Austin to Seattle (Vancouver, Bellevue, Kirkland: apartments, to rent, condos)

[unclejessie]

Greetings everyone. I just found out today I "might" be moving to Seattle to take a new position with the company I work for. Our office is in downtown Bellevue. I'm a 30 year old single young professional type. My income will be in the $80-90k range. I'm going to rent. With the prices in downtown Austin I'm not shocked to see $3 per foot for apartments. I've been reading over a lot of the posts and have some questions of my own.

Let me start of by saying this. I am not a homebody. I run and I go out on the weekends whether it's enjoying the outdoors (camping/hiking/fishing), live music, dinner or drinks with friends. I love all the activities Austin has to offer and I cannot see myself living in a city that is not just as fun as this place. Austin has a fairly vibrant downtown and it's a pretty safe place. I work and play downtown and live 5 minutes away from the core.

1. Is everything in Seattle a commute? Or is it possible to live in a neighborhood and be 5 minutes from "the action", or even within walking distance?

2. Is Seattle still on the upswing? Petering out? Or in any sort of decline?

3. I see Bellevue is across the way from Seattle proper. What is Bellevue like? From the pics the downtown looks like it is a fairly nice place. Is the downtown area the kind of place for a guy like me to live?

4. What is downtown Seattle like? Shops? Restaurants? Living? Is it a desirable place to actually live and not just work? How about downtown Bellevue?

5. Is there public transit that folks actually use and it's not just a waste of money?

6. Suggested neighborhoods? Close to the action and Bellevue. By close I mean less than a $10 cab ride home if necessary.


I guess at this point I'm just really worried about if I do take this job and get out there and Seattle just totally sucks compared to Austin. Is there anyone out there who has made this transition already that can tell me what it was like?

[DJKirkland]

I'm not from Austin, but can help with general Seattle/Bellevue info...

1. Is everything in Seattle a commute? Or is it possible to live in a neighborhood and be 5 minutes from "the action", or even within walking distance?

Short answer: it is very easy to live close to the action. Look at these neighborhoods, all walking distance to downtown and have nightlife of their own: Capitol Hill, First Hill, South Lake Union, Lower Queen Anne, Belltown. Capitol Hill and Belltown would probably be closer to what you're looking for. With your income you should not have a problem finding a great place.

2. Is Seattle still on the upswing? Petering out? Or in any sort of decline?

I'd say we're on the upswing. The economy is quite robust here.

3. I see Bellevue is across the way from Seattle proper. What is Bellevue like? From the pics the downtown looks like it is a fairly nice place. Is the downtown area the kind of place for a guy like me to live?

I live in Seattle proper and work in downtown Bellevue. They are very different places. Bellevue is very clean, safe, upscale, and a bit sterile. Not a lot of hole in the wall places, and nightlife consists more of upscale restaurants and lounges. That being said, if you work there it's not a bad choice in my opinion (I'm a 29 yr old guy, so can relate a bit) and a night out in Seattle is always do-able. My commute from Seattle to Bellevue is about 20 mins, not a big deal.

4. What is downtown Seattle like? Shops? Restaurants? Living? Is it a desirable place to actually live and not just work? How about downtown Bellevue?

Downtown Seattle is one of the busier, more vibrant downtowns in the country. The best shopping and restaurants in the city are there. Most definitely a good place to live. Plenty of corner stores and grocery stores for day to day life. It has upscale shopping down to a new urban Target opening next year down by the Pike Place Market.

5. Is there public transit that folks actually use and it's not just a waste of money?

Yup - most of my friends here don't have cars and rely on public transportation. You have a very extensive bus system, light rail, commuter rail, etc. For you, if you choose to live in Seattle and commute to Bellevue the easiest way is driving, but there are express busses from downtown Seattle to downtown Bellevue too. I use the light rail to get to the airport to avoid having to commute and park there.

6. Suggested neighborhoods? Close to the action and Bellevue. By close I mean less than a $10 cab ride home if necessary.

