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I've been in DC for about five years. I love it, but I'm ready for a change. Last summer I did a PNW road trip with a buddy from SF. On my second night in Seattle, I sent my boss a text asking if I could move and work remoted, to which he said I could. So about 8 months later...here I am, one month from the big day. A few thoughts I've had about the move lately, along with some questions.
1. The weather: I really like rain, and I don't mind overcast. Some of my very least favorite days in the winter are those super cold yet sunny days. While I realize that actually experiencing month after month of gray skies and rain may be very different than just being OK with it in theory, I think trading that for not having to experience another AWFUL summer in the DC swamp will be totally worth it for me. I can't stand humidity, and we have that in spades out here.
2. The budget: I've saved up about $4000, and if I add in the money for rent I won't be paying here in May when I leave my apartment, plus my deposit I'll be getting back, that bumps me up to almost $6,000. Do you all think thats enough to move with comfortably? I've already bought my plane tickets, and I'm selling the furniture and shipping the boxes on Amtrak freight, which is only about $300 for 500 lbs. I'm also keeping my current job, so I won't really have a period of going without an income. Is a 47K/year salary decent for Seattle? I've made it OK in DC on much less, and we're consistently top 3-5 most expensive cities in the county.
3. Transit: People seem to be all over the place on this one. DC has pretty great transit, and I'm not going to have a car. How is living on Cap Hill, for example, without a car? I'm going to be working from home, so the daily commute really isn't an issue for me, thankfully. I also plan on getting car2go and possibly Zip Car.
4. Neighborhood and apartment hunting: I've become increasingly frustrated by Internet searches for Seattle apartments. I'm going to be staying with a buddy on Cap Hill and he told me the best way to do it is just to walk around the area you want to live and call all the random For Rent signs I see. Anyone had luck doing it this way? My boss is giving me 1-2 weeks off just to look for apartments full time when I get out there. Any other tips? I really want to pay around $800-1050/month for a place, and would like a 1 bedroom, but a decent sized studio would suffice. I haven't found a whole lot online in this range, but my buddies place is only $950 for a one bedroom on Cap Hill, so I guess its doable. Am I being unrealistic with my budget? I don't need anything too fancy or anything, but would prefer to not live in a dump.
Well, I guess that's enough for now. Any tips would be GREATLY appreciated! Can't wait to get out there!
1. Yes, you will appreciate the west coast's zero humidity very quickly. Our summers are gorgeous.
2. $47K/yr is ~$23/hr. You should do fine here in Seattle with that kind of pay. Typical ask from an apt manager will be first + last months's rent + deposit, hopefully that will be less than $3K. You may be able to get away with last month's rent if you have great credit.
3. If you are living on Capitol Hill area, get a bus pass and a bike. You may not need a car at all.
4. Do as your friend says - stay with him for a while, and walk around to find the neighborhoods you would like to live in. Monitor craigslist as well. You should be able to find something decent for $1K in capitol hill area.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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The rental market is hot here, and good deals go very fast. You will have much better luck when you are here. Not only seeing signs, but looking for people moving out and asking for the owner's number, or hearing about a friend of a co-worker moving are the best opportunities. There have been bidding wars on some apartments lately. Landlords are charging for things like credit checks or even "application fees."
Transit here is pretty good but perhaps not for long, the Metro is talking about big changes, elimination of many routes and cutting back many others in a year or so if they don't get more money from some new taxes. We have both Car2Go (currently expanding) and Zip here, and you should be able to use them both from Capital Hill.
Yes - ask around a lot once you're here. For example, I have a friend that knows of 2 vacant unadvertised units in their building, priced well below the average for the neighborhood. It's unlikely you'll find these kinds of places on Craigslist, because they go by word of mouth or signs in the window. Likewise, my BIL found his unit on Capitol Hill while walking to look at another rental. The LL was just putting up the sign, the place was less expensive than the one he was on his way to see, so he grabbed it. IIRC, it was a 1 BR priced a little less than your buddy is paying. This was just a few months ago.
One other thing, you're arriving at a time when demand tends to be high. Don't be discouraged - sometimes better deals pop up after the peak moving season, and LL's are slightly more motivated to find renters once school has started. Especially in neighborhoods with a lot of students, which is true of Capitol Hill.
Capital Hill is OK but might I suggest some other area's like Queen Anne, Ballard, Fremont, or UW area. Those are also great neighborhoods to live in as well and not terribly far from Capital Hill. As for Salary, that should be OK. You will probably get a studio for around $1,000 if you look hard enough. If you don't have a car, that will make things more simple. Parking is a hassle here and expensive everywhere. Also, the bus system is pretty good here, so you essentially don't need the hassles of a car unless you really plan on doing some major road trips, whereby then you can rent a car easily. Keep doing daily searches on Craigslist for apartments, listings are poured on by the hundreds daily.
