NYC family of six on our way to Seattle...or possibly Denver (Central Park: apartments, rental)

[Renton13]

Can't believe it. After several years of job hunting and flirtations with the Midwest and Silicon Valley, looks like it's boiled down to Seattle or Denver and we're going to pull the trigger this time. I'm biased toward Seattle because the job is with...let's say a local behemoth with offices in the city that I've been chasing for a few years.

We're sort of partial to Queen Anne and Capitol Hill for walkability reasons. We want to do it with one or zero cars, so I can walk to work and we can walk the kids to school and walk to shopping, restaurants and some cultural attractions. Looking at both Catholic and good public schools, so any recommendations there are welcome.

Any other neighborhoods I should consider? We like city living here in Manhattan and intend to rent at first. What will a budget of $3-4k get us?

I also like Denver but I think I would miss the water too much and Seattle seems to be a bit more "international" in culture and feel.

Also, I've been reading that excellent NYC culture shock thread and am getting some good bits out of there.

Thanks!

[Gardyloo]

How exciting and welcome!

I think with that big a family you're going to encounter some problems with rental housing availability in close-in areas like Queen Anne or Capitol Hill, not so much on price as on big enough units/houses being available. I'm assuming you're looking for at least 3 bedrooms, probably 4, which means you're talking about houses for rent rather than apartments.

Assuming you're being coy and not mentioning the A word for your potential employer, the combination of big house and walk to work is going to be hard to achieve. If you can live with a bus to work, then the list of neighborhoods and housing options grows quickly. However the other issue is that the South Lake Union area, where most of the A jobs are located, is not yet as well served by public transportation as is the downtown core, so some commuting routes require a bus or mode change in downtown Seattle (bus to trolley for example) or a healthy walk once you're off the bus to/from the office areas. This will undoubtedly improve over time, but commute dynamics are very much about specific locations. Remember that Seattle is very hilly, has lakes and canals and bridges that get in the way of things, and it rains quite a lot, so a public transportation commute can be easy or awful with just a little variance in origin/destination.

I would definitely expand your search area to include Ravenna/Roosevelt, Madison Park, Wallingford and Green Lake, also Ballard and Fremont. Again, you'll probably be looking at single family houses rather than multifamily buildings.

As for Catholic schools, Seattle has numerous Catholic primary- and secondary schools. Public schools are generally very good, but specifics will hinge on neighborhood and on your kids' specific interests.

[cristina_ell]

Originally Posted by Gardyloo

How exciting and welcome!

I think with that big a family you're going to encounter some problems with rental housing availability in close-in areas like Queen Anne or Capitol Hill, not so much on price as on big enough units/houses being available. I'm assuming you're looking for at least 3 bedrooms, probably 4, which means you're talking about houses for rent rather than apartments.

Assuming you're being coy and not mentioning the A word for your potential employer, the combination of big house and walk to work is going to be hard to achieve. If you can live with a bus to work, then the list of neighborhoods and housing options grows quickly. However the other issue is that the South Lake Union area, where most of the A jobs are located, is not yet as well served by public transportation as is the downtown core, so some commuting routes require a bus or mode change in downtown Seattle (bus to trolley for example) or a healthy walk once you're off the bus to/from the office areas. This will undoubtedly improve over time, but commute dynamics are very much about specific locations. Remember that Seattle is very hilly, has lakes and canals and bridges that get in the way of things, and it rains quite a lot, so a public transportation commute can be easy or awful with just a little variance in origin/destination.

I would definitely expand your search area to include Ravenna/Roosevelt, Madison Park, Wallingford and Green Lake, also Ballard and Fremont. Again, you'll probably be looking at single family houses rather than multifamily buildings.

As for Catholic schools, Seattle has numerous Catholic primary- and secondary schools. Public schools are generally very good, but specifics will hinge on neighborhood and on your kids' specific interests.

Yes, definitely. I'd check bus routes. If you're living north of the Ship Canal and south of 85th St, you'll have sidewalks and generally pretty good access to bus routes that go straight downtown. Some of those routes take the University Bridge across the Ship Canal, leaving you with a potentially not-too-difficult walk from the bus line to what we're assuming is your employer. Getting from Queen Anne to SLU could be more challenging, though I've not done it and the routes might surprise me. Many middle and upper-middle class folks take the bus from the north end to the downtown/SLU/SoDo (Sbux is in SoDo) areas. I just thought I'd mention this because I know that in some cities pretty much the only people who take the buses are those who can't afford cars. That's not true here.

Capitol Hill is definitely a good choice for walking to SLU, but it will be a good walk, especially on your way home when it's largely up a pretty steep hill.

One thing to think about is how much access to urban amenities you'll want. From that perspective, Capitol Hill is a good choice, but Ballard might also be attractive.

[Ruth4Truth]

The Northgate area, specifically, Victory Heights, is very walkable, and has express buses to downtown. It's a nice area with a lot of the northwest cedar trees intact (more rural feel than Cap Hill & Qn Anne), and a nice local park for kids. Housing is cheaper in the north end.

[Ira500]

As nice as all these neighborhoods are, if you're really looking for more urban as opposed to " in city suburban", Queen Anne and Capitol Hill are good bets. Ballard is also quite vibrant.
3-4k for rent will get you a lot. The problem right now is that not a lot is on the market, unless you're talking nice apartment vs a house. If an apartment is maybe what you want, also look at First Hill.
People all define walkability differently. Some are happy if they've got a couple of restaurants and a supermarket to walk to. Others want bookstores, movie theatres, bakeries, libraries, live music, etc.
Capitol Hill is a huge area, physically, with several distinct neighborhoods within it. Pike/Pine is the most dense, but I don't think it's your style. But maybe the part of the Hill near 15th avenue East is.

[Renton13]

Thanks for everyone's replies.

We do NOT intend to look at big houses, or even houses at all. We live in about 1,100 square feet with a 500 sq foot back "yard". Because we're renting, I just assumed we'd be looking at apartments. But if there's a house that hits the spot, I'm sure we'd do it.

Definitely hoping for more than a market and a restaurant to count as walkable. Hoping for dry cleaner/tailor, schools, sushi, library, light shopping, maybe a cultural attraction and a couple of good local restaurants that stay open late. Maybe that's too much, but I'm throwing it out there.

We will make a concerted effort to avoid driving as much as possible, esp during the week. We'll likely buy one car, thought we haven't owned one in almost fifteen years. I am a big fan of (effective) public transportation, and actually walk about 1.5 miles to work partially through Central Park in captoes every day, so I'm not afraid to hoof it.

[Seacove]

Six people in 1100 sq. ft.? Are you stacking everyone? Seems tight.

[cis_love]

i moved here from a very urban city in CA where 5 of us lived happily in 1000 sf. but after moving here i quickly learned the same monthly cost will get me almost twice the size. i am on the eastside so maybe housing costs is a bit less than seattle but not by much. now it's hard to imagine us going back to that tight a space.

[Water 4 the Pool]

Originally Posted by Seacove

Six people in 1100 sq. ft.? Are you stacking everyone? Seems tight.

It's New York. All kids in one large bedroom with two sets of bunk beds.

And we don't really have a lot of stuff. We intentionally keep it minimal.

[flyingsaucermom]

Originally Posted by Water 4 the Pool

It's New York. All kids in one large bedroom with two sets of bunk beds.

And we don't really have a lot of stuff. We intentionally keep it minimal.

Minimalism with kids... I like you guys!