Which Seattle neighborhood is over-hyped? (Bellevue, Renton: 2014, apartment, to rent)

[Natalie_W]

Originally Posted by jakebarnes

I've lived on Capitol Hill for 21 years. It's changed (and I've gotten older, which changes my perceptions). My impression is that it went from artsy/gay/bohemian to trustafarians, Amazon and tech workers, foreign rich kids in expensive cars and partying meatheads on the weekends. So it's definitely not as "cool" as it used to be. That said, there is still a lot to recommend about the neighborhood: location, transit, lots of amenities, walkability, legacy arts spaces, shopping. It also costs a small fortune and is littered with druggies/bums. (That part hasn't changed in the 21 years, except to maybe get slightly worse). It's also a lot more crowded now as they have built larger buildings in the last 10-15 years.

Which other neighborhoods are overhyped? South Lake Union, Belltown, Columbia City, imo.

GREAT insight, overall! That answers a lot of questions for me for what I expected vs what I saw in Capitol Hill.

[87112]

Looking back they were all pretty good 10 years before the explosion in population. Seattle was a gem before.

[cmswazey]

Originally Posted by thatguy950

Hardly, I've spent enough time over in the "wonderful and artistic" West Seattle area, it's a dump, plain and simple.

Which PART of West Seattle? Admiral Dist? Gatewood? The Arroyos? The Junction?

Generalize much?

Am about to fly home and will be sure to enjoy my needle-free street anew when I get there.

[GatsbyGatz]

Originally Posted by jakebarnes

I've lived on Capitol Hill for 21 years. It's changed (and I've gotten older, which changes my perceptions). My impression is that it went from artsy/gay/bohemian to trustafarians, Amazon and tech workers, foreign rich kids in expensive cars and partying meatheads on the weekends. So it's definitely not as "cool" as it used to be. That said, there is still a lot to recommend about the neighborhood: location, transit, lots of amenities, walkability, legacy arts spaces, shopping. It also costs a small fortune and is littered with druggies/bums. (That part hasn't changed in the 21 years, except to maybe get slightly worse). It's also a lot more crowded now as they have built larger buildings in the last 10-15 years.

Which other neighborhoods are overhyped? South Lake Union, Belltown, Columbia City, imo.

I used to live in Cap Hill until last year. Literally everyone living in my building worked at Amazon or Microsoft, with the exception of my next door neighbor, who literally bragged about living off a trust fund.

Your description is so true.

[dav51lin]

all of seattle is

[homesinseattle]

dav51, the Phinney Ridge neighborhood where we live is low key and pretty great. Stop by, I'll buy you a pint.

[margaretBartle]

Ballard is definitely overhyped. It's in the middle of nowhere - it takes 30 minutes to get there from the freeway - there's no parking, the transit is late and over crowded, the restaurants are way over priced, and not that great. Shopping is a snooze-fest - overpriced crap, except for a few specialty shops that I go into maybe once every year or two. it takes two, sometimes three light switches to get through some intersections, because of the "road diet" and the corner extensions that wipe out the curb lane, so that cars turning right have to wait for the green signal, and then wait for all the pedestrians. Also, the cars behind the left-turning vehicle waiting for the pedestrians to finish are blocking all the cars behind it becasue that right curb lane is blocked. And it's getting worse!

[homesinseattle]

Agreed Margaret, I'm going to second Central Ballard. Although the cool old buildings and shops of Ballard Ave have redeeming qualities, the explosion of apartment complexes in this part of town feels physically oppressive, has made traffic tough and is gentrifying that which was eclectic and funky right out of town. The rising commercial rents have made it tough on businesses here. I do still enjoy the Tractor Tavern for live music. There certainly is good food too, one of the acceptable byproducts of "progress".

I think it is important to note that there are other parts of Ballard. 24th Ave NW up near Tall Grass Bakery is a pretty neat, as is the area out Shilshole Ave by the locks, have to love Portage Bay for breaky.

[cmswazey]

I love Portage Bay!

[daberkow]

Originally Posted by jakebarnes

I've lived on Capitol Hill for 21 years. It's changed (and I've gotten older, which changes my perceptions). My impression is that it went from artsy/gay/bohemian to trustafarians, Amazon and tech workers, foreign rich kids in expensive cars and partying meatheads on the weekends.

It was the same 21 years ago. You just don't recognize today's hipsters as artsy/gay/bohemian but I'm sure that's what they will all tell you if you ask around. 41 years ago it was artsy/gay/bohemian hippie trust funders.