Is it true that the sketchiness of Aurora Ave. pretty much goes away a couple blocks east or west of it?

[hamellr]

All of Aurora is nothing like it was even five years ago, much less ten or fifteen. There are still a few questionable places next to the no-tels, but even that is nothing like it used to be.

[LucaBella]

I live right beside Aurora, at 82nd St. There is a "hotel" on the corner filled with crackheads and undesirables, but in the nearly 3 years I've been here there hasn't been one incident that affected me in any way. Yes, you'll see women who are clearly "working girls" walking up the street at night, but in terms of actual safety, I'd say the area is fine, it's still Seattle, after all.

So yes, closer to Queen anne, farther down aurora is fine. The worst area is right at 85th and Aurora, but if you lived like... 46th and aurora or farther down, it's very different, less crazies.

[Beenhere4ever]

I stopped to eat at a fast food place (Popeye's?) on Aurora. There were a couple of guys hanging around the likes of which I've seen nowhere in the world, not even in rural Bulgaria. I wonder if they inspired the Twilight series. They could have howled at the moon at night. They must have salvaged their clothes at a dump. Don't the charities hand out used clothes free? People in Africa dress better.

[victorianpunk]

Originally Posted by hamellr

All of Aurora is nothing like it was even five years ago, much less ten or fifteen. There are still a few questionable places next to the no-tels, but even that is nothing like it used to be.

Exactly. It's not nearly as bad as people say it is. Just the occasional street walker or petty dealer. It's one of those neighborhoods that have an underside but if you don't bother anyone, no one will bother you. Oh, and I live near Aurora in Shoreline, and it's so quiet north of 145th that you can hear a lung collapse.