Seattle ghettos for mid 20's male

[CrazyDonkey]

Well, just looking at Seattle proper, one-bedroom apartments for $1,000/mo. or less can be found in:

Lake City/NE Seattle: 4 (low = $773)

North Central Seattle: 6 (low = $895, including one "micro-apartment" at $995)

University District: 1 ($995)

Central Seattle: 2 (low = $850, "open bedroom"/no door)

Rainier Valley/Beach: 3 ($850, two units)

South Park/Highland Park: 3 ($850, two units)

While Seattle may no longer have "ghettos" in the traditional sense, it does have some of what might be called "white ghettos", all in the north end of North Seattle (not far from Aurora, I-5, or Lake City Way).

If we expand to "greater" Seattle:

North:

Lynnwood/Alderwood Manor: 3 ($880, two units)

Everett: 19 (low = "$825"/Glacier View)

South:

White Center: 3 (low = $828, two units)

Burien: 7 (low = $875)

SeaTac: 4 (low = $935)

Des Moines: 5 (low = $795, two units)

Kent: 18 (low = $865)

Auburn: 14 (low = $725)

Federal Way: 29 (low = $800)

Renton: 7 (low = $850-house/Renton Highlands)

Tacoma: 76 (low = $575/Manitou-South Tacoma)

[Gaylord_Focker]

Originally Posted by philopower

For some reason I severely doubt this. Anyone else willing to comment? People move to Cali and new York with less and Seattle has to be cheaper. Granted I know it's not Texas but I'm good with money.

I mean you could jump on Craigslist and rent a room from someone, then yes, great. But, if you get a traditional apt, with deposit, that's probably 2500 to start with, not counting moving costs.

[Mr_onedayyet]

South Tacoma is by far the most ghetto part of the region. The only part of the Puget Sound region I've really felt unsafe in during the day.

[RotseCherut]

Forgot Lake City, that is kinda ghetto, indeed. The old apartment complexes in Lake City is where most the action goes down. Federal Way has a good share of low income and large multi-family housing, especially along the 5, but the city itself, I cannot exactly call "ghetto".

Auburn and Kent are just downright dirty, ugly and have a lot of the low-riding gangster element driving up and down the streets, along with all the mentally ill people roaming the street to make the town have that traditional "ghetto" feel. However, unlike Felony Flats in Portland, I felt the area lacks much of a sense of community or culture. It just seems to be a gritty town where the poor people who cannot afford South Seattle live. At night the town is mostly full of youngsters getting into fights and a lot of police action. I don't like Kent at all. The police force there seems pretty gung ho. My former landlord was a Kent PD officer in the 80s and 90s and said he would not live in any neighborhood in that city, even the so-called "good" ones.


Another truly ghetto neighborhood, although in a different country, yet only 1.5 hours north of Seattle, would be East Hastings Street in Vancouver, BC and areas of Delta/Surrey. East Hastings looks just right out of a movie and the amount of poverty , squalor and people living in little slum-like squattor colonies probably is reminiscent of something you would see in the worst skid row in New York or Los Angeles, if not worse. Surrey and Delta have quite a bit of crime and seem to have even more murders than Tacoma. Even though East Hastings was the most gritty side of Vancouver I have seen, Surrey/Delta seem to be the most dangerous. I was shocked that all the convenience stores and gas stations had bullet proof glass and a secured room where the clerk handles all transactions. It was something like you would see at some banks in high crime areas here. I was told there is so many armed robberies in Delta/Surrey at night that they need to resort to the bulletproof glass. There was a shootout between a cop and an armed robber at the convenience store at the very gas station I visited a few nights earlier. Even in Tacoma, I did not see anything this crazy.

[JL1585]

Originally Posted by philopower

Hi there,

I'm thinking about moving from Texas to Seattle or Portland for a change of scenery as well as the fact that the economy here in Houston is collapsing. I have a degree and some work experience but I'm willing to work in the service industry for a few months until I can find something more professional. I'm looking for an area in Seattle like Bedstuy in New York. Somewhere cheap, ghetto, but improving steadily with lots of young people moving in and good public transport. Does an area like that exist in the city?

Also I have about 6k saved, will that be enough for a few months?

I love bedstuy! It's changing for sure, bet people can barely afford that anymore. I'm from South side of Chicago and can't say that I've struggled financially in Seattle but I know what the hood looks like. Seattle doesn't have any. The one's that most of these people are mentioning used to be "hood" but gentrification here happens faster than other cities. So Columbia City used to be affordable... not anymore @ all.

You want Burien, Seatac, White Center, Kent. In that order those are the most affordable but all 15 minutes south of downtown or so.

In the city the "hood" is Columbia City/Beacon Hill, Skyway, Central District. But none of those are really affordable unless you have a roommate. By yourself, you can expect to spend between 950-1250 even in the "hood" in the city. The first ones I mentioned 800-1000 for a studio or 1br.

Good luck man.

[FromChicagotoSeattle]

Originally Posted by philopower

For some reason I severely doubt this. Anyone else willing to comment? People move to Cali and new York with less and Seattle has to be cheaper. Granted I know it's not Texas but I'm good with money.

I came here from Chicago (city, not burbs) 3 years ago with $1000. I made it alright. Started out with a temp airbnb in Greenlake for a couple weeks, then roommate for a few months in Bellevue while I worked and saved, and now I have my own place in the city, and am financially stable.

Although I like to think I'm more "life savvy" than the average person, I honestly think that most people can make it here with a couple grand to their name, as long as they're single with no dependents, somewhat young and healthy, and very determined. Finding loyal friendships and people I can count on was much easier to find here in 3 years, than it was in Chicago for 28. Go figure.

Oh and I'm a woman, so YMMV, and so on and so forth, etc.

And I definitely didn't have a job when I moved here, but I found a good, stable one a few days after landing.