Question about Park and Rides (Seattle, Bothell: rental, townhomes, neighborhood)

[DreamBig]

I will be moving to suburbs of Seattle soon for a new job, and I have a question regarding the Park and Rides. I'm interested in areas such as Bothell, and my work will be in downtown. I want to drive my car to Park and Ride that is close to Seattle as possible. Do Park and Rides that are close to Seattle get overfilled if I want to get into work by 8am? I'm particularly interested in Green Lake P&R.

Any input will be greatly appreciated as I'm a complete newbie when it comes to public transportation. Thanks!

[DreamBig]

My thought of doing this is to cut down on my commute time by driving my car to the P&R that's closest to downtown. Or, would this not save me much time and am I better off just taking the bus that's near my place?

[Hemlock140]

Sorry I can't help you with that one, but I did hear that Northgate fills up. The worst are eastide P & Rs, Issaquah Highlands and Issaquah Transit Center are always full. At Issaquah Transit Center they are experimenting with paid, guaranteed spaces and that could be expanded to other popular locations.

[Inkpoe]

Originally Posted by DreamBig

I will be moving to suburbs of Seattle soon for a new job, and I have a question regarding the Park and Rides. I'm interested in areas such as Bothell, and my work will be in downtown. I want to drive my car to Park and Ride that is close to Seattle as possible. Do Park and Rides that are close to Seattle get overfilled if I want to get into work by 8am? I'm particularly interested in Green Lake P&R.

Any input will be greatly appreciated as I'm a complete newbie when it comes to public transportation. Thanks!

From Bothell, it would be pointless as the buses going on 522 have a dedicated bus lane most of the way. If you have to be at work by 8, that means you're having to wake up earlier to fight the traffic and to guarantee yourself a spot just to get to work on time. And then... as you're going home, yea it's not going to be worth it because traffic is always worse in the PM. It's not just i5, all the roads are going to be clogged. Some will be better than others... relatively. Try it before committing.

[Ira500]

Driving from Bothell to the Greenlake P&R would mean that you'd be sitting in traffic and saving only a few minutes, if at all. Take the bus from Bothell, or find the nearest P&R with good express bus service.

[mkarch]

Re-think the decision to move to Bothell if you know you're working downtown. If the house out there is free, then it's an easier decision. If you have to pay to live there and commute around the north end of Lake Washington you are dealing with a lot of trade offs that don't necessarily make monetary or logistical sense.

[DreamBig]

Yea, thank you for the responses. I am starting to rethink about living in Bothell. I'm also looking at houses or townhomes on north side of Seattle. Like north side of Green Lake. I have a little kid and 2 dogs, so I would like close access to a park, and pretty safe for my wife to walk them. Would north of Green Lake be pretty safe? I'm looking at commute times from there on a bus and it seems like it's under 40minutes to SLU. I'd rather just live in downtown, but my wife doesn't want to. My budget is no more than $2,500 for rent.

[mkarch]

Yes, greenlake is considered safe. Most of North Seattle is except for a couple of bad blocks near sections of Aurora Ave, mostly up by Bitter Lake (130th) and the north end of Lake city. Those areas aren't 'ghetto bad' they're just a little sketchier and overall less desirable compared to what else is available. Parts of North Seattle are very suburban and quiet. You can usually find a decent older house or a new townhome to rent in the $2500 range. I would recommend trying to find a place at least a block from any of the major arterials (especially 4 + lane) roads for a number of reasons - like 85th up near north greenlake. I've lived near them before and it's a lot dirtier, noisier and has more 'odd' foot traffic than a place just a few hundred feet further away.

Another thing to look at are the schools - even if your kid is too young if the neighborhood elementary is good, the area serving it tends to be good as well. The 'lower performing' north end schools are Northgate, Viewlands and Broadview-Thompson. Some of the area just north of Greenlake in Licton Springs is in the Viewlands zone which starts around 90th or so.

[skidamarink]

Originally Posted by DreamBig

Yea, thank you for the responses. I am starting to rethink about living in Bothell. I'm also looking at houses or townhomes on north side of Seattle. Like north side of Green Lake. I have a little kid and 2 dogs, so I would like close access to a park, and pretty safe for my wife to walk them. Would north of Green Lake be pretty safe? I'm looking at commute times from there on a bus and it seems like it's under 40minutes to SLU. I'd rather just live in downtown, but my wife doesn't want to. My budget is no more than $2,500 for rent.

Greenlake sounds perfect for you. It's pretty safe and quiet. It's getting more expensive, but at this time I think you can still find something in that budget. If not, Northgate/Maple Leaf is not that bad of an area depending on what part.

Greenlake is mostly families with the occasional UW student here and there. You might want to get a start on rental searching ASAP, because the summer time is the hardest time to find places to rent and Greenlake is becoming a popular choice.

[DreamBig]

Thanks for the suggestions! Are there any other places besides Greenlake? What about west of Greenlake? Does it get expensive there?