Looking for advice on neighborhoods within 20 mins of Downtown/First Hill (Seattle: rental, houses)

[Windwardmom]

My family of four is considering moving to Seattle from Hawaii. I would very much appreciate input on neighborhoods that are within a 20 minute drive to/from the Downtown/First Hill area. We would like to find a family-friendly neighborhood that offers easy (walking?) access to shops and restaurants and has a community feel without being too much in the urban crush. My husband and I both run and would love to be able to run outdoors very near home. Good public middle and high schools would be fantastic, but I understand we may not find that unless we move to the East Side - Ballard, etc. Our housing budget would be around the 1 million mark. We are headed to Seattle soon to do some recon so I would love any suggestions of where to drive, walk and observe. Thanks in advance for any input - I have researched endlessly online and have gotten rather overwhelmed.

[tobester]

I'd suggest North Capitol Hill around Seattle Prep, the area around St. Joes at 19th and Aloha, or Mercer Island.

[Windwardmom]

Thank you so much Tobester. I have heard of both those schools, and seen some really lovely homes on Aloha. The name "Aloha" appeals to me for obvious reasons - lol. I am getting the impression that North Capitol Hill is more residential than the part of Capitol Hill I saw my first (brief) trip to Seattle.

Does Mercer Island feel isolated? Do you have to leave the island to find good restaurants, grocery stores and coffee shops? If we leave our gorgeous weather, I'd like to trade it in for easy access to good dining/shopping.

What do people think of Magnolia and Queen Anne? Are there parts that are more family-oriented than others? I love the idea of kids being safe to ride their bikes or walk to a friends' house.

Thanks so much!

[Ira500]

The top of Queen Anne is more residential and family friendly than Lower Queen Anne, and yes, North Capitol Hill is much more residential( or at least lots more single family homes) than Broadway or the Pike/Pine corridor. The area near St. Joe's is lovely. I think of the best part of Capitol Hill as being east of 15th, and north of Mercer St.
Mercer Island does not feel isolated to me. It has a fairly vibrant downtown area with shops and restaurants, and it only takes 5-10 minutes to get off the island and be in Bellevie or Seattle. The big issue there is housing costs. You just don't get much house for the money. You're paying for the niceness and the good schools. I've seen fixer homes there for 800,000 dollars. But Mercer Island has a very nice feel.
Magnolia, for some reason, feels isolated to me. Which is good and bad. It doesn't feel like it's part of Seattle, more of a Southern California suburb feel( in a good way).

[angelenogirl]

I love that area around Volunteer Park. We stayed in a rental on Aloha and it was lovely. What about Montlake and Madison Park, as well? We saw lots of houses priced around a million, and it's insanely gorgeous.

[Kayela]

Upper Queen Anne would be my top pick in your price range. I LOVE the top-of-the-hill route for running - some of the absolute best views in Seattle and a terrific loop around the top of the hill. I used to live at Highland and 1st, and it was a perfect mix of residential with walkability. Unfortunately we drive to the east side for work and the Mercer Mess got to be a bit much. However, if I worked DT - I'd move back in a heartbeat.


North Cap Hill would be my next pick (and I lived in Cap Hill after we moved from QA). I'd actually disagree with staying east of 15th. North of Aloha and east of Broadway there are some gorgeous houses - some with amazing views. It's more convienient to the rest of Seattle than Queen Anne is, but I don't like it as well for exercising - too many cross streets and too much vehicle traffic (I like to minimize intersections). It's not bad, and there is a decent Gold's Gym on Broadway, but we still go back to upper Queen Anne on the weekends.


Madison Valley and Montlake are indeed gorgeous, but a bit residential for me and I don't like that you have to leave (to my knowledge - correct me if I'm wrong) your neighborhood to get to a good-sized grocery store. However they are convenient to DT and nice neighborhoods. If you lived in Madison Valley you'd be convenient to the Arbortetum.


Another one you might want to consider is Magnolia. It's got a cute shopping area, some amazing views and some really nice houses. Personally I also consider it a bit too residential, but if I had kids I might change my opinion. I live DT and have a friend that lives by Discovery Park - it takes me 20-25 minutes to get to her place around 5 pm, so it's right at the edge of your commute limit (and may exceed it in bad traffic). It's almost as good as Queen anne for running, but parts of your route will almost always have a pretty hefty hill.

[Ira500]

"Madison Valley and Montlake are indeed gorgeous, but a bit residential for me and I don't like that you have to leave (to my knowledge - correct me if I'm wrong) your neighborhood to get to a good-sized grocery store. However they are convenient to DT and nice neighborhoods. If you lived in Madison Valley you'd be convenient to the Arbortetum."

There's a Safeway at 23rd and Madison, close enough to Madison Valley( a few blocks), and Madison Park has a really nice smaller supermarket, the Red Apple. Montlake doesn't have a real supermarket( just a small one)...Given my druthers and a million dollars, I woudn't live in Madison Valley if I could live in it's nearby neighbor Madison Park. It's got more of that village feel.

[Windwardmom]

Thank you all so much! Your input is invaluable.