores) is not quite as upscale as Mercer Island or Kirkland. Newport Shores itself is an exclusive area but the apartments located along 116th/118th SE are "average." If you are looking at apartments right in the heart of Factoria, you'll have conveniences nearby within walking distance. There's a mall, docor's offices, etc. in the general area. There is a direct bus from Factoria to Microsoft.

I'll try to post again when I get the chance pertaining to your other concern.


Thanks.

--'rocco

[scirocco22]

Ok, the "other concern."

I really can't think of too many things you can do before you get there. If you already have an apartment lined up and a deposit down, I suppose you could be calling the various utilities to set up service. I think some may require a letter of credit. Making various deposits and securing letters of credit could probably be done before arriving.

Both your driver's license and your vehicle registration have to be done in person after you arrive and you'll have 30 days to do both. In Washington, there are separate offices for driver's license and vehicle registration. The state Department of Licensing will have their own offices for you to obtain your driver's license. For vehicle registration, you proabably will be visiting a contracted agent unless you go to the King County offices in downtown Seattle. Let me know if you want the names and addresses of the vehicle licensing agents on the eastside or the locations of the driver's licensing offices on the eastside.

Off the top of my head, the driver's licensing offices are in the Houghton area of Kirkand ...about a mile north of downtown Kirkland and I believe there's still one in the Lake Hills area of Bellevue. I'll get you the exact addresses if you wish.

The vehicle registration sub-agents, off the top of my head: Factoria Mall, Crossroads Mall, and Rose Hill in Kirkland ...there may be some others but those will probably be the most convenient eastside locations for you. Again, I can get the exact addresses if you wish.

Perhaps others can add more things to do before you arrive.


Thanks.

--'rocco

[41Willys]

What are you going to do for Microsoft?