Working downtown...quiet areas north of Seattle? (weather, traffic)

[BellevueNative]

And for that matter, Magnolia and West Seattle have tall bridges, too (though Magnolia has a land crossing option).

[flyingsaucermom]

Originally Posted by flyingsaucermom

Okay, so we're talking about the same one.... being a double decker bridge I can imagine trying to replace it would be nothing short of catastrophic for commuters. But I get really uncomfortable on it, especially when I'm stuck up there for 15 minutes in traffic.

OP take note: I just read that Wiki link to the Ship Canal Bridge and it's a similar design as the one that collapsed in Minneapolis in 2007. Little wonder it gives me the heebie jeebies! I second Ira's recommendation on Burien. You might be able to avoid a lot of the bridges if you stick to the south.

[CrazyDonkey]

"a true fear of long, high spans over water"

The long bridges aren't high (they float) and the high bridges aren't that long. Days when whitecaps break over the sides of the floating bridges are very rare. Here are the high bridges:

Aurora Bridge:



Ship-Canal ("Freeway") Bridge:



West Seattle Bridge:



None are as high or long as the Tacoma Narrows Bridge:

[BellevueNative]

The Tacoma Narrows bridge still gives me the heebie jeebies when I go over it. Just repeat to yourself, "Don't look over the side...don't look over the side..."

[flyingsaucermom]

Oh this is funny. I just found this video:
[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xox9BVSu7Ok[/url]

The two winters we lived in Michigan we would spend our indoor time at the Michigan Science Center in Detroit and they had this old video they would play over and over again and I couldn't stop watching it.... and as it turns out it was THIS very video and now I live relatively nearby

[Inkpoe]

Ah, the Galloping Gerty!

They would show the Galloping Gerty film in local schools. I can still remember the day they showed it in my class and when they mentioned there were no victims except for the dog left in the car, my class just awww'ed. I still can't wrap my head around the wind and the bridge moving like that though.

[leftwing]

Just to suggest something different, you might check out the areas around the N. Beacon Hill and Columbia City Link light rail stations. Why? 1) Fast commute via light rail (or bus) to downtown. 2) No huge bridges to worry about with your commute (at least I wouldn't consider either the Holgate or Rizal bridges worrisome compared with the others talked about here). 3) More kinds of housing within your price range (townhouse, SFH, condo). 4) Cool, walkable hoods with bars, restaurants, transit, grocery stores, pharmacies, parks, etc.

There are planes overhead occasionally but to be honest, after we lived here a week we stopped noticing.

[flyingsaucermom]

Originally Posted by Inkpoe

Ah, the Galloping Gerty!

They would show the Galloping Gerty film in local schools. I can still remember the day they showed it in my class and when they mentioned there were no victims except for the dog left in the car, my class just awww'ed. I still can't wrap my head around the wind and the bridge moving like that though.

A dog got left in the car?!

[Inkpoe]

Originally Posted by flyingsaucermom

A dog got left in the car?!

It was the man's children's dog, he really had no chance.

WSDOT - Tacoma Narrows Bridge History: Tubby Trivia

[lingevity]

What happens when there's an accident on one of the bridges? Does traffic come to a standstill, or are the lanes wide enough to squeeze around it?