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There is a very high probability that my husband will be relocating our family to the Seattle area within the next 2 months. We are planning a weekend house hunting trip for the end of January and I need to narrow my search on which areas we'll focus on..
We've visited Seattle and the San Juan Islands and love the feel of Washington state as a whole. That being said.. I did experience downtown Seattle, but did not make it up to the parts by Queen Anne, Ballard, Magnolia, ETC..
I'm in my late 20's and my husband in his 30's. We have two small children ages 4 and 2. We are going to rent the first year or two to get a better established with the city. We would like a home and our budget is $2500-$3500 per month rent. I've spent countless hours on craigslist and realtor.com looking through rentals and we've found some cute things in Queen Anne, one home in Capitol Hill (house looks awesome, though i heard this area can be unsafe??) and on the eastside.. Mercer Island (starting to hear the north end is the best location), Bellevue, and downtown Kirkland (found a house i love for $3500 a month). Everything we like seems to be around the same price so the issue isn't going where it's less expensive.. it's where we feel we'll be more comfortable with a family while still being by cool markets, museums, aquariums, and fun things to do with the kids. Also being near a good preschool is key and an elementary school that's rated 9 or 10.
While we love the city we are concerned the fast pace may start to take a toll after the novelty of moving has worn off.. the only example i can give is that we are HUGE fan of San Fran culture and lifestyle, we found that we are more of the Sausalito kind of people. We liked the quaint downtown and beautiful homes, small restaurants and shops, but the close proximity to SF.
Please help! i would love suggestions so my husband and i aren't running ourselves all over seattle with only 2 days to look. thanks again!!
side note.. we are relocating from boca raton, fl and currently live less than a half mile from the ocean.. we prefer being near/seeing the water.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Ballard and Magnolia are among the safest areas of Seattle with good schools and also are close to the amenities of downtown and the waterfront.
Remember that Kirkland, Bellevue, and to a lesser extent Mercer Island will involve nasty commutes if you work in Seattle, and that will only get worse in the next few years with tolls on the 520 bridge and construction of the tunnel to replace the 99 viaduct. Mercer island is, of course, on the water, and has the best schools in the state and a very generous and active schools foundation that helps keep it financially stable despite continuing state budget cuts. Bellevue schools are good but not like M.I., and Kirkland a little below Bellevue but all of those are perfectly acceptable. I'm in Sammamish, where the schools are in the same district as Kirkland and have done well by our kids who are now grown and successful, but I work in Seattle so my commute is about 40 minutes in the morning and closer to an hour in the evening while only 23 miles. I take I90 and get off by the stadiums, then Alaskan way to my office at pier 69 near the Sculpture Park.
Two days is not a lot of time to research, so continue it ahead of time to narrow it down as best you can. It would be really helpful to have a local
willing to go around with you so you don't waste time getting lost. Maybe a friend of a friend or relative that lives here.
Fast city pace? My pace this morning is lounging around the house for a few hours. I'll probably walk up to the coffee shop and grab some caffeine and food. I'll look around and see young families doing the same thing. A walk down to the lake might be in order as will a casual bike ride to the gym. What is this fast pace you're talking about?
Seattle is a city of neighborhoods. Each one has a different feel. The most hip and happening ones largely you have mentioned. Most neighborhoods have residential parts of them. Capitol Hill, Queen Anne are all Seattle. The others are eastside and are not Seattle.
Cap Hill - Lots of quiet residential parts of this. The Broadway strip has lots of coffee places, restaurants, bars and interesting characters. Capitol Hill isn't unsafe. You won't really get unsafe in Seattle until you go further south. There are lots of large nice old homes in Capitol Hill that command quite the premium. There's lots to do here and you're centrally located.
Queen Anne - There are lots of parts of QA. Lower is more condos and a lot more nightlife. Upper QA is stately and expensive. There are things to do up there and the places to live are mostly houses. There is a back part of QA that goes down by Interbay. It's not a bad place to live, but there's nothing good about it. It's not as nice, there no stores/things to do there and you're paying QA prices without the experience.