To be close to the action, I think you're going to want to stick to Seattle. Like I said, not a horrible commute to Bellevue, and if you're in any of the neighborhoods I mentioned before you're a very short cab ride if not just a walk to get home.


I guess at this point I'm just really worried about if I do take this job and get out there and Seattle just totally sucks compared to Austin. Is there anyone out there who has made this transition already that can tell me what it was like?[/quote]

I hope you do like Seattle! The Seattle area is quite a lot larger than Austin and between having a great downtown, Puget Sound and the San Juan Islands to the West, Cascade mountains and great camping/hiking/skiing just a short drive to the east, it's a great place. It's hard to get bored here. You are also a 2-3 hr drive to either Vancouver BC and Portland OR, both great cities and fun weekend trips. Good luck man!

[Seacove]

I think Seattle is a thousand times more beautiful than Austin (IMO) but it sounds like you like a partying outgoing lifestyle that you may not find as robust as Austin. You should spend a few days here first before you make a decision. It's very different from Austin in too many ways to name.

[texastrigirl]

Originally Posted by unclejessie

Greetings everyone. I just found out today I "might" be moving to Seattle to take a new position with the company I work for. Our office is in downtown Bellevue. I'm a 30 year old single young professional type. My income will be in the $80-90k range. I'm going to rent. With the prices in downtown Austin I'm not shocked to see $3 per foot for apartments. I've been reading over a lot of the posts and have some questions of my own.

Let me start of by saying this. I am not a homebody. I run and I go out on the weekends whether it's enjoying the outdoors (camping/hiking/fishing), live music, dinner or drinks with friends. I love all the activities Austin has to offer and I cannot see myself living in a city that is not just as fun as this place. Austin has a fairly vibrant downtown and it's a pretty safe place. I work and play downtown and live 5 minutes away from the core.

So we lived in Austin for over 10 years and now live in the Seattle area so I have a fair perspective I guess. Here goes...
1. Is everything in Seattle a commute? Or is it possible to live in a neighborhood and be 5 minutes from "the action", or even within walking distance?

No. My husband works at Amazon.com and people literally live within a block or two of the office if they want to. DT Seattle is very vibrant and walkable. You can easily live within 5 minutes of anything in DT. Some very cool neighborhoods. Far more cool neighborhoods to choose from than in Austin IMO. Queen Anne, West Seattle, Ballard, Fremont, Capitol Hil, Columbia City, SLU, Belltown (similar to 6th street area but a little more swanky in the daytime and more dangerous at night time).
2. Is Seattle still on the upswing? Petering out? Or in any sort of decline?

Upswing, definitely. There are many major companies headquartered here, tons of startups and also it has several universities in proximity. Very vibrant city.
3. I see Bellevue is across the way from Seattle proper. What is Bellevue like? From the pics the downtown looks like it is a fairly nice place. Is the downtown area the kind of place for a guy like me to live?

Nice in a Dallas sort of way. Like Uptown if you know that area.4. What is downtown Seattle like? Shops? Restaurants? Living? Is it a desirable place to actually live and not just work? How about downtown Bellevue?

All of that and more in DT Seattle. Many people live in the city. Tons of condos and apartments right downtown, even on the waterfront area. Check out Harbor Steps. Again, DT Bellevue...very livable, everything you'd need...if you like a Dallas vibe.
5. Is there public transit that folks actually use and it's not just a waste of money?

Absolutely. It's a way of life for most people here. Even those who live in the suburbs. This is the west coast. They are WAYYY ahead of TX on that.
6. Suggested neighborhoods? Close to the action and Bellevue. By close I mean less than a $10 cab ride home if necessary.

I don't know about the $10 cab ride thing because I don't take them. Most people probably still take the bus. I listed a bunch of neighborhoods above you'd like fine.

I guess at this point I'm just really worried about if I do take this job and get out there and Seattle just totally sucks compared to Austin. Is there anyone out there who has made this transition already that can tell me what it was like?

