Retiring in Seattle, need recommendations for neighborhood. (Bellevue: apartment, condo)

[bob_janes]

We are considering retiring in Seattle. We have been living in Anchorage for last 20 years and love the summers and natural beauty of Anchorage. However, after 20 years of 8 month winter season and sometimes brutal cold, we are ready to move next year.

We need some recommendations for the neighborhood we should search home on our next visit to Seattle. Since I will not be working, commute is not the issue. The key things important to us are:
1) Close to trails, we love to walk 1 to 2 hours.
2) Doctors and hospitals within 15 to 30 minutes of driving. Wife has few chronic conditions, and we do have to visit doctors quite regularly.
3) Close to university if possible. I do plan to take classes in computer science for learning, not for getting a job.
4) Waterview/waterfront is nice but not a must.
5) Not too far from shopping/restaruants/movie theatres.
6) Within 30 to 40 minutes from airport. We do want to travel few times a year.
7) Prefer apartment or condo rather than house. We will be visiting and staying with families in other cities for months at a time. Thus no yardwork or clearing snow when we are gone. We are uncomfortable leaving a vacant house when gone.
8) Our budget is less than $800K.

Thanks for any help.

[homesinseattle]

Hi Bob, Come down and have a look. It is hard to click all those boxes but Magnolia area of Seattle might be close. Wonderful Discovery Park are the best in town trails by far. It would put you within pretty decent reach of hospitals, University of Washington, all the great cultural events of downtown Seattle and the airport. Magnolia is also unique in that it is close in, but can be so peaceful and feel a world away.

[homesinseattle]

Here's are a few, for example:

2612 23rd Ave W APT 3, Seattle, WA 98199 | Zillow

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/44...19114083_zpid/

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/34...18557669_zpid/

[tobester]

I'd also toss in the Seward Park/Columbia City neighborhoods. A walking path along Lake Washington and around the park. 20 minutes to Pill Hill, 20 minutes to UW, 20 minutes from airport, lots of restaurants and shops.

[flyingsaucermom]

Originally Posted by homesinseattle

Here's are a few, for example:

[URL="http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2612-23rd-Ave-W-APT-3-Seattle-WA-98199/48927718_zpid/"]2612 23rd Ave W APT 3, Seattle, WA 98199 | Zillow[/URL]

Wow! I'm swooning over this one.....almost in my price range now and future's bright for affording it in the future

[homesinseattle]

flyingsaucer. Go get lost on the trails and beaches of Discovery Park, you will be convinced! Here is the city link to the park: Seattle Parks & Recreation: Discovery Park

[CrazyDonkey]

4400 Brygger Dr W # A, Seattle, WA 98199 | Zillow

Zestimate: $546k, 3bd/2.25ba, 1,570sf

Couple blocks from Discovery Park and on the edge of Kiwanis Memorial Preserve Park (blue heron rookery), so walks galore(!), great bluff view of Puget Sound, and two beaches. Walking distance to the Ballard Locks. Close to Ballard, Fremont, and Upper/Lower-QA, and not far from Belltown/Downtown, and Wallingford/U-District. Hospitals: Swedish-Ballard and UWMC (U-District).

[homesinseattle]

A couple more:

3010 31st Ave W # A, Seattle, WA 98199 | Zillow

3608 26th Place W #401, Seattle, WA 98199 | Zillow

Magnolia sits by itself, feels like a safe suburb, yet has a cute little village core with restaurants, cafes, coffee shops, character homes. If you want the woods, they are there in spades. So often, I walk in the woods in Discovery Park and there is almost no one else around. If you want to get into Seattle, or Ballard, it is all close.

Here is a neat local blog for Magnolia from the well respected Next Door Media family of Seattle neighborhood blogs so you can get the flavor: http://www.magnoliavoice.com/

[StealthRabbit]

Not perfect for you, but maybe the next person. (at 1/3rd the budget)
Here is one of my favorite senior options in Seattle (Senior co-op in Bellevue, the only Co-op in the PNW that I know of, couple more in Davis, CA).
Silver Glen | a member-owned co-op

Might be more appropriate as you age, you will find most members top be on the older side of 'active', usually deciding in their late 70's that the 'house' is too much trouble.

Senior housing Co-ops can be a really good thing, (especially in MN!) just not popular in PNW.
Housing List | Senior Cooperative Foundation

[bob_janes]

Good recommendation so far, I am going to spend few evenings searching Zillow, google maps, for Magnolia, Seward Park, Columbia city neighborhoods. We are in mid 60s, 63, 66, so not ready to move in community yet. Please continue to provide suggestions, I will be checking online and coming here to this forum. Thanks everyone who responded so far.