Son relocating from Los Angeles to King Street Station Area (Seattle: apartments, rental market)

[dm837]

My son just got offered a job with Amtrak, I have 2 weeks to relocate him. Is there a less expensive area to live that is walking distance or public transit friendly to the King Street station? Shocked to see it costs the same as here in L.A. to rent. Craigslist scares me but need a studio or 1 bedroom right away, but in a relatively safe area. Hopefully under $850 monthly with utilities included.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by dm837

My son just got offered a job with Amtrak, I have 2 weeks to relocate him. Is there a less expensive area to live that is walking distance or public transit friendly to the King Street station? Shocked to see it costs the same as here in L.A. to rent. Craigslist scares me but need a studio or 1 bedroom right away, but in a relatively safe area. Hopefully under $850 monthly with utilities included.

At that rate, he'll have to rent a room in a shared household until he gets some pay increases. It would be best for him to get to know the city, anyway, before he commits to a lease. Look on Capitol Hill and First Hill for a share on Craigslist, to begin with. Others will post their own ideas. Rooms are going for around $700-$850. Why does Amtrak pay so poorly? What's his job?

[ironcouger]

Any stop on link would work maybe 200 th st in kent would be cheaper.

[ironcouger]

Or U Distric would work and has lots of studios.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by ironcouger

Or U Distric would work and has lots of studios.

I just looked at Craigslist in the U District. There's not much available at that price point (for studios), and what there is looks pretty depressing. The U District has always been one of the more expensive rental markets in town.

When you look at some of what's billed as a studio, it turns out to have a shared kitchen. These really aren't studios, they're shares, a bedroom/bath only, marketed as a studio. You generally have to pay more than $800 for an actual independent studio. The International District has one or two, which is close to the train station, but the buildings are very old and grim. It's not a good area.

[leastprime]

At least he'll be at a location where ALL transit come together.
Any where that Amtrak, Sounder, LINK, CapitalHill StreetCar, and practically any bus runs regularly.
And the choices for restuarants are practically inexhaustable from KingStreet. Plus, it is one edge of the International District.

Try Tukwila/SouthCenter. It has the Airport LINK running about every 15 minutes,

DS used Craigslist when he was incharge of securing new housemates in a sharehouse of 6.
GL

[CrazyDonkey]

Originally Posted by dm837

My son just got offered a job with Amtrak, I have 2 weeks to relocate him. Is there a less expensive area to live that is walking distance or public transit friendly to the King Street station? Shocked to see it costs the same as here in L.A. to rent. Craigslist scares me but need a studio or 1 bedroom right away, but in a relatively safe area. Hopefully under $850 monthly with utilities included.

This is about as close as you're going to get to that in central Seattle:

Ilaria Apartments - Seattle, WA | Zillow

It's in a great area on upper Capitol Hill. I lived about two blocks from there (long time ago). Close to Volunteer Park. About ten blocks to the Light Rail Station, or he can catch the #10 trolleybus on 15th.

[CrazyDonkey]

He could walk to work from these (which will save him the cost of a bus pass, about $100):

APT: Studio - The Bradbury in Seattle, WA | Zillow

714 7th Ave, Seattle, WA 98104 | Zillow

Paul Revere Apartments - Seattle, WA | Zillow

1414 S King St APT 6, Seattle, WA 98144 | Zillow

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by CrazyDonkey

This is about as close as you're going to get to that in central Seattle:

Ilaria Apartments - Seattle, WA | Zillow

It's in a great area on upper Capitol Hill. I lived about two blocks from there (long time ago). Close to Volunteer Park. About ten blocks to the Light Rail Station, or he can catch the #10 trolleybus on 15th.

Are these micro-studios? They actually look pretty nice for that. This is a good solution, and it says utilities are included.

OP needs the rent to be under $850, unless utilities are included. And even meeting that criterion, the budget may not be enough for a transit pass. Those other units are all around $1000/mo.

[Ruth4Truth]

Here's one of those micro-studio buildings, owned by the same company that owns the "Ilaria", linked above, that's a little cheaper: $725/mo., and it's closer to transit going directly downtown. HOWEVER, it's important to examine the ads for each of these buildings, because this one seems to say that all the units are "shares" in the sense that they don't have their own kitchen! Each resident has his own sleeping area, study area, and 3/4 bath, but the kitchens and laundry facilities are in a common area used by a grouping of several units. A couple of photos show micro-kitchens, so it's not clear if there are 2 different types of unit, or what the deal is.

http://apodment.com/capitol-hill-apodments/terrazza/

If you decide to get one of these for your son, OP, be sure to clarify what it is you're signing him up for. Get it in writing from the management as to what the unit includes and doesn't include in the private section. The units (in other buildings) that have their own private kitchen cost $900 and up. The pictures for some of these look great until you realize that they're only showing you the higher-priced units, not the ones that come under their heading, "Average unit cost: $850", and the like. The photos on some of these pages only show the $900+ units; deceptive advertising. Proceed with caution. Good luck!