Ballard - Ballard is a yuppie haven. There's lots to do there. Lots of areas are identified as Ballard. Market is the main strip there with lots of bars, restaurants, stores, etc.
You could mostly walk in all three of these areas...grocery stores included.
Eastside - You could pretty much export part of big cities in Texas and plop them here. They're designed poorly and a car is required for most anywhere except the downtown districts. Houses are newer as it is a newer area. There is tons of traffic. I wouldn't be walking anywhere this morning if I lived there unless I lived right in downtown Kirk/Bellevue. There are lots of families over there driving around everywhere and it's a pain when I have to go there.
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We liked the quaint downtown and beautiful homes, small restaurants and shops, but the close proximity to SF.
You can get that experience IN Seattle quite easily. Most neighborhoods are autonomous, have parks and it's not a fast pace of life. In fact, a large number of people in the city are food farmers...albeit on a smaller scale.
We've got a friend of a friend who is a realtor and would like to show us around and now that i've heard your feedback it's even pushing me more towards mercer island. we will have no commute because my husband works from home and when he does travel for work he is likely to take a car service to the airport. I will look into homes in ballard and magnolia for some extra options. thanks again!
Fast city pace? My pace this morning is lounging around the house for a few hours. I'll probably walk up to the coffee shop and grab some caffeine and food. I'll look around and see young families doing the same thing. A walk down to the lake might be in order as will a casual bike ride to the gym. What is this fast pace you're talking about?
Seattle is a city of neighborhoods. Each one has a different feel. The most hip and happening ones largely you have mentioned. Most neighborhoods have residential parts of them. Capitol Hill, Queen Anne are all Seattle. The others are eastside and are not Seattle.
Cap Hill - Lots of quiet residential parts of this. The Broadway strip has lots of coffee places, restaurants, bars and interesting characters. Capitol Hill isn't unsafe. You won't really get unsafe in Seattle until you go further south. There are lots of large nice old homes in Capitol Hill that command quite the premium. There's lots to do here and you're centrally located.
Queen Anne - There are lots of parts of QA. Lower is more condos and a lot more nightlife. Upper QA is stately and expensive. There are things to do up there and the places to live are mostly houses. There is a back part of QA that goes down by Interbay. It's not a bad place to live, but there's nothing good about it. It's not as nice, there no stores/things to do there and you're paying QA prices without the experience.
Ballard - Ballard is a yuppie haven. There's lots to do there. Lots of areas are identified as Ballard. Market is the main strip there with lots of bars, restaurants, stores, etc.
You could mostly walk in all three of these areas...grocery stores included.
Eastside - You could pretty much export part of big cities in Texas and plop them here. They're designed poorly and a car is required for most anywhere except the downtown districts. Houses are newer as it is a newer area. There is tons of traffic. I wouldn't be walking anywhere this morning if I lived there unless I lived right in downtown Kirk/Bellevue. There are lots of families over there driving around everywhere and it's a pain when I have to go there.
You can get that experience IN Seattle quite easily. Most neighborhoods are autonomous, have parks and it's not a fast pace of life. In fact, a large number of people in the city are food farmers...albeit on a smaller scale.
Feel free to message me if you want any advice.
thank you! you've been most helpful as well... i should have clarified, i do realize the eastside isn't in the city I will look more into ballard and capitol hill. queen anne seems tricky to figure out as far as where these rental homes are because like you said.. there are three parts.. upper, lower, and now this part by interbay you are telling me about. i've found one house in particular that i like..i will message you to inquire about the area!
i think outside of seattle we are only considering downtown kirkland or northern mercer island
I live on northern Mercer Island and can tell you that the location is unbeatable on the East-West corridor. 15 min to Bellevue. 15 min (on good days) to Seattle. Ample public transit to both sides via bus and will only get more convenient as the light rail gets installed (another 8-9 years).
The downtown area of MI is brand new (less than 10 years old mostly). It is very small but cute with options. Quality isn't as high as Seattle, with a couple exceptions (Bennett's, Yuzen in the center of the island). The downtown district got completed when the credit bubble burst, so there's still plenty of vacant commercial property. But when the economy recovers and more people want a central, non-Seattle location due to the idiocy of that mayor, MI will only get more attractive.
