South Beacon Hill

[homesinseattle]

Treu, your words are eloquent as usual but perhaps a bit emotionally laden. I find that my clients' home decisions are governed primarily by proximity to work.

[tobester]

Originally Posted by homesinseattle

I find that my clients' home decisions are governed primarily by proximity to work.

If this is true, why do so many commute from the Eastside to downtown Seattle, when North Beacon Hill is so close?

[homesinseattle]

Tobester, among my clients who work in Seattle, roughly 15 percent choose to live on the Eastside. So you are right, to an extent. As traffic worsens, more people seem to be questioning that decision. Places like Columbia City and the Central District, fairly diverse and relatively safe, are extremely popular choices.

[tobester]

Originally Posted by homesinseattle

Tobester, among my clients who work in Seattle, roughly 15 percent choose to live on the Eastside. So you are right, to an extent. As traffic worsens, more people seem to be questioning that decision. Places like Columbia City and the Central District, fairly diverse and relatively safe, are extremely popular choices.

I welcome them to our part of town ...

[jakebarnes]

Originally Posted by tobester

If this is true, why do so many commute from the Eastside to downtown Seattle, when North Beacon Hill is so close?

I would imagine it's the schools. The tendency in schools is that the higher the socio-economic bracket, the better the schools. While one could argue the cause of that ad infinitum, it definitely affects housing values and location choices. (The flip side being the really well to do pay for private schools) Even within Seattle proper, the "good" schools are the ones where the well-to-do live.

[CrazyDonkey]

Originally Posted by jakebarnes

I would imagine it's the schools. The tendency in schools is that the higher the socio-economic bracket, the better the schools. While one could argue the cause of that ad infinitum, it definitely affects housing values and location choices. (The flip side being the really well to do pay for private schools) Even within Seattle proper, the "good" schools are the ones where the well-to-do live.

Depends on how you define "good". If test scores, they are highly correlated with family income.

Another aspect is that Beacon Hill has traditionally been an Asian-majority neighborhood. Asians tend to put a higher emphasis on education, which is one reason Beacon Hill has some higher ranked schools: Maple ES "8", Mercer MS "9". Beacon Hill ES is a "6", but used to be ranked higher - possibly because Asian families are being pushed out of North Beacon Hill.