Downtown Neighborhoods (Seattle, Pacific: apartments, rentals, hotel)

[kilgore trout]

My wife and I will be moving to downtown in late January/Early February. We're in our mid-twenties and looking for the "city living" experience (IE: walking access to the fun parts of downtown). We'd like to rent a one bedroom apartment around $1500/month.

When I visited Seattle I stayed at the corner of 4th and Seneca, and liked that area a lot. I've read a lot about Belltown, which seems to have a lot of what we're looking for, but I've also read some questionable things about safety in that area. I've also heard that it tends to be very loud and busy at night with a lot of clubs in the area and that the homeless population can harass people at times.

Can anyone give advice about Belltown or other areas of downtown?

Also, these are a few apartment locations we're considering, if anyone has any knowledge of them or the area they're in:

- The Shelby (2201 4th Ave)
- Harbor Steps (1221 1st Ave)
- Tower 801 (801 Pine St)
- Olympus (2801 Western Ave)

Thanks for your help!

j-

[pwright1]

Harbor Steps are great apartments in a
great location. Steps from Pike Place Market,
restaurants, bars, the retail district and the
waterfront. I outlined HS. To the left of HS
is the 4 Seasons Residence/Hotel u/c. Directly
across the street is the beautiful Seattle
Art Museum. Also you're steps from the
waterfront. Great choice. Here are some
Harbor Steps shots.






Tower 801 is in the heart of the dt retail
district. 2 blocks from our flagship Nordstrom,
Pacific Place, 2 movie complexes, restaurants and
just about everything else. One thing I do caution about
801 is you do not want an apt facing the convention
center. The south side of 801 faces a huge concrete
wall of the cs so the apts facing it are dark and blocked from any
sunlight. Otherwise, excellent location. I almost forgot about
the lightrail opening next year. You'll be a block away from
a lightrail ride to the airport.

The Shelby is nice and in Belltown but just a little
away from the action. Not far just blocks away but
still not a location like 801 or Harbor Steps.

The Olympus is in the northend of Belltown next
to the new Olympic Sculpture Park and a block
from the waterfront. Nice location and nice
apts.

Another one you should definately look into is the
Metropolitan Tower which is at 1942 Westlake Ave.
Great apts. with great views, in the heart of the
retail district and right at the new street car that opened
just weeks ago. You can walk to great restaurants, Nordstrom,
and Macy's. Check it out. Metropolitan Tower, Elegant Apartment Living in downtown Seattle (broken link)

I hope this helps Kilgore.

[seakid]

OMG! These apartments are Moderator cut: profanity deleted fantastic! They look so pretty furnished, etc. pwright1 are there any more like these spread out? say maybe in the U-District? But the Olympus is so close to the waterfront it's a delight.

kilgore ... are there any studios, or 1 bedrooms that were early $1000's or late $900's or so that you came by?

[kilgore trout]

I don't know the exact ranges - I think you said that you're looking for a studio or efficiency, and I don't think the $1000 range would be crazy for one of those in these areas. We're looking for a 1 bdr in the $1500 range, so a studio at $500 less doesn't seem unreasonable.

There are several apartment sites that you can check out for rate info - I'm not sure if we're supposed to link them here. Otherwise, you can always call the apartments directly (what I've been doing).

Best of luck!

j-

[BostonBorn]

As a devoted fan of the late, great Kurt Vonnegut, I love your handle!

[allforcats]

Kilgoretrout,
The best apartment resource is the combined Classifieds for the two largest local newspapers. The site is called NWSource.com. I selected for you to downtown and central Seattle, which has many neighborhoods, labeled on the map on that page. http://rentals.nwsource.com/rentals/...t=1&search2=No