For $2500-$3500 you can get pretty much any rental property you want on the island. Buying will be a different story as average home cost on the island is about $1 million.
As for Kirkland, I would consider that to be more well-established in terms of commercial development and there's tons of nice homes in that area. A bit more remote though, and traffic could be a bear going into Bellevue or Seattle.
As for Seattle itself, others have already commented on locations which would be cool. Consider Wallingford and Green Lake as well.
I live on northern Mercer Island and can tell you that the location is unbeatable on the East-West corridor. 15 min to Bellevue. 15 min (on good days) to Seattle. Ample public transit to both sides via bus and will only get more convenient as the light rail gets installed (another 8-9 years).
The downtown area of MI is brand new (less than 10 years old mostly). It is very small but cute with options. Quality isn't as high as Seattle, with a couple exceptions (Bennett's, Yuzen in the center of the island). The downtown district got completed when the credit bubble burst, so there's still plenty of vacant commercial property. But when the economy recovers and more people want a central, non-Seattle location due to the idiocy of that mayor, MI will only get more attractive.
For $2500-$3500 you can get pretty much any rental property you want on the island. Buying will be a different story as average home cost on the island is about $1 million.
As for Kirkland, I would consider that to be more well-established in terms of commercial development and there's tons of nice homes in that area. A bit more remote though, and traffic could be a bear going into Bellevue or Seattle.
As for Seattle itself, others have already commented on locations which would be cool. Consider Wallingford and Green Lake as well.
will do! thank you! quick question.. i've found a couple homes for rent on E Mercer Way about halfway down the island on the east side (going by a map) ...is this remote? how long does it take to get back to intersate 90? is this a less desirable area of the island?
If you're talking south of there, there are tons of bends in the road and you can't go faster than 15 mph without running off the road or into a bicyclist. Easily 20 min to the highway.
I have 3 kids and live on the north end. It takes 12 minutes without traffic and 18 with to get downtow. I am in downtown Bellevue in 7-10 mins. The schools are wonderful. My son has 15 kids in his kindergarten class. There are several moms with kids on the island. Great preschools too. If you choose MI, PM and I will give you a list of great preschools. We have a preschool organization that has several activities for kids and parents.
We also have a beach club, pool, several parks and a community center.
When we moved here we looked at Magnolia, View Ridge, Bellevue, and Mercer Island. We chose Mercer Island because of location and schools. If we had lived in Seattle we would've sent our kids to private school and that would have cost between 45-75k per year when they were all in school.
I know you don't have a child at school age yet, but I would offer the suggestion to tour the schools in the area that your children would end up going to. Go to parks, talk with other moms in the area. The great thing is that you are renting so that gives you flexibility if you do not love where you end up living.
I personally, wouldn't want to live off of E. Mercer Way. It's a very windy dark road. Are they on the road or further back from the street?
Have you looked at Wedgewood, Ravenna, Laurelhurst areas of Seattle? There are several families in this area.
Kirkland would be closer to feel of the East Bay, and the same goes for Bellevue. Similar to Lamorinda, and Walnut Creek. Mercer Island compares to Tiburon (my opinion anyway).
I read that you were in your late twenties. Just know that in more affluent neighborhoods such as Mercer Island, and other parts of Seattle most parents will be closer to 40 or older with the same aged kiddos. This has been my experince. It hasn't been a bad thing, but it has been difficuly at times. I am usually about 10 years younger than most parents in my son's kindergarten class and I am in my mid thirties. Just an FYI.
If you're talking south of there, there are tons of bends in the road and you can't go faster than 15 mph without running off the road or into a bicyclist. Easily 20 min to the highway.
this is the listing @@@Fanatstic House Shared Waterfront (http://seattle.craigslist.org/est/apa/2143296985.html - broken link)
and it's at 4806 e mercer way.. i'll have to check on the map if it's north of the listing you found.
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I will look more into ballard and capitol hill. queen anne seems tricky to figure out as far as where these rental homes are because like you said.. there are three parts.. upper, lower, and now this part by interbay you are telling me about. i've found one house in particular that i like..i will message you to inquire about the area!