DC is a nice place, but Seattle may be a big culture shock comparatively. Taxes on hard liquor is about 45% total here in Wash. State. Weed is legal to be smoked indoors, even though you can smell it everywhere outside now a days in Capital Hill and Downtown, and Gay Rights is huge here. So, there may be some disparities you may notice from DC. Summers are nice here, but other than that, expect dark overcast and rain for most of the year, which it looks like you are OK with! I've lived in mainly sunny places my whole life and have only been here for 2 years. I think I'm gearing to move out somewhere more sunny and have had my fill with Seattle but still debating. Enjoy your move and hope you find a good place to live!
Capital Hill is OK but might I suggest some other area's like Queen Anne, Ballard, Fremont, or UW area. Those are also great neighborhoods to live in as well and not terribly far from Capital Hill. As for Salary, that should be OK. You will probably get a studio for around $1,000 if you look hard enough. If you don't have a car, that will make things more simple. Parking is a hassle here and expensive everywhere. Also, the bus system is pretty good here, so you essentially don't need the hassles of a car unless you really plan on doing some major road trips, whereby then you can rent a car easily. Keep doing daily searches on Craigslist for apartments, listings are poured on by the hundreds daily.
DC is a nice place, but Seattle may be a big culture shock comparatively. Taxes on hard liquor is about 45% total here in Wash. State. Weed is legal to be smoked indoors, even though you can smell it everywhere outside now a days in Capital Hill and Downtown, and Gay Rights is huge here. So, there may be some disparities you may notice from DC. Summers are nice here, but other than that, expect dark overcast and rain for most of the year, which it looks like you are OK with! I've lived in mainly sunny places my whole life and have only been here for 2 years. I think I'm gearing to move out somewhere more sunny and have had my fill with Seattle but still debating. Enjoy your move and hope you find a good place to live!
Well, not paying hundreds in state income taxes (like I do in DC) should help me out with the high liquor tax, right?
Also, I'm not a big pot smoker anymore, but I was in college and don't have a problem with it in the slightest.
And I'm gay, so bring on the gay rights!
Like I said before, not having to deal with another DC swamp summer is worth almost any weather trade for me.
And I don't have a car, so that shouldn't be a problem.
One questions; I'm considering Ballard or SLU. How much bus time am I looking at back and forth? On the map, SLU looks totally walkable to Cap Hill, but I know that the roads/terrain can be wildly different than what I'm looking at on Google maps.
Well, not paying hundreds in state income taxes (like I do in DC) should help me out with the high liquor tax, right?
Also, I'm not a big pot smoker anymore, but I was in college and don't have a problem with it in the slightest.
And I'm gay, so bring on the gay rights!
Like I said before, not having to deal with another DC swamp summer is worth almost any weather trade for me.
And I don't have a car, so that shouldn't be a problem.
One questions; I'm considering Ballard or SLU. How much bus time am I looking at back and forth? On the map, SLU looks totally walkable to Cap Hill, but I know that the roads/terrain can be wildly different than what I'm looking at on Google maps.
Thanks for you response!
The walk from SLU to Capitol Hill may not be a long walk, but it is straight uphill on Denny Way. If you're in good shape, no big deal. Otherwise, Metro's #8 bus will save you.
If you're intending to hang out on Capitol Hill, Ballard isn't a great choice. Ballard is a great area to live in because it's self contained - but it's not the easiest place to get around the city from. My BIL lives on the hill w/o a car and I think it usually takes him 20-30 minutes to get over to Ballard at most times. It's not bad, but it's also not like he can just pop over any time he wants. Even by car it's 15-20 minutes usually. Ballard has a pretty good young party scene, but it's definitely less gay than Capitol Hill - not that it isn't friendly in any way, it's just not as 'centric' to the culture of the neighborhood.
As for the hills, the only part of DC that comes anywhere close is in and around rock creek park, and even those hills are pretty small. You'll get used to climbing steep hills if you walk anywhere!
If you're intending to hang out on Capitol Hill, Ballard isn't a great choice. Ballard is a great area to live in because it's self contained - but it's not the easiest place to get around the city from. My BIL lives on the hill w/o a car and I think it usually takes him 20-30 minutes to get over to Ballard at most times. It's not bad, but it's also not like he can just pop over any time he wants. Even by car it's 15-20 minutes usually. Ballard has a pretty good young party scene, but it's definitely less gay than Capitol Hill - not that it isn't friendly in any way, it's just not as 'centric' to the culture of the neighborhood.
As for the hills, the only part of DC that comes anywhere close is in and around rock creek park, and even those hills are pretty small. You'll get used to climbing steep hills if you walk anywhere!
Yeah, DC is not known for the hills. I live near Columbia Heights of 14th, and that is considered to by most residents to be one of the more daunting hills in the District, and its barely an incline.
The new Rapidride D Line runs every 10 to 15 minutes from Ballard and downtown (although it does not go up to cap hill-just close to it-belltown) New: D Line - RapidRide - King County Metro Transit
1000 per month will be fine for a cap hill apt- like your friend said just go around and check the for rent signs-
if you are a redskins fan there is a redskins fan club and we watch the games every week in downtown seattle on a 10 foot screen https://www.facebook.com/Skinsfansin...ref=ts&fref=ts
most of the people are from DC, MD , VA that watch the games
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Can't wait to get out there!