Seattle hardly sucks in comparison to anywhere, let alone Austin. I think if you do a throwdown comparison on the Travel and Leisure website, Seattle beats Austin overall. Give it a try.

Don't get me wrong, we really LOVED our 10+ years there. My kids are native Texans. I still have family there and although I don't care to move back, it would be a great place to live a bit of the year in when I am retired. It's a great town but it's very different from Seattle and living on the west coast. Just a very different feel out here. The metro area is a little more than twice the size of Austin so that alone is different. Certainly the big differences are weather and topography.

We are really active outdoors and Austin pales in comparison for us for what we like to do. You can only hike the Barton Creek greenbelt so many times, Pedernales Falls, Hamilton Pool, etc. Those are walks compared to what you have here. Plus you are 4-5 hours from skiing at Whistler, 1 1/2 hours to Crystal Mtn. or Stevens Pass, 2 to Mt. Baker, 3 to Mt Hood. 4 hours from Cannon Beach OR, 2 hours to Vancouver BC. Not to mention boating in the San Juans, on Lake WA or Lake Sammamish. The water is clear and clean...same with the air. Great cycling and triathlon communities here.

You drive for 4 hours in TX and you are still in TX. We owned a boat and belonged to a sailing club in Austin. We did triathlons and a lot of races in Austin. Did our best to keep busy outside. Lots of runs around Town Lake. Fun, for Austin, but I have lived in Seattle for over 4 years and my bucket list of things to do barely has a dent in it.

The people are different though. More reserved and cerebral. I think the cooler, gray climate is great for introverts. I always joke that Seattleites would be really friendly too if they drank as much as Texans do!

[unclejessie]

Awesome info guys. Exactly what I was looking for. Thanks.

[texas7]

I don't know much about Seattle but if you are one of those people who gets depressed without a lot of sunlight - then you might have some issues. A friend moved there and wasn't happy with the more reserved people and the constantly gray or drizzly skies. They lasted about a year and returned to Texas - primarily for those two reasons.

[evergraystate]

Originally Posted by texas7

I don't know much about Seattle but if you are one of those people who gets depressed without a lot of sunlight - then you might have some issues. A friend moved there and wasn't happy with the more reserved people and the constantly gray or drizzly skies. They lasted about a year and returned to Texas - primarily for those two reasons.

+1
Be prepared for cold overcast weather and cold SAD people. The natives think its normal but to outsides it can come as a shock.

[texastrigirl]

Originally Posted by texas7

I don't know much about Seattle but if you are one of those people who gets depressed without a lot of sunlight - then you might have some issues. A friend moved there and wasn't happy with the more reserved people and the constantly gray or drizzly skies. They lasted about a year and returned to Texas - primarily for those two reasons.

Yep, that can happen. And I know a lot of native Texans that live here and love it. So that can happen too. Check out all the UT stickers when you get up here unclejesse!

[Kayela]

1. Is everything in Seattle a commute? Or is it possible to live in a neighborhood and be 5 minutes from "the action", or even within walking distance?

Seattle is pretty dense compared to other cities. We have the Puget Sound to the west and the Cascades to the east. There aren't a lot of opportunities for sprawl (not on the scale you see in the rest of the country), and that makes for a dense core with a lot of restaurants and retail. I live in Capitol Hill which is adjacent to downton - definitely ~5 minutes away from 'action' and a 15 minute walk to downtown. There is so much going on in this neighbohood that I can't keep up with it all, and bus service in this neighborhood is so good that I only get the car out to go to work. I work in Bellevue and it's a ~15-20 minute commute (I work early hours though).

2. Is Seattle still on the upswing? Petering out? Or in any sort of decline?

Seattle is going pretty strong. We have lots of employers who have weathered the bad times relatively well. No we didn't escape unscathed, but we're not hurting as bad as large chunks of the country, and there are many bright spots.

3. I see Bellevue is across the way from Seattle proper. What is Bellevue like? From the pics the downtown looks like it is a fairly nice place. Is the downtown area the kind of place for a guy like me to live?

It is a lovely place, and I lived there for several years. I don't think I've even seen a cleaner, safer-feeling downtown. And there is lots of shopping and places to eat. However I daresay it's kinda boring. There's more to do than there used to be, but outside of a few blocks - they still roll the sidewalks up at 8:00. Seattle is much more active after dark. I still go to Bellevue often - the traffic is much smoother, there's actual parking and lots of retail. Anytime I need to run an errand - I head to Bellevue. If you are considering living eastside, I would recommend checking out DT Kirkland and that's rather limited compared to Seattle.

4. What is downtown Seattle like? Shops? Restaurants? Living? Is it a desirable place to actually live and not just work? How about downtown Bellevue?

Downtown Seattle is neat. And it's definitely someplace one could live. I've always liked going there, but personally I like to live near a residential area because I like to go walking, and there's just too many cars and people downtown for that to be a good place to walk. 'Walkable' - yes, good to place to go for a walk? - not on a regular basis. In addition to tons of restaurants and lots of retail (some chains, but lots of unique shops) we have the market (Pike's Place) and the area around the market which is just plain fun. I like living near downtown, but I wouldn't live in it. DT Bellevue has more places to live than DT Seattle, and if I were to move back there - I'd definitely live DT.

5. Is there public transit that folks actually use and it's not just a waste of money?

Yes there is public transit and it's not just for weirdos. Of course the weirdo ratio depends on the route, but the core areas have very good bus service and lots of people use it. I don't use it on the eastside, but within Seattle - I definitely do.

6. Suggested neighborhoods? Close to the action and Bellevue. By close I mean less than a $10 cab ride home if necessary.

Repeat after me... "I want to live in Cap Hill" Ok, I'm biased - but all joking aside it meets your criteria beautifully. There's always something going on and it's a quick walk or fast cab ride downtown. It's also just about as convenient to the eastside as you can get and still be in Seattle. The transit within and around Cap HIll is often just as good as taking your car, and it's really convenient to the rest of Seattle as well.

A few years ago I might have recommended Belltown, but that neighborhood has been declining fast. All of my new neighbors for the past 3 years have been people getting the heck out of Belltown. If you look at the police blotter you'll see why.

Lower Queen Anne and Fremont are great neighborhoods, but if you're commuting to the eastside they're further away and there are some icky bottlenecks between them and the freeway. However they definitely have their own vibe and are neat places to check out. The same can be said for West Seattle and Ballard - just multiply the 'icky bottlenecks' by 2 or 3 and add some distance. The commute is starting to get ugly at the point, but to some folks the reduced cost of housing is worth it.

That brings up another point. Seattle is old. Many of the core neighborhoods with the higher cost of living are old. This means a couple things - less bathrooms and less sq footage. If these things are important to you that might make Bellevue the winner. Bellevue is new - sparkly, shiny new. Many of the apartments there will come with amentities that are harder to find, or come at a premium in Seattle's more established neighborhoods. Things like included garage parking, newer kitchens, soaking tubs, walk-in closets, etc. Not that these things don't exist in Seattle or that places aren't well-kept, but typically you will pay more for them than you would in Bellevue and there aren't as many options.

The greatest thing about renting is that you can move. Personally I'm a big fan of moving. Each new neighborhood is a new adventure!

I guess at this point I'm just really worried about if I do take this job and get out there and Seattle just totally sucks compared to Austin. Is there anyone out there who has made this transition already that can tell me what it was like?

Can't really help you there except to say 'nothing ventured, nothing gained'. You'll always have your friends in Austin and if it sucks here you can work towards moving back, but you'll really never know til you try it. You seem like the kind of person who will really get out and explore, and that type of person seems to have a pretty good time wherever they are.

[rmkiefer07]

Originally Posted by texastrigirl

Yep, that can happen. And I know a lot of native Texans that live here and love it. So that can happen too. Check out all the UT stickers when you get up here unclejesse!

Count me in that group - 20+ years and no desire to go